Autoform 2008 Vert Roll Bar Install

[FrgMstr]

Figured I would start posting up some pictures of the latest project. Steve over at Autoform (http://www.autoformgroup.com/) built me a beauty of a roll bar for my Gen IV Vert.

http://kylebennett.com/files/hfpics/Rollbar%20in%20Crate.jpg

Started here.

http://kylebennett.com/files/hfpics/Roll%20Bar%20Install%201.jpg

Got everything OE removed. Anyone that tells you the stock hoops are "crap" are simply wrong. Those things are tremendously engineered. I have done a lot of research on Vert roll overs, and until the recent accident I saw pictures of from Houston, I had never seen those collapsed. That said, when I saw the horrible accident in Houston, and the resulting injuries, I gave Autoform a call and ordered mine.

http://kylebennett.com/files/hfpics/Roll%20Bar%20Install%206.jpg

Hole 1 cut.

http://kylebennett.com/files/hfpics/Roll%20Bar%20Install%207.jpg

Hole 2 cut. Not my prettiest work, but got it done.

http://kylebennett.com/files/hfpics/Roll%20Bar%20Install%208.jpg

All the plastic trimmed up in back deck that supports the convertible top when down. I am not putting the rear tweeters back in, so those of you that want to replace those, do NOT cut it this way.

http://kylebennett.com/files/hfpics/Roll%20Bar%20Install%209.jpg

Got it in place and started fitting up the top portion at the bulkhead. You want to make sure you do this so that the top will clear the bar. It does, and fits properly when fully locked in the up position.

http://kylebennett.com/files/hfpics/Roll%20Bar%20Install%2010.jpg

I had some concerns about how it was all fitting together and pinged Steve with an email last night and this was his reply.


Keep going Kyle…it will work. Here is a picture of a bar in our fixture with a couple of arrows that point to the areas that we are concerned about…as you can see the bar is pretty heavily fixtured to try and keep all of the points in place. There is a chance the tube can move around in a few areas where it is not fixtured…but those are not areas of concern. This is a tough bar to bend and manufacture…lots of points to worry about.

Just remember you are trying to stuff a bunch of tubing…configured to save your life.. in an area that was not designed to the have extra room for something like this. EVERYTHING is tight…to the point of almost not working…but that is how it needs to be.
It will all work…the only problems that I have seen are the top not latching correctly…which can be the plastic trimming issue that you brought up…but it looks like you will be okay. The other is fitment of the panel…remember…that panel is hand made by Sue and hand trimmed by Dave…

The panel doesn't really fit differently for everyone…but realistically, fit depends on the customers personal attention to detail…if it doesn't fit perfectly a little trimming and sanding of the fiberglass in problem areas will go a long way.

Let me know how it ends up. I do what I can from a computer…but trust me…it would be easier and less stressful for me to tell you to get out of my way and I’ll just do it for you ; )

So with a big thanks to Steve for giving me back my confidence, I am moving forward this afternoon. Fun stuffs. My next door neighbor was watching me beat the roll bar into place using a dead blow hammer last night and should have seen the look on his face. Funny stuffs.

More updates in a day or two.

[98intrigue]

Thanks for this. This is on my list of things to do to mine and will be a good reference. Do you have a link to the accident you speak of?

[PaulP]

Frgmstr, looking good man nice setup, how hard was it cutting your car up lol? little nerve racking ?

[FrgMstr]

Cutting holes in it with a rototool and beating it into submission with a dead blow hammer is somewhat cathartic. But I have had it for 3 years, so I wore the new off a long time ago.

[J TNT]

Looks good ! How does the finish of the panel compare to the factory panel ?

[Ohiotj]

I hope everything works out good for you. I too have an autoform rollbar but on my gen 1. To be honest I am not pleased with the overall purchase. When the time is right I will post more about my experience, install, mutiple failed tech inspections, and communications with Steve. I will say steve never failed to reply to my emails and we have both been nice to each other but we disagree about what was said during the purchase of the rollbar.

[cubican]

That's looking great Kyle, keep up the good work.

