Last night we finished the re-install of the Autopower roll bar now that it has been painted CW. I snapped some pics today since it was too dark last night.

Now that the install is complete, I will be writing a tutorial for the whole job, with TONS of pics. If you have specific questions about the bar, please feel free to ask. Otherwise, I'm sure the tutorial will answer most of your questions about the general work involved.

But enough yapping!


From the rear with full interior!





With the seats out of the way:





Here's how it looks with everything in place for driving:




...and a bonus pic

 

sweet!

one question though...does it matter if there's that much gap between the top of the bar and roof?

yoshi - who's not sure

 

looks good!
i didn't think i would like the white, but it really does look nice.

argiris

 

I measured a 1/4" gap at the corners, and a 2" gap along the roof. As it is, I'm worried about getting roll bar padding in there (the corners, that is).

Any taller and it wouldn't have cleared the corners, and you don't want to contour the top bar (bend it) or it won't hold up against any lateral forces in a roll.

I hope I never get to use this thing

 

WOW looks nice!!!! Where can I order one? And what's it gonna cost me?

crashnburn< who like's the roll bar!!!

 

I had some requests for this pic:

 

Nice pics!

Would it be possible to remove enough to SAFELY carry a baby seat in the rear?

Thanks. I would like to get one, only if my daughter can ride in it during the week!

Prices and dealer info please!!!

 

That looks kick a$$. I like the white too. If I ever get a rollbar, its probably gonna be white as well...interior gutted of course

 

wow, the rearview is fairly restricted.
the good thing is, if you ever did roll over, the view would be unchanged....

 

Hey now... it's rollbar padding... it's compressible. Just shove it in and ziptie it! If you want to make it look really clean, use a razor blade the cut the padding at an angle so you join the two pieces of padding together smoothly at the corners. Thank you krshultz for this tip! Done well, the padding will look so smooth you can almost call it "tight" BTW, the rearward visibility gets even worse when you pad the rollbar.

The center section can be a real pain in the butt to put back if you remove it. I've found the best way to bolt it back in is to do all the bolts but the passenger's side upper mount. Then you give it the heave-ho and slip the bolt in since it's a reasonably good place to lift from.

Chris, I wouldn't want my baby (if I had one) back there Metal bars in front of its face just seems like a bad idea. If the center is removed, then I think that would be okay. With the center in, it would be a serious effort to get the child into the backseat, and said child would be quite disagreeable about the process. On the other hand, my nephews have seen the rollbar... and now my car is a "racecar" according to them because of the rollbar and SCCA stickers. This rocks, my car is now a racecar! Thanks kids!

 

Thanks for the reply.

I have the IO Port (Stable Energies)camera bar/mount in there right now and she just ducks under it!

I would only have to "put it together" a few times a year (I dont get to the track that often, and dont autoX much).

I agree with all that metal. that is why I ask. Would enough of it be removable to accomadate a little one *safely*.


Thanks again...anymore insight???

 

O.k. guys I've found this site, and the prices seem fair for what they are... check it out: http://www.ioportracing.com/ I couldn't figure out which style he has.... I realy like the Idea of the removable bars for passengers...

crashnburn

 

so how much interior did you have to modify? cut armrests or dashes?

 

I see the rear seats are still in the car...is it even possible to get to them without serious acrobatics? Looks great, gonna have to add a bar to the ever-growing list of crap I want...time to start playing lotto.

 

I'd feel pretty decent about a kiddie seat in the back with the center section removed. I padded my rollbar most of the way down to the floor, so there is no metal exposed. It should be softer than any other part of the adjacent interior IMO so I'd imagine it's okay.

Backseat access- if the center section is installed... good luck. I contorted myself into the backseat just to see if it could done, and I've concluded that it's not problem if you're Gumby. However, any other semi-normal human being is going to have serious issues getting back there. It's much easier than that to open the trunk and step into the backseat, although I wouldn't want to put anyone back there with all that metal in front of them. As far as throwing stuff into the backseat... it's not too bad for that. I did figure out a nifty little trick. Our Integra seatbacks are REALLY easy to remove. There's one clip on the outer mount that you remove, and then you can slide the seatback outwards and this will disengage it from the inner-side mount. This is a useful trick if you want to fold the seatbacks down. Once the seatback is free, you thread the seatback top under the rear rollbar posts and then reinstall it in the mounts. Yay, folded seats and carrying capacity!

As for interior modification... the rear speakers have to go because the rear posts of the rollbar goes through the speaker holes. There MIGHT be some way to put it together and keep the speakers... but I didn't figure it out. The plastic sidepanels will press against the rear mounting posts fairly hard when installed, so you might want to trim some of the plastic away to allow more room. That's it thought, and you just cut the carpeting to mount the main hoop. For mine, the carpet was cut on three sides, creating a flap which fits over the mounting plate to keep things looking nice.

