I recently picked up an NC2 sport and yesterday morning while browsing CL found a Blackbird Fabworx RZ rollbar for sale at a significant discount. Seller was converting his '15 into a full on race car and also had all plastic pieces already pre-cut for sale as well. That all got me excited thinking this will be an easy install as trimming plastics can be a major pain but unfortunately I am running into issues with the install and wondering if anyone else has personally installed this rollbar or has the instructions that they were willing to share privately - the seller had used a local race shop so he did not have the instructions and given that this is a 3rd party sale I don't expect too much support from BFW though I did reach out to them as well.
The two issues I am running into are:
- soft top stopper: this is also present on the BFW roll bar and with the factory bracket in the way I can’t slide the rollbar into position. Does that factory bracket need to be cut off completely?
- front supports: factory has two threaded holes and one stud and BFW bar comes with long spacers and significantly larger bolts for the backing plate. Does that stud needs to be drilled out and those threads need to be enlarged? All that goes through multiple layers of sheet metal and there is also another opening in the BFW rollbar that does not quite align with anything I can see but maybe it’ll be more obvious if I can get the bar into position.
This is how the car looks after a afternoon's worth of tear down. I've done countless rollbar installs on NA/NB's and this is a different for sure.
I don't know if it helps at all but here is a Reddit post with a picture of the bar installed and some discussion of the installation. I am planning to install one myself in the future and this is the best I've been able to do as far as research. The poster mentions using a hole saw and there's discussion of a drill guide so it sounds relatively involved. Hopefully Blackbird is willing to help you.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MiataNC/comments/my4rqa/blackbird_fabworx_rz_roll_bar/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Also, didn't realize we had another GRMer in the South Bay. I think I bought a soft top assembly from the guy you got this bar from.
Also, according to Moti, you are indeed supposed to cut off those stopper brackets.
https://forum.miata.net/vb/showpost.php?p=9656834&postcount=4
pointofdeparture said:
I don't know if it helps at all but here is a Reddit post with a picture of the bar installed and some discussion of the installation. I am planning to install one myself in the future and this is the best I've been able to do as far as research. The poster mentions using a hole saw and there's discussion of a drill guide so it sounds relatively involved. Hopefully Blackbird is willing to help you.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MiataNC/comments/my4rqa/blackbird_fabworx_rz_roll_bar/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Also, didn't realize we had another GRMer in the South Bay. I think I bought a soft top assembly from the guy you got this bar from.
Awesome, thanks for the links! Once I cut those brackets out I'll try to figure out how to get the front supports in. There are 3x long spacers on each side to bridge the gap between the back support plate and cutting through that much sheet metal is pretty daunting.
Yeah, he was a cool dude.. I was about to head out to the gym and saw the ad within 30 mins of his posting. Hope to see you around!
In reply to newold_m (Forum Supporter) :
My Blackbird RZ for my NC shipped today and I have a PDF copy of the installation instructions. Please feel free to message me through the forum if you need moer information.
Thanks! Moti was kind enough to share the installation instructions so I am good to go. Ordered some stuff I needed like long drill bits, hole saw and drill guides and planning to tackle it this weekend. Will update this thread with anything interesting I find and, hopefully, a success story in the end.
In reply to newold_m (Forum Supporter) :
Glad you got the detailed instructions as I think there are some things that were not obvious when just looking at the parts. Looking forward to your after install update and any helpful hints that you might have 
In reply to pointofdeparture :
Did that soft top you picked up come with an extra bracket by any chance? In the pile of parts I got from the rollbar seller I realized I am missing the top latch extension. Looks like this:
Without that I can't lock the top down and I don't think I can access that area easily after I put the plastic pieces in so I am at a standstill
Thanks!
PS: I'll try to PM as well
And it's in! Took almost two weekends but I was taking my time as it's a fairly involved process and quite different from NA/NB ones. In the end it was worth it as it's a really well engineered kit. I got lucky and the seller who I bought the rollbar from also was selling all the plastic pre-cut pieces from his car so didn’t have to spend too much time with the trimming. I did make sure any plastics that can rub against each other is properly padded and there are no loose wires etc as I absolutely hate squeaks and rattles and all that added a decent amount of time to the install.
Some pointers:
- definitely use a drill guide. I ended having getting two different styles and both came in handy
- pinkie finger works well if you drop one of the spacers inside the bulkhead 
- 1” hole saw makes quick work of the cuts needed to insert the spacers
- for the two holes that are closest to the b-pillars on either end it’s next to impossible to get them perfectly perpendicular since the drill bit gets in the way. a right angle drill coming from the bottom might work better but since I didn’t have one I ended up going at a slight angle which means I needed to enlarge the corresponding hole in the backing plate. I actually don't think it makes sense to drill the 7/16” on those prior to inserting the spacers, just insert the spacers and then use the spacers as a guide for the drill bit when making the larger openings
If anyone local needs them I the required have long drill bits, guides, hole saw etc. also while the install is fresh in my mind will be happy to answer any questions.
Thanks to pointofdeparture I was able to find the missing latch bracket and I got to meet a fellow local GRM'er. As I suspected it was attached to the top that the seller had sold to him and I gave him the stock piece in exchange for the modified one.
