3.28.2004

This was a pretty straightforward install, I just made sure to take my time lining everything up. On the passenger's side, I had to unclip the brake & fuel lines and get the out of the way so I didn't melt them while welding. On the driver's side, the emergency brake cable was in the way, hindering proper placement of the connector, so it had to be moved just a little.

Before the install, I painted the connectors, everything but the ends, where I would be welding. I then used a jackstand & a floor jack (both wrapped in rags to protect the paint ;) ) to hold the connectors in place. On my Javelin, the front and rear frame rails are not straight in line, so the front of the connector tilts inward just a little.

After I got the connectors where I wanted them, I used a Sharpie marker to mark where the paint/rust needed to be stripped before I welded and then everything came back down & out whilst I broke out the die grinder. After all surfaces were ground down to bare metal, I had to get everything back in place and then it was a simple matter of just welding the bars in.

As you can see from the pics, I probably can't even be considered an "amateur" welder, but I believe I got the job done, even if it's not pretty.