Main Hoop of Roll Bar Completed
Posted on January 19th, 2008 by Rick Thompson
I put the car back on it’s wheels and started making the roll bar. The main hoop was a complicated thing to make since it had some complicated bends in it to make it fit under the top and not hit the head of anyone in the car. The shape is not ideal for a roll bar but it will have to do otherwise it won’t fit.
If the weather holds out I will try and make the bar for the dashboard tomorrow.
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some points i’ve been pondering
how legal will the vert be with a full tube frame
under it (aka kit car or dune buggy)
are you expecting any problems with inspection
or registration when finished
the full tube frame would definatly have advantages
as to setting suspension and ride height.
instead of installing a duct under the pass. side,
how about increasing the size of the tunnel that
runs down the center tucking the exhaust in that area
and pulling engine compartment cooling air straight out the back allowing you to seal up the front end
for smoother air flow, also the tunnel would also act as another rigid member for stiffness.
dump the trunk floor and seal the body in at the rear crossmember just behind the seats, the bellypan
could funtion as the trunk floor if needed.
how much of the original front frame area are you
going to keep, sure would be nice to see those lower
a arm mounts replaced with something stronger that won’t rust out, full suspension even better.
and a flip front end mated on that tube frame would just be over the top
have you considered lowering the windshield height
to cut down on surface area and wind resistance
a 6″ chop would eliminate 1 1/2 sq ft. of surface
area. also smaller mirrors on both sides would give less surface area and not sacrafice safety
just some thoughts, great project, keep us posted
There is no problem with the car being legal, at least here anyway. The state inspection here is just to make sure your lights are working. I plan on taking out the entire unibody frame as I build it. I am just doing it one part at a time so I don’t screw up the alignment of all the parts. It might seem like it would take longer but it is actually pretty easy and fast since I don’t have to measure and realign everything.
I am going to use the center tunnel but I am making it a lot larger by keeping the passenger floor higher. There will be a (maybe abs) smooth pan on the bottom so all the engine compartment and wheel well air will go through the duct out the rear bumper that will have vent holes in it. I am continuing the duct through the trunk so the spare tire well area will all be removed and redone to fit the new setup.
I thought about trying to modify the windshield but really to keep the top and doors working and sealing out rain I can’t see any real way of doing it short of using an aircraft canopy and just forgetting the convertible part. The good thing about it being a tube frame is I can alter the body at any time without really much concern for the unibody since it won’t exist anymore. So later on I might come up with some more ideas and I will be able to do them a lot easier 🙂