I installed a prototype GFL "Touring" bar on Friday and took a few pics of the process. The craftsmanship on these bars is absolutely OUTSTANDING! Well done, guys!

Here goes...

The inital test fit after removing all of the interior bits behind the seat, including the bulkhead. For future reference, you need to set that bulkhead back in place BEFORE you bolt the bar down.


checking top clearance


Drilled out and tapped the existing threads for this bigger bolt and just started the bolt.


Right-Rear leg plate


Left-Rear leg plate bolted down


Left-rear backing plate inside the fender


The hole that had to be cut in the driver's fender to mount the backing plate.


Another shot of the cutout to give perspective


Backing plate installed. The guys talked about trimming that corner on the final mounting plate so that it doesn't hang outside of the cavity.


Left side about to get the front bolts installed -- notice the bulkhead has not been reinstalled yet. Did I mention that you need to set it back in place BEFORE you bolt the bar down?


Bulkhead reinstalled. Just to be clear, you need to unbolt the bulkhead to get access to the bolt holes in the front mounting plates of the rollbar. You don't want to take it out comletely, though, because you can't get it back in with the bar bolted down. We found that out the hard way and had to unbolt all 4 legs of the rollbar to put the bulkhead back in. It only cost us about 45 minutes, though, and was the only real problem we encountered during the install.


Enough interior reinstalled to hit the road and autocross the next day.


Rear view.


And here we are in action:



One last thing I will mention is that some folks were asking about getting a gloss finish. Personally, I think the finish on the bar is absolutely PERFECT. It's not a flat black, but more of a semi-gloss/matte finish and matches the black trim on the car perfectly. Gloss would just look too shiny, unless you have a black car, IMO. Here's a good pic to illustrate. Just ignore the faded top and weather seals and look at the black trim on the body:

 

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Thanks for the detailed write up and congratulations on having bar #1.

We carefully considered various finishes and believe this color would not only contribute in a complimentary manner to the stock black-trim, but also wear more favorably than a high gloss finish over time.

 

Cool!

 

Hey, if anyone here is looking for a bolt-together version, I have the elda bar that was used to pattern this bar. It was re-powdercoated when they did that just a couple months ago, so it looks brand new.

Since I have no interior, I'd rather just have a fully-welded bar. PM me and I'd be willing trade my bolt-together Elda for a fully-welded version GFL bar (which I believe should be less expensive than the bolt-together GFL bar).

It'll have to be a local trade - I'm in the San Diego area.

BTW, I understand there are a few differences between the GFL bar and the Elda bar: The Elda bar has a square stock harness bar and the GFL uses a round harness bar; The Elda bar has thicker base plates; and the removable fittings/hardware are a little different.

*Edit: Just to further clarify... by "bolt-together" I mean my Elda has a diagonal brace and harness bar that are removable. The rest of it is solidly welded together. This is not a bolt-together like a crushco or anything like that.

 

You've about sold me on that bar. I was going to get the Mugen because I thought you lost seat room with yours. Now it looks like without the diagnal both seats can go all the way back and with, you lose some on the passenger side?

It's not clear to me. Could I bolt the factory hoops back in too?

It looks like it won't pass the boomstick test? Has that been a problem?

 

Depends on how tall you are and whether you are in a stock seat or a lower race seat.

 

Huh? Have you ever seen the Mugen? I have one in my garage right now that I'm going to install for a friend. I'll tell you now that you'll probably lose more space with the mugen bar then the Elda/GFL.

 

Yup. You have to or order extra parts (we don't sell) to mount your seatbelts to the roll bar.

 

You should put the factory hoops back in the car to mount the factory belts.