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My car is 1997 Camaro, other years and the firebird may vary some from the pictures I have.
remove all plastic holding the carpet down, by the doors and the big peace's in the back and also the one's in the hatch. You can remove the center console, I did not because some of my bolts was striped from installing it after the rebuild. it will make life better to take it out.
2nd. remove the carpet from the car or like I did just fold it to the
front. unless you are installing the door bar I would just fold it up
out of the way
Next take the 6inch x 6inch steal plates (mine came with the bar) and place them were they need to go. on the back of the car they will go where the unibody is. (see pic) also you can tell were the car is solid from taping it lol the middle "bump" is hollow sounding. the one's for the arch bar on my 1997 the floor has a corner in it that is the best/only place to put them. Next sand the paint off to bare metal and then place and weld the plates in place. YOU MUST BE CAREFUL WHEN WELDING THE BACK PLATE'S THE FUEL TANK IS ONLY ABOUT 1/2 INCH UNDER WHERE YOU ARE WELDING. weld one spot then move to the other side and weld, keep moving till its done use water to cool the welds. also have some wet towels on hand just in case. (pic)
next weld the plates in the front for the other bar.... after these weld cool you will notice the plate is sticking out over the floor. heat the plate up and use a hammer to form it to the shape of your floor. (pic)
Next, fit the "arch bar" in place, be sure to follow the directions, and also it try to have a NHRA rule book on hand if you can. You MUST place the bar proper or you they will not pass it. ****at the time of writing*** the base (points that weld to floor) can be no more then 6 inches from the back of the drives head when seated in the seat.
To do this you must put bar in and then the seat have the driver sit in the seat and the adjust the seat. then move the bar around to find the place. making a line straight down from the drivers head you must meet that spec. mark this spot.
4th: the hard work starts
after finding the proper placement of the arch bar, you can angel the bar like I have for better looks/fit.... also the angel lets the seats lean back more. so find the angle you like I tried to line mine up with the door line for the doors. it looks tons better. (see pic)
5th. after you find the spot you need to cut the angles so they will mate with the plate. take it slow and only take off a little bit at a time till both side's are right. After you are happy with the fit. tac it in place ONLY TAC IT IN PLACE. now fit the drive seat back in and make sure its where it need to be (leave seat in for later)!!!!
next work on the back bars, cut them down slowly till you get close. then cut the angel you need. my bars all came with the notches on one side to mate to the arch bar. DO NOT CUT THOSE OFF. You can also go to the hardware store and get 1 wood dowel and cut it to fit then cut your bars from that.. but still leave room just in case for fine adjustments. after you can mate the rear bar to the ach-bar and the angle to the floor is flush with the plate tac then bars in. both the floor and the to the arch bar.
Next you have the cross bar. be sure to follow instructions and also have the NHRA manual ready again.**** at the time of writing*** with the driver sitting in the car this bar MUST NOT be above his shoulders, and CAN NOT be more then 4 inches lower then the shoulders. YOU MUST PLACE THIS BAR WITH THE DRIVE IN THE CAR, IN THE SEAT THEY WILL BE DRIVING IN, JUST LIKE THE ARCH BAR. finally mark the spot and tac the bar in, then check the driver again and make sure of the bar placement is correct, also use a level so the bar looks good in the car. after you like how everything fits and it is all to spec weld the bars in for good.
** MAKE SURE YOU CAR IS ON LEVEL GROUND AND IS NOT TWISTED ONCE YOU WELD THIS BAR IN PlACE ANY BENDS IN THE FRAME ARE PERMANENT****
If you have the support bars, they go in the corner of the arch/cross bar and the other side goes to where you sub frames would go. weld these in as well cutting the angels and taking your time.
Finally clean and paint your bar and let it dry, then have all the fun in the world putting the guts back in the car wit the bar there :) It's A BIG PITA. also if you have the support bars (to in the midel you have to cu you carpet in half to get it back in.
