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ConvertiblesDiscussed here are problems and solutions to convertible specific questions, including difficult to find part numbers and other convertible tech help.
Ok all I picked up the car and MAN what a drive but it was well worth it. The car easily has more power than my 02 TA did and still gets 28 on the highway. I uploaded pics on my profile of the car and cage. Let me know what measurements you need. As it sits top goes down easily but there is a process. I can get pics of that tomorrow. With this setup you Must have swingouts...its nearly impossible for me to get in with the top up
Ok all I picked up the car and MAN what a drive but it was well worth it. The car easily has more power than my 02 TA did and still gets 28 on the highway. I uploaded pics on my profile of the car and cage. Let me know what measurements you need. As it sits top goes down easily but there is a process. I can get pics of that tomorrow. With this setup you Must have swingouts...its nearly impossible for me to get in with the top up
Man that looks great, i looked at the photos in your album. Who did it for you, or was it already done when you bought the car? Do you know how much it cost?
i am currently getting a 6 pt roll bar installed on my iroc, but mine is all custom. the guy building my is out of chromoly with swing out bars and a X brace. i hope to post some pics soon.
Someday when you have something with a little more oomph than a 305TBI in the car, you'll understand the desire for a cage/roll bar.
Someday you'll realize that building a race car out of a convertible is like trying to use a Civic to win a tractor pull.
Verts are cruisers, if you're making enough power to require a roll cage you need to reconsider your choice of platforms. Roll cages are dangerous in street cars, convertible or not, the only good reason to add one is because rules require it.
I just bought the car as is on friday. I flew out to New Jersey which is where he had all the work done and drove her back. They did a fantastic job on this car. The LT1/T56 feels and looks natural in there. Car is in great shape too with only 59k on it. I just finished getting new tires on and getting her inspected...should be able to get registered today. I uploaded some pics of the detail job in my album. I'll try and link the cage measurement pictures here but I'm not sure if I know how to do it correctly.
Couple notes on the cage...you MUST have swingouts...or you are not getting in the driver seat with the top up. Also the back seat does not sit back all the way...it rests on the two bars in the back so you'd need to customize the seats to accomidate the bars or extend the metal latch an inch and a half or so.
The top does go down smoothly with 1 hitch. You can't just toss the whole thing back...you have to swing the front end up while holding the back end up then lay the back end down first then lay teh top back on it. This is due to it catching on the two bars by the back seats if you try to drop it all back at once. I'll see if I can get a youtube video post of the process so you guys can see.
bah...preview didn't seem to work with the pictures so I doubt it will work on the post...anyway they are all in my album.
Someday you'll realize that building a race car out of a convertible is like trying to use a Civic to win a tractor pull.
Verts are cruisers, if you're making enough power to require a roll cage you need to reconsider your choice of platforms. Roll cages are dangerous in street cars, convertible or not, the only good reason to add one is because rules require it.
Someday you'll realize that building a race car out of a convertible is like trying to use a Civic to win a tractor pull.
Verts are cruisers, if you're making enough power to require a roll cage you need to reconsider your choice of platforms. Roll cages are dangerous in street cars, convertible or not, the only good reason to add one is because rules require it.
Lol nice analogy, although I never said anything about making a convertible race car. Maybe to some people 11 sec quarter mile times is race car status, but to most that's just daily driver street car status.
And I happen to think roll bars in verts are dead sexy. Agree to disagree.
Lol nice analogy, although I never said anything about making a convertible race car. Maybe to some people 11 sec quarter mile times is race car status, but to most that's just daily driver street car status.
I agree!! Its fun surprising people when ya run a 11.50 in a vert. lol
Maybe to some people 11 sec quarter mile times is race car status, but to most that's just daily driver street car status.
And I happen to think roll bars in verts are dead sexy. Agree to disagree.
11 sec quarter miles are beyond 95 percent of factory cars today, much less 25 year old cars like what we have. Yes, that's racecar status, daily driver or not, because it requires a serious outlay of cash and/or work to make any car go that quickly.
