Installed rear strut bar tonight
 

I installed my rear strut bar today .... below you will see pics and so forth with a bit of info on how to accomplish this rewarding task....

I went down to Home depot today , and took less that 50 bucks and purchased a dremel , man what a lovely tool . I never thought such a little gizmo would be so helpful ,, more on this as we get further into the topic ...

Here is a pic of the grinder that I used ,,
on the top is the carbon fiber grinder , and on the bottom is the regular one, the top one is the one you will want to purchase ,, !! Reason why , it cuts like nobody's buissiness ... lol ....
http://protosportracing.tripod.com/z/strutbar/bits.JPG
Any how from the pics I think you will get an idea of how to make this project come together ....
http://protosportracing.tripod.com/z...r/DSC00002.JPG
http://protosportracing.tripod.com/z...r/DSC00003.JPG
http://protosportracing.tripod.com/z...r/DSC00004.JPG
http://protosportracing.tripod.com/z...r/DSC00005.JPG
So you know those mounts ,, strut mounts for the rear , are the mazdaspeed mounts that corksport sells for our cars, .... they are stiffer and stronger than the factory parts...

The bracket had to have the holes custom drilled in order for the everything to bolt down , but as you see it worked out great

http://protosportracing.tripod.com/z...r/DSC00006.JPG
I took the car out for a test drive ,, man that car hauls ass,.. we went on the Jackie Robinson and let the car loose,, man she handles ,, you don't need a ton of hp on the Jackie Robinson , for anyone who knows it , know what I am talking about ,, handling is enough to get you where you want to be .... lol

thanks for checking this out guys
Bruce

kewl, I just ordered a mazdaspeed rear strut bar for my 1st gen. Can't wait!

oh yeah trust me , you will love the way the car handles with the rear bar in place, I am still wondering why the heck I did not do this a long time ago , and man that rotary tool kicks ass .. It cuts and grinds through damn near anything .... I am sitting here looking for more stuff to cut through lol ... imagine that ...

Let me know how you like your rear bar though ,,..
and FYI , that rear bar I got , I paid like 30 dollars totall for it ... maybe less , i forgot
Bruce

Hey, Bruce, I got two questions for you:

First, is that Ractive Rear Strut bar, or Procarpro.com front strut bar? Because I know that Ractive brackets do not fit in the rear: Ractive has two holes, where as there need to be three.
Second, now that your rear strut bar is only a few inches away from your rear speakers, does that create any interference in sound or not?

Hopefully, I will see you in Kent in a few weeks, and see more closely how you did, I want mine done too now.

It is the Ractive one, I had to drill two holes in the bracket inorder for it to fit up right..
overall either bar will work , it will just take a little more effort for the Ractive bar to fit..


As for the Kent meet, I don't even know if I will be there, I may try and stop by for a few and stay like 2 hours or so , but I have a event for my little cousing to go to ...

so i will try to show up , simply cause all you guys are coming down from main

Bruce

I recently installed a rear strut bar as well, but honestly did not feel that much of a difference. I haven't done any spirited driving since its been on. Maybe it'll make a difference once I hit the highway at higher speeds.:)

u need twisties , not the highway ,,,
and plus remeber , my set up is a bit different and unique
cause my rear end consists off.
mazdaspeed struts (set at 2)
mazdaspeed upper mounts
ractive rear strut bar

But you will definetly feal the difference

Where did you get the rear bar?

Honestly I bought it off of ebay a long time ago .. I really don't remeber who I got it from though ...
Bruce

Bummer.
Heh, I've been looking there...nothing lately. I was hoping you remembered who the person/company was you dealed with. After buying several strut tower bars off Ebay for less than $30, I refuse to pay more. But I maybe SOL here.

Actually , I don't think you are, rember I typed that I drilled cutom holes in the strut bar mounting plates. because the bolt holes did not line up with my struts...