I bought one of these style bars from Moss at the weekend - the one featured in the latest Moss Marques catalogue. I have a few questions - I know someone installed one of these recently - can't remember who? The bars look very good, but I'm having a wee bit of trouble seing how they should be mounted... Essentially they have a hole drilled at either end that is intended to be used to secure the bars via the seat-belt towers. When I dissassembled the seat-belt bolts - (popped off the plastic trim - removed the bolt and hollow metal cylinder that sits above a small block of stone?), I discovered that the holes in the bars aren't wide enough for the metal cylinder to go through - this is what raises the seat belt holders up a bit and allows the holder to rotate. I tried just trying to screw in the bolt through the cylinder and just have it sitting on top of the bar bracket but there's not enough of the bolt going into the tower for it to be secure??

A possible solution is to cut this metal cylinder in half and use one half at each side? Also, the bars have a flat area where the holes are drilled that are intended to sit flush around the seat belt tower. Well, on my Berkeley there's lots of plastic trim and a less than flush area around the block of stone that the seat belt bolts screw through.

For anyone that's fitted this bar - how did you get it to sit flush on around the tower? The bar really does look very good indeed though. (11/99)

I've never raced but seen enough accidents to make me rule out style bars. Looks to me as though there are 3 suppliers and I'd be grateful for any corrections or other thoughts on my view of the options. Forgive me for reciting what you've maybe read already:

1. Moss (selling the UK Safety Devices double hoop bar): www.mossint.co.uk or www.safetydevices.co.uk. This would give Elle the double hoop design and safety but the shiny one is over #400, the black is a reasonable #270 I believe. I spoke to a guy called Martin there and he said that they were developing one for the Mk II which would presumably accomodate the new hood/glass window. Needs checking but if this arrives and does fit a Mk I you then have something which will accomodate the various top options you might want someday. The Moss type seems to need less hacking than the Hard Dog (exc the Hard Bar). Arguably it is not as secure because it is braced on the parcel shelf but it appears to spread the load well. So you get a fair bit of safety, two hoops and modest install effort. Moss in Feltham should be an easy source and they have a local installer. Although I don't like the double hoops I'm tempted by this route as it looks to be easy and safe enough.

2. Hard Dog - www.teammiata.com/hard-dog.htm Look at the FAQs Range runs from the Hard Bar to the Hard Core (don't just search for the latter on the net!). All are single 'rectangular' hoop bars which I'd prefer. The minimal one is the Hard Bar - a superior strength style bar which looks like it might stand up to a modest rollover (ie about as much as the windscreen). The Sport (lighter) and Core (heavier tube) follow - both are braced backwards through holes cut in the shelf down to the boot floor. Stronger than the windscreen - as shown in the crash pix. Of all these the best,future proof option seems to me to be the 99 (mk II) Sport as it will fit a mkI, allow hard top/ glass window, and hopefully not interfere too much with the plastic window (??). On the last point I don't like the new bent brace bar much and wonder if the earlier version might be better in this respect - it certainly worked better visually, with a profile like a windscreen in reverse, but this is all getting a bit perfectionist... Key question is how much do these HardDog ones cost by the time you get one over here - can anybody advise - also whether to buy through someone in the UK or just order from the US.

3. Kirk Racing's bar looks like it would be similar to the HD ones. Not much info, based in Alabama? Has anybody ever seen one where the bracing comes forward? (eg down the angle of the seats to offer side protection instead of backwards where the bracing gets in the way of the window). The one I'm used to has a single brace down the midline which on an MX5 would end up where the ashtray is, so if I reinforced the ashtray... (3/00)

I've recently bought a 1996 Merlot which comes with a black support bar running across the middle of the car. As the support bar uses the same mounting points as the chrome bar, I can't leave it on if I want the chrome style bar as well.

So, can anyone tell me if it's ok to remove the support bar and replace it with my chrome style bar (bought from 5speed at Billing last year)? (7/00)