Fitting a Side Protection Bar?

[Jon B]

Just bought the side protection bar for my 2000 SLR (this is not the wheel protection one).

 

The bar bolts into the top screw point by the drivers right shoulder then in the side member and in two points under the floor.

 

Question, are the chassis members on the side and under the car pre-drilled so I just drill through the alu skin? I don't want to drill through the bodywork unless there's location points there.

 

If not, do I drill and thread the chassis members myself (sounds a bit tricky!)

[felix.klauser]

There's a threaded mounting point on the chassis at the forward end of the "door" sill on the driver's side; this is in the same point as the mounting point on the passenger side that the petty strut uses.

 

The mounting points underneath the car are in the chassis rail that runs across the car in the footwell where the footwell starts to taper. Those holes probably won't be there unless they were drilled to mount the seat. They won't be threaded; use bolts with nylocs.

 

You'll probably find that things don't quite line up and some muscle will be required to line things up before you can install the bar...

[Chelspeed]

On my 1993 chassis the square tube across the floor was not only drilled but also internally sleeved. This means that when you put the bolt through and tighten it the square tube can't collapse and lose it's strength. The floor wasn't drilled though so I just put a drill thro the existing holes in the square tube from inside the car and drilled thro the floor.

 

My side protection bar didn't come with a fitting to attach to the side of the car just a rubber bung that butted up against the side of the car. As you're trying to prevent intrusion you won't be pulling the bar away from the body just pushing it so in my view this is just as good and has the benefit of only drilling holes in out of sight areas so you can remove the bar at a later date.

 

Just a thought.