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It’s great to see so many track enthusiasts gathered in one place and sharing their experiences in driving these cars the way they were intended to be used. Hats off to the moderators and participants who have contributed to the great content of this site and have made it the success that it is.
I’d like to introduce the immediate availability of our 2015+ GT/GT350/GT350 4-point roll bar kit for these great cars. Many enthusiasts purchased our roll bar kit for the S197 Mustang and we have had persistent requests to develop a 2015+ solution. To this end, almost a year ago we purchased a GT as a development car and because of the difficulty of the design (as compared to the S197) and the distraction of other racing projects we were involved in, this kit took us a full year to bring to market! The good news is that the units are completed and we have several in stock and already powdercoated in some popular colors.
Our S197 roll bar kit was developed using our Laguna Seca and I think a large percentage of our customers were owners of the LS model. For GT and “normal” Boss 302 owners, our S197 kit predicated the installation of a rear seat delete (RSD) kit. RSD kits are available at many quality levels and price points, but ultimately the requirement for an RSD was a more or less mandatory additional cost. For our 2015+ roll bar kits, one of our primary design objectives was to fit the GT350R model – without requiring modification to any GT350R unique (read costly) parts. Simultaneously, we wanted a bar kit that would also fit the more popular GT and GT350 cars. In summary, with more than 1-year of on and off development time, our solution accomplishes these objectives. It fits all GT/GT350/GT350R models and does NOT require an RSD kit – but fits equally well if an RSD kit is chosen by the owner (or the OEM as is the case with the 350R.) This is, perhaps, one of the biggest differentiators of our roll bar kit.
As much as we wanted to fit all of the different Mustang models - with minimal interior modifications, we also wanted a roll bar kit that would be workable for short and tall drivers alike. The seatbacks of the optional Recaro seats in particular, are very thick. In the new 2015+ cars, the main hoop fore/aft position is dictated by the beam that runs across the car at the front edge of the rear seat. Mounting a main hoop to the floor either in front of or behind this main beam is a no-go because of “punch-through” concerns. With the main hoop mounted to this structural beam, a planar harness bar becomes problematic. Properly located in height, a planar solution interferes with seat travel. Lowering the harness bar decreases but does not eliminate the interference, but simultaneously falls out of the acceptable norms of harness bar height requirements. The proper solution, also employed in our S197 kits, is to employ much-harder-to-manufacture kick-back in the harness bar. Seat travel is preserved and the harness bar height can be properly aligned with the OEM seat back openings. This is a second differentiator in our roll bar kit.
Another design element that we sweated the details over a lot was install-ability. As mentioned previously, we wanted to mitigate mods to interior components. Our mods are 100% limited to the plastic side panels which are common across ALL Mustang models. So, if you are a GT350 or GT350R owner, your are modifying a panel that is in common with all Mustang trims and not unique or stupid expensive. And the mods are straightforward. There is minor trimming at the bottom of each side panel and then there is a single hole that is cut out for the downtubes. There are no slots or separating/combining of panels. That’s it….. minor trimming and a single hole on each side. The roll bar kit utilizes numerous Grade 8 fasteners (all included, of course) but EVERY nut in the entire kit is captive. There is not a single step in the installation where you will have to be employing two wrenches to secure the fasteners. This ease of installation is a third differentiator.
Our roll bar tubing is entirely TIG-welded by journeymen craftsman who take great pride in their work and in each “stack of dimes” of every weld. Literally works of art. NOTE: The red roll bar in the pictures is our pre-production workhorse roll bar that was used to create the jigging. It was MIG-welded by us (amateurs compared to our fabricator) and DOES NOT represent the weld quality. For that reason, I have included some pics of the production welds. (We have numerous bar kits in stock that are not yet powdercoated and I’d be happy to grab additional photos if there was interest.) Colors that are in-stock and can be shipped immediately (as of Feb 10) are; Ford Race Red, Competition Orange, Satin Black, and Charcoal Gunmetal Gray (think 2013 Laguna Seca X-brace color.)