Any other questions?

 

Yeah you got any detal shots of the speaker grill issue?? Did you use this same kit, is this a special order??

crashnburn

 

Thanks! I will call them tomorrow!

As for all that metal...I think I heard somewhere it is ILLEAGAL to sit someone in the rear seats with a roll bar (roll bar+head=hurt).

As for my daughter, the seat is deep enough to protect her from hitting the bars. I think it will be OK.

 

Okay, let me see if I can answer all of your questions (and a "thank you " to AcuraRacer111 for your input).

Where/how much?

I bought the bar from I/O Port racing over the phone. They replied to a dozen e-mail questions of mine, so I wanted to do business with them. They will take good care of you. However, your bar is shipped from Autopower, not I/O Port, and they make it when you buy it so there will be no rush orders. You pay for shipping when in arrives. Check out
http://www.ioportracing.com/rollbar.htm

for more info, including pricing. In addition to their price, shipping cose ME (yours might be more/less) $55 and the primer/paint was $100.

Back seat:

Pretty much useless with the center bars in place, like 111 said. I race WAY more than I use the back seat, so the bars are in unless I need to use the back seat, not the other way around. However, if you race infrequently but use the back seat a lot, you can keep them out until you need it. Fully padded, the bar isn't too dangerous for rear seat riders if the center bars are removed. NO WAY would I put someone back there with the bars in place.

Style:

Is the RACE ROLLBAR with the removable cross bar and harness bar option.

Removable bars:

I had heard that there is a great effort involved in removing/replacing these bars. Maybe I got lucky, or maybe I was just really careful during the install, but my harness bar and cross brace go in/out with ease. The holes line up perfectly, and I can do it myself in under 5 min.

Speaker grill problem:

I removed my rear speakers, and I didn't try to keep them (sound like crap anyway). I have heard that other people have been able to keep them if you relocate them forward 3". I also had to remove the speaker grille, but I intend to make a cut-out for the bar and replace the grille. I don't have ANY pressure being placed on any of the side panels by the rear bars. Again, maybe I got lucky or maybe I just did a very **** install, but there is no rubbing, no marks, and no tension.

Interior:

Full, uncut, unmoved, undestroyed, except for a small (3") slit on the carpet floor on either side and the speaker grilles. No plastic was trimmed, and no animals were harmed in the making of this rollbar.

Rear seats:

Don't fold down. I like 111's idea, and will use it to make room for race tires.

Again, I have detailed pics of EVERYTHING in triplicate. I hope to have the tutorial up soon.

Anything else?

 

another quick one... with the harness bar in can I move the seat (driver/navigator) all the way back? We are tall people, and NEED the leg room. Oh one other... where did you get the paint? Does any pro-paint shop carry the Acura colors? thanks again.... let us know when the tutorial is up, I'm sure it will help a ton!!

thanks Jason

 

crashnburn,

In their upright position, both seats go back all the way. At that point, they can be reclined about 5 inches (just about right if you 7'4").

I had the paint done at a friends body shop. They have a paint mixer, so I just gave them the paint code and they made it.

 

Back when i was in college i used to have a autopower roll cage (non- removable cross member) my friends use to refer to it as the "death trap" as anyone sitting there during an accident would be well, dead. As far as putting a babyseat back there... hmmmmm... IMHO i wouldn't do that for any amount of money in the world, taking a chance that your child could hit their head on a bar or be trapped in the car in the event of an accident is DEFINETELY not worth it to me. When accidents happen stuff gets twisted, mangled, and tossed around, on the off chance that the carseat lunges forward, i don't think anyone would want to have their childs death on their concience... at least i wouldn't. What others said above about passengers is also true, you can pretty much forget about it, unless your passengers just don't care... ahhahahha.. like many of my friends in college.... regardless if someone is willing to get back there with the cage of death, it's really really uncomfortable. I took the cage out (actually the theives that took my car did , but i was planning to anyway)... thanks to the theives I could start carrying more than one person in my car... ahhaha... oh yeah, this was in my 93 hatch.

 

I'm digging the fact the cage matches your exterior

 

Not to be pushy, but how close are you to finishing the write up?? *sorry*

crashnburn

 

LOL!

Fine, fine, I'll get back to work! Jeez

I have edited all 15+ megs of pictures for size and content (down from 30 megs) and I have a second draft of the text done. I have someone to host it for me, so it should be up soon. I'm glad there is so much interest!

 

Thanks... safty first! I've got the ball rolling on my cage, Ken is a great guy and easy to talk to... The only reason I ask is that I want to have all my ducks in a row when I start, and having a knowledgable person with a write up helps a ton!!! Thanks again for taking the time do all this for us (Honda-Tech members)!

Jason