Styling Bar - Opinions requested
 

One of my son's friends just added a "Styling Bar" to his 99 GT Convertible and it looks really good. I have always liked them. The styling bar is similar to the light bar on the 94 Pace Car convertible. I have also seen them on the Saleen convertibles. It is not a roll bar, but resembles a roll bar.

I am seriously thinking of adding one to my 97 GT Convertible. The question is which color would look best. The car is Autumn Orange Metallic, a 97 only color, kind of a burnt orange. The interior is Saddle Tan Leather. The top boot is black.

I think the styling bar should be black like the top boot and the trim around the top. My son Chad thinks it should be tan like the interior.

What do you think? I want it to look right.

Orange:

Black. That would be my vote. You can never go wrong with black as it goes with any color. I say black too because of the black boot really.

My friend put one on his '03 last summer, but it was very time consuming. I shopped for them too. Prices are between 260 and 360 if I remember.

This guy got his for around $300 shipped from some place in the Dallas area (driving distance) and said it took about 3 hours to put it on. He said it wasn't hard but there were a lot of steps. It came with good instructions, looks professional, and this is a high school kid.

I would go with tan unless you actually use your boot. Mine is in the attic. I haven't been in any parades lately. lol

I have about decided on black, cause I do use my boot at cruise nights and shows and stuff. I don't carry it with me, I put my top down 3 days out of 5 this week coming home from work, but its too much trouble for spontaneous top dropping.

I don't know when I am going to order it, I get paid once a month and I have to see how far it goes and how much is left over, looks like my tires need to be replaced real soon. Its one of those things I have on my list.

Harold:

What tires are you going with?

Blake,

Probably some 245-45-17 Capital Negotiators. I put some on Chad's 98 GT right after we bought it. They have good traction, ride good, not too noisy, look good and there is a local tire dealer that sells them $380/set.

When I bought the car it had Goodyear Eagles, at about 20K I put Goodrich Comp TA ZR's on it, they cost $850 and lasted about 20K, I bought some Sumitomo's at $560 cause I thought if I was going to spend $850 for tires again my wife would trade the damn thing, so I went cheap and the next month she bought that 02 hardtop and I got the convertible. And stuck with crappy tires, I hated them from day one, they are road walky as hell and don't ride very good.

The Capitals are H rated and have a 380 treadwear, so they may even last a while. I get tired of buying expensive tires that don't last!

Harold:

I will NEVER spend loads on tires again either. Just reading your comments makes me sick again.

I am not familiar with the Capitals and I haves used the Sumis before. I recently purchased Kuhmos with my new rims. Went with the 712 Ecsta Supras. They were $475 for all four but I have 255/45's and 285/40's. They make a Kuhmo 711 that I think is $300 for the set in the 245/45 size from Tire Rack + shipping. It is supposed to be an Economy performance tire, which is funny, because Kuhmos are economy anyway.

Good luck with your tire choice. Three Mustangs in the household? Is that right? You are my hero!

Blake,

Actually there are 5 Mustangs at our house. At least until tomorrow, I have a guy coming to buy my 66 Coupe project car.

Currently we have a 65 Coupe with 289/Auto that is currently undergoing bodywork in my garage. The 66 got pushed aside when we bought the 65, because the 65 was going to be a quick fix. Anyone who works on old Mustangs knows there is no such thing!

The 65 was once a Raffle Car for the East Texas Crisis Center, our club did a lot of work on it and it was a really nice driver. The guy who won it wrecked the left front end, and I bought it from a classic car dealer I know. I had the parts, so it was going to be easy. 2 weeks later, the noise I thought was exhaust or a stuck lifter turned out to be a bad piston, so we rebuilt the engine. The car was beautiful except the dented hood and fender, so I drove it around for a year and a half. When I got the new fender and hood ready I decided the red paint, although beautiful and shiny, was a little thick, so I stripped it. 5 total paint jobs, and under 4 of them was swiss cheese quarter panels with strips of sheet metal riveted in and buried in fiberglass and about a gallon of bondo. You never know what you are getting, I call it the red dress syndrome.

Anyway, my friend and I have been doing body work for 2 years, we have 2 new quarters welded on and most of the big stuff done, so with the money from selling the 66 I plan to take it to a shop and get it finished so I can put it back together!

"red dress syndrome". That was mucho lol!

5 Mustangs! Do your neighbors make fun or are they just jealous? Sounds like your wife is a real sport!

If I lived A LOT closer I would invite myself over (bring beer) to see all your rides.

Just 4 Mustangs now, the 66 left on a trailer today.

My neighbors are all jealous, the only thing they make fun of is all these Mustangs, but I have a Chevy Silverado pickup. I park it in the extra driveway, so it doesn't clash with all those Fords.

Here is a picture of the red 65 before body work started, that's my son pretending to drive it.

That '65 looks really awesome!!!

Re: Styling Bar - Opinions requested
 

A few months ago I started this thread, asking opinions on what color styling bar to put on my Orange 97 GT Vert. I finally got the guts/extra money/time and purchased one about 3 weeks ago and put it on. It came from ABC Exclusive in Wylie, TX, the price was $269 before tax, and it took several hours to put it on. The results are awesome, worth every penny and all the time it took to go buy it (4 hours) and put it on (close to 5 hours). The car looks totally different!