Product Review- DIY Door Bars in an NB
 

Installed the DIY door bars Saturday after being told by DIY that these were made for NAs and have not been installed in an NB before. Who doesn’t like a challenge?
Do they make a difference? Heck yes. I’ve got a car that’s already pretty stiff- seam welding, Frog Arms, roll bar, factory 03 underbody bracing… NOTHING made as big a change as the door bars. The whole car now rides like a solid chunk of billet. It sounds as dramatic as it actually is.
I decided on the DIY bars as I thought they were the best looking bars on the market (mirroring the material used by Hard Dog for my roll bar) and they were also the least expensive.

NA Miata Door Bars -DIYroadster

From DIY:
Built from 1.75" DOM tubing, thicker than any other bolt in door bars on the market yet designed in such a way to be much less intrusive in the cabin.

They do not interfere with window crank operation. Depending on the size of your hands, you won’t even notice the bar is there.

The triangulated design means they angle down at about the middle of the door opening, making getting in and out of the car much easier. They hug the door panel very closely. Depending on how you mount the front plate they can be anywhere from touching to about half an inch away from the door panel.

Due to the close fitting nature of the Door Bars they will only fit in the NA chassis miatas.
Call or email for NB fitment modifications

KIT INCLUDES: Powdercoated Doorbars, Laser Cut Backing Plates, All grade 8 hardware needed for installation.


The instructions are adequate and the install is pretty easy. To prep pull out your seats (not required but 4-14mm bolts and 1min of your time per- why not have the extra room), jack the back of the car up and put it on stands, remove both rear wheels and the plastic shield/ pieces in your rear wells. Then the B-Pillar covers, door sills and foot rest comes out. From there drill the initial hole in the b pillar area as per the instructions, mark other holes and drill. Then bolt up the bar using the included hardware and backing plates.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1412517968

The challenge for NB owners comes next… the doors won’t close!

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1412517968

Mazda decided to make larger (wider) door panels in the NB for some reason (?) but the good news for us is that it’s all air and foam. Once the bars are installed mark your door panels:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1412517968

Then, using a Dremmel cut out the area that’s in the way. I also used the Dremmel to shape the foam under the door panel skin. I’ll find something wizzy to do with the panel, but for now will likely use Gaffer’s tape to conceal the door guts.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1412517968

Remember you can always cut more away… can’t put it back. I started with the driver’s side as it was already damaged from a closing/ seatbelt issue. With the door closed:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...pscbdd304a.jpg

Pass side:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1412517968

The door bars do not interfere with the factory seats nor are they noticed when driving- they don’t hit your ankle/ etc. I was also able to install my Momo Start with the bar in.
I’d give them a 10 for function, an 8 for install, and a 9 for aesthetics.

Definitely a worthwhile investment/ project.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1412517968

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1412517968
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1412517968

I really like this design, I've been planning on getting a set for my NA when I get my roll bar. Glad to hear they actually do stiffen the car. I just put stiffer springs on and even with my butterfly brace the car shudders over pothole ridden roads. I'm putting in frog arms, a roll bar and these when I get some body damage repaired and expect to have a much more stable car when it gets back.

I picked up a used set from a local guy who parted his car out. They've been sitting in my garage for a while now as I debated work vs payoff. Good to hear your review!

Review? This may be the most retarded door bar/ chassis stiffening mod I have ever seen...Ever.
Cut your door panels? Gtfo.
Remove your seats/ door sills? Really?
Guess what I had to do to get my hard dog door bars to fit.
If you guessed "lay them in there and drill holes in the front floor", you're right. That was it.
I sliced the carpet and tucked it over the front mounts after I was done bolting it in.
If you have to notch your door panels/ remove sill plates/ do any other stupidity...something is wrong.

LOL is this a serious post?

I'm sure this install could have been done with leaving the seat and doorsill on just like you said. However removing these two items would make it much easier to do.

Also, OP clearly states that these bars are made for an NA. That would explain why he has to cut the door panels to fit an NB. At least I can tell just by looking at the DIY ones that they offer a decent amount more room for the passenger than the Harddog bars. They would probably be perfect for someone with flat door panels in their NB.

