DIY: AutoExe F/R strut and Member brace set

[fikren]

Phil showed some good pictures of his installed AutoExe F/R strut bars along with some comentary on the PIA parts of the install. I would like to carry that a bit further with a step by step install of the AutoExe F/R strut bars and the AutoExe Member brace set. This thread will be added to as I actually do the install (which I am hoping is this weekend if I can get access to a lift.).


Step 1: Purchase your AutoExe F/R strut bars and Member brace set. There are many vendors that supply these and shipping times can range from a week to 60+ days depeneding on vendor and method that it will be comeing from Japan. (boat or plane) I ordered my set from RHDJapan and recieved within a week.

Pictures of the set

F/R Strut Bars


Member Brace Set



Both Sets



I am hoping, time permiting, that I will be able to do the install on both tomorrow afternoon and will update this thread when I have pictures and a writeup completed.

Thanks,
Jonathan

[fikren]

Installing the Rear Strut

Today I got around to installing the rear strut so heres the writeup for it. Its a pretty straight forward installation with just a couple of pain in the arse items.

Tools needed:
Knife and or Sissors for cutting the carpet
14mm socket for the factory nuts
17mm socket for the AutoExe nuts
Hex wrench or some type of pliers/vice grips

The first picture shows the fully intact stock trunk. You want to remove the snaps for the left and right side carpet and remove both of those.

Next you want to remove the two snaps on the floor carpet located on the left and right near the rear seats.

Pull the carpet back, there is no need to completly remove it unless you just want to. Picture 2 shows the sides removed and the carpet pulled back. This is how I kept it for the install.

[fikren]

The next step is to remove the six factory nuts and the metal factory brace.

Picture 1 and 2 show the factory braces (circled) and the four nuts for each side holding it on (red X).

Picture 3 shows the brace removed and the 6 nuts per side (red X) that need to be removed. You will be reusing these nuts with the AutoExe braces.

[fikren]

The next step is to install the braces. They fit over the stock bolt locations and make use of the factory nuts. It is impossible to mix the brade sides up. the rear bolt on each side sits further back than the front bolt and the braces are designed for this.

Set the braces on and bolt them down. Be sure you go back over each of the nuts after you tighten all around since as you go around it will pull the piece in quite a bit more and will mean some of your nuts will not be tight anymore.

The picture shows the braces bolted in.

[fikren]

Now comes one of the pain in the arse parts of the install.

The kit comes with two L brackets with a nut welded onto the back of the hole. Picture 2 shows the two brackets.

These brackets are to be put inside a factory hole (circled in red on picture one) and then a supplied bolt is run through another hole (circled in blue in picture 1) into the nut that is welded onto the back.

I'm 6'4" so the trunk of the rx-8 isn't really easy for me to manuver around in and it was a trying experiance for me to get the brackets lined up and the bolt put in them. Several times I dropped the bracket into the hole. The good news is that they are fairly easy to recover. You can stick your finger in the hole and mess around with the bracket till you can bring it back up or you can move it around and try to get it to drop out of a hole that is on the bottom of this boxed in area.

I finally had the best luck by placing the short side of the bracked in an angle vice grip and used it to hold onto the piece and get it lined up while I got the bolt started.

Pictures 3 and 4 show the L brackets installed (circled in red) and bolted in. Note that the rear (closest to the rear seats) bracket actually sits at an angle, this is by design.

I am not fully clear (as the instructions are all in Japanese so if it did say so I couldn't understand it) what these little brackets are for but I figured they were supplied for a reason so I put them in.

[fikren]

The next step is to put back the floor carpet. Note you may have to trim it just a bit around the base of the AutoExe braces to get it to lay flat without bunching up on the bottom. Replace the two snaps that hold it down at the rear seats.

Because of the way the AutoExe rear strut runs, you can't keep the "fix a flat" kit in the stock location. I wanted to still keep mine in the car though. I did not want to use the little storage bin thing as I plan on fabbing up something that will hold spare oil, premix oil, and a small bottle for the premix oil inside that bin.

What I did was removed the strap and also the piece of cardboard/wood plate thing on the back side of the carpet. I then placed the "fix a flat" kit in the center of the trunk against the rear seats. From there I centered it and cut two 2" lines to run the strap through. From there I reglued the cardboard piece on the underside of the carpet, ran the strap back through it and straped it down.

The picture shows the reinstalled floor carpet and relocated "fix a flat" kit.

[fikren]

The next step is to reinstall the side carpets. This is another pain in the arse step. Its not diffcult just one of those pain in the arse things.

What I did was put back in the carpet and started replacing the snaps starting at the section behind the tail lights and working around. I snapped all pieces in up to the section that will cover the AutoExe braces. This will prevent the carpet from pulling or moving on you while you are getting the sections cut for the section of the braces that have to come through.

From there I basically did it all by feel. I pushed the carpet against the braces and felt for the bracket parts that come through. From there I cut out a section so that the section could be exposed. Note that you do not want to cut it exactly where the section hits the carpet but rather more towards the rear of the car. This is because once you get the carpet back in place the holes are going to shift toward the front of the car.

I cut out the sections on each side, pushed the carpet back in place and replaced the snaps (two on passenger side, one on drivers side).

