Roll Bar

[XCOBRAX]

Looking for a shop to put a roll bar in my vert. Need someone who does quality work that looks good. The car is about 60/40 show and go. Northern Ohio, Western PA or SE Michigan prefered.

[cobrabitn]

Having a convertible gives you an extreme advantage. You can get an Autopower rollbar that is a bolt in and can do it in an afternoon. That will save you the $$ from paying someone else to do it. Several of our club vendors have these type bars for sale.

HTH :thumbsup:

[XCOBRAX]

That's a great idea.. I looked them up on the net. It looks pretty easy.Thanks!:thumbsup:

[cobrabitn]

I have a bolt in autopower and it took several hours to get mine in because there is very little room in the coupe. We had to remove the front seats to get it in there and even then it was tough. The convertible would be so much easier and maybe you can get Mike M to help you out since he has some experience putting one in?? :doubt:

Don't forget to put padding around the bar! :thumbsup:

[mojosvt]

I would love to help. As I now have done it 3 times:D . I would recommend the autopower 4-point with the all the options (upgrade tubing to 2", both horizontal and diagonal bars) I am up in cleveland all the time. a few beers and 3 hours, and you will have it in and ready to go!

[SuperG]

The latest instructions include having plates welded to the floor boards. I have the autopower roll bar, also, and when I drilled the holes through the floor boards, it was like poking a hole in a piece of paper. I'm short already, so I don't want to get any shorter if I were ever to roll!

[XCOBRAX]

The latest instructions include having plates welded to the floor boards. I have the autopower roll bar, also, and when I drilled the holes through the floor boards, it was like poking a hole in a piece of paper. I'm short already, so I don't want to get any shorter if I were ever to roll!
So, what did you finally do Gary?

[SuperG]

So, what did you finally do Gary?
As soon as I get my car back, I will take it in to have the plates welded, then re-drill the holes and make sure I have enough bolt length.

I will certainly provide details once I have this done along with some pics.

[psycho43142]

Roll cage installation per SCCA can be found on pages 1663-1665 in the GCR downloadable at this link:

http://www.scca.com/_FileLibrary/File/GCR2007.pdf


If the SCCA feels bolted plates to the floorboard are good enough for them, than I'm sure it is safe. The important thing to remember is the plates are like 6"x6" so the load is spread over a much wider area than the point of a drill bit. You might be suprised how strong that the thin floorboard is as it is actually replacing the frame from the front to the back, not that it couldn't be improved but a lot stronger than you might think.

Chris

[SuperG]

Roll cage installation per SCCA can be found on pages 1663-1665 in the GCR downloadable at this link:

http://www.scca.com/_FileLibrary/File/GCR2007.pdf


If the SCCA feels bolted plates to the floorboard are good enough for them, than I'm sure it is safe. The important thing to remember is the plates are like 6"x6" so the load is spread over a much wider area than the point of a drill bit. You might be suprised how strong that the thin floorboard is as it is actually replacing the frame from the front to the back, not that it couldn't be improved but a lot stronger than you might think.

Chris
True, the cage comes with some backing plates, although I don't remember them being that big. I also recently saw photos of a Cobra Vert that rolled over and the light bar held up just fine...pure luck! Now that Autopower (or Maximum Motorsports) is recommending the welded plates, I would definitely go that route...I just don't trust those floor boards!

[psycho43142]

Does it really matter if the plates are welded or bolted the support still comes from the floorboards they are atatched to. The strongest way would be to weld 2x3 steel tubing from the subframes at the front and the rear to the rocker panels going through the floor and then attatch the cage structure to those instead of the floor. I plan on doeing my own custom cage later this year and bracing as much of the car as I can per the rules in SCCA street prepared, not so much for roll protection but for chassis stiffening.

Chris