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.