Does anyone have one of these installed in their car? How much drilling is required? How well does the carpet, etc go back over the attachment points? Did you guys use the autoform filler panel?
Can't say I know anything about the rollbar; but I will say the guys there are top notch. I drove my car up to get a rear spoiler on and checked out their shop and met the guys; they were very helpful and really knew their body work!
[quote=SmokinV10] Does anyone have one of these installed in their car? How much drilling is required? How well does the carpet, etc go back over the attachment points? Did you guys use the autoform filler panel? <hr /></blockquote>
4 holes I believe needed to be drilled. I have this roll bar in my GTS. Patience installing it and you will come out with a very clean install. You can cut out a carpet square were it meets the floor behind the seats. Autoform also supplies replacement panels for the area around the bars, but I thought it looked to plastic. The surface did not have quite the same texture as my 98. So I removed it and reinstalled my interior parts after carefully cutting them up to fit. Plus then I had use of my glove box and alarm reset key switch as you had to transfer these over from your stock pieces to Autoforms.
I think Ben Treynor has one in his yellow beast, check with him. It might be Tom Welch's bar though, can't remember. Ditto on re-using your existing body pieces after trimming them. Although the Autoform pieces are a no-brainer, I don't like the way they look. I think it looks much better if you get someone to do a trick job at modifying the stock panels. Also, weld it in as well after you bolt it in if you really want to be safe.
I have the bar in my '01 and there are some issues that you need to know about before continuing:
1)I had mine painted(powdercoat)yellow by AF. Only one bad spot on the bar(in the "bend" of the bar).
2)The replacement centerpiece that Autoform sends does not really look to good. I had my VT take the original piece and cut it out so I could use it. This is the only bad point of the install...there is nothing I could find to wrap around the bar where it extends into the bulkhead. Could look a lot bettter.
3)You will lose some seat position(backward) with the bar.
Overall the job looks good and I get a lot of compliments on the piece. PM if you need more info.
Clark
I have installed a few of these, including Sam Kelly's. The quality of paint on the bars were not to my liking so I had them reworked by my body shop to my standards. Also, the close out panel they provide is really meant for a racecar and not a street car. On Sam's car I custom cut and worked his factory panel to make it fit the bar and give it the look it should. Overall, the AF Roll Bar is a good piece and retains the stock seat belt shoulder harnesses that some bars on the market do not.
Not to hijack this thread but we do offer roll bars and will have another (6) of them available within the next week. From experience I can tell you that painting the bars will NOT hold up against normal wear and tear. We offer powdercoating on our bars as an option and can coat them in a number of colors. Check with a few of my customers concerning the fit and finish of these roll bars;
Lee Saunders, Mike Stoker, Mike Pavloff, Jack Bene', Scott P., Jamie Parker of HMS Venom 1000TT 156 mph fame, and over 50 others. Please contact us should you wish to speak with one or more of these Viper roll bar owners.
You can view pic's of the bars at our website at the link below. All of our bars come with the NHRA required sidebar, which is removable and the bar in no way inhibits seat travel or head and arm restrictions while driving. Remember that a roll bar AND IT'S ASSOCIATED APPROVED 5 WAY RESTRAINING BELT SYSTEM IS A REQUIREMENT at ANY NHRA drag racing facility. Should the bar NOT have a sidebar or 5 way restraint systems, the entire device is NOT legal.
Something to consider besides being NHRA legal is being legal period. Some states consider the roll bar illegal if it interferes with the stock seat belts and 5 pts are illegal. From what I understand the autoform allows you to use both belts, whichever you want to use at any time. A few others i talked to told me their roll bars blocked off the stock belts and rendered them unusable leaving only the 5 points. I would check the local laws and then check any vendor selling roll bars to see if you can still use the stock seat belts if it is needed in your state.
It would be a real pain to have to yank out a roll bar to get a fix it ticket signed off.
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