Installing the rails/brackets:
I bought the roof rails on eBay, from a salvage yard in Florida. I think they were around $200. Here they are in my living room, where you can see the 4 places that they attach to the roof. The threaded part of the brackets go through the holes (obviously).
I bought the brackets that will be welded to the roof to hold the rails on from the dealership, because how else are you going to get them? It's not something you can really find on the used market. There are eight of them: 1 each of 67331K2000 & 67341K2000 (a & b in the diagram), which go towards the front (one each on the left and right). And 6 of 67333K2000 (c in the diagram - 3 on each side).
The ones in the front are kind of "stepped" to match the curve of the roof near the windshield, while the rest are flat.
I didn't take a picture of the stepped one, although you'll see it later in this write-up.
Here is one of the 6 "flat" brackets:
You'll also need some M6 flange nuts to secure the rails. I used these from Amazon.
When it came to welding these to the roof, I fortunately have a friend who does a lot of work on cars and has a welder.
The most important thing is making sure you get the bolts welded in the exact spot on the roof. This actually wasn't too difficult, because the roof rails have sort of a built-in "lip" where it rests against the contour of the roof. The best photo I have to show what I mean is in this picture I took of a Venue w/ rails from the factory that I took a picture of when I was at the dealership picking up the brackets. You can see how there is sort of a notch where part of it rests on the roof while the rest of it rests in the roof channel:
So we set the brackets on top of the car, placed the rails on with the bolts going through the holes, and then shifted everything into place by moving the rails exactly where they needed to be. Then we carefully lifted the rails off, leaving the bolts in place where they should be welded. Think of the way you rack billiard balls in the triangle thing and then slowly remove it without letting them shift position on the table. Then we marked the spots for the bolts with a Sharpie (this is all covered up in the end anyways) and got to welding.
When the bolts were welded on, I covered the area with some etching primer. Then over the next few days I added a few more layers of paint from the auto parts store so that I was sure any bare metal was covered and wouldn't rust. Again, this is all covered in the end, so I don't care if it doesn't match.
Before (Clips that hold molding on):
After (Front and rear pairs of brackets welded and painted):
I bought the roof rails on eBay, from a salvage yard in Florida. I think they were around $200. Here they are in my living room, where you can see the 4 places that they attach to the roof. The threaded part of the brackets go through the holes (obviously).
I bought the brackets that will be welded to the roof to hold the rails on from the dealership, because how else are you going to get them? It's not something you can really find on the used market. There are eight of them: 1 each of 67331K2000 & 67341K2000 (a & b in the diagram), which go towards the front (one each on the left and right). And 6 of 67333K2000 (c in the diagram - 3 on each side).
The ones in the front are kind of "stepped" to match the curve of the roof near the windshield, while the rest are flat.
I didn't take a picture of the stepped one, although you'll see it later in this write-up.
Here is one of the 6 "flat" brackets:
You'll also need some M6 flange nuts to secure the rails. I used these from Amazon.
When it came to welding these to the roof, I fortunately have a friend who does a lot of work on cars and has a welder.
The most important thing is making sure you get the bolts welded in the exact spot on the roof. This actually wasn't too difficult, because the roof rails have sort of a built-in "lip" where it rests against the contour of the roof. The best photo I have to show what I mean is in this picture I took of a Venue w/ rails from the factory that I took a picture of when I was at the dealership picking up the brackets. You can see how there is sort of a notch where part of it rests on the roof while the rest of it rests in the roof channel:
So we set the brackets on top of the car, placed the rails on with the bolts going through the holes, and then shifted everything into place by moving the rails exactly where they needed to be. Then we carefully lifted the rails off, leaving the bolts in place where they should be welded. Think of the way you rack billiard balls in the triangle thing and then slowly remove it without letting them shift position on the table. Then we marked the spots for the bolts with a Sharpie (this is all covered up in the end anyways) and got to welding.
When the bolts were welded on, I covered the area with some etching primer. Then over the next few days I added a few more layers of paint from the auto parts store so that I was sure any bare metal was covered and wouldn't rust. Again, this is all covered in the end, so I don't care if it doesn't match.
Before (Clips that hold molding on):
After (Front and rear pairs of brackets welded and painted):