Installation of AutoPower Race Roll bar, with removable cross bar and harness bar.
Subaru Impreza WRX


Standard Disclaimer: Use of the following instructions can and will lead to injury, disfigurement, death, premature baldness, uncontrollable flatulence, and loss of saliva control. Performing modifications to your vehicle will void your vehicle's warrantee, as well as the vehicle warrantees of all your family, close friends, and a couple of innocent bystanders. The following instructions are for educational use only. I make no guarantees of any kind, at any time, that this will work. Never do this to your car. Don't read, follow, or even consider doing this modification to your car, and especially not the way herein described. I am an idiot, and these are the nonsensical ramblings that I am allowed to type before the nurse on my ward comes by at medication time.

Notes:

1. You really need two people for this- the bar is awkward and you will be moving it a lot.
2. In a nutshell, this installation is: Place the bar, drill the holes, and bolt it in.
3. Good luck ever getting warantee service for the car again after installing a race roll bar.

Tools:

1. 9/16" deep socket, 9/16" regular socket, and/or a 9/16" box wrench.
2. 1/2" wrench or socket
3. Razor blade
4, Drill with 3/8" bit
5. Spray Can of undercoating

Procedure:

1. Take the kit apart when you get it, discard all the packing material, wrapping, etc. Throw away useless instructions.

2. Remove the back seats. (Two bolts for the bottom of the seat, four bolts for the top of the seat.) You can remove the plastic around the wheelwell/footwell area, to keep it from getting scratched up, or you can just be more careful than I was.

2. Place the main rollbar piece in the car, with the AUTOPOWER sticker facing forward. I had to take some time with a friend to work it in there- run the seats all the way forward, and put the seatbacks forward too. Remove the headrests. Have patience, it will fit in there. You might even want to wrap the feet of the bar in something protective so you don't maul your paint job.

3. After it is in, place the bar as far forward in the car as it will go- right up against the seats. Locate the rear arms and slip them onto the bar. The arms will mount with the square plate at the end facing IN, with the two bolts on the botton, and one bolt on the top. The edge of the bar should be touching the metal flange at the very edge of the inside of the car. (Near the wheelwell). Bolt the arms into the bar finger tight. NOTE: I had to remove my "Oh Sh*t handles",or Chickensticks, or coathangers or whatever you call them above the door in order for the bar to fit. Pop off the two end caps and unscrew the two phillips screws.

4. Position the bar. Run it backwards until the rear arms touch the wheelwell- they should be flat and flush with the metal (the soundproof matting, actually). The feet of the bar should be as far back as they can go along the flat part of the floor of the car- just before it starts to rise up a bit.

5. Make sure it is in the position where you will want it. Mark where the bottom plates are on the carpet with chalk or marker.

6.Move the bar forward again, so you have a clear place to work. Either cut a hole in the carpet where the plates will go, or cut an "X" into the carpet. When you have the holes cut, move the bar back into postion. Make sure that the rear arm plates are still flush with the wheelwell.

7. You can either mark the positions of the bolt holes, and move the bar again for drilling, or you can just drill through the holes when the bar is in position. I did the latter. The metal is very soft, and you can go through it easily. Be careful though, because sometimes the metal will partially let the drill though, but not make a full sized hole, which basically spits the drill in and out when you put it in forward or reverse. Keep working with it- this feature is only dangerous when you are drilling near the wheel well- you don't want to drill through a nice set of tires!

8. After drilling all 6 holes for the bottom plates, put bolts through them to keep them in place. Go to the plates on the rear arms, mark the position of those holes, and/or drill them with the plates in place. BE CAREFUL that you don't drill right through your tires. You may want to mark the holes positions, move the bar, then jack up the rear of the car and put it on jackstands to make sure. DO NOT jack up the car and then mark the holes, because putting the car on jackstand could torque the car about enough to change the position of the bar when it is back on the ground.

9. When all the holes are drilled, move the bar forward again, cover up the holes on the insides of the car with rags, get under the car, and spray the holes with rustproofing or undercoating to prevent rust on your newly exposed metal.

10. Move the bar back into position, and bolt it in place, using the backing plates on the underside of the car and in the wheelwell. I put the bolts facing upwards with the nuts on the inside of the car so I could a) access them more easily, b) check for eventual loosening, and c) provide plenty of clearance for the tires and the underside of the car. Bolt in the main bar first, making it tight, then bolt in the rear arms. I'm not sure what tolerances these things are built to, but I had about a quarter inch of space (i.e. NOT flush) in back of one of my rear arms. I just bolted it down tight, which eventually brought it in tight contact with the wheelwell. Use locktite on the nuts and bolts, and put two nuts on each bolt in order to ensure long term tightness.

[CAPTION: Bar bolted down, just one nut so far.]
[CAPTION: Backing plate, pre-undercoating, Wheelwell, Driver's side]

 [CAPTION: Backing plate, pre-undercoating, Wheelwell, passenger side]

[CAPTION: Backing plate, pre-undercoating, underside, passenger side]

11. When the main bar is in place, bolt in the arms in tightly. Tighten everything down. Reinstall any plastic you may have taken out. Reinstall the back seat. You will have to fit it around the rear arms, but it will fit in there pretty well. Bolt in the crossbar (The head restraint piece nut is 1/2", the rest is all 9/16"). Bolt in the harnessbar.

[CAPTION: Finished Product!]

[CAPTION: Finished product from the other side]

12. When it is all back together, spray the backing plates under the car and in the wheelwell with rustproofing and/or undercoating to prevent rust.

13. That's it! Make sure there are no extra nuts or bolts lying around that you forgot about, and make sure you got all the tools out from the interior and from under the car. Take the car down, and go for a drive. You probably want to wrap protective foam around any part of the bar that you may encounter with force during a crash. You don't want to bust your head open or break an arm on the bar.

[CAPTION: Bling bling! Instant parking lot cred! (It seems like the boy likes it too. )]