I am thinking about putting a roll cage into my car. It will probably be an 8-point weld together. MY question is, can you weld it in without gutting the interior?

 

Well, if you don't gut the interior...you have a HUGE chance of damaging or setting the whole interior on fire. If you gut your interior, you get a much better installation...because evertying will be out of the way...and you won't have to worry about catching anything on fire.

 

ditto that. do it right or dont do it at all. You can keep the dash in but cover it well with cardboard or even a fire resistant blanket. Also keep water in a bucket in case of a fire.

 

The amount of time you spend removing your interior is time well spent.

You will have to weld reinforcing plates into the floor anyway, and that means you must pull back the carpet. To do that means you must pull out the center console and seats.

That's the hardest part: The dash can remain in the car and you can protect stuff by using aluminum foil as a heat shield.

I put in an S&W 6-point with the optional rear-seat and door panel retenntion tubes and it's not a problem for getting in and out. However my kids have gotten past their love affair with the monkey bar and now they fight over who gets to sit in the front seat. So, I might have to figure out a way of creating some kind of reinforced steel mounting flange so that the crossbar can be taken out for the street. Otherwise I think their enthusiasm with going cruising with me will quickly fade this summer.

 

Better get your flamesuit ready ws6, kids riding in the back seat with a crossbar inches in front of them?

 

ws6transam, the last part your post is going to start a war. I mentioned the same thing in another thread Istarted and it was a war in there. I am going to install a clevis kit on my main bar so it will be removed very easy for those summer time cruises with the wife and kids. My roll bar is mainly for show and tell I guess. Ya, it does a little bit of stiffening to the chassis I guess but like I said, I put it in there to wow the onlookers mainly. Here is a picture of a clevis kit I plan on installing. Now before half you guys jump down my back, yes I know it wil render my roll bar "illegal" at the track. I dont care.

 

So your saying you have a completely useless roll cage because it looks cool? Where i come from that makes you a R!C3R.

 

Nothing like adding 70-90 pounds to the car for looks.

 

64 pounds of Chromoly steel.

If I remove my crossbar, it'll be to install a bolted flange assembly with recessed bolts that will physically place the crossbar in tension. They will have to be strong enough to withstand an impact. I've got a tenative design on paper, and need to get it to the machine shop for some CNC work. It should make for a safe, unboltable crossbar so that I can make those rear seats safe, but also be strong enough to absorb an impact at the track.

As for the flamewar, um, yeah. Just make sure that all you flamers have first renounced all YOUR illegal and hazardous habits like speeding, removing emissions equipment, pulling bumper supports to save weight, adding fast engines without addressing your undersized brakes, etcetera.

Maybe I ought to install four separate five-point racing harnesses into the car and issue full-face helmets for the street!

 

Don't forget the hans device to get their heads off that crossbar.

 

sLoW'n'StEaDy, your comment was very immature.

And yes, My roll bar is more for looks. I built a friggen street car that I drive to work every single day. I could care less about a cage being 100% NHRA legal for the track. Ive got about 50 lbs of dynamat in my car, 200lbs of stereo stuff and various other things that weigh my car down so I could care less about racing it at the track to get everything out it. The weight of the roll bar doesnt mean crap to me either. If you dont have anything positive to here (TGO) then go become a member somewhere else because your comments wont be tolerated here. Now back to the topic. The clevis kit I post a pic of is most likely the same idea that is used on the "street cages" that they sell for the 4th gens. My buddy has a bolt in cage in his 96 and his crossbar is removable with something very close to this idea. Yes it is a bolt in cage but again, ITS A STREET CAGE, just like mine. This clevis kit will work very well if instaled correctly and will give you the option of removing the crossbar at any time

 

Hmm.. Good idea!! (Somehow I think the custom mounting flange might be cheaper. I've got a mechanical engineer working on it with me and we'll be CNCing some prototypes this spring. )

 

Hey Bottled, what is this "clevis kit " your talking about? I've got a 4 point roll bar in my car....but it doesn't have the cross bar. Does this kit allow for a cross bar or something?

 

The clevis kit he's talking about is designed to install in the side bars, thus allowing them to swing-out with/like the doors. - His idea is to use the kit at either end of the cross bar, thus allowing for its removal for normal street purposes. - Would work fine as long as you don't need NHRA/IHRA/other certification, as he said he doesn't. - It would cost you some structural integrity(which he said doesn't matter for his purposes), which would be better addressed with an idea like ws6transam's, where the bar would bolt in with flanges, then have a "pre-load" bolt.

 

Shagwell, thanks for pointing that out. I tried responding to his question but the site wasnt working for me a little while ago. As far as the lost integrity of the hoop, Im not worried one bit about. I just recently switched to long tube headers so I now have all my space back on the passenger side floor areas where the cats use to go and I will making some custom SFCs come early spring. If things go smooth forme this winter then I MAY ditch the roll bar and just do the SFCs. This is only if I come across some free cash to buy new rugs. then again, I my decision to ditch the roll bar may change if I put this clevis kit in. it will be so much easier to work inside the car with the crossbar removed. its a real PITA sometimes.

 

Just came across this on an offroad fab site. Looks like it would be a heck of a lot stronger connection for a removable tube.

Description:
-High strength removable tube clamps.
-Designed to make sections of tubing easily removable

http://www.desertrides.com/features/...s/DSC01903.php

http://www.camburg.com/images/fabric...rts/clamps.jpg

http://www.polyperformance.com/shop/...&cat=58&page=1

 

Well, well. That's a pretty nice idea. It'd do the job, that's for sure.

 

for some reason I cant get the first pic to load but I see one issue with using that. I dont think you will be able to remove the crossbar with that installed. it looks to me like those things are a slip fit style clamp and a slip fit design means that you must be able to slid one end of the bar to the left or right to get it to slid out of the clamp to remove the bar. there would be no way to slid the crossbar left or right with the other side ofthe clamp attached to the hoop. maybe Im just looking at it wrong but thats how I see it. And like I said, maybe the first pic gives a better idea on how it works but I cant get it to load up on my computer. Am I wrong here or am I missing something?

 

I think you are looking at it wrong, seems that the crossbar would lift right out using these, just by pulling it straight up.

Look at the joint line in the 3rd pic.

- Justin

 

yes, I see it now. Ok then forget what I said before then. So it secures with a bolt then. Hm seems to be good but I wonder what it rated at in strength

 

Well the first link that didn't work (which it is now) is showing one of these types of connections on a desert racing truck. From the looks of the other pictures, the tube work that joint is connected to is half the front end, I think everything forward of the suspension. They've gotta be pretty strong since if you do a nose front landing, that joint will be taking a lot of force.