Spf Rollbar

[agro1]

How do you remove the rollbar from an SPF ?? I got it un-bolted from inside the car and the trunk, but the third mount, the bottom of the hoop that is next to the shock perch behind the left rear wheel, looks like it is permanatly installed. There was no bolt to take out

It looked like there was a pin or rivit of some sort that was holding it into the frame that wouldn't come out ??? Any suggestions ??

[Mr.Fixit]

Remove the cross bolt from the long "forward right" hoop leg. Remove the angled leg that goes into the trunk, remove it's mount as well. The short leg that mounts over the coil spring, just slides down over a nub on the frame, no bolt to remove there.

So remove the rear bar so it is just a hoop, then pull hoop straight up, it can be a little difficult, sometimes they want to be tapped in 'out with a deadblow hammer, using a towel as a buffer.

[frankym]

I just installed my new taller roll bar, you'll need to drill off the rivet head with about a 5/16 bit, once the top of the rivet is sheered off, take a nail set punch and gingerly tap the pin until you can pull the top hoop out. Also remember to unbolt the 2 bolts that secure the anchor in the trunk (in addition to the single bolt and nut in the trunk). email me at fmm204@stern.nyu.edu and if you want to call me I'll give you my number.


frank

[agro1]

Fixit - as frankym said - it looks like there is a rivit head that is holding the short leg of the rollbar...Do you NEED to drill this out to remove it ?? Or, does it just slide over this thing ??? And if you DO drill the rivit head - what do you replace it with ???? Thanks for the quick replies guys.

[frankym]

I tried to sheer it off with a chisel but it didn't budge, as for securing the new bar to the same spot, I found that when secured in only 2 spots, it shifted a bit. I drilled a new 1/8 hole and then bought some 10-16x3/4 self drilling screws. I bored the screws into the hole and kept inserting new screws to avoid snapping the screws. Sure enough I sheered the head of the screw. WIth that, I took a nail set, set it over the screw remains, and tapped it a few times to mushroom the screw a little, it seems to fit just fine, if I need to replace it, I can always drill it out. It's pretty solid now, and it looks pretty good. I was going to treat the bare steel with phosphate wash after sanding it down and then clear it. But I wound up just hitting it with high gloss epoxy paint from VHT, it's called roll bar paint. it gets a nice glossy finish that's pretty smooth and it can be fine sanded with 1500-2000 grit paper and then compounded to a miror like finish. The black looks pretty tuff, and it matches the interior nicely, in fact, the leather wrapped wheel gets a little accentuated.

I think the ideal way to secure the other end of the hoop would be to drill and tap the bar and solid nipple, and then just thread a bolt throuhg it, but my knuckles were ripped to shreds getting that damn pro 5.0 shifter tower. man that thing is tuff, it's not so much the limited space to access the bolts, nor is it the limited turning capability of the socket ratchets in the confined space, it's that those bolts are secured with loc-tite, so every 1/8 turn required a lot of effort.

[agro1]

frankym - Thanks for the info, very helpful stuff. The taller roll bar looks really nice - I like the black finish. I got one of the few cars that came with the roll bar chromed and I like the way it matches all the chrome in the cockpit, windsheild, etc...You had to drill holes in the new roll bar right ??

Gotta love busted knuckles though when you get everything done and have your hands on the wheel cruising down the road. Thanks again.

[frankym]

you will definitely have to drill the holes in the roll bar. The other place you'll have to drill a hole is in the black bar that sits in the trunk. The exitisng hole there will not meet the 3rd leg, it's shorter than the stock one. but the anchor on the floor behind the driver seat is fine, just measure where the hole needs to be on the roll bar (while it's dry fit, mark a center line and then the distance you'll need to pin point along that marked center line. To ensure that the bolt will pass all the way through both sides of the pipe on this lower mount, after you've measured where the hole should be, drill only that one side of the pipe and then refit the roll bar. after you put the roll bar back into position, check to make sure that the bolt enters one side of the pipe. If it does, great, using a slighly smaller drill bit, insert the drill bit or a punch or something so that you can drill the hole across the pipe so that it lines up exactly, in my case, the hole I drilled on the other side didn't match up exactly so I put a metal blade on a jig saw to adjust the size of the hole so that the bolt slips all the way through, this will make more sense later. Basically, after you drill that first hole and the bolt lines up on one side, you will marke the inner tube with the smaller bit or punch, remove the hoop and stick the correct size bit through that first hole and drill right on the mark that you punched or set. more I think about it, if you can get the dealer to install it for $70 bucks, that's a good deal, because it will take you a good 3 hours the first time through, and only 40 minutes on the second one. it was fun doing it yourself though, and in the spirit of bruised knuckles, enjoy the journey!