[FrgMstr]

Follow up install and finish photos. Will get a write up on install done in a couple days.

http://kylebennett.com/files/hfpics/Roll%20Bar%20Install%2011.jpg

http://kylebennett.com/files/hfpics/Roll%20Bar%20Install%2012.jpg

http://kylebennett.com/files/hfpics/Roll%20Bar%20Install%2013.jpg

http://kylebennett.com/files/hfpics/Roll%20Bar%20Install%2014.jpg

http://kylebennett.com/files/hfpics/Roll%20Bar%20Install%2015.jpg

http://kylebennett.com/files/hfpics/Roll%20Bar%20Install%2016.jpg

http://kylebennett.com/files/hfpics/Roll%20Bar%20Install%2017.jpg

http://kylebennett.com/files/hfpics/Roll%20Bar%20Install%2018.jpg

http://kylebennett.com/files/hfpics/Roll%20Bar%20Install%2019.jpg

http://kylebennett.com/files/hfpics/Roll%20Bar%20Install%2020.jpg

http://kylebennett.com/files/hfpics/Roll%20Bar%20Install%2021.jpg

http://kylebennett.com/files/hfpics/Roll%20Bar%20Install%2022.jpg

http://kylebennett.com/files/hfpics/Roll%20Bar%20Install%2023.jpg

[Steve M]

Damn...that looks sharp.

[jvm728]

very quick install. we need to get together soon. FYI my neighbor i think may be moving to your neck of the woods

[Austin]

Nice work, Kyle. Install looks good.

[pony23]

Looks great. I'm debating getting one of these. Looks like a great fit.

[FrgMstr]

Autoform 2008 Vert Roll Bar Install Writeup

After decided I wanted to put a roll bar in my 2008 Vert, I called up Steve at Autoform (http://www.autoformgroup.com/), got the parts ordered, and was given a 6 week delivery. He makes these up to order. Worth mentioning here is that I am doing away with the tweeters and sub behind and between the seats. Had I mentioned this to Steve when I ordered he explained that he could have glassed in those openings in the new back deck cover. Live and learn, and hopefully this saves some of you the same issue down the road. I plan to cut some textured sheet plastic to fill in those open spaces here in the next few weeks.

The new bar and back deck cover showed up via freight company transport in a sturdy crate that was expertly packaged to keep the parts safe during transit. Everything arrived in perfect condition.

Instructions were included, but the pictures were not very good quality, so I asked Steve via email for the document and he sent that over to me. I have it shared out on my Google Drive at this LINK (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0lIvJSGdgIfNllpTHFHYlhwMnV0S25rOG10TTctbzUzazBn/view?usp=sharing) should you want to give those a look. While the instructions are not of poor quality, these could certainly be better done both in terms of writing and pictures. The instructions were somewhat murky when pre-reading, but make better sense as you use these when moving through the actual installation process. It all starts to more clear the dirtier your hands get. Autoform does include a very accurate tool list that you will need for the project.

The install process for this roll bar is not difficult, but it likely is not for everyone. I have done all my own header, exhaust, intake, brakes, suspension, motor and tranny mounts, and general maintenance work. The Viper is generally “easy” and does not require a huge toolbox. The roll bar install requires cutting and drilling holes, rather large holes, in the frame and chassis. It also requires cutting away good portions of the back plastic deck unit (trunk bulkhead panel) that houses the convertible top “bucket” as well as the rear stock speakers. I did all of the work by myself, with the exception of actually placing the roll bar in the car three or four times, and a final time that took some effort, while getting my marks on where to make the back trunk bulkhead panel cuts.

Teardown of the interior is straightforward. Where it gets a little hairy is pulling off the OE roll hoop mounting points. These are simply bolted on, in that process the ones on my car however were “crimped” into place. This required a steel pry bar and a dead blow hammer to get mine loose. These are also tucked under the trunk bulkhead panel and if you are feeling like you are going to break the plastic while prying the mounts out, you likely will not. I torqued the hell out of the plastic and it hung in there like a champ. The mounts are heavy with sharp edges so don’t let these go flying.....like I did.....once.

The stock GPS/Sat antenna for the OE stereo system is under the passenger roll hoop, and looks like it can be reinstalled with the Autoform roll bar, but I did not put it back in.

