'04 Mach 1 STB installation problem

i installed the Steeda on my Mach this weekend. unfortunately, i screwed up, and can't get one bolt in. here's what happened:

knowing that i'm not a very accomplished, i did a lot of research before and tried to figure out what could go wrong so that i could prevent it. the instructions say that you can either drill holes and thread them and then bolt the STB on. or you can drill a 3/8" hold and put the bolt all the way through and install a locking nut on the underside of the strut tower.

i chose the first method, figuring that if i had a minor screw up, i could just revert to the second installation method. well what happened is that i can't get one bolt in -- it is off by a 1/16th of an inch or less. i can't budge it any more at all. this happened on the passenger's side, and it is the bolt that is on the front-facing part of the strut tower.

i couldn't effectively use a center punch due to the odd angle of this mounting hole. so i tried to put pressure on the drill to hold it steady ... i thought i did a fairly good job, but as it turned out, i am off ever so slightly.

so now i figure i have two options:

  1. see if i can drill out enough to get the bolt through.
  2. go ahead an remove the entire STB, and drill out all the holes.

my theory with #2 is that it will be a pain to get up underneath that strut tower to install the lock nut. if i'm going to do it for one, i might as well do it for both.

any thoughts? also, how much of a pain is it really to get underneath the strut tower? i assume i need to put the front end on dino ramps or jack stands. but besides that, any other details i need to know?

-- '04 Mach 1, Torch Red (pix soon) Steeda Tri-Ax + (1quick6 shifter gasket set) Steeda Strut Tower Brace

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