NSX-R bars DIY install procedure

[jond]

First, thank you to the OP, and everyone else in this thread who contributed.
I just finished installing the front Type-R chassis bar, and it went relatively smooth. Took about 3.5 hours.

I used the push the radiator back method. I think for someone who's not comfortable taking the bumper off, it's a decent option. I'm arms are VERY VERY bruised right now though.

Things I noticed, pointers, etc:
1. I used a piece of cardboard to protect the radiator. As you get tired, mistakes may happen, and this can save you.
2. To move the radiator back enough, I had to take out the spare tire, unhook the fuse box(2 bolts), unhook some weird electrical thing on both sides(unhook battery first)(2 bolts). Take off the radiator brackets on the top(4 bolts), and put the drivers side radiator bracket back in once the radiator is out of the way, so that you can keep the hood propped open.
3. To get the front bar in from the top, I had to unhook some aluminum cylinder thing right under the latch mechanism(2 bolts) to give it enough wiggle room.
4. I learned the hard way that for the bar to align up to the holes, you have to trim the washers of the bottom bracket bolts and have the now flat cut side facing up. Otherwise the holes are just slightly off and wont go in.(I'm using the SOS brackets).


Thats about it. Theres no rocket science. It's technically easy. Not the most fun thing I've installed though.

 

[ATERPAK]

The push back method is a very viable mehtod to install the bar. I also found that I used a 2x4 to prop the radiator back so it wouldn't interfere with my hands or forearms. The cardboard trick is great and works like a charm to protect you and the radiator. I didn't have to unbolt the A/C dryer in front to install the bar but whatever works to get the job done is fine. Good work in getting things put together.

 

[Angelo08]

i removed the front bumper (NA1) and just put a piece of cardboard covering the radiator. The whole install took me about 2 hours. Just needed a hand putting the bumper back on to prevent scratching it up. I dont think you need to push back the radiator or remove it if you do your work neat and carefully.

 

[DRIFTER]

I put mine in the other night and this was a pain in the A$$. I could not figure out how to get the bumper off even with the shop manual w/ exploded view. So I unbolted the radiator and leaned it back to gain access to the radiator shroud. This was is a good idea until I realized I had a big fat forearm and short sausage fingers.:tongue: Then I installed the brackets in reverse so the bar hit on what I think to be the condenser for the A/C.:redface: When I got the brackets right they bolted up perfect. Now I have cut up knuckles and bruises all over my fat forearm from rubbing between the radiator and the front radiator support frame. I had an easier time installing my exhaust.:redface:

As for a noticeable difference in handling…………. Absolutely the car is much titer in the front end. Turn in is improved and is snappy. I compared the difference on my favorite local back road drove the car with out the bars, and then with the R bars and there is a noticeable difference (for the better).

*Note* my cars suspension is for the most part stock other then a set of lowering springs and an alignment to bring every thing back as close as possible to the original spec. This is the set up that the majority of Prime users use so it is a good comparison for people thinking of doing this.

 

[DRIFTER]

Theres no rocket science. It's technically easy. Not the most fun thing I've installed though.

+1!:smile:

 

[NormRD]

Installed mine today. Took about 2 hours. I followed the original install instructions posted here. Thanks for the help. Now off to go "test" them

 

[Angelo08]

I put mine in the other night and this was a pain in the A$$. I could not figure out how to get the bumper off even with the shop manual w/ exploded view. .

Theres a total of 10 screws holding the bumper for future reference. 3 on each side wheel well, 2 in the center lower of bumper piece near the connecting bumper points, and two on the top on a metal bracket right where the bumper meets up with the car. Bumper easily wiggles off.

 

[kye]

Does anyone know where I can get hold of a spacer kit for the lower bar, its clashing with the CT Sway ... got the front bar on my 98 no problems.

Al- Have Pm'd you since it looks like you might have some spacer kits for 97+ cars? SOS doesnt carry them,

Whats the difference post and pre 97 for the lower bar ? is it the hole layout or ?