Once you get all the OE equipment pulled out, and clean up the adhesive from fabrication, you are ready to cut your holes in the chassis. I used a very sharp wood chisel to clean off the adhesive and that worked very well. Fighting it with a putty knife will take you a good while. The holes allow the roll bar “feet” to pass through the chassis tub and be bolted to the frame. Autoform calls for you to use a “zip saw” for this process which is bit like a very narrow powered hack saw. You could probably cut these holes with a small hack saw, but I chose to use a Dremel tool along with a tungsten carbide bit (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004UDJK/?tag=hardfocom-20). I could not find the “right” saw. Autoform supplies a paper template that you cut out and simply use a scratch awl to scribe around. Drill you a nice hole to start from and start cutting on your scribe. The Dremel does not allow a very accurate initial cut, but you can easily clean it up with the Dremel to make is look a bit more professional.

Once your chassis pass-through holes are cut, you can set the roll bar in car and get an idea of where you are going to need to trim the trunk bulkhead panel. I marked the parts of the panel to be removed with a Sharpie marker. I then made my cuts panel cuts with the same Dremel and bit I used to cut the chassis with. We then set the roll bar back in and sized up where I needed to trim. Basically you do not want the plastic panel touching the roll bar anywhere except where the plastic “flap” in the middle hangs over the horizontal tube of the roll bar. If you do not do this, if the roll bar is placed too far back it can push the plastic back into the convertible storage area and things will not line up causing issues with latching the top down. The latch is mounted into that plastic tub/bulkhead.

Once I got all the plastic trimmed, I set the roll bar in and started fastening the bolts at the top of the chassis. The roll bar would not fit into the frame bar at the back of the chassis. The feet were too close together. My buddy and I tried a bit of human persuasion, but we simply could not get enough leverage to spread the bar apart by hand. We used an Irwin 50 Inch Clamp/Spreader (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000F7FMOW/?tag=hardfocom-20) and a couple of 2x4 blocks to get the leverage on roll bar to spread the feet wide enough to get on both sides frame like we needed.

I taped off the hoops with painters tape and used a 5lb. dead blow hammer to move the hoops to the edge of the front edge of the bulkhead while tightening the bolts down. It did not want to go easy, but it went. The instructions point out that this is an important part of the process, in that if you go past this point without proper alignment, you run the risk of the top not clearing the tops of the hoops, and it is very hard to correct this after you get the feet set in the chassis. Given this, how the roll bar seemed lined up too far toward passenger (shown in the picture), and how tight the plastic “flap” was on top of the horizontal tubing, I was not confident about going forward and I fired off an email to Steve at Autoform. His basic reply was, that everything was going to be tight as hell and to move forward. “Keep going Kyle…it will work.”

After getting the top lined out right and getting some confidence from Steve, I went to get the feet aligned and into the frame through the holes I cut previously. The driver’s side went in without issue. The passenger’s side was being very stubborn. I could not get it to pull towards the back of the car and align with the plate as shown in one of the pictures. After beating on the thing with a dead blow for about an hour, even after loosening the top bulkhead bolts, I still could not get the foot to pull back even with the plate on the rear of the footing. At this point, I went out of order of the instructions and went ahead and drilled the the holes through the rear frame rail so that I could set the footing in place. I had skipped drilling holes in the sides of the chassis and putting my bolts there. Going out of order did leave me with about a 1’8 inch gap, but I filled that in with two washers and everything pulled up nice and tight.

From that point I applied a Dynamat-like product to fully cover the holes inside the chassis. I then used a polyurethane roofing adhesive to fill in the gaps around the holes from the wheel well and let it set overnight.

The rest was very simple from that point. The new rear housing fit near perfectly. I had to trim only a single piece of the fiberglass to get it to fit fully snug. I used the Dremel and a sandpaper head and it worked very well in giving me a nice finished edge. I also did have to trim up the felt to fit better around the roll bar hoops as well, but that was easily done.

The top still functioned up and down perfectly, although you do have to lift it with a bit more force to clear the hoops. The hoops also clear the convertible top hoops when fully up.

I put the top back down and took it for a nice Texas afternoon drive for about three hours. I never once heard a squeak or a rattle the entire time.

I will get around to filling the speaker holes later this week and will give an update on that later.

Overall I am very happy with my roll bar purchase from Autoform. The install is not exactly for the rookie, but with a bit of time even a rookie could pull it off if you take your time and use the right tools.

