RollBar install (continued)

**Sarge** · 04-27-2008, 05:40 AM

Rear seats top portion have 2 Torx40 bolts holding them in....they are located at the bottom there.......

Disconnect the seatbelt "holder" doohickey from the seat belts....push up and the seats come right out....
Now the side panels.....two Torx20 bolts are right in front of you holding the side panels to the rear and this little bastard....pop the molding out and I used a flex screwdriver to get to it...

From there I just worked the panels out from the back bottom first and then on around clockwise...there are like 8 points they have connectors....they just pop out.....remove the side panels and your ready to start your alignments and drilling the mounting holes....you should look like this now....

Put you pieces of the roll bar in...crawl your ass in there and assemble it....I had much better luck by putting the bottom part of the roll bar towards the front and working it into an upright position.....attach the wheel well support tubes....center the entire thing until it is flush and square....

There is some rubber stuff over the wheel wells...take it out...we are gonna cut it later.....
When your all centered and flush....drill your holes and tighten everything down.....The holes did not line up for me...(of course)...so I tightened down two of three and just drilled the third one myself......Now on the wheel well support tubes....they only will install if you have the side panels cut to allow them to start at the bottom of the wheel well and slide up to the mounting position...so your gonna have to cut the side panel from the bottom to the mounting position.....don't worry all you car show guys....seats cover it all up anyway ( pretty much anyway

) Anyway.....after you get it all installed and all the bolts tightened down....take it all apart and take it out. That's right.....you cannot install the side panels with it in.....so lets cut the side panels....Thank you whoever invented the sawzall......I went a little wide...but what the hell....cut the panels....put em in and re install your roll bar....

Put all your seats back in....I had this red roll bar "stuff" from another project I had awhile back...so I stuck it around...don't know if I'll keep it....

I trimmed the carpet to hide the plate....

Here is the seat all the way back as far as it will go....still has about a 1/2" between the bar and the back of the seat...

FYI....Here are the mounting plates under the wheel well....about 4"-5" from the tire for those curious.....you wont ever touch them with your tire even if bottomed out....

Well that's a roll bar install in a 2004 GTO......Took about 6 hours and 2 of those was scratching my balls and smoke breaks....just take your time and do it right....All in all I like it ( don't know about the red foam stuff)....I think I met my goals....it looks great in the car ( Pics don't do it justice)....
Be happy to answer any questions anybody contemplating a roll bar may have.

**mark21742** · 04-27-2008, 05:50 AM

Looks great Sarge!

**Sarge** · 04-27-2008, 06:56 AM

Before I forget...those wires laying in the back seat area...they go nowhere.....and I found two bolts when I popped the back seats out...they went nowhere.....didn't find any beer cans though

**mark21742** · 04-27-2008, 08:35 AM

lol I was rackin my brain tring to find where the hell two plugs wentfor awhile today when I was putting my interior back in... after an hour or so I realized they were for the smokers package (cigg lighters) that my car doesn't have...I felt dumb

rednari · 04-27-2008, 05:00 PM

Nice work. Let us know after you test it out what effect it has on handling, body roll, wheel hop, etc.

**Sarge** · 04-29-2008, 02:15 PM

I have had no wheel hop since the Koni's/Harrop/Pedders Springs,Bushings.....Zero body roll and I leaned into her hard....I think she launches "better"....cleaner launch if you will....I like it....no rattles/squeaks....

**Benner** · 04-29-2008, 02:33 PM

That's a sexy leg there I spotted in the 2nd pic. You should become a leg model

**0rion** · 04-29-2008, 03:16 PM

good job Sarge, I hope that's one part that you never have to use though.

rednari · 04-29-2008, 10:10 PM

Let me ask you another question. Do you have BMR subframe connectors on the car. If not, do think the roll cage will serve the same purpose: to tie together the unibody by stiffening it from the top instead of the bottom.I bet you are getting cleaner launches and no more squeaks.

BTW, I truly like what you did with the car after the accident. It looks clean and sharp with distinctive lines without being gaudy.

**Sarge** · 04-30-2008, 02:31 AM

Great minds think alike rednari

My thoughts exactly....we have a unibody floating around....the roll bar does the same thing as the sub frame connectors....ties to sides together....Yeah...after the wreck I took it as an opportunity to build it back like Pontiac should have....I prefer clean over "loud".....Stiffer is good and the roll bar met that requirement and I still have access to the back seats for the Grandkids....yes....it doesn't "twist" at launch anymore....straight and true.....worth the time and few bucks for sure....and a little safety to boot is a good thing....

rednari · 05-02-2008, 08:55 PM

10-4

**SilverProject** · 03-10-2009, 12:11 PM

New member, just come opon this thread Sarge...great post, understanding of the install, and how you describe differances is right on. I have looked at sub-frame connectors, and after reading this thread on your experiences of your Rollbar stiffening up the car to make it to a raised perofrmance level and the fit.... very interesting

thanks

**Sarge** · 03-10-2009, 12:59 PM

Your welcome man.....we all need to share when we can and pics and shit helps others....there is a sticky up top that has a few install doc's...

**mark21742** · 03-10-2009, 02:00 PM

Originally Posted by SilverProject

New member, just come opon this thread Sarge...great post, understanding of the install, and how you describe differances is right on. I have looked at sub-frame connectors, and after reading this thread on your experiences of your Rollbar stiffening up the car to make it to a raised perofrmance level and the fit.... very interesting

thanks

welcome to the site man!
Sarge I'm still looking at this install and really thinking about doing it

**joejenkinsglass** · 03-10-2009, 04:11 PM

Not bad install time. Looks good,the gap between the bar and headliner looks a little big though.

**Sarge** · 03-11-2009, 02:38 AM

one finger gap...

**cammed goat** · 03-11-2009, 03:38 AM

Looks very good. I like it. Color goes with the Goat. Stealth is the way to go IMO.

**joejenkinsglass** · 03-11-2009, 03:35 PM

Originally Posted by Sarge

one finger gap...

Thats good, looked bigger on the pic. Do the bolt ins pass tech at the track?

**Sarge** · 03-11-2009, 04:48 PM

Yup....they never say shit...I have a 5 pt harness now...didn't last year and they bitched about running 10's without the harness but never said shit about the roll cage...

**joejenkinsglass** · 03-11-2009, 05:43 PM

Originally Posted by Sarge

Yup....they never say shit...I have a 5 pt harness now...didn't last year and they bitched about running 10's without the harness but never said shit about the roll cage...

That sounds like when Tulsa did the midnight drags, no clocks just heads up racing. They didnt even do tech it was a blast! Hopefully this season I can run at Cedar Falls.