DIY/REVIEW: J's Racing C-Pillar Bar for DC2R

**Icegroove** · 08-04-2006 04:33 PM

Disclaimer: The following is provided as a GUIDE ONLY, and neither myself nor Ozhonda take any responsibility for the outcomes of someone else doing the following. You follow these steps at your own risk!

Aim: To increase chasis (rear) rigidity, and therefore handling, by installing this lightweight aluminium brace bar.

Time: 30-40mins

Required: 14mm Socket

Steps:
Having stared at the instructions for 10 mins trying to work out the picture I decided to just wing it!

Here we go! ^_^

1) Take off the plastic cover from the seatbelt holder. You can just pry it off with fingers....

Before:

After:

2) Using the 14mm socket, unscrew the bolt being careful not to let the washers fall between the vinyl and the chasis. If that happens, good luck finding it! LOL. When done, you will end up with 5 washers with the screw:

3) Place the screw through the brace and then through the seat belt holder. You will then need to place the washers back. I have opted to use only 3 of them - combined with the thickness of the brace+belt holder theres a healthy amount of screw to go into the chasis. Using the previous pic as a reference, you should at least use washer 4 as that will stop the belt holder from rubbing into your vinyl. If you dont, when you finally tighten it all, you'll cut into the pillar plastic.

4) It can be a bit tricky to screw it back it in. The brace should be angled toward the boot slightly, and the screw aimed up. Tighten it until it can maintain its own weight.

Angled Brace:

Notice the screw aims up slightly...

4) Do the same steps for the other side of the chasis. As long as the the first side is not tightened it too much, it should be fine to slip the bolt in. Once again, do not tighten 100%.

5) With both sides in, the brace should be holding its own. Here is where I adjusted the straightness of the bar. I found the best way was to push the middle of the bar up with some force, and tighten the adjustable bolt on either side. Bolt shown below:

6) Now that the bar is straight, tighten the sides up with the socket until bar no longer moves. Voila! Bar installed!

Dont forget the sticker! Adds to bar stiffness!

***Ideally, the best install would be to take off the c-pillar vinyl so the bar is screwed against the actual chasis - but I dont think many people would do that...***

Review:

Well after installing I took my car for a quick spin. The first thing I noticed was that the creaking I used to get in the back from the hatch/roof area had disappeared about 90% - which is great! I dont know if that was just my car or dc2(r)'s in general but i'm glad it stopped. haha.

In terms of handling the difference is there and is noticeable. Taking corners now feels more stable and that 'flexing' feeling in the rear of the car is not as apparent. Spirited driving through sweeping bends is great!

I would also like to state that I dont have a rear strut tower bar, as the previous owner didn't option it (tight ass hahaha) - but it does have the rear sway/tie.

Bang for your buck? Probably not. It's not going to make your car feel like it has an S2K X-chasis or spot welded joints - but it does help. I honestly think however, if you combine it with other parts that compliment it (suspension, tie bars, struts etc) you will see the benefits are more obvious.

Lastly, the bar does not intrude on rear-view mirror vision, but does hinder rear passenger head room. Too bad, yo! lol

Sorry this is long for what you may regard is a simple item...it was my first DIY!

Thanks to Leo from JDMCONCEPT for the bar. Free plug!