[Ed_spf1255]

Hey frankym,
I don't have anything to add to the discussion of the taller roll-bar. I just put one in and my experience was similar to other writers.

What caught my eye was your reference to the Pro 5.0 installation. I have been planning to put one in spf 1255.
Any other comments / suggestions? Did you learn anything in doing the installation that would have made it easier if you had known it up front?
Thanks,
Ed

[frankym]

Ed, the technical bulletin on SCOF does talk about the installation, however, most of the nitty gritty is explained (purportedly) by reference to another bulletin on SCOF about transmission removal? there must be a way to either remove the tunnel section of the cockpit, but it didn't look (from under the car at least) as though there is a way to remove the cover. After getting the top tower off, I installed my new tower by dismantling it into 2 main sections, the large base will fit from underneath, and then the hole cutout in the console just need to be widend only enough to fit the top ring of the tower. Had I known about the impossibility of fitting the entire tower from underneath between the drive shaft, I would not have wasted time trying to get it to fit, or other maneuvers to get it all assembled and on top, lined up with the holes. I also reused the plastic socket liner, suggest you do the same.

[Mr.Fixit]

You can remove the tranny tunnel on SPF's but you need to pull up the carpet on the tunnel around the edges to access the screws that hold it on. The carpet often streched a bit when doing that. Afer the screws are removed, it is held on by the parking brake, and a sufficient amount of goey black windshield sealer, aka: dum-dum.

[craigayl]

Removing the tunnel makes it easiest to replace the shifter, but it can be done without removing the tunnel.

First remove the shift lever (4 small bolts), then the 6 bolts holding the shifter in. The two forward most are the biggest chalange. then remove shifter from under the car. The new one in installed in the reverse order.

[frankym]

couple points to make, I found that the only bolts related to the old shifter requiring removal were the 6 along the base plate. Curious if I had removed the upper 4 if it would have allowed for more room to turn the 6 bolts from inside the cockpit as opposed to underneath the car. Those 6 bolts had some kind of loctite agent, which made the bolts very difficult to remove, especially from underneath the car. The Pro 5 unit I purchased could not be installed from underneath in one piece, as the unit would not slip between the drive shaft. Maybe my tower was bigger than his (haha) or the drive line was positioned differently. If memory serves, the top 4 bolts mentioned in the previous post would not have enabled the turnning of the socket wrench from above the car, but I could be wrong, if that's the case, wish I had known, since it took me about an hour to remove the 6 bolts from underneath the car, and many cuts and scrapes. I also needed to use a small pry bar to get leverage on the socket wrench to break each of the 6 bolts initially.

[craigayl]

Yes frankym. By pulling the shift lever out of the base (4 small bolts) you can remove the 6 bolts for the top. Still not easy, but that's how I did it. And yes, the loctite used on the 6 bolts makes the job even harder.

The lever can be removed from the PRO5 in the same way (4 alen head bolts). Then reinstall the lever from the top. Depending on the size of the hole in your tunnel. you may have to enlarge it a little to get the PRO5 lever assemble down through it.

[frankym]

craig where were you last week that would have made my life a lot easier to unbolt from the top, live and learn I guess. The instructions with the pro 5 are intended for mustangs, so these little details would have been very helpful. I did the install exactly as you suggested, but the removal would have been much easier by first removing the upper component via the 4 allen bolts on the stock tower.

[Ed_spf1255]

Glad I asked! Is this site great, or what?
Ed