I added 45 pound to my car (rollbar)

rothaus · 03-10-2009, 06:31 PM

Here are some photos of the roll bar I installed. It's bolted in and removeable.

Cheers

JP911 · JP911's Garage

Looks like a nice roll bar. Out of curiosity, why didn't you attach the shoulder harnesses to the roll bar?

sc_rufctr · 03-10-2009, 06:59 PM

Being a half roll cage does it still stiffen up the chassis bit?

NY91184 · NY91184's Garage

Which roll bar is that? Kinda looks like my DAS, except it bolts to the B pillar which is pretty trick.

rothaus · 03-11-2009, 08:16 AM

The roll bar is home made from 1.75 x .120 DOM tubing. A company about 5 miles away where I live supplied the tubing, did the bending and the notches on the ends. I welded it all together. The bending and material was about $250.

The reason I don't have the harness mounted at the bar, I had it already and that type does not work that way.

SCHNELE · SCHNELE's Garage

My entire Matter cage weighs 42 pounds it is chromoly.

Jack Olsen · 03-11-2009, 03:29 PM

(My chromoly cage weighs a lot more than 42 pounds.)

That roll bar looks nice. Tying into the B pillar is a smart idea.

Can you show another picture of the seat-back brace? How big is the part that comes in contact with the seat?

MichiganMat · MichiganMat's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by rothaus

The roll bar is home made from 1.75 x .120 DOM tubing. A company about 5 miles away where I live supplied the tubing, did the bending and the notches on the ends. I welded it all together. The bending and material was about $250.

The reason I don't have the harness mounted at the bar, I had it already and that type does not work that way.

Excellent work, it looks great. Does it come with ear plugs?

TimT · 03-11-2009, 04:22 PM

Quote:

The reason I don't have the harness mounted at the bar

Looks like you have the harnesses bolted to a plate going across the top of the rear seat back..

You can easily mount those harnesses to the harness bar on the roll bar....

Getting rid of that extra length of harness material isn't a bad thing...The belts stretch quite a bit during an impact...

rothaus · 03-11-2009, 04:27 PM

here is a photo from the seat support unfinished

To answer the question for the ear plugs ...... Yes, it makes more noise inside than outside.

Cheers

TimT · 03-11-2009, 04:38 PM

Wow... that seat back brace is.... Well BAD...

The seat back brace should be in the center of mass of your torso... that is much to high. The last time I looked a the club race rules...

well why not just quote it:

Quote:

All cars will be equipped with a seat back brace except as provided in Safety Rule 27 below. Said device will
mount securely to the roll cage/bar and will rest firmly against the back of the seat. The portion that contacts
the seat will be a minimum of twelve (12) square inches and larger is suggested. The seat construction must
be compatible with the seat back brace and not pose a hazard to the driver. The seat back brace for composite
seats must have a minimum of thirty (30) square inches contacting the seat back, and must have 0.5” to 2” of
high density foam padding between the brace and the seat back. The seat back brace cannot be bolted to a
composite seat unless the manufacturer has designed the seat to bolt to a brace.

rothaus · 03-11-2009, 04:53 PM

Thanks for that info... Wow.

However, the seat has a mounting hole right there,

and I agree, I would not do any track events with this setup. I plan to do only autocross and tried to stabilize the seat.

What would you suggest instead ?

TimT · 03-11-2009, 05:06 PM

Is that Corbeau FIA approved? If so you don't need a seat back brace as long as you used mfg certified mounts...

AutoX/ DE don't require that sort of bracing... but.... the steps between AX/DE/ and racing can be really short.....

rothaus · 03-11-2009, 05:18 PM

Thank you for all the input. I think I should be OK for AX, my budget and my wife don't allow for racing.

Here is the info from the seat, just in case some one else need it.

"The FX1 Pro is a true racing seat. In addition to bottom-mount holes (for mounting in a street car using Corbeau Custom Seat Bracket), this seat also features holes for a side-mount bracket. The rear of the composite shell also has mounting holes for attaching to a roll cage as is required in SCCA and other forms of competition."

SCCA not FIA, for real racing.

Thanks
Engelbert

Jack Olsen · 03-11-2009, 05:41 PM

My two cents:

If it's just to stabilize the seat, then maybe go with a more pliable metal for the brace triangle. Even in driving your car to the autocross, a rear impact would send a lot of energy right to the bones of your neck. Imagine someone hitting that bolt, hard, with a big sledge hammer. The seat will give way -- and then your neck will, too.

Ouch.

But if the connecting pieces are more pliable than the seat material, it'll just compress and you'll be okay. Alternatively, you could use longer connecting pieces, set much further apart on the bar, so that the triangle is much broader and less force will go straight to your spine.

One final option would be to go whole hog and put a really big plate back there, with an inch of high density padding, and have it mount lower, in kind of an 'underslung' configuration (I think the Brey Krause does this), so that you have solid protection spread all across your shoulder blades and back.

The work on the roll bar itself looks awesome, by the way.

rothaus · 03-15-2009, 11:03 AM

I was thinking about your posting and I came to the decision that I will remove the seat brace and redesign it.

Jack, Thanks for the hint on the Brey Krause one. Here is what I plan to do:

Make a larger plate for the seat and make the braces which go on the roll bar wider and with thinner material, so they will bend in case of any forces like being rear ended.

Thanks for you input from both of you Jack and Tim !

I will post pictures again when I'm done.

rothaus · 04-14-2009, 08:21 AM

Update !

Here is how I changed the support.

I used a thinner flat bar and mounted it only from the outside of the roll bar to the mounting hole of the seat.

This should take care of any dangerous situation, and it still provides support to the seat.

Thanks for the good input

Cheers

GarryW · 04-16-2009, 12:14 PM

Englebert, that is a nice piece of work. Was it easily put inside the cabin in one piece? Also, any chance you would share your demensions/plans? I am thinking of doing the same thing on my DE project I am working on. Thanks

Garry

rothaus · 04-17-2009, 03:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GarryW

Englebert, that is a nice piece of work. Was it easily put inside the cabin in one piece? Also, any chance you would share your demensions/plans? I am thinking of doing the same thing on my DE project I am working on. Thanks

Garry

Garry, if you are interested in a kit let me know. That's what I did. A company who make roll cage component made the kit (bending and notching the tubing) and I did the rest.

Cheers

onboost · 04-17-2009, 06:26 AM

Quote:

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rothaus: Nice work!! I may very well be interested in one of those roll bars as well! PM sent..

Paul