Hey Everyone.

Im looking at usein this kit from Jegs:

http://www.jegs.com/i/Jegster/550/940303K/10002/-1

or the competition engineering kit from summit:

Competition Engineering C3130

How is the fitment of these kits?
How hard are they to install?
How comfortable is driving with these kits installed?

Thanks!

Sheldon

 

Cutting, notching and welding the tubes is required.

Remove the carpet to weld the 6x6 plates to the floor for the tubes.

Removing most of the interior to weld in the bars so the interior doesn't get burnt, melted.

A MIG welder that uses gas is required plus an assortment of other power tools such as a hand grinder, chop saw etc. Cutting the tubes with a hack saw is slow. Oxy/Acetylene torches help form the 6x6 plates to the contour of the floor.

The roll bar/cage kits are inexpensive. Installing them is what costs money. Typically, if you have a chassis shop install it, you can estimate $100-$150 per point for the installation.

 

Things I didn't like was that they give you straight bars for the rear, which would put them in the same spot as the rear seat back. Those rear bars are really long, and I think I should've just had them bent to go to the regular spot on the trunk and clear the seats. The door bars were decent, but could've been longer to help meet the mid arm height regulation. I was able to make it fit quite well though.

 

Thanks for the input guys.

Alright, i plan on removing the interior to install it, though im not sure if i should be dropping the tank before i weld overtop of it? I have a plastic tank (99+ LS1 tank). I know there was an install thread on LS1tech of a guy putting in a comp. engineering one and it doesnt sound like he removed his tank to do it.

Ive got a Licoln Electric MIG welder w/ gas, so thats not an issue, have all the tools + An oxy/acetylene setup. Im also a very experienced welder with 500+ hours welding experience (And im only 18!)

I plan on installing it myself. Taking my time to do it, ive got UMI SFC's ill put in, along with my own LCA's & Panhard.

Would you say it might be better for me to buy just the hoop and source the rest of the peices out locally so i can do my own lengths? there are 3 Steel manufacturer's within minutes drive from me, im sure they can source the proper material in proper diameter & thickness. Can also make my own 6x6" plates if needed, as i can have them cut them on the waterjet for me.

I would like to see the straight bars go far enough back that i dont have an issue with rear seat clearance. Ive seen things on LS1tech where they sent the rear bars lke / \ rather then | | would that work if i made my own rear tubes?

This would also solve my short arm issue.

Thanks so much!

Sheldon

 

Order from Competition Engineering directly. Get the pieces you want, nothing you don't & cheaper in the end.

 

The kit i got was an 8 point, and instead of using the short bars behind the front seats I used them as the rear bars and ran them to the wheel wells kinda like the way you pointed out.

 

jegs kit is the one i used in my posting!

with a bender the rear bars turned out nice i think!

 

I get S&W main hoops for $40 and build the rest. $100-$150 per point for install? That must be a typo cause that would put a 6 point at around $800-$1000 installed. Most people around here are $300-$400 for an 8 point + tube so $550- $600 tops. JMHO

 

How do you get the main hoop separately? I don't see it listed on their site?

 

i used a s&w kit for my car it is a nice kit had them notch ends for me

 

Depends how much needs to be removed and reinstalled. Give them a car with no interior and the price can be much less. It's a time consuming job to put in a roll bar. A $100-$150 per point is a rough guess for labor but isn't far off most jobs. An 8 point roll bar isn't much different than a 6 point. It has 2 extra bars under the main hoop going down to the driveshaft tunnel. An hour tops to put them in including welding plates to the floor for them.

If you can get it installed for a lot less then the shop rate must be really low, the car is gutted before going to the shop or you have a friend of a friend doing the work on the side for a cheap rate.

 

What I did was use the door bars with the slight bend for the rear bars. I then got door bars from Spohn so they would clear my arm rest.

 

Local speed shop here is a S&W and a Comp Eng supplier. I asked him and he has gotten me 5 main hoops for my own and different shop projects. Comp Engineering sells them as well. PN is C3110A for a 82-92 camaro / firebird. I will have to look up the PN for the S&W ones. G

 

Most shop rates here are $50/hr to $75/hr. Usually charge 2 hrs to remove and install interior stuff and 2.5 hrs for install give or take a little time for problems. 3RD gens are easy to do with the hatch and if you tack the main hoop and rear bars its easy to slide forward to weld. TIG cuts down on weld splatter and cuts down on interior damage. But you are right, the more the customer takes out the cheaper it is in the end. G

 

Yeah...It sounds like the S&W ones are a lot cheaper.

But Comp told me PN-C/E0101, $60 for the 82-92s...