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Gauging interest In stainless steel Strut bars

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Old Jan 22, 2007 | 01:00 PM
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Gauging interest In stainless steel Strut bars

Alright people, I think we can make this happen for us first genners . This is a new guy that I met. He is already making sturt bars for our little first gens. There are a few different ways of purchasing them:

Just the sturt to strut bar ~ 150$
Triangulated bars with above bar ~ 200$
Above with engine brace (bolts at pivolt alternator point) ~ 225$
Adding grounding point to any of the above systems ~10$

As you can tell this is all aproximate prices (might be a little lower if we decide mass production). I only have a couple of pics right now of them but will be getting more soon when we hook up. All the hardware is stainless steel, even all the bolts and nuts. And for the best part, you will not have to wait a year for shipping like CP racing. This design has a few advantages over the CP racing one too, because this is a 3 piece design, shipping prices will be alot lower due to compact shipping, and also because it is 3 piece, when ever you do need to do engine work on it, you can just uninstall the strut to strut piece without unbolting the rest of the system which can become quite a pain in the *** sometime. Anyhow let me know.

Also we might make our own version of flush mount head light and sleepy eye's kit. Rear strut bar is being discussed, only issue is rigidity of design and how much /where would you want to cut off/trim panels. May be a widht of about 1/2" with a length of about 3/4" or maybe smaller holes. So it wouldn't be something too hard to do. Anyhow let us know, hopefully I can get him to come on here and talk together. More pictures will be on the way on here too. Just waiting for his email back.

Thanks

Sam
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Old Jan 22, 2007 | 01:17 PM
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I have the old Rotary Engineering triangulated bar on mine. They were made in ss also and are the best looking ones I've seen for 1st gens, other RB's space shuttle designed one, lol.

If you and your friend are interested in reproducing RE's design, I can make templates and drawings of mine when I have it off for the engine swap.

Post bigger pics of the one above if you can.
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Old Jan 22, 2007 | 01:26 PM
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I will as soon as I can these were two that he had on his computer, I should be seeing mine by next week, I'm and will take alot better pictures. I will talk to him about the ones your have ... I didn't know that RE made them. if you can send me some pics of yours too that would be great.
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Old Jan 22, 2007 | 01:37 PM
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Pics are in the build thread. I powdercoated the stut top brackets. Mine still has the original sticker on it.

https://www.rx7club.com/build-threads-293/unvieling-12a-bp-widebody-462184/
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Old Jan 22, 2007 | 01:40 PM
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ah i see i remember seeing that I thought that maybe you made it though. What's your thoughts on adjustable vs non ajustable? How thick is that plate on there too? Looks atleast 1/4" right
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Old Jan 22, 2007 | 01:53 PM
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I like the idea of adjustability, easy mod to add to the bar. Plates are 3/8" and can be easily cut on a burning table or waterjet setup.
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Old Jan 22, 2007 | 01:57 PM
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I have access to a plasma cutter so no worries about cutting things. This one is even computerised so all the have to do is draw it and boom let it do the work. I just need to now how many to do.
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Old Jan 22, 2007 | 02:56 PM
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Sorry to jump in on yuos guys conversation, but dj55b, were you selling these on E-bay a while back?
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Old Jan 22, 2007 | 03:50 PM
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Looks really good. I might be interested once pictures go up.
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Old Jan 22, 2007 | 08:16 PM
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i'd definitely be interested.
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Old Jan 22, 2007 | 08:22 PM
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would you guys prefer the ones listed above ... or the RE style?
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Old Jan 22, 2007 | 09:58 PM
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Looks nice, I would need to adapt it to coilovers. I've bid on several RB ones but no luck yet.
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Old Jan 22, 2007 | 10:05 PM
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o cool. i saw your stuff selling on ebay while back. looked very tempting.
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Old Jan 22, 2007 | 10:26 PM
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I'd definately be interested in these in a little while when I get some money. I'm going to have the Respeed camber plates on my car though, so I'm not sure on compatibility. I can easily mod the strut bar though. The triangulated one looks real good.
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Old Jan 22, 2007 | 11:11 PM
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Originally Posted by 85rotarypower
I'm going to have the Respeed camber plates on my car though, so I'm not sure on compatibility. I can easily mod the strut bar though. The triangulated one looks real good.
Yea what he said, I don't know why I have coilovers on the brain. REspeed as well.
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Old Jan 23, 2007 | 01:58 AM
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reminds me of the cusco bar. I loved mind. too bad it died in the wreck..
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Old Jan 23, 2007 | 07:37 AM
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Originally Posted by cpa7man
Yea what he said, I don't know why I have coilovers on the brain. REspeed as well.
Originally Posted by 85rotarypower
I'm going to have the Respeed camber plates on my car though
As long as the strut bar uses the stock 4 bolt pattern of the strut tops it should work.

