Roll Bar Options

[J.Root]

All along I have planned to put some kind of roll bar in my 64. Well I am pretty much at that point. Thought Is I will do the sandwich to floor that NHRA accepts for unibody. This also allows me to remove it for welding and paint / powder coating.

Looking around there are a few options for pre-fab. But other than the hoop I am not certain how the rest will work out. I was going to just do a 4 point but seems a 6 is the min allowable.

Anyone used one of the pre bent offerings? I do have a few lengths of PVC I can bend up and then find a local place to bend to but at this point, less is more. I just don’t want to get booted from a track should I put down a time quicker than 11.50 and I want something to attach real seatbelts to while maintaining a back seat.

[A/FX]

I posted this on another thread, not sure if you have read it before this but it might answer a few of your questions. If you plan to race your car I believe you should review the requirements in the NHRA rule book.
Jim
quote=A/FX post_id=109595 time=1659995282 user_id=45]

Looking for suggestions for a harness bar/ roll bar. Should I buy a kit or take it to a fab shop? What did you do for a roll bar?

If you have a fab shop that is convenient I would go that route. When I built my bar I started out with some 1 1/2” PVC plumbing pipe and a heat gun. I designed the bar to fit the body in both height and width, the top of the bar just clears the headliner and has a slight peak in the center. After I had the PVC cut and formed to the shape I wanted I took it to a local chassis fabrication shop, they then bent all the tubing to match my pattern. The material is 1 3/4” DOM seamless tubing. When I had all the steel tubing I fit it to the car, made all the mounts, and tig welded everything together. I used roll bar joints similar to these: https://cagetec.net/product/1-3-4″-44-4 ... be-joiner/ this allowed the bar to be installed or removed easier, the bar is bolted to heavy mounts that are welded to the sub frame. The cross bar behind the seats is curved to allow full travel of the seats, it is also installed at the correct height in relationship to the seat height so the shoulder harnesses are installed per the manufactures requirements. The bar is wide enough and tall enough to not interfere with my head if I am strapped in, the last thing I wanted it to hit my head on the bar during an impact. Here are some phots that might help you.
Jim







[/quote]

[comethead]

I used a 6 point pre-bent DOM kit from Rhodes Race Cars for my track Falcon.
All the bends were perfect and once the extra lengths were trimmed the kit fit very well. I used the SCCA road race kit. Here’s a NHRA kit
https://www.rhodesracecars.com/6-Point- ... _8602.html

Of course you’ll have to use the material and thickness for your planned usage.

Joe

[J.Root]

I used a 6 point pre-bent DOM kit from Rhodes Race Cars for my track Falcon.
All the bends were perfect and once the extra lengths were trimmed the kit fit very well. I used the SCCA road race kit. Here’s a NHRA kit
https://www.rhodesracecars.com/6-Point- ... _8602.html

Of course you’ll have to use the material and thickness for your planned usage.

Joe

Joe,

What do the down bars look like? Since I hope to retain the back seat I need bars that will pass through the package tray. Do you have any photos handy?

Thanks for the info.

[J.Root]

I posted this on another thread, not sure if you have read it before this but it might answer a few of your questions. If you plan to race your car I believe you should review the requirements in the NHRA rule book.
Jim
quote=A/FX post_id=109595 time=1659995282 user_id=45]

Looking for suggestions for a harness bar/ roll bar. Should I buy a kit or take it to a fab shop? What did you do for a roll bar?

If you have a fab shop that is convenient I would go that route. When I built my bar I started out with some 1 1/2” PVC plumbing pipe and a heat gun. I designed the bar to fit the body in both height and width, the top of the bar just clears the headliner and has a slight peak in the center. After I had the PVC cut and formed to the shape I wanted I took it to a local chassis fabrication shop, they then bent all the tubing to match my pattern. The material is 1 3/4” DOM seamless tubing. When I had all the steel tubing I fit it to the car, made all the mounts, and tig welded everything together. I used roll bar joints similar to these: https://cagetec.net/product/1-3-4″-44-4 ... be-joiner/ this allowed the bar to be installed or removed easier, the bar is bolted to heavy mounts that are welded to the sub frame. The cross bar behind the seats is curved to allow full travel of the seats, it is also installed at the correct height in relationship to the seat height so the shoulder harnesses are installed per the manufactures requirements. The bar is wide enough and tall enough to not interfere with my head if I am strapped in, the last thing I wanted it to hit my head on the bar during an impact. Here are some phots that might help you.
Jim

Thanks Jim. Your bar is what I am looking for. I figured add removeable door bars while I am at it but if not it won’t hurt my feelings. I really want some place to mount harnesses. I have read the NHRA rules on roll bars, placement, attachment, etc. I won’t race this thing in any form of professional manner, just maybe make an event here or there locally.

[comethead]

I used a 6 point pre-bent DOM kit from Rhodes Race Cars for my track Falcon.
All the bends were perfect and once the extra lengths were trimmed the kit fit very well. I used the SCCA road race kit. Here’s a NHRA kit
https://www.rhodesracecars.com/6-Point- ... _8602.html

Of course you’ll have to use the material and thickness for your planned usage.

Joe

Joe,

What do the down bars look like? Since I hope to retain the back seat I need bars that will pass through the package tray. Do you have any photos handy?

Thanks for the info.

The down bars go right through the space where a human would be sitting. Mine do go through the package tray but are not usable with a back seat. I’ll try to get a good shot of it.

Joe

[Rootsy]

Jim,

Do you have a photo of how your bars terminate inside of the trunk?

Looks like I have a friend who has a JD Squared tubing bender and all of the required dies so I will bend this all up myself. Sourcing material is pretty easy albeit a tad pricy.

[power band]

sourced 'Falcon' app', backseat is carpeted shelf, Rollbar kit came with 6X6 plates to weld on subframe areas to attach under bars, 'road bars were an extra. 3Pt belts have welded shoulder tab on bar ...
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https://www.swracecars.com/search?type=product&q=falcon
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have fun
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[A/FX]

Jim,

Do you have a photo of how your bars terminate inside of the trunk?

Looks like I have a friend who has a JD Squared tubing bender and all of the required dies so I will bend this all up myself. Sourcing material is pretty easy albeit a tad pricy.

Rootsy,
Here are a couple of pictures from when the car was under construction. The rear bars pass through the package tray and are attached to 1/2” steel plates that are welded to the trunk floor and the upper rear shock crossmember. Each plate has four 1/2”x 20 tapped holes, the bolts are grade 8. I wanted the assembly to be removable, the inner bar hoop is attached the same way, the plate is welded to the floor and inner rocker panel. I built a mock up bar using pvc tubing then brought that to a chassis shop, they duplicated it exactly. I tig welded everything together while it was mounted in the car.
I hope this helps.
Jim