Gang,

Installed the Autotech rear upper strut tie bar, a.k.a., the rear upper
stress bar. In a word, WOW. It was $99.95 from Autotech directly, and it's
a great mod.

Followed the instructions carefully, and the install took about an hour. I
wasn't rushing at all. Radio on in the garage, poppin' a few frosties, etc.
Anyway, I could do another one in 20 minutes now. The install is EASY.
Anyone can do it.

The install was just as the directions indicated, except for one minor
difference (read really minor glitch) that I won't bore you with here. If
you've got the bar and are ready to go, e-mail me and I'll fill you in.
Once the bar is in, it's totally hidden from view until you pop the hatch.
It fits nicely, just behind the top of the rear seats, and just under the
trunk hide-away-black-carpet thingy in the back.

While doing the install with the hatch up, the rear seats folded forward,
and the two black plastic "speaker covers" off (one on each side), you get
the picture as to how little lateral support there is in that cavernous
hatch area. It's amazing. No wonder there's so much chassis flex.

Post-install, I pulled out of the drive way and noticed and IMMEDIATE
structural strength difference. My driveway is sloped, and horizontally
twisted. Before the bar, it would give a groan and a creak exiting the
drive way. Now, nothing! Took a short spin around the block, made some
quick turns and stuff. Noticed a superior structural strength. It jumped
out at me right away.

Will report further when I can take it through my favorite on- and
off-ramps, and a huge 180 degree off-camber sweeper I know of. Heh-heh.

Bottom line: Great mod, great price, easy install, and you even get a cool
Autotech laser-etched red sticker to put on the bar when you're done. Uncle
Wally's mode grade: A+.

See ya!!
----------------------------
Wally G.
wallyli
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At 00:01 11/23/97 -0600, aqndev.tivoli wrote:
>Wally Green wrote:
>> The install was just as the directions indicated, except for one minor
>> difference (read really minor glitch) that I won't bore you with here. If
>> you've got the bar and are ready to go, e-mail me and I'll fill you in.
>
>  I don't have the bar, but can you please email me the detail of that
>  glitch anyway so I can put it into my Web archive of GTI VR6 stuff?
>  Thanks.
>

Ok. The glitch was that you had to "bend doen and away" a mounbting brakett
that was attached (welded) to the strut tower. One for each side. The idea
was that one the bar was installed, you would then bend it back up again
through a "V" shaped hole in the ends of the bar.

Um, no go. First, to do the install I had to more than "bend it down and
away" which I did at first with a screw driver. I later used a hammer to
really bend them down. Heh-heh. It didn't screw it up (the hammer), but
they would not bend up again through the "V" holes later. Just not enough
room and they weren't the right shape.

I didn't care in the least, as the whole thing is covered up, AND the shelf
that was mounted on that point (on each side of the car) is mounted at 5 or
so other mounting points as well. SO, negligible mounting strenght was lost.

A minor glitch in an otherwise flawless install. Great mod. You should get
it!! I know you have the Autotech front stress bar, right?? This one is
designed as nicely (I have both). Get it!!!!


>> Bottom line: Great mod, great price, easy install, and you even get a cool
>> Autotech laser-etched red sticker to put on the bar when you're done.
>
>  Did you also get a pair of "AUTO-TECH sport tuning" (the "sport
>  tuning" is in white script lettering underneath the red "AUTO-TECH")
>  die-cut stickers for your windows?  I got a pair of those when I got
>  the front strut brace.  They're pretty sharp!
>

No, they sent me the other ones, but I know the ones you mean. They are
great, and I'm getting them. BTW, that exact sticker is show in the new EC
in that Ginster Yellow DE w/tons of AUTOTECH stuf on it. Very nice looking.

As always, great job with the list Andy. Thanks from us all.
----------------------------
Wally G.
wallyli

In a message dated 12/25/98 8:15:04 PM Eastern Standard Time, Alex42oaol
writes:

> I recently installed an autotech rear stress bar....i was just wondering if
>  anyone else has done this, because when I installed it, I couldn't lift the
>  "tabs" back up.  Has anyone else had this problem??  Also, how much should
I
>  tighten it?  Im worried not to tighten it to much because it says it could
>  cause damage...  thanx
>  --
       I just left the tabs bent down. I notched (cut) the shelves at the
fronts and they are staying in place just fine without the aid of the front
tabs.

      Just tighten up until the slack is out of the center connection then
maybe 1/4 turn more. DO NOT overtighten it since major distortion will result.
That's all!

Regards,

*********************
*  Mark Herrly               *
*  Pittsburgh, Pa           *
*  96 Black GTI VR6      *
*  U1arunitaol     *
*  You wanna run it..??  *
*********************
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> I recently installed an autotech rear stress bar....i was just
> wondering if
> anyone else has done this, because when I installed it, I
> couldn't lift the
> "tabs" back up.  Has anyone else had this problem??  Also, how
> much should I
> tighten it?  Im worried not to tighten it to much because it says it could
> cause damage...  thanx
> --
>

I hammered the tabs into submission. They are flat pancakes now. There was
no way they were coming back up again. It's inconsequential though. Don't
worry about it!

____________
Wally G.
coolwallymsn


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I also hammered mine flat as a pancake, but when I find some spare time I'm
going to hack and file them completely off and touchup the paint so that there
is a cleaner more professional look.

Sincerely,
Joe Silva
'98 Ginster VR6
"Bigbird"

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Hi guys,

   Got a chance to put the bar on today. The car doesn't feel like it's
falling apart anymore. All the creaks and rattles are mostly gone when
going over rough roads. I haven't had time to do any real driving with
it yet, but the back end sure does feel more secure.
    I kept the side tray tabs and mounting screws in place. Had to cut
about 1/4" from each side of the tab to get that sucker into the opening
on the bar. I bent the tabs down about 45 degrees or so and installed
the bar over them, then bent them back up. Then I cut the side trays and
stuck them back in place. No major problem, took about 1.5 hours and 5
dremmel cutting disks. Not a bad mod for $100.

Later,
   Kyle

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Installed the Auto-Tech rear
stress bar; did it myself. Dremel'ed off the tabs altogether. It's not
like they were structural, and the rear side shelves are not likely to be
carrying 100 pound weights.
Here are some pics of the installation.

	This is the tab with the screw mentioned in the above email. I took a Dremel to it...
	...and this is what it looks like with the screw cut off and the tab almost sliced off. As it turned out, this "surgery" is not necessary! With a bit of coercion, this tab can and will fit inside the triangular opening in the bar's end pieces.
	The almost-finished installation (nuts not yet put on to the threaded U collar). The nick in the rubber dust cover is what happens when you don't watch the other side of your Dremel's disc!
	A shim (a piece of leather folded in half) attempts to reduce rattling...
	Details of how I trimed the plastic "trays" to fit over the bar's hardware: before (bottom) and after (top).
	The trimmed plastic "tray" in place.