Roll bar; Now you see it...

I've been hanging around this message board for about 3 years now, and have yet to post a pic of my car. That's because progress has been slow, and it's still a jackstand racer. This week though I got my hands on a digital camera, and while there still isn't a lot to share, I'm pretty proud of my custom bent rollbar. A local guy bent the pipes to my specs and left the fitting, cutting and welding to me. The objectives were to stiffen the unibody, protect my family and do the above stealthily. I think it will achieve these goals. There are still pipes going in on the sides which willl tie into the hoop just above the rocker panel and run parallel to the rockers till it turns down to the floor near the firewall. I know that this mod strays from the Shelby Maverick phantom design plan, but I was commited to this rollbar before deciding on the Shelby theme. Oh well, Shelby Mustangs did have a hoop, and the rest of the bars won't show much anyway. At least we should be reasonably well protected. John B.

 

Well, it looks like these pics are going to be in the reverse order of that which I intended, but at least they're showing up! Here's the "Now you see it" The other was suppose to be the "Now you don't" pic. John B.

 

Very nice John . I always enjoy "in progress" pictures. I'm not much of a spit and polish guy,but thats just me. Russ

 

Looks really good , I like the bars to fit tight in the car like that too.

However dont be surprised if you have a little trouble re installing the two plastic rear arm rest peices... Mine were a VERY tight fit trying to get them past the sides of the Hoop and snapped back around the seam at the edge of the door opening!

 

Very nice roll-bar.

Now all ya need is to replace that awful green headliner with a black one and that'll be a sweet ride!

 

M.A.V.; You're right about the rear "door panels". There's no way they're going back inas they are. I haven't quite decided what to do about hem yet. I'll figure something out eventually. That rollbar of yours looks like quite a nice piece of work. Super welds. You do those?

T.L.; What? you don't like my puce headliner? Actually, I could kick myself for putting a hole in it with a screwdriver. It was mint when I started to disassemble the car (mint....get it!). It would have been pretty simple to dye it. Now, however, I am going with a new black one instead . John B.

 

i was going to ask how your family would get in the back seat, but i saw that you have the bar behind the front seats with pins. is your car going to be that fast or are you just thinking saftey? i was thinking of putting one in, for saftey and well heck, i love the way it looks, and i may need one... that is if i can drag my car down the qtr mile fast enough

 

JohnB ,No I didn`t do the roll bars ,I had a certified Alston Chassis builder do for me. I couldnt be happier witht the job he did

 

I had him to make it user freindly because my car would spend alot more time on the street than the track,and I didn`t want to have to crawl and twist to get into or out of it. The cross bar on the main hoop is removeable for easy access to the rear seat,also.

 

Pretty clean welds there MAV. They look like tig welds almost.

 

yea i had double checked that before i had welded mine in completly, luckily i was able to change it a little before it was permenant weld. i pushed in the bottom of my main bar a bit to make up the difference for the panel. now i can slide them right in there no problem

 

JOHN HOPKINS;
My car doesn't have the side bars in yet. Maybe you were looking at M.A.V.'s pics, also in this thread. My bars will run parallel to the rocker panels, just above the level of the seat cushions, before turning down to the floor at the front of the car.
I don't plan to drag my car, but I'd heard all kinds of horror stories about what lots of torque can do to a unibody car when launched hard; things like back windows popping out, sheet metal developing waves in it, doors that wouldn't shut properly anymore. My car isn't going to be THAT powerful, but;
a. I didn't want to take any chances.
b. Rollbars are good impact protection in a small car.
c. Rollbars make your car look tough, even if you don't need them!
(does that make me a poser?) John B.

 

John-

Looks great! Good work.

 

I know it sounds pretty ghetto but you can just paint your headliner (if it is the vinal type) with Duplicolor vinal paint, I did that about 3 years ago and it still looks like a brand new headliner. Wear a breathing mask though, I held my breath and poked my head out the door opening every couple of seconds for a fresh breath, not the recommended way.

 

John, the car looks great - I've always wondered what it looked like. Tell me more about those retractable seat belts. What are they out of? I hate the old style ones I have in my '72... ya can't lean forward to play with the radio when you have the shoulder belt attached!

Sam