[Jeff Chambers]

I'll see if I can help here too.

1) Mild steel is basically common carbon steel (AISI 1010-1018) that's pretty high in carbon content. NHRA rules dictate that both mild steel and chromoly tubing be 1 3/4" in diameter. Mild steel must be .118" wall tubing while chromoloy must be .083" wall. Mild steel may be TIG or MIG welded, chromoly must be TIG. When welding the pads to the floor of a unibody, there only needs to be a 6"x6"x.125" reinforcing pad on the top (inside) of the floor. If bolting it in, you must have the same size pads, but on BOTH top and bottom, bolted together with four 3/8" diameter Grade 8 bolts.

2) I only installed the S&W as a six-pt, deleting the two subframe bars for the weight savings. Mine weighed out at about 78lbs without those two supports.

3) Seat adjustability is affected like PP says. Rear seat useability is nil, nada, zip after the install. Even my two young boys couldn't get into or out of the rear seat after the bar was installed.

4) 5pt harness. The lap belts use the existing lap belt bolts on the floor. I had tabs welded to the cross bar of the main hoop to attach the shoulder harness. NHRA requires 1/2" diameter bolt here. I attached the submarine belt to the box-beam member where the front seat studs are located. Used a j-nut here. Its not exactly NHRA legal though since they say that the crotch strap must run all the way underneath the seats and attach in the same plane as the lap belts.

5) Get yourself a copy of the NHRA rule book before your welder goes to work. There are some key details on the placement of the bars for it to be legal. Also, loosen but do not remove the rear interior side panels. If your welder can work with them in place its all the better; because after the bar is in you might not be able to put them back in without breaking/cutting them. I know of several who discovered this the hard way. Welding at the top of the main hoop is the hardest; without burning the head liner. Tell your welder not to grind on any of the welds when he's done (to make them look purtier). This is a real no-no by NHRA rules and some tracks are real sticklers about it.

6) NHRA only requires a 5-pt installation of the bar for 11.00 and above. The passenger side bar can be left out completely. Swing-outs are legal for NHRA (again for 11.00 and up) and there's no distinction between the swing out for the driver and passenger (probably since 5-pt is all that's required).

7) Mine didn't.