Tony_the_Brit
Well-Known Member
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Hi all - I'm new here. This is my 1st thread.
As many have, I'm sure, I spent some of my lock-down time on the car. I learned a few things about the process of installing the roll bar, seat delete and harnesses so thought that I would share them. I'm quite sure that most or all of the points will have been posted elsewhere but I'm hoping that this will be useful nonetheless.
I'm not going to go through the whole install as Watson does that pretty well in their instructions. These are just helpful (I hope) hints and suggestions...
As many have, I'm sure, I spent some of my lock-down time on the car. I learned a few things about the process of installing the roll bar, seat delete and harnesses so thought that I would share them. I'm quite sure that most or all of the points will have been posted elsewhere but I'm hoping that this will be useful nonetheless.
I'm not going to go through the whole install as Watson does that pretty well in their instructions. These are just helpful (I hope) hints and suggestions...
- I would remove the front seats - especially if you are going to install harnesses at the same time as you will have to get the seats out to do that properly.
- If you have a big pillow or two or big pieces of foam, place them on the floor so you can kneel comfortably (I'm not young so this was especially helpful). Also put something over the lip of the trunk as you will spend some considerable time either hanging over it or climbing in and out of the trunk (if you are smaller than me).
- I found that the bottom main mounts of the bar are about 1/2" narrower than the actual car is at that point. If you just bolt them up you will be placing some considerable strain on both the car and the bar. This may also explain some of the fitment issues some have reported. I made up 1/4" thick steel shims with slots in them for the bolts (2 for each side) and slid them into place after positioning the bar and before tightening. You could also use washers but I'm not sure how that would affect the safety of the bar.
- I advise tightening the rear bars to the main bar but not the main bar to the floor before measuring/marking the mounting hole locations in the trunk. In my case I made up templates of the bottom of the bars in cardboard so after marking the outlines on the floor I could drill using the templates.
- Be super-careful before drilling. There is a fuel pipe right below on the driver's side that is not mentioned in the Watson instructions and it would be a significant job in itself to remove it. Luckily I have some very short drills from years ago that would not go much beyond the actual floor so was safe.
- After marking the outline of the rear bar mounts I actually placed the templates (and therefore drilled the holes) in slightly different locations so as to even out the positions. I moved the passenger one inwards somewhat and the driver's side outwards. Since I was not going to be removing the bar I'm not to concerned about the slight stress making it harder to undo or do up the joints between the rear bars and the main bar.
- Remove the differential cooler duct/cover underneath the car before you try to do anything there. It is easy to remove and replace - take the front 2 bolts out first, then remove all of the rear clips and it will drop down and hang nicely on 2 hangers above the front bolts. Then just unhook it. This was a nice bit of design Ford.
- When reinstalling the interior side trim in the rear passenger compartment you will find that the white push pins are mounted to the trim in such a way that you can remove them, push them into their positions in the side of the car and then when you replace the trim they will slot back into it if you pull it in the right direction while pressing it towards the skin of the car. This is waaay easier than trying to push them into their holes. Nevertheless, this is the worst bit of the entire job.
- The Watson seat delete kit was actually pretty easy to install and the bar holes were spot-on.
- I did not cut and replace the seat belt trims as suggested. I bought some self-adhesive black Velcro loop and cut it to size. It covers the holes nicely and since everything is black back there it is hard to see what has been done.
- I placed 2 old pillows underneath first as a bit of soundproofing. They also provide support. My old pillows fitted perfectly but some might need to be made smaller to fit. This would be a great place to get rid of your old "MyPillows" as their adaptability would be useful here (and I decided I preferred latex pillows anyway).
- If you want extra sound-proofing to replace the rear seat backs I would obtain 3" high-density foam and glue it to the back of the seat delete back. If you can't get black foam, cover it with black trim similar to what is already on the back which should be pretty easy to get online. It is dark back there in the trunk so will not be obvious if you do a reasonable job. I haven't bothered so far because I like to hear the exhaust when not in Sport mode to aid my gear-changes. Another alternative I'm considering is to sandwich the foam using a thin sheet of plywood on the back - I would just spray it satin black.
- There are several ways to mount the harness lap belts:
- On the inside you can bolt them to the seat where the regular seat belts attach. Make sure that you get bendable type bolt-on buckles.
- If you are not going to use the regular seat belt at all, there is a handy-dandy "tooth" sticking out from the seat that allows you to clip the seat belt receiver to the seat so it is parallel to the floor and out of the way. I installed a "cheater" in the receiver so that I would not have any chimes.
- On the outside you can bolt them to the mounting point of the seat belt itself again.
- Or you can use a flexible adapter and bolt down with the seat floor mounting bolt (you will need to slightly modify the plastic cover).
- Or as a 3rd choice, you can use a clip type attachment and clip it to the same place that the OEM lap belt attaches to the flexible extension.
- I chose to mount the driver's harness permanently and put the OEM belts out of the way but the passenger side is clip-in for both sides of the lap belts so I can take them out.
- The Schroth harnesses I got are 4-point with 3" shoulder belts (for comfort). I am using the OEM seats (they are not Recaros - I'm 6'3" 230lbs). I find that the harness makes up for the lesser amount of side-support with the seat so I'm not holding myself in place around roundabouts etc.
- I do not have any problems with the rearward seat position conflicting with the bar as I don't recline much anyway. The wheel doesn't come back far enough for me to be able to reach it properly if I go further back.
- One thing that bugs me is the moving of the seat back when I get out - it will try to move the seat further back than it can actually go. Also, if you are not careful, you may adjust your harness with it back and then it will try to crush you when it moves forward! Does anyone know how to stop the car moving the seats?? I haven't found it in the menus.
- This was definitely an occasion that I was glad I had invested in a scissor hoist for my garage some years back. Using an old typist's chair with casters makes it super-comfy when you are trying to get nuts on bolts under the car.
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