//Kye

 

[Hrant]

Kye, for the pre 97, the spacer for the Type R is not as tall in length and you may not need the half size spacer for the sway bar. Until you get hold of a kit, try putting some O washers - it will take about 8+/- which means you will need a longer bolt ....... hence the kit which also has a washer/spacer to lower the front battery tray by about 0.5". HTH.

 

[kye]

OK, wasnt sure if the kits lowered the tray or put the bar under the tray with the spacers on either end. Will have a go at that then. A kit would be nice though !
//Kye

 

[kye]

Hi,
Anyone have experience installing the front bar on a 98 ? I followed the instructions today, there was no way that the radiator duct was coming out, seemed to be some piping going through it aswell as a few other wires connected to it, gave up after a couple of hours and then struggled to get it all back together. I dont want to remove the front bumper so decided to try with the pushing the radiator back, has anyone done this method on a 97 ~ 2001 car ? from what I have read the 2002+ is different again.

cheers
Kye

 

[jond]

Hi,
Anyone have experience installing the front bar on a 98 ? I followed the instructions today, there was no way that the radiator duct was coming out, seemed to be some piping going through it aswell as a few other wires connected to it, gave up after a couple of hours and then struggled to get it all back together. I dont want to remove the front bumper so decided to try with the pushing the radiator back, has anyone done this method on a 97 ~ 2001 car ? from what I have read the 2002+ is different again.

cheers
Kye

I had the same opinion about the radiator duct on my 97.
I pushed the radiator back to get the bars in. It worked fine. Tore up my arms pretty bad though.

 

[ATERPAK]

To protect your hands from being scuffed or scraped from the radiator, try putting a piece of cardboard in front of it when working on installing the bar. This will protect both you and the radiator and make life a lot easier. Good luck.

Al T.

 

[RON98]

you can do the complete install with out taking off any shrouds.
between reaching in the front bumper and pulling back the radiator, you have enough room to do the complete install.

if you dont remove the radiator, you will cut up your wrist and arms pretty good trying to reach down to do what you need to do.

 

[kye]

Hi,
So the radiator once unscrewed at the top will rotate back ? (I know there is some other peripherals to take off on the left hand side also) How is it fixed on the bottom of the radiator to allow it to move ?
//Kye

 

[RON98]

with you standing in front of the car facing the radiator, there is a little something on the right hand side you have to undo..... I don't remember what it is but you need to disconnect it and pull it back. There is no mounts at the bottom of the radiator, just two rubber feets that go into two round holes.

After taking off the two radiator mounts on the top, you'll have enough room to pull back the radiator towards the firewall. careful though, when you stick your arm down the opening just made, the front radiator beam is pretty sharp and I usually get bruised up.

there is the trick. you connect a whole bunch of extensions about 3-4 feet long with a swivel head which will allow you to wrench on the 3 mounting bolts on the tow brackets from on top of the radiator so your not bending fins or ripping apart your hands.

From there you can get a knife and cut the holes for the brackets from the top and you can get the bottom half by putting your hand through the bumper.

Depending on how well you know the setup the install could be fast and does not require removing any of the shields/guards.

if any of you in socal would like to take an hands off approach, you can give us a call and we'll take care of you and your nsx.

Good luck and happy wrenching.

if there are any more questions, post them. :smile:

 

[kye]

Well finally after a monster DIY day I got the bars fitted but not without issues ... For the front thanks for all your suggestions in this thread, I used the radiator approach, with a towel to protect my arms over the front brace in front of the radiator and some cardboard to protect the radiator - crucial, it was relatively simple with a sharp razor craft knife to carve out the shroud, the bolts were almost solid in there and it took a lot of time to get out concidering with the room in their I could only turn them a mm at a time! I found removed the tie down on the left and left the right in place with a washer between it and the bracket to make a flat fit on the upper bolt. I found that attaching the bar to the brackets was achieved easier from the front of the car putting my hands through the gap.

Anyway for me the front turned out to be the easiest .....

