Preacher Mans aim is to have the most practical car on the road it seems!

I picked up a tow bar and wiring harnessfor a TE Magna from the wreckers for $80 the other day. Unfortunately no bolts. It had already been taken off.

Just wondering if any of you out there would know the bolt sizes necessary. There are two up turned wings that appear to bolt either side of the wheel well that look as if they take 2 1/2" UNC bolts each, then there is the stabilising strut that mounts towards the front of the wheel well, it looks like it might be 3/8" or even 1/4", with a similar size whole on a tab that mounts close to the rear bumper.

Anyone provide heads up? I promise to post picks of the mounting process when complete.

Cheers
David

Oh yeah, fog lights are now mounted and get wired up tommorrow (friday), Mobile phone internal aerial mounts tommorrow too, and CB goes in next week. Then the Preacher man is off to terrorise the Eyre Peninsula. Scrath the inital part of the post, I just like gadgets!

Was there a flat piece of rectanulagar metal with two holes at either end with it?? and the wiring from the passanger tail light to the trailer plug end.The rectanulagar metal plate is needed as a spacer on the passanger side when bolting it all up.

Hmmm, I have the wiring socket that just bolts on to the welded on plate. I've attached photos for reference. Note: There are Bolts visible, these I've just placed cos they fit the holes in the bar. Hoping to get confirmation before I jack the car up and wriggle underneath.

Cheers
Dave

Oh yeah and I've sprayed the chain bolt and wiring loom gold :redface: Prolly looks a little odd, but for now I reckon it looks ... different.

Must be a aftermarket bar as it is driffient to to my bar.Mine does not have that extra bit that runs over the spare wheel well.Yours may bolt up without having to remove the rear bumber.Mine bolted inside the chassis rail and to the side of the chassis rail.

Helped a mate bolt a genuine 1500kg bar to his KE Verada. Bumper had to be removed completely and little L shaped brackets with threaded bolt holes inserted in the chassis rails to take new mounting bolts. Rear muffler had to be dropped and heat shield removed. He is a mechanic by trade and it took the two of us 4 hours to get it mounted and the car back together. Not a job I would attempt on my own and would not be in a hurry to do it again. Having said that you obviously have an aftermarket bar which may be a lot easier to fit. Cheers....

I concur

hahah im trying to get my tow bar off. looks like a pain of a job! have to take off the rear bar with all the 14 screws etc. looks like a day/weekend job to me

Trav

Bumber has to come off,
and the muffler gets lowered.. the heat shield can stay in place.
Its not that hard to do...
1 person can do it ok.
a 10mm long extention on a 1/4" ratchett drive is the best tool to remove the rear bar...
there are alot of little bolts along the inside of hte boot and then a few up from underneith on the sides.
the big reo bars from the rear bumper then slide back and you can install the towbar...
I had to remove the towbar to put on my new exhaust :(
Having an aftermarket bar like yours I would think that they would still supply the bolts that are needed.
the extra bar down the center probably attaches by drilling a hole into the tyre well....since I cannot think of any places to bolt it to back under there..
Haydn

Cheers for the comments. I'm now approaching this with some fear and trepidation! I have a mate coming over tommorrow - he used to be a car detailer at mitsis, and is now an apprentice mechanic. He claims to have fitted many of these beasts. Should be interesting. Yeah I have to drop the rear bumper off - not looking forward to that. I'll post up pics when done too - let you all know any probs.

Standard payment - carton of pale ale.

Cheers
David

Well I hearby do declare saturday ... yes all of saturday ... a learning experience.

It took us around an hour and a half to remove my reay bumper, some time buying bolts and fixtures and some time with a sledge hammer only to find that the tow bar did not fit my magna. Doh! :shock: I must say I was just a tad frustrated. I'll be returning my bumper bar to City Dismantlers on monday - they are on 14 day refund. I just cant return my spray paint! Anyway there is an upside to spending 6 hours on my car ... my mate rang a couple of friends and has organised a mobile tow bar guy to fully fit my magna with tow kit for $185. So whilst it's not an $80 tow bar that I installed, it is still better than around $450 installed by mitsis!

I now know the back end of my car ... yess I dropped my muffler and all. never done that before! Lots of scuffed knuckles. But made the most of it by running my GPS cable under the carpet and under the seats, and installong a 3 way power socket into the centre console.

But yeah. I have a few photos of the experience. Best part was when my mates girlfriend dropped by and she crawled under the car to start pulling bits off while we watched! That was choice!

Cheers for the pre-emptive device, and I'm leaving this one up to the professionals.

To celebrate our non-event we went for a hell dirve through the hills - oh yeah! Mud flap scraping experineces on every corner. Bring on Chain of Ponds.

Yeah fitting towbars on 3rd gen Magnas is fun, Verada sedans are the worst while the wagons are the best. I haven't done one in years, although after fitting a towbar to a Volkswagen New Beetle it would be a doddle. I'm interested in the Hayman-Reese hitch for the Magna though, if I get a Magna/Verada wagon to replace the Commodore.