Ain't that the truth.

 

I just purchased a set of these bars and decided not to install them. Will sell them for $115 which includes shipping to the 48 states.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/98-04...spagenameZWDVW

 

Here are Mutt's Roll Bars in my Coupe...Thanks Mutt
Install is a bit of a PITA but well worth the time to do it right...just to tell you how **** I am about this car, I used black touch-up paint on trim pieces screws that I had to remove to do the install...

 

love the look...

 

Very nice!! I think you just talked me into doing this. How long did it take you, and do you have any tips?

 

No offense to the roadster owners out there, but I like the look of the sports bars (especially chromed) in the coupe even more. Very nice JM.

 

damn that looks REALLY good. i like it. what was th total cost of this mod? not including time.

 

THANK YOU
It took me about 4 hours, but it could be done in less than half that time. Like I say I'm a bit **** and like to get everything just right. Everything is done from the passenger compartment.
The hardest thing is getting the holes in the correct location, the brackets that come with these bars make it a little easier to locate where the holes have to be drilled. But even after measuring twice I had to do some fine tuning with a file. So the bars went in and out at least four times.

You also have to be very careful not to break any of the tabs on the seat belt trim pieces when you take them off. There is a hiding srew in the belt strap cut out.
That's all I can think about, pretty straight forward, just take your time.

 

I have seen these bars go on ebay from $80 to $120 plus shipping.

 

hmm. but i think i read somewhere back there that cost of everything else costs more than the bars?

 

I just started doing this. Got the bars on eBay for cheap, had them cut down at a machine shop - but just so I could get them in the car.

I really wanted the solidity of the one-piece hoop bolted in four places. So I gave it some thought and came up with a solution.

I put an insert inside the tubing, welding it to the bottom half. I installed the bottom half inside the bulkhead, then simply slip the top half over the insert and bolt in the top half. Granted it's not as solid as a one-piece unit, but it preserves the four bolts and gives some added strength. Here's the drawing I did -




The insert is actually 1" O.D. which leaves a little room for the slight curve that runs the length of the straight part of the tube. When bolted in, it's quite sturdy and solid.

Tomorrow I have to do my calculations to get the hole cut in the right place in the bulkhead cover, then re-assemble everything.

Just a note - the bottom of the hoop on the inboard sides, when installed, sits at the very bottom of the cavity that holds the bars - there's no room to lower the bars any. So on the inboard side, the insert is 5 inches instead of six inches for the outboard side..

The drawing makes it seem like there's a big gap but really the gap is the thickness of the chop saw blade used to section the hoop.

P.S. Here's some instructions I found on the web that give some of the necessary info needed to do this job, with fair pictures of several steps.

 

Myself and Jonnyangel did this very thing on Wednesday night. Our tubes are 2" OD mandrell bent that section into about 1 and 1/4". We too chopped the bottoms off to get them in there. Just a word of wisdom about cutting into your bulkhead piece, measure twice... make that 50 times, cut once. We had everything lined up and made a jig to make sure we cut the holes in the right spot cuz you can never be too careful. Looks great but now his interior is tore apart. They add so much to the car. Really makes it look mean when you're behind it. I would say it's a very worthy upgrade to the interior of our already sporty cars.

 

Has anyone tried installing the plastic ones out of the SLK320? The wall behind the seats appears to be the same as ours so it might be a direct replacement.

 

That was easy...


More...

 

My roll bars are bigger than yours!!! LOL

 

LOL That's funny! Guess I better get some roll bars as it's starting to be the "in" thing.

 

wow, look at all this activity!

VERY COOL guys (and gals?)!!!

 

I believe I have answered two questions for myself

- what should I do with the black bars that came with my roadster roll bars?
- where might I put a set of "rear" speakers?

I was looking at the bars and it came to me - there are a few speakers on the market that have a triangular cabinet that would fit into the black bars if they're put on the roll bars backwards. And if I could find a speaker enclosure that fits in the space, it would be a great way to get better imaging from my stereo and use those rear speaker leads that came with my aftermarket head unit without making any holes in the interior panels.

More on this in the audio section... (click)

 

Here is the way that I have done mine on both my limited and SRT6, for those that need help with the install.
1. move both seats as far forward as possible
2. remove the map book pouch that's between the seats it has 2 plastic hooks that slide outward at the top and 2 that slid upward at the bottom
3. There are 2 torque bit screws, I believe they are a T20 or 25 that hold the umbrella hooks once they are removed you can slide them upward to remove them.
4. on the rear bulkhead top cover there are 2 round approx 1 inch in diameter buttons they will unscrew just put some hand pressure on them and turn them counter clockwise, and the carpet behind the seats there are 2 more buttons with a head on them they also unscrew in the same fashion.
5. now you will need a T10 torque bit and remove 3 screws on the right and left metal door seal top plates buy the seat belts. then pull the door seal away from the carpet approx 16 inches.
6. now the hard part, get a flash light and look in the slot were the seat belt comes through and you will see a hidden Philips screw 1 on each side. I used a magnet on a screw driver so you don't drop them if you do good luck trying to find them. I couldn't ! Next I used a long flat tip screw diver and slid it through the slot were the seat belt goes through and gently prided upward on the seat belt cover near the rear side glass. the plastic tangs that slid in to the clips that hold them are very thin and brake easily . the covers run about 38.00 a piece. don't ask how I know this.
7. Now remove the bulk head top cover, you will see the pockets that the bars will slid into and if you pull the carpet behind the seats back you will see the holes that you will use to bolt the bars in to.
8. As far as the modifications to the bars, I 45 cut the bottoms opposite the mounting tabs so that they would slide in to the pockets with out damaging the head liner and you can use all 4 mounting points, unlike others on the forum that have cut the bottoms of the bars off and only use 2 mounting bolts per bar.
9. the cutting of the bulkhead cover, all i can say is measure, measure, measure. I cut my holes first and then the slots for the bars so I could remove the bulkhead cover without removing the bars, Then I fabricated 4 covers for the slots and painted them with a satin black crinkle spray paint. They are held in position with some 3m double stick tape.
10. during reassembly I would recommend putting some Velcro the fussy side, where the seat belt covers and the bulkhead cover over lap. on the bulkhead cover. This is a common rattle or creaking noise point on are cars.
11. reassemble in revers order and enjoy your hard work.

 

Just did mine last night and yes I lost one of those screws, a PIA even with a magnet and I know about those tabs you were talking about, I have one of them coming as well (drivers side, tab on the back broke), but all in all not a bad mod for under 100 bucks even with the mistakes I made.
Pat