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How-To Install EGR Bolt-In Roll Bar

Details: Category: How-To; Published on Sunday, 15 January 2012 02:40; Written by Jeff Lyon; Hits: 687

Evil Genius Racing makes an excellent bolt-in roll bar. It is designed to be super safe and maximize interior room. It also has a diagonal bar and a harness bar but still work with a soft top with a glass window. Notice the two bends in the main hoop to maximize headroom. Because this roll bar maximizes interior room it is a very tight fit so this How-To goes through the steps to install the EGR Roll Bar.

Here is the Roll Bar and the backing plates.

First step is to remove the seats. Next unbolt the seatbelts, remove the plastic around the seatbelt tower, then pull back the carpet on the deck and the floor carpet that goes up behind the seats.

Next you will need to remove the cover over the top of the shelf.

Next you will need to trip the sheet metal in the back two corners after removing the cover. You only need to remove a 1/4 to 1/2" on either side.

Time to test fit the roll bar.

Once everything is clear and you are sure that it is gong to fit use 7/16-20 bolts to align the roll bar. These bolts didn't come with the kit but they are readily available at the hardware store. I suggest grade 5 hardware or better. You will want to use the original seatbelt bolts to mount the seatbelts on the inner hole since they have a special shoulder for that purpose. So I also purchased a couple of 7/16-20 nuts to used with the seatbelt bolts and 4 flat washers. Remove the spacers from the bolts and use the largest and smallest spacers below the roll bar plate. Of the two that are left use the large one on top of roll bar plate to attach the seatbelt.

Once the roll bar is aligned with the seatbelt bolts then its time to drill the holes for the bottom plates. Drill 4 - 3/8" holes from the inside the car. Remove the rear wheels and then remove the splash guard inside the wheel well.

Backing plate bolted up.

After both the bottom plates are bolted up, then move to the rear bar plates. These are a bit more difficult since they are much harder to get to. The way I got around this was drilling the farthest forward hole from the top then bolting up the backing plate from the bottom and using it for a guide to drill the next two holes from the bottom.

NOTE: The backing plates for the rear bars that came wtih the kit interferred with the ABS lines so I had to modify the plates.

After drilling the forward hole and using the front bolt to align the backing plate drill the back holes from the bottom.

After all holes are drilled finish bolting up.

Now that the roll bar is all bolted in and all of the bolts have been double checked it is time to start putting everything back together. We need to notch the cover for the rear bars on the roll bar. Move the cover into place and mark where the notches need to be. Try and remove as little material as possible.

Cover reinstalled.

Now the carpet can be reinstalled. The carpet will have to be cut to fit around the roll bar tubes as well.

Everything is put back together.

The main hoop fits very tightly to the seatbelt tower so I cut the plastic to cover the visible surfaces.

This is a pretty involved job but can be done any weekend warrior if they have the patience and the tools.

How-To Replace Rear Wheel Bearing

Details: Category: How-To; Published on Wednesday, 11 January 2012 04:13; Written by Jeff Lyon; Hits: 668

***WARNING: Do not proceed unless you are an experienced mechanic and have the appropriate tools***
***PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK***

Tools Used: 12 ton hydraulic press, large snap-ring pliers, flat-bladed screwdriver, cold chisel, hammer, gasket scraper, various size sockets (for press tools).
Parts Replaced: Wheel Bearing Part#: B455-33-047B, Wheel Bearing Seal Part#: G304-33-065 (Same parts left/right)

The rear wheel bearings on the Miata don't have to be replaced that often but when they do it is not a trivial job. Since we are upping the HP by at least 50% on the Turbo SM I made sure to examine the rear wheel bearings since I was swapping out the differential and half-shafts.

With the axles out it is easy to check for play in the bearings. The left rear bearing had about an 1/8" of play which is way too much.

After removing the upright, check the lower bolt for straightness. The first clue is how hard was it to remove the bolt? This bolt bends easily if the wheel experiences any side impact. If this bolt is bent, even a little, it can rotate and change the toe settings of that wheel.

I used a 1 1/8" socket that fits right inside the bearing to press out the spindle.

Next remove the inner seal.

Next flip the upright over and remove the large retaining clip. You can use two screwdrivers to do this or if you have a large pair of snap-ring pliers you can save 20 minutes and several cuss words.

To press out the bearing I used the largest 3/4" drive socket and a 12 ton press. This step is the most dangerous so be careful and make sure the everything is setup square and solid.

Another tricky step is removing the inner race from the old bearing off of the spindle. Usually a cold chisel will work to start the race sliding down the spindle shaft. Keep rotating the spindle 180 degrees hitting on opposite sides. There have been occasions when this hasn't worked. If this doesn't work then option 2 is to use a cutoff wheel and make a couple of cuts into the bearing race 180 degrees apart then use a cold chisel to split the race off of the spindle shaft.

A comparison of the new and old bearing shows that the new bearing has stainless steal seal on the inside of the bearing. This is the side of the bearing that goes down when pressing the new bearing in and will face the differential when it is all reassembled.

I used some 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the inside of the upright before installing the new bearing. This removes any rust and dirt that may be left behind and will make installation of the new bearing easier.