getting the afm supported was fairly simple.
i welded a bit of tube to the strut brace flattened the other end and bolted it to the body then i had another bit of tube hanging down and attached to the afm. that supports the entire intake nicely and looks like its supposed to be there. 
i then painted the strut in body colour but i decided on satin lacquer, i think it suits the engine bay better.
then there was the aftermarket strut brace.
it hit the intake plenum as standard so i had 3 options.1 was to bend it up in the middle.
this was inmpracticable for more than one reason.2 was to spin it round so it was further back in the engine bay.
this would work if i wanted to do away with the oem brace, or cut and re-shape it to miss the aftermarket brace. i decided against that because i didnt think id be able to make it strong enough with the 3 or 4 bends id have to add.3 was to simply raise the brace up 10mm.
this was the option i ended up going for, even though it meant it would hit the bonnett. i could deal with that later.
ahh a kants todger of clearance.
i hope it will be enough.
all i had to do then was
'persuade' (ahem) the rain drip tray to move out of the way and the bonnet shuts! nice.
please note its only roughed in at the moment, ill be taking it back off soon and painting the
'feet' of the brace at a later date.
