Shawn
07-21-2009, 12:28 PM
This is the Speedline Cross Floor Brace from Ebay.
Welded steel, pretty decent welds and looks like powder coated with a Speedline label.
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g261/NickDandy/Protege/100_0245.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g261/NickDandy/Protege/100_0246.jpg
Install was straight forward. Empty out your hatch, remove all the floor/subfloor plastic. Unbolt the seat brackets and drop the bar in, it lines right up with the existing holes.
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g261/NickDandy/Protege/100_0247.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g261/NickDandy/Protege/100_0248.jpg
Tighten up and you are done. Clears the centre seat bracket no problem.
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g261/NickDandy/Protege/100_0249.jpg
Fun Stuff, cutting the plastic on the cover above the bar. I used a dremel tool with a plastic cutter bit. Cut and trimmed the part in about 10 minutes. In the picture you can see the two places I had to cut. On the centre post Mazda has some molded lines, you can cut 5mm above these and it will fit. The part behind this is trail and error, for me I did not want to cut the entire foot off. So getting it in/out involved a little pressure.
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g261/NickDandy/Protege/100_0252.jpg
What did it do for me? Well I did notice less squeaks. Handling is improved a touch, but seat of the pants is not the best measure. Would be nice to have a laser chassis dymanics tool to measure flex. :)
Welded steel, pretty decent welds and looks like powder coated with a Speedline label.
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g261/NickDandy/Protege/100_0245.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g261/NickDandy/Protege/100_0246.jpg
Install was straight forward. Empty out your hatch, remove all the floor/subfloor plastic. Unbolt the seat brackets and drop the bar in, it lines right up with the existing holes.
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g261/NickDandy/Protege/100_0247.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g261/NickDandy/Protege/100_0248.jpg
Tighten up and you are done. Clears the centre seat bracket no problem.
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g261/NickDandy/Protege/100_0249.jpg
Fun Stuff, cutting the plastic on the cover above the bar. I used a dremel tool with a plastic cutter bit. Cut and trimmed the part in about 10 minutes. In the picture you can see the two places I had to cut. On the centre post Mazda has some molded lines, you can cut 5mm above these and it will fit. The part behind this is trail and error, for me I did not want to cut the entire foot off. So getting it in/out involved a little pressure.
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g261/NickDandy/Protege/100_0252.jpg
What did it do for me? Well I did notice less squeaks. Handling is improved a touch, but seat of the pants is not the best measure. Would be nice to have a laser chassis dymanics tool to measure flex. :)