[Ohiotj]

Very good write up and install. I had a similar experience with mine however the gen 1 seemed a little easier to put in. I know steve is ready to answer any questions while I was installing but he could save some of his time by doing a better instruction packet. Plus I asked how hard was it to put a peice back on and he said I should not have taken it off. I then told him it was the second line in his directions and there were only like six lines total! He then admitted he needed to update them because he used a newer rollbar design since they were written. I too decided not to install my speakers and have to fill in those holes at some point. Otherwise I would have to cut a anti-vibration foam and I wanted to keep it as stock as possible. I had to add a few washers on my footers to insure a proper fit on the floor pan too. Otherwise everything went on pretty well. Steve did send out the wrong sized nutserts and that slowed me down a little bit. You can tell these things are hand made in the USA and not some china junk that is massed produced. Because of that there are a few things you have to solve on your own but that's the joy of owning a viper and not a corvette. Here is a photo of mine in.
7556

[FrgMstr]

Agreed on all points.

I too added washers on each side of the footings. I ordered some black ABS sheet (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004UBUV5O/?tag=hardfocom-20) today to fill in all the speaker holes with. While this sounds sort of corny, I bought some super sticky backed velcro years ago that is sticky as all hell and holds on extremely well. I am going to fasten the speaker delete panels with that and see how it works out. Figure this will allow me to use the center for secret storage as well.

One thing I did not mention in the write up is that it would have been GREATLY APPRECIATED if the powder coater would have taped off the threaded studs. That was a huge PITA that did not have to happen at all.

But yeah, that bar is built like a brick shithouse!

[Joel]

Wish I had known you were going to do this. I did a write up on instructions for this some time back. Bar is great but the Autoform instructions could be clearer. Steve was a lot of help when I put mine in but it went in pretty straightforward. The only downside was the fiberglass panel is not as flexible as the stock plastic panel. Once you get over the cutting up of your car, the rest is pretty easy - especially with beer.

[Ohiotj]

I look forward to seeing how you like the speaker solution. I was just going to buy two speaker covers and be done with it. Then I looked into caronfiber sheets but those got expensive pretty quick. So then I just forgot about it and now have to open holes that really don't bother me. But it looks like crap and needs addressed this winter.

I like how the two hoops are connected below the plastic cover. Keeps a factory look to it.

[Joel]

The one thing I would add to what FrgMstr said is that if you locate the lower bar - behind the seat and what the bar sits on - first, it makes cutting the holes in the car much easier. The bar can be seen looking through the rear tire well. Drilling a hole through from the back first makes locating the hole much easier. If I can offer any additional help to what FrgMstr has put on the site, please let me know. The Autform products are first rate and the addition of the roll bar makes the car tighter and safer.

[FrgMstr]

The one thing I would add to what FrgMstr said is that if you locate the lower bar - behind the seat and what the bar sits on - first, it makes cutting the holes in the car much easier. The bar can be seen looking through the rear tire well. Drilling a hole through from the back first makes locating the hole much easier. If I can offer and additional help to what FrgMstr has put on the site, please let me know. The Autform products are first rate and the addition of the roll bar makes the car tighter and safer.

That is what I did too. Instead of using a punch to find those centers, I just used the front and back plates to locate the bit properly. Had to guess a little on the passenger since it would not square up easily, but it all worked out exactly right. I had to chase only one hole to get the bolts through.

[FrgMstr]

Just like your favorite pr0n....all holes filled.

ABS textured sheet (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004UBUV5O/?tag=hardfocom-20). .118" thick.
Templates made to size with Photoshop down to millimeter. Taped down.

http://kylebennett.com/files/hfpics/Roll%20Bar%20Install%2024.jpg

Traced those out with a white paint pen. Cut out with a variable speed jig saw. Go too fast with the blade and it just melts back together.

http://kylebennett.com/files/hfpics/Roll%20Bar%20Install%2025.jpg

Put the two backs and the one top in with silicone. Will see how that weathers. Should be fine. Did the bottom delete panel with Velcro so I can stash stuff in there if I want. I did the top center speaker with Velcro at first, but the depth did not look right between the two center deletes.

http://kylebennett.com/files/hfpics/Roll%20Bar%20Install%2026.jpg