I've been bouncing around for awhile different rollbar ideas lately and have been considering either a Speedworks rollbar (I actually had one of there road racing bars in my garage,) the soon the be released Wolfe Racecraft setup, and the new LG Motorsport setups.


The reasons I didn't use the Speedworks bar are: painted red; non NHRA legal front bars; fronts were not removable*

The reasons I didn't use the Wolfe Racecraft bar are: Not ready for sale; "bent" style rears are not NHRA legal and are not as strong as straight bars; no diagnonal in main hoop; lower fronts not mounted on cross bulkhead

I spoke with Lou/LGM and here are the specs of the setup I finally came up with that meet or exceed all of my criteria:

Custom 6 Point Rollbar

1. Construction: Mild Steel - 1 3/4" x 0.120
2. Paint: Powder coated / anondized black (or other equivalent durable paint method)
3. Main hoop: welded to cross bulkhead with 3/16 plates; road race style diagnonal bar; low horizontal cross bar; bracket provisions for driver and passenger restraints
4. Rear bars: Straight design; side clearance for mini-tubs
5. Front bars: Pinned and removable (driver and passenger); elbow height "NHRA" style

My car is at LGM now and the bar should be finished by the end of the week. I'll post some pics when it's done without the interior. I'm going to dynomat it first and then reinstall the interior, and then hopefully order the restraints.

:cheers:

-Jeremy

*Note just this specific rollbar per a customers request was made with horizontal front bars. Speedworks have made many other rollbars that are the typical NHRA style such as Bill's below.


[Modified by Godspeed, 2:44 PM 12/27/2001]

 

sounds good. Looking forward to pics. What was the total cost?

thanks

 

The price for the bar in mild steel is 1195.00 - not sure how much the chrome molly upgrade is. I'll post pics soon. :cheers:




[Modified by Godspeed, 4:08 PM 12/10/2001]

 

I didn't go with the Speedworks bar I already had because it was mild steel, painted red, had non-NHRA legal fronts, and the fronts weren't removable.

 

So this will be an NHRA approved bar? :cool:

 

Is LGM makeing rollbars for f bodies too

 

Although I don't plan on having this bar officially certified by the NHRA (I don't think you need that until you're running 9.99 or quicker and must have a 8 point certrified cage) it should meet all the requirements for running 10.00-11.99 as well as the basic road racing requirements.

-Jeremy

 

Yes, I believe they do - here is their 4-point. Give them a call for more details.

 

I did some checking and have decided to go with thicker tubing - Mild Steel 1.75" x 0.120 instead of 4130 Chrome Moly 1.75" x 0.095.

I checked with both NHRA and Open Road Racing Rulebooks. The 2001 Rule Book for Open Road Racing requires 4130 Chrome Moly to be at least 1.50" x 0.120 and the NHRA Rulebooks states the 4130 Chrome Moly bar needs to be 1 5/8 x 0.083. Also for Mild Steel tubing the Open Road Race Rulebook requires 1.75" x 0.120 and the NHRA Rulebook requires 1.75" x 0.118.

Mild Steel:

NHRA - 1 3/4" x 0.118
Road Race - 1 1/2" x 0.120

4130 Chrome Moly:

NHRA - 1 5/8" x 0.083
Road Race - 1 3/4" x 0.120

So to meet both of these requirements I'm just going to go with Mild Steel 1.75" x 0.120 and not have the weight savings I had hoped for.

If you would like to read over any of these Rulebooks, here is where I found the information.

Open Road Racing Rulebook -

http://www.openroadracing.com/Rulebook/Rulebook.htm

NHRA Rulebook -

http://www.nhra.com/contacts/tech_faq.html

:cheers:

-Jeremy



[Modified by Godspeed, 11:28 AM 12/11/2001]

 

I went ahead and decided to have LGM do the mini-tubs at the same time, so it's going to be another 1-2 weeks before it's finished up. I also ordered two black Simpson 5-point cam locking restraints and am hoping to be able to covert the seats to Sport Seat style too.

Here are some pics of the rollbar before it was sent off to be painted:





-Jeremy

:cheers:




[Modified by Godspeed, 12:17 PM 12/17/2001]

 

Very :cool:!!! That's gonna be one sick racing machine when you're done with it. :yesnod: If you don't mind my asking, how much is that cage going to run you? I'll need one myself next year. :D

 

The cage by itself in regular mild steel from LG Motorsports is 1195.00. I ended up not going with the Chrome moly which is a little more pricey after all since I wanted the thicker OD wall for the tubing. The thinner 0.095 wall didn't meet some Open Road Racing rules. Give LG Motorsports a call at 972.272.7753 to discuss the pricing and or details of the bar. Besides that I'm doing the restraints at the same time which were 350.00 from Summit Racing. Hope that helps, let me know if you have any questions. I'll post some pictures of the final installation soon when it is done. :cheers:

BTW, nice looking vette! :D

-Jeremy


[Modified by Godspeed, 2:37 PM 12/17/2001]

 

The rollbar is done, the interior goes back in tomorrow morning. Here are some updated pics:

 

Looks great.:D Just a couple of questions. Are you planning on adding any padding to the bar? And do the bars that go across the doors come out?

 

Yes I plan to add some padding to the rollbar, at least where there is a risk of your head hitting it. I've been there before, it's not fun. :(

Also if you look carefully both the fronts have bolts on both end so that they can be easily removed. I'll get some more close up pictures of that tomorrow. I'm opting for grade 8 bolts to connect them, but you can use quick release pins instead. I plan to keep the fronts out of the car on the street, and to only put them in at the track.

-Jeremy

 

Nice job. Is it welded or bolted to the frame?

 

New seats as well? 5/6 point harness?

 

Everything is welded to the frame. :)

 

Yes I'm putting in 2 Simpson 5-points and am looking at converting the seats to Sport Seats. Haven't found an aftermarket seat I really like.

-Jeremy

 

Godspeed,

VERY nice looking rollbar ! I have a almost exactly the same except for the removable 'door' tubes. When I saw your pics I started think about doing the same with my rollbar. Would it be possible for you to scale down your latest posted pics to the same size as the first you posted with the bar unpainted. I can not print the pics in portrait or landscape without missing a part of the pic. I plan to take the pics to a local cage builder and have him copy your design, I hope you don't mind :)

Thanks.