The lower bar (I have Al's kit) basically the lower bar would not line up with the holes, it was 5 mm off so couldnt get the bolts in, tried bending it as seen that suggestion in other threads but no joy ... ended up extending the holes out more on both ends of the bar to get a fit. Was painful drilling away that at that nice bar ...

Surprised since my previous 2 NSX's went on with no hassle at all (91 and 93), I didt fit those though.

Anyway, another issue now is that the comptech sway bar is hitting the radiator hose (aluminium part) and the lower bar is firmly against the battery tray, however there is a pretty nice gap between the bar and the sway, have emailed Al for advice but if anyone else has any would be glad to hear.

the battery tray has been lowered at the front using the spacers in the kit, but its not enough unless of course this is normal?

Car is on tein RE but not particularly low, raised it up another 1cm all around to see if that improved the situation, the sway looks like it will hit that regardless of the cars height since the distance is governed by the spacer (correct me if I am wrong please)

Sway is set on the last hole out of 3, again not sure if this has an impact (doesnt touch the shock)

Off to the new Fuji Speedway for a track day on Sunday and car going in for alignment and new tyres saturday so would like to get this one resolved incase it impacts the alignment in some way?

any ideas?

Thanks,
Kye

 

[Hrant]

Kye, did you get the kit for the 97+ or pre 97?

The 97+ came with new spacers for the sway bar mounts that cut the spacer's height by half. Diodn't read you mentioning this. That is how we resolved the sway bar touching the radiator hose while others have tried (successfully) to bend the radiator hose.

 

[kye]

Hi, yes got the 97+ kit, the clearance was pretty decent with the spacer that came with the sways but then I assume it would hit the lower bar instead. //Kye

 

[Hrant]

Kye, are you "assuming" it will hit or it actually is hitting after the suspension is loaded (bot on a rack or jacks) ....... we put some 20+ hours fine tuning and tinkering until we got it right.

The sway bar cleared the radiator but then again i had the Comptech sway bar at middle or stiffest position. The only variation that one might encounter would be if for some reason the Type R bar still touched the corners of the 97+ battery tray. You can play with lowering the battery tray a tad bit more but there is a limit to this, or to be safe cut the corners of the battery tray just a bit. If you are handy with Dremel, it would still look OEM ;-)

 

[kye]

No its hitting, actually when the car was on the jack stands it was hitting with the battery tray, i put the poly spacers on but still touching, the sway was the same touching the aluminium hose unloaded, same condition for both loaded.

//Kye

 

[Hrant]

Hmmmmmmm .......... just for the sake of experimenting, try to put the sway bar on the stiffest holes and see if it still touches the radiator hose. As for the Type R brace hitting the battery tray, is it sitting on the tray or just touching the corners of the tray? You can lower the tray at all four bolts with washers but you might run out of grip to secure the battery to the firewall inside the hood.

But rumor has it that DaliRacing will come out with a "simpler" fix. Have no clue what it entails but might be worth asking MJ.

 

[ClayMan]

Back from the dead.. Does this original procedure (leave the bumper and radiator on, remove radiator shroud) also work for installing the bulkier STMPO bar with built-in tie down brackets?

I do have access to a lift and can go at it from above and below easily, I just want the simplest install (ie. minimum R&R of parts)

 

[kwinkler]

I was able to install the STMPO bar without removing the bumper or radiator. It's easier to do on a warm day when the plastic shroud will be more flexible. You will have to modify the shroud with the STMPO bar. There are pictures on the STMPO FCB thread, which show what to cut.

Kenny

 

[mcrider]

NSX-R Chassis Bars DIY Install

Followed MJK"s procedure for removing the radiator duct on a 97. In addition to the clips, There are three clips holding the hood latch cable to the duct and a clip for each horns wiring harness. I used a 3/16 socket to press and release the clip's tabs. With the duct out it is easy to make a custom cut in the duct to allow the pass through of the top chassis bar. The duct is very flexible so I just bad a slit to slide over the bar. ​I've updated this to post to include a DIY write-up.