galaxy
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #1
Well, got my FatHouse roll bar in, and all I can say is just daammmnnnn sexy. Thought I'd post a couple gratuitous porn shots and talk these guys up a bit about the experience.
Fortunately for me, I lived close enough that I didn't want to pay the $350 in freight to ship this thing three hours down the road. Contacted Ben and Trevor at Fathouse about just coming to pick i up instead of shipping....aaannnndddd maybe hit you guys up for a shop tour! "Absolutely". $80 in gas vs $350 freight and a shop tour seemed like a fair trade to me, so off to indy I go!
Now I'm not taking anything away from Watson at all. Quite the contrary. I have a Watson car. But this bar is just soooo much sexier than the Watson. I haven't put a Watson in a 550, but this thing installed easier than the Watson in my 197 car. The foot mounting and rear bar mounting are darn identical to the Watson, with design being the biggest/only difference. Except this one is DOCOL R8, which I believe is about as light as the Watson CM bar. I got to see some raw, completed bars in the shop and welds are to die for. You almost just want to clearcoat a raw bar and throw that thing in the car!
Trevor showed me one-on-one every nook and cranny of the shops. I don't think there was a car sitting there that day under 1,000 hp. He even fired up a TT Motec 350 for me they were finishing up. Quite nasty. I cannot express the hospitality Trevor and these guys dished out for little 'ol me. Certainly won a loyal cutomer...if I could afford anything else from them, LOL.
Anywho...the roll bar was pretty darn straight forward install and if you really needed instructions, the Watson is a darn near identical install. If you're a gear head, you won't much need instructions for this. I found it to be a pretty basic job. I've read comments about the most treacherous part of the install is drilling through the floorboard for the rear bars. After doing this, I just really didn't see the need for the drama. There's truly no way to get it wrong. Once the main hoop was bolted in and the rear bars were securly fastened to the main hoop, the bolt plate on the rear bars sat flat on the floor and in one spot. And they straddled that underside beam perfectly. I used the actual foot plates as a template instead of trying to reinvent the wheel. They don't move, so it's not like you have options where to mark and drill. And the holes were in the perfect spots for the floorboard. A testament to the accuracy of the build. The only tolerance may be in the car itself, but the bar is perfect. Had zero issues.
Getting the interior trimmed perfect was a much bigger battle, less enjoyable job, than the bar itself. I did screw up the holes through the seat delete panel a tad bit. That's a tough nut to crack. BUT, fortunately for me, even though I didn't get the holes a perfect size and fit perfectly around the bar, I did get them symmetrical and both sides the same, thus it's not much of an eyesore. I think only the pickiest of the picky would ever notice, and even then, fuck off - I did it myself, LOL ;) I nailed it pretty good around the feet of the main hoop, so I'm pretty happy with the tradeoff.
OH - and one final conversation I found interesting - During all the car talk, I brought up tunes and the fact I was shopping for one. Really long story short, Trevor said there's only two options for tuning (in their opinion, of course); Corbin Johnson (who does ALL their in house tuning as it is) or Lund. The Lund statement caught me off guard just a bit, but maybe not. Curious if you guys had any thoughts on that. I took it as a pretty darn high praise for either company and I must say it altered my shoppping direction.
So, sorry for the novel, enjoy and let me know if ya got any questions.
And a big shout out to @GB17shelbyGT350R ! He's got a FatHouse bar and was an amazing source of info when needed for the install. Thanks brotha!
Fortunately for me, I lived close enough that I didn't want to pay the $350 in freight to ship this thing three hours down the road. Contacted Ben and Trevor at Fathouse about just coming to pick i up instead of shipping....aaannnndddd maybe hit you guys up for a shop tour! "Absolutely". $80 in gas vs $350 freight and a shop tour seemed like a fair trade to me, so off to indy I go!
Now I'm not taking anything away from Watson at all. Quite the contrary. I have a Watson car. But this bar is just soooo much sexier than the Watson. I haven't put a Watson in a 550, but this thing installed easier than the Watson in my 197 car. The foot mounting and rear bar mounting are darn identical to the Watson, with design being the biggest/only difference. Except this one is DOCOL R8, which I believe is about as light as the Watson CM bar. I got to see some raw, completed bars in the shop and welds are to die for. You almost just want to clearcoat a raw bar and throw that thing in the car!
Trevor showed me one-on-one every nook and cranny of the shops. I don't think there was a car sitting there that day under 1,000 hp. He even fired up a TT Motec 350 for me they were finishing up. Quite nasty. I cannot express the hospitality Trevor and these guys dished out for little 'ol me. Certainly won a loyal cutomer...if I could afford anything else from them, LOL.
Anywho...the roll bar was pretty darn straight forward install and if you really needed instructions, the Watson is a darn near identical install. If you're a gear head, you won't much need instructions for this. I found it to be a pretty basic job. I've read comments about the most treacherous part of the install is drilling through the floorboard for the rear bars. After doing this, I just really didn't see the need for the drama. There's truly no way to get it wrong. Once the main hoop was bolted in and the rear bars were securly fastened to the main hoop, the bolt plate on the rear bars sat flat on the floor and in one spot. And they straddled that underside beam perfectly. I used the actual foot plates as a template instead of trying to reinvent the wheel. They don't move, so it's not like you have options where to mark and drill. And the holes were in the perfect spots for the floorboard. A testament to the accuracy of the build. The only tolerance may be in the car itself, but the bar is perfect. Had zero issues.
Getting the interior trimmed perfect was a much bigger battle, less enjoyable job, than the bar itself. I did screw up the holes through the seat delete panel a tad bit. That's a tough nut to crack. BUT, fortunately for me, even though I didn't get the holes a perfect size and fit perfectly around the bar, I did get them symmetrical and both sides the same, thus it's not much of an eyesore. I think only the pickiest of the picky would ever notice, and even then, fuck off - I did it myself, LOL ;) I nailed it pretty good around the feet of the main hoop, so I'm pretty happy with the tradeoff.
OH - and one final conversation I found interesting - During all the car talk, I brought up tunes and the fact I was shopping for one. Really long story short, Trevor said there's only two options for tuning (in their opinion, of course); Corbin Johnson (who does ALL their in house tuning as it is) or Lund. The Lund statement caught me off guard just a bit, but maybe not. Curious if you guys had any thoughts on that. I took it as a pretty darn high praise for either company and I must say it altered my shoppping direction.
So, sorry for the novel, enjoy and let me know if ya got any questions.
And a big shout out to @GB17shelbyGT350R ! He's got a FatHouse bar and was an amazing source of info when needed for the install. Thanks brotha!
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