I’ll close the same way that I opened this thread. Thanks to you the enthusiasts who are really getting the most out of the car and using it to its potential. It’s great to see and in our minds a much better use than a “garage queen” though we respect these owners as well. We hope that some of you may think about our roll bar solution for your cars and we thank you for the consideration. This is a link to product. http://www.cooltechllc.com/ford-boss-302-parts-accessories/90-boss-roll-bar-from-cool-tech-llc.html
I’d like to introduce the immediate availability of our 2015+ GT/GT350/GT350 4-point roll bar kit for these great cars. Many enthusiasts purchased our roll bar kit for the S197 Mustang and we have had persistent requests to develop a 2015+ solution. To this end, almost a year ago we purchased a GT as a development car and because of the difficulty of the design (as compared to the S197) and the distraction of other racing projects we were involved in, this kit took us a full year to bring to market! The good news is that the units are completed and we have several in stock and already powdercoated in some popular colors.
Our S197 roll bar kit was developed using our Laguna Seca and I think a large percentage of our customers were owners of the LS model. For GT and “normal” Boss 302 owners, our S197 kit predicated the installation of a rear seat delete (RSD) kit. RSD kits are available at many quality levels and price points, but ultimately the requirement for an RSD was a more or less mandatory additional cost. For our 2015+ roll bar kits, one of our primary design objectives was to fit the GT350R model – without requiring modification to any GT350R unique (read costly) parts. Simultaneously, we wanted a bar kit that would also fit the more popular GT and GT350 cars. In summary, with more than 1-year of on and off development time, our solution accomplishes these objectives. It fits all GT/GT350/GT350R models and does NOT require an RSD kit – but fits equally well if an RSD kit is chosen by the owner (or the OEM as is the case with the 350R.) This is, perhaps, one of the biggest differentiators of our roll bar kit.
As much as we wanted to fit all of the different Mustang models - with minimal interior modifications, we also wanted a roll bar kit that would be workable for short and tall drivers alike. The seatbacks of the optional Recaro seats in particular, are very thick. In the new 2015+ cars, the main hoop fore/aft position is dictated by the beam that runs across the car at the front edge of the rear seat. Mounting a main hoop to the floor either in front of or behind this main beam is a no-go because of “punch-through” concerns. With the main hoop mounted to this structural beam, a planar harness bar becomes problematic. Properly located in height, a planar solution interferes with seat travel. Lowering the harness bar decreases but does not eliminate the interference, but simultaneously falls out of the acceptable norms of harness bar height requirements. The proper solution, also employed in our S197 kits, is to employ much-harder-to-manufacture kick-back in the harness bar. Seat travel is preserved and the harness bar height can be properly aligned with the OEM seat back openings. This is a second differentiator in our roll bar kit.
Another design element that we sweated the details over a lot was install-ability. As mentioned previously, we wanted to mitigate mods to interior components. Our mods are 100% limited to the plastic side panels which are common across ALL Mustang models. So, if you are a GT350 or GT350R owner, your are modifying a panel that is in common with all Mustang trims and not unique or stupid expensive. And the mods are straightforward. There is minor trimming at the bottom of each side panel and then there is a single hole that is cut out for the downtubes. There are no slots or separating/combining of panels. That’s it….. minor trimming and a single hole on each side. The roll bar kit utilizes numerous Grade 8 fasteners (all included, of course) but EVERY nut in the entire kit is captive. There is not a single step in the installation where you will have to be employing two wrenches to secure the fasteners. This ease of installation is a third differentiator.
Our roll bar tubing is entirely TIG-welded by journeymen craftsman who take great pride in their work and in each “stack of dimes” of every weld. Literally works of art. NOTE: The red roll bar in the pictures is our pre-production workhorse roll bar that was used to create the jigging. It was MIG-welded by us (amateurs compared to our fabricator) and DOES NOT represent the weld quality. For that reason, I have included some pics of the production welds. (We have numerous bar kits in stock that are not yet powdercoated and I’d be happy to grab additional photos if there was interest.) Colors that are in-stock and can be shipped immediately (as of Feb 10) are; Ford Race Red, Competition Orange, Satin Black, and Charcoal Gunmetal Gray (think 2013 Laguna Seca X-brace color.)
I’ll close the same way that I opened this thread. Thanks to you the enthusiasts who are really getting the most out of the car and using it to its potential. It’s great to see and in our minds a much better use than a “garage queen” though we respect these owners as well. We hope that some of you may think about our roll bar solution for your cars and we thank you for the consideration. This is a link to product. http://www.cooltechllc.com/ford-boss-302-parts-accessories/90-boss-roll-bar-from-cool-tech-llc.html