If you're really pushing 11 second quarter mile times in a vert that's certainly impressive, but there's got to be a point where a vert chassis (regardless of cage of sfc's) just isnt suited for that kind of power abuse. The hardtop and t-top cars are already flimsy enough.
But by all means, put a cage in a vert if it needs it, but cages really ruin a car in my opinion. They make them a lot more unsafe for street driving and a lot more uncomfortable to ingress and egress. Thirdgen verts aren't so common that I would start throwing cages in them and semi-permanently making them impractical and uncomfortable. A cage is something you do to a racecar so you can go racing. I would feel really bad about doing that to a rare, highly optioned, very nice convertible thirdgen.
But that's just my take, since I dont see roll cages as status symbols or safe (unles you're in a harness with a helmet on).
I just bought the car as is on friday. I flew out to New Jersey which is where he had all the work done and drove her back. They did a fantastic job on this car. The LT1/T56 feels and looks natural in there. Car is in great shape too with only 59k on it. I just finished getting new tires on and getting her inspected...should be able to get registered today. I uploaded some pics of the detail job in my album. I'll try and link the cage measurement pictures here but I'm not sure if I know how to do it correctly.
Couple notes on the cage...you MUST have swingouts...or you are not getting in the driver seat with the top up. Also the back seat does not sit back all the way...it rests on the two bars in the back so you'd need to customize the seats to accomidate the bars or extend the metal latch an inch and a half or so.
The top does go down smoothly with 1 hitch. You can't just toss the whole thing back...you have to swing the front end up while holding the back end up then lay the back end down first then lay teh top back on it. This is due to it catching on the two bars by the back seats if you try to drop it all back at once. I'll see if I can get a youtube video post of the process so you guys can see.
bah...preview didn't seem to work with the pictures so I doubt it will work on the post...anyway they are all in my album.
im curious why you didn't delete the back seats since noone can sit in them anymore without hitting thier head on the cage?
I bought the car as is so I didnt have much say in the matter. Either way I am having a race shop install swingouts for the door bars and the crossbar will be removable (Yes I know that will not be NHRA compliant) since this girl will spend 99% of her time cruisin the streets on sunny days.
Reviving this thread as Backspinkyng's roll bar pretty much fits the bill for what I want to do. My car sees limited street use and is seeing increasingly more and more autocrossing. I want to put in a nice set of adjustable race seats and harnesses but b/c it's a 'vert, SCCA requires a roll bar if running harnesses. However, my little girls enjoy local cruising in it so I want to retain the use of the rear seat. They're currently 7, 5 and 3 (obviously, only the two oldest currently ride in it as the 3 year old still isn't old enough for a booster). My buddy, who is a professional welder, is going to do the install for me. We also have a tubing bender so we can customize the bends as needed.
Before anyone goes on a rant about "roll bars not being safe in a street car", keep in mind, I'm not concerned about adults in the rear, only kids, so the plan is for the bars to clear their heads and will also be heavily padded. Once the kids are older and bigger, I'll hopefully have my Skylark finished, which holds 3 across in the rear, so all will fit and there won't be any fighting about who gets to go for a ride! LOL
Also, it's my car, racing with the top down is fun, so if you don't like 'verts with roll bars, just move on.
As for the cross bar, that will be removable and the side bars will curve down and run under the door arm rests. This car will never see a drag strip so NHRA requirements aren't a concern.
The one issue I noticed was clearance of the rear bars and ability to secure the rear seat in the stock position. I don't want to just relocate the latch on the seat back as the seat will be too upright and uncomfortable. I also don't think I want to modify/notch the top of the seat b/c heads will be too close to the bar. My thought is to notch the tonneau cover so the rear bars attach a little farther back and retain the stock location of the seat. I’ve noticed the rear bars of a lot of the fourth gens are like this but not all have the tonneau cover either. I did find a couple with the cover notched though. I guess it all comes down to positioning the bars so the top can go up and down and decide from there.
Anyone with pics, experience or constructive input, please provide. Thx!
12-28-2011, 09:59 PM