Be sure when you are cutting that you are doing it in small sections that way you can always make it larger if needed and it will end up making a nice small hole that fits tight with the braces.

The two pictures show the side carpet on each side back in place with the parts of the braces that need to be exposed.

[fikren]

The final step is to bolt in the cross members with the supplied nuts and bolts. This is probably the easiest part of the entire install. It should fit perfectly. Run your bolts through the holes and tighten them down.



Clean up your tools and any of the green padding that may be clinging around from the carpet cuts and you have now installed your AutoExe Rear Strut bar.

I am going to attempt (time permitting) the front strut install tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully I can get that posted tomorrow night and will be trying to get to the member brace set sometime first of the week.

Jonathan

[fikren]

Front Strut Bar Install

I got around to installing the front AutoExe strut bar this afternoon.

Tools needed:

14mm sockets
13mm sockets
10mm sockets
Something to cut plastic with, I used a dremel with a cutting disk

Starting out you you want to remove the engine cover and the factory strut bar. The factory strut bar will use a 13 mm socket to remove the four nuts (2 per side). Once the bar is removed you then need to remove the plates that the bar sat on, 3 14mm nuts per side. You will need to hold on to these 6 14mm nuts as you will reuse them

Picture 1-stock engine bay
Picture 2-engine cover removed
Picture 3-red circled bolts are the 13mm to remove the strut bar, blue circled bolts are the 14mm to remove the plates.
Picture 4-stock strut bar and plates removed
Picture 5-the stuff you should have ended up with after you took it off.

[fikren]

The next step is going to be to jack up the front of the car and remove the front wheel. With the wheel off you can now remove the screw snaps on the fender liners to get back in the fender. It is not necessary to completly remove the whole liner. I removed the snaps to about the 12 o'clock position and that gave me plenty of room to work with. If you pull back the fender liner you will see two holes in the body. This is where the AutoExe bolts will come through at. You will need to push out the clip on each side as it takes up one of the holes. On the passenger side it is the clip holding the washer fluid line and on the divers side it is a clip holding in a grouping of wires.

Picture 1-Wheel Removed
Picture 2-Fender liner, I have circled the screw snaps you are looking for
Picture 3-A bad shot of the inside of the liner at the two holes you are looking for.

[fikren]

Next you want to fit in the AutoExe bar. This may take alittle work to get it seated properly. Also you want to make sure that the clipped wires and the clipped washer fluid line are on the front/top side of the bar not behind. I belive when I tried it behind it put to much of a strain on the lines as they just are not long enough.

Once you have it set you want to use the supplied black backing plates and the 14mm supplied bolts (1 per side) and the 10mm supplied bolts (1 per side). The black backing plate goes up inside the fender, run the bolts through the autoexe strut, through the body, through the backing plate and put the nut on them. The 10mm bolt will be the forward most bolt the 14mm bolt will be the closest to the firewall.

Get them started on each side, crank em down. You will probley want to go back over them a couple of times to make sure none have losened up.

Picture 1-fitted Strut bar
Picture 2-bolted in engine bay side
Picture 3-inside the fender with backing plate and nuts

[fikren]

Next will be bolting in the front part of the strut bar that go over your shock towers. You will need to remove by either cutting it off or pulling it back, the bit of fire profing material that sits over the area that the Strut bar bolts too. It may be possible to leave that little bit there but I could not get a nut started with it.

You will reuse your 3 14mm bolts that you took off at the begging along with a supplied washer to bolt this part of the strut bar down.

You then want to use the supplied zip ties to attach the washer hose and the bundle of wires to the autoexe bar. These are the ones that were clipped into the hole that we used as a bolt hole for the strut bar.

From there your bar is installed minus your engine cover.

Picture 1-the bolted in shock tower section of the strut bar, I have circled the small section of fire proofing material that needs to be cut off or pulled back.
Picture 2-washer fluid line zip tied off
Picture 3-wire bundle zip tied off
Picture 4-the installed AutoExe front strut bar

[fikren]

The last thing to do, and this is optional, is to cut your engine cover so that it will fit with the AutoExe strut bar. If you do not plan to reuse your engine cover then this step can be skipped.

I placed my engine cover on and marked where the autoexe bars were. I then cut of, a little bit at a time, the side of the cover using a dremel with a cutoff wheel. After a couple of fittings and trimmings the engine cover fits. You then will use the supplied foam strips and place them along the section that you cut.

And this will give you


Snap your fender liners back in, put the wheels back on, drop the car back down, pick up your tools and your good to go.

Wed I will be visiting a buddies shop to get on a lift so should have the Member Brace kit writeup sometime after then.

[fikren]

Sorry guys dropped the ball on documenting the Member Brace Set. Had the camera with me at a friends shop so I could get the car on the lift, went to the bathroom to change out of my work cloths and into some get dirty cloths, by the time I came back the car was already up in the air with the camera inside. I didn't want to take up any more time than I had to so I didn't have him bring the car back down to grab the camera.

Good news is that it is a very simple straight forward install. Remove some bolts, remove the stock braces, put the Autoexe on, replace bolts. Thats about the jist of it. Here are some pictures of the installed braces.





Jonathan

[Herblenny]

Great Write up and great pics!! Thank you so much! I think I might pick one of those AutoEXE underbrace!