-billy
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Old Jan 23, 2007 | 09:26 AM
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Originally Posted by bwaits
As long as the strut bar uses the stock 4 bolt pattern of the strut tops it should work.

-billy
Thanks billy for clearing that up ... I wasn't sure why they were concerned about this, when the top of the camber plate what rougly the size of the top sturt hole.

As far as ebay. I wasn't selling these on ebay he was. He's real job is a singer, but he has 3 rx-7: one 79, and 2 gsl-se's plus a few parts cars because who doesn't lol ... apperenltly he tried coming on here for a while and didn't get much response so he ditched the site, hence me trying to get him back, but he has a pretty busy schedual so it might not work out.

The way I see things going though, we might do both designs, if I'm correct, the RE model ones would be a cheaper design due to the simplicity of it.
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Old Jan 23, 2007 | 10:36 AM
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I have a cp front strut brace, but would love to get a rear strut brace. can this guy make those?
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Old Jan 23, 2007 | 10:57 AM
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we will be working on that design together soon. The problem with out cars is that if you want to keep the stock interior, wihtout trimming anything out, its virtually impossible to have it done. Also, we were discussing how a single bar across wouldn't do much (just like in the front when you go strut to sturt you still have quite a bit of flex, its not until you triangulate things that it actually becomes stronger.

From that sense, the triangulation will most likely have to be from the sturt tops (or around there) to most likely the rear (where the rear hatch light is) This is also a pretty good place because it is easy to cut aways at the "carpet" section there. Now as you can probably tell from the following, you will basically have 3 bars floating around in the back hatch, while some on use can live with that, some may not be able to. Also for the people that have a sound system (john64 lol) that might not be possible for him to install it neither if it doesn't clear up.

I have a feeling though that it should be able to clear it though. If the sub is right in the center and not too high up (mostly likely the bottom of the rear quarter panel windows) it might not work for them.

Still waiting on his email with more pics.

Sam
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Old Jan 23, 2007 | 11:35 AM
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Originally Posted by Frostycrowd
I have a cp front strut brace, but would love to get a rear strut brace. can this guy make those?
Why? The floor of the rear hatch is a rear strut brace. The rear towers are only a few inches high and the loads aren't input on an angle like in the tall front MacPhersons.
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Old Jan 23, 2007 | 01:21 PM
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So Manntis ... we should just ditch the idea for the rear?
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Old Jan 23, 2007 | 01:47 PM
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It's my opinion that a rear brace is entirely unneccessary. If it had taller towers, such as those on an FD or 350Z, maybe. But with stumpy towers connected by the rear hatch area subframe and floorpan, it's already braced and any bar would just be cosmetic - at a weight penalty.
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Old Jan 23, 2007 | 01:49 PM
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Originally Posted by Manntis
Why? The floor of the rear hatch is a rear strut brace. The rear towers are only a few inches high and the loads aren't input on an angle like in the tall front MacPhersons.
Makes sense and this seems to be the general conseus on the site and other people I've spoke with on the subject. But, it seems to be the thing in Japan and people who run them say it makes a huge diference.
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Old Jan 23, 2007 | 02:00 PM
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people who bolt fibreglass spoilers to their Civic trunks swear it makes a difference too Some may disagree with me, but I maintain that the front towers, with the deep drop between tower tops and the frame near the bottom of the engine bay, combined with the up-and-in geometry inherent in a MacPherson Strut setup, can benefit from a brace whereas in the rear of our live axle, low-tower rears a strut is a "looks important, does little or nothing" item.
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