Yeah made for NA... So why put them in an NB. That's like saying, "this exhaust is for a C5 corvette"...but you decide to put in on a C6 and then tell everybody about how you had to cut stuff up to fit it on.

Well, there's one benefit to running NA door bars in an NB... more room.
Sure, the door panels get cut, but the bars are closer to the outsides of the doors.

To each their own?

Go home thirdgen, you must be drunk.

Seriously man. He likes them and they obviously give more room. He experimented and we all benefit. The answer is: no they will not fit without cutting the door cards.

Thanks for sharing carnet, I'd seriously consider this because my seats won't fit with narrower door bars.

This is a review that is much needed. DIY has been waiting for this review, to determine if they should give the NB door bars the green light or simply provide instructions to make the NA door bars fit the NB. I sincerely hope that after seeing this review, DIY decides to take the time to make a door bar for the NB that does NOT involve cutting up the door panels. I have been waiting months for the DIY NB door bars that were "coming soon" only to be told that they were waiting to see how this install of the OP would go. After seeing this install, no way in hell I would do what the OP did to my door panels. The DIY bars have the function, they have the looks, they have the price, now they just need to expand their product line to the NB!!! Thanks for the review OP.

Not quite. NA and NB Miatas share the same chassis. C5 and C6 Vettes not so much.

I plan on making some flat door panels for my '05 eventually, so these DIY bars will be perfect.

A setup similar to either of these cars below *should* give you enough room in an NB to mount these bars without cutting anything.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3874/...8988774f_h.jpg
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1412600764

Do these go up high enough that they'd possibly interfere with a roll bar? Or is this a non-issue?

Keen on a set of these if i think they'll fit around some A4s, but have a Boss Frog roll bar going in soonish.

Aside from my lack of understanding about putting these bars in an NB and hacking up perfectly good door panels...I really like those panels that are pictured above. I think I'd miss having arm rests though.

Do this attach at mounting point of a hard dog roll bar the same point as the hard dog door bars do?

I just received my door bars last week. Haven't had the time to install them but I did "test fit" them. The rear attachment point is the same as the lower mounts on my harddog roll bar(hardcore,hardtop). I suspect it would be the same for the BF as most of the useful rollbars attach at the same point, but Narek did ask me to specify which rollbar I had when I ordered. This is on my NA w/Sprint5s by the way.

Also wanted to chime in to say I was extremely pleased with my purchase from DIY Roadsters. Narek (owner) was very quick with email responses to questions I had and did a good job of keeping me updated while I waited for the bars to be made/shipped. I was part of a group buy and it went very smoothly. It was nice to order a niche product from a small company and have everything go so smoothly. The bars look very nice, smooth and clean looking welds, and a nice powder coating. Also the bars were packaged VERY well. I've had much more fragile items shipped to me that weren't packaged half as well.
This thead is about NB fitment so I won't clutter it up with any of my install pics when the time comes but I was so pleased with how my purchase went I wanted to say something.

i had the hard dog Door bars they did noticeably stiffen the chassis. i didn't like the fit with a race seat. it was very had to get a aftermarket seat in or out. I also didn't like that they mounted to the thin steel on the floor. so i sold the bars and ordered 1.75" DOM tubing. buddy had a tube bender and cutter. so we made our own. cost was under $100.

sorry for the old dirty photos.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.n...91ecd6537b2ecc
https://scontent-b-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/...bc&oe=54B09D60

^^ That's how Blackbird Fabworx (Moti) attaches his door bars too: https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1412611579

To the OP,
Thanks for testing this out. On my previous car I had BFW doorbars which also involved trimming the door cards and it did not bother me..

Ozbrock, link to more info on that first door card setup you posted? Must have that.

Pacman_99 on CR. Very cool car.

Invalid user specified :( will keep searching

Hang on a sec. :)

Pac-man 99 on CR.

pacman 99 on MR.

Build thread seems to have moved to MR.

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2949/...d1e8a01e_h.jpg