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    FEP Super Member anthonydalrymple's Avatar
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    Nov 2004
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    Default Max.Motorsports roll cage install; completed with tons of pics!

    The cage install took a full day between my good friend Jamie Joyce and myself. Most of you may know Jamie from the Maverick forums; www.maverick.to I believe... We are both very sore right now since there were quite a few uncomfortable positions we had to get into to get the job done. We did not finish it 100%; the rear interior quarter panels, trunk panels and carpet, and minor trim were just "thrown in" so we could get home at a reasonable hour.....

    Now for the pic's:

    As it came via truck shipment. The top of the main "hoop" looks like it could have been easily damaged; but it wasn't even nicked. I'm guessing that the top hoop did originally have the heavy white cardboard protection, just like the sides of the hoop have in the picture. I'm guessing the cardboard got ripped off at some point and time in transit...... There was no damage to be found on anything in this kit.




    As you can see, you have to remove most of the interior. In these shots you will notice that we've removed the seats front and rear, door sill plates, outer front seat belt anchors, both front kick panels, and we still have to remove the rear interior quarter panels. Rolling the passenger side and driver's side carpets towards each other and using a zip tie to hold the two together keeps the carpet out of the way......





    The instructions have you clean out seam sealer in the corners of the back floor pan, hammer the seam down flat since it is "bent up" from the factory, and then mark the outline of the main loop mounting plates. Kinda odd since you then go to work on the rear reinforcement plates for quite some time. This step could have been done after the rear reinforcement work was done; but it really doesn't matter. I just suspect that the sequence in the instructions simply do work, do not need to be changed, and therefore never have.....



    Here's a nice picture of Jamie's working away....



    See those pop rivets? You have to drill them out and punch them through completely. This is so the back plate with welded on nuts can fit flush on the back side of the pictured bulkhead. Yes, that is why the plate is welded to the bulkhead. Don't forget to grind the weld flush; otherwise the plate you end up welding over the top of this area will distort quite a bit......



    You drill 5 holes; the one in the center is to weld this plate to the backside of the bulkhead plate. The MM instructions do not tell you to tack the plate in place and then drill the holes using the plate itself for a guide...... It's your call if you wish to do it this way or not... We did not run into any complications using this method. I simply found it easier to tack and punch the holes without worrying about the plate "walking" IMHO.....








    If you look carefully, you will notice the main loop has markings on it. There is a center mark with two outer marks to aid in positioning the rear reinforcement tubes. That's a nice touch that made doing the work much easier. Yes, I did measure from the center outward and do allot of visuals to make certain MM's marker work was indeed spot on.......



    We had to cut off 1-2" of material from the rear reinforcement tubes. This is a good thing that MM has done; better too long than too short.... But that tube is very thick; I'd hate to try cutting an 1\8" off at a time and working my way up to the final length with a hacksaw!



    One word of caution; do use allot of covers to help protect the 'vert top from getting burned by flying hot molten magma...... I used fender covers (good idea and not the cloth type) and large towels(kinda bad idea). We had to put out several fires on the towels; they really like to burn like California brush! But it beat the heck out of putting out carpet fires; they have this tar layer that I imagine might be allot harder to put out IMHO......

    Here's something that's not in the MM instructions: I noticed the seat belt "hooks" on my seats were keeping me from pulling the pin out on the swing out door bar. I was stuck in my seat and had a very difficult time getting out! If you have a 88-89 'vert or are using seats with their unique seat belt "hooks"; you will want to switch over to the earlier 'vert style ('84-86?) with the much narrower hooks as pictured below.....



    You do need to follow the instructions and beware of fuel and brake lines! If you use a hefty punch from above like I did; you can feel the "bumps" from the bottom and see if you are anywhere near anything before drilling IMHO.......



    The front bar plates mounted below the floor pan..... Yes, they are troublesome to install with the factory 'vert reinforcements still mounted! Patience and small hands prevail here IMHO..... P.S. Be smarter than I was!!!!!!!!! Paint the bottom four plates and the two rear bar backing plates before bolting it all together! (Major DOAH! on my part)



    The rear interior quarters are a super tight fit now, but will fit in with extreme patience! There is a way; you simply have to figure out what end to insert first, tilt this way second, and squeeze that way for the millionth time... Now, the hardest part is finding the room to get a hand behind the panel to hook up both the speakers and power window switches! Again patience wins here folks......

    Finished pic's....





    Would I buy a Maximum Motorsports roll cage again? Yes, it was indeed well built and the fitment was very good.

    What if anything would improve the Max. Motorsports roll cage with swing out door bars kit? The instructions need better pictures and or less confusing specifics and details. The photo copies are in black and white and are rather small. Bigger pictures with better detailed explanations would make this the "ultimate" roll cage for fox 'verts in my opinion.

    What was the most confusing part of the install? Two things: 1) The directions mentioned a wiring loom that goes to the seat belt retractors that you might accidentally drill into when installing the rear reinforcement plates. There is indeed a small and well hidden harness back there that you do want to avoid drilling into; but it has nothing to do with the seat belt retractors from what I can tell.... 2) 2ea bent plates were included in the kit; but are not listed on the hardware list and not mentioned in the instructions at all. It seems that they might be specific for the later '90-93 chassis; but then I think, "Why were the instructions not changed to reflect the addition?"

    What was the smartest thing we did? If we had any doubts; we'd re-read the instructions and mock everything up several times over until we were certain we knew what to do next.
    You can read further into the instructions for some measurements and dimensions and see if your on the right road or not.

    Results? So far I'm impressed what it seems to have done; improved the ride quality believe it or not. It seems like the suspension is now taking the blows instead of the formerly weaker chassis. I'll end up having to have someone without a "fortified chassis 'vert" like Jeremy or Corey to take a ride and see what they have to say.

    What I don't like? I noticed the front mounts only attach to thin sheet metal floor board. Disconcerting since it would seem that any great loads placed on those points would just rip the thin sheet metal of the floor..... EDIT: I ended up buying 12"x6" plate to replace the front 6"x6" plates. I ended up putting a bend on both ends to butt up against the rocker sill & the frame rail; welding it in to make the chassis more stiff with the door bars installed. It worked very well!



    Edit: I also installed mounting tabs for my 5-way harness...

    Last edited by anthonydalrymple; 02-11-2014 at 04:20 AM.
    '89 5.0 5-speed 'vert, seeing rust for the 1st time in it's life as well as 4,500+ elevation....

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