210 Rear tower snapping, repeatedly

[mattr]

Right, just spent some time poking round today, having a think and so on.

Apologise in advance for the length of post........

Noticed that there are a lot of people snapping towers and only a two or three solutions kicking around, namely, stronger towers (Cream, Atomic etc), a high wing mod to protect the tower and using spacers between tower and gearbox housing to allow some flex. (or, of course not crashing )

Another one mentioned on another thread was cutting the back of the motor plate away in line with the cover mounting lug. I had a think about this one, and had a good look, and in itself, this won't do anything (as there is clearance between the tower and the motor plate, so nothing for it to catch or jam on as it waggles backwards and forwards).
But, i did notice, on my two drive old rear tower (from Cream), that there is a witness mark where the actual lug has touched and some chipping/crushing of the top layer of CF, despite having a set of 1mm spacers to offset from the g/box housing. Additionally there is what looks like the beginnings of a crack running from the impact point in a 45 degree line towards the top/middle of the car, across that side of the tower. From memory, its *almost* always been the left arm (75% of the time?) that has snapped off (only run it in MM).
Has anyone else noticed any sort of a trend in cracks? i.e. always left hand in MM and always right hand in RM?
FWIW there is no clearance worth speaking of when you have no spacers and/or the stock tower.
Cos i reckon that lug is acting as a point load into the tower and causing it to fail prematurely, instead of flexing.

I've tried a set of 2mm spacers now, and it *looks* as if there will be clearance to the lug, allowing the tower to flex evenly (left and right) with no restriction.

Does anyone think it's worth trying to mod a plate, remove the lug and just taping the spur cover into place at the top?

Actually, i've just answered that question, i've just got a spare plate, i'll wait until i snap the next tower and try it. Unless the 2mm offset works......