I need a street roll bar recommendation
 

I'm soon turning my RX-7 over to my son who is in high school. He's not a spoiled reckless type but I would still like to install some peace of mind since he's still young enough to make mistakes. I've heard too many stories that start with "My xxxxx got killed in one of those things."

Bolt in or weld isn't an issue. I want streetable safety at a reasonable price. No helmet necessary type with access to the bins if possible.

Those who have seen many and know much would you please offer a suggestion.

Thanks,
Vernon

Check out www.cpracing.ca

Autometer has a wide selection of rollbars and cages - I've seen them at www.mariahmotorsports.com, autometer's website will have more info.

a roll bar without the proper restraint system or helmet will do MORE DAMAGE than good.

^
Its true. Thats a shitload of solid metal sticking out, and if you pad it enough to make a difference on impact there won't be room for people.

I've seen some pretty gnarly pics of roll bars and cages with a stock belt system.

And you have to work pretty hard to roll an RX7, most people I've seen die in these tangled with the front end of an oncoming pickup, or slid off a cliff, or spun into a power pole. Things that a roll bar won't help with.

You're thinking of AutoPower. Autometer makes gauges ;)

lol, you are right, that's what I mean, autopower...

Heres my autopower.Easy install,not very obtrusive.Their factory paint sucks,I had mine powdercoated to match the interior gray.Cost nearly as much as the damn rollbar!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...y/DSC02014.jpg

looks good the same color, stealthlike, not ricey!

I've got a CP in mine.. It was $225.00 Shipped. Does a great job, just don't like the fact that the seat doesn't go back farther cause i'm 6'5" tall. But works and looks great.

Got the Autopower in mine. great fit.

http://max7.rx-7.org/projects/rollca...werCage006.jpg

i have an autopower setup. I dont like it. If you live in cali ill sell it to ya cheep and deliver it...

sorry to change the subject but MAX7 what kind of headlights are those on your 7? sorry im new to the mazda scene. lol, lemme know.

cpracing I believe

I'm pretty sure I've read that Mazda designed the b-pillar as a roll bar in these cars.

so you had to reverse the way the bins opened in order to install the rollbar? interesting. . . But i don't know if its really worth it unless your son is going to be doing alot of high speed cornering/racing I doubt hes gonna flip it... RX7's are low cars, making them pretty dangerous no matter what when driving around with trucks 3 times the size, hieght, and wieght. Only things that you can do is drive carefully or drive a different vehicle...

Dont forget kirk racing they make them and it is an awsome fit. They have an ad in grassroots motorsports

I have just what you are looking for: Autopower SCCA roll bar built for my 81 widebody. Installed an Autopower in my 240z w/ V8 no problem. I never installed my 7 bar & will sell it to you. Has the bolt-on cross bar (fire extenguisher bar). This bar is rated for professional road racing. What else do you need to know?

Autopower or Kirk. Im not impressed with CP's design. A rollbar wont hurt you in an accident, its a full cage that will mangle your arms and head so dont do that on a street car unless your into getting funny looks for wearing a 6 pt harness and a helmet on public roads. The bar is well behind you. Yapakanichi , yours isint a CP bar. Its of the same design as the Kirk or Autopower. Well the saftey isint if you roll it ( correct they are harder to roll then an SUV) but what if you get run off the road into a ditch or ravine? You WILL roll the car in that case right? Its not always about you, sometimes its about the other guy doing something that causes something bad to happen.

Quote.....so you had to reverse the way the bins opened in order to install the rollbar? interesting. . .

No,my storage box lids are broken like every other 1st gen.My paint guy put the pass. side lid on upside down after jumpstarting my car from sitting for a month.I didnt notice it for another month, until I took that picture yesterday!

Thanks for all the info guys. I agree with Carl, it's not just in case he flips it, in fact that's the least of my worries. It's the added crush resistance from the sides that's my main concern. Peolple get rear ended by fools doing 50-70 every day, with the bar a car will get pushed at some point instead of just crushing into a ball. A place to mount some good belts is nice. I'm not planning on running any steel in the front because he won't be wearing a helmet going to school but just a bar in the back usually won't hurt you. If it does you were probably dead anyways. A good roll bar could hold a truck up until you get pulled out, the factory roof will not. This is my thinking anyways. That and it's likely there will be two of my children in the car at times, along with friends. Why would I not?

Snapshot, sounds good I'll PM you.

Vernon

Snapshot, I see you're online. Don't forget about me.

Thanks,
Vernon

Here's a pic of my bar. It's a custom set-up, based on some of the AUTOPOWER pieces.

http://home.earthlink.net/~brhslm/im...terior%201.jpg

-Bern

^^^I want to see more of this car, please^^^

check out his homepage, http://home.earthlink.net/~brhslm/ maybe he painted it silver because it sure looks white in his previous photo

Thanx, didn't relize that was the car. Never seen an inside shot of it. Argh, in time, in time...

I will say it is very unlikely on the street, but keep in mind that the violence of a severe accident can literally break the seats, so that "unhittable" bar can still bite you in the ass. In racing, we generally require a seat back brace to the harness bar for any adjustable seat that does not meet a certain spec. Again, this is a remote scenario, but so is rolling the car hard enough to really need a roll bar. Anyway, I would advise that you put roll bar padding on the main hoop, just in case.

Geeh I wish my dad cared about me enough to get me a roll bar...:mad:

His words of wisdom

"Don't act stupid in this, it's a sardine can" :rlaugh:

Thats a very good point about the seatback, glad you pointed it out. Im not sure how you can add a back brace to the stock seat easily, that would stay in place. Padding never hurts. Im upgrading to the real deal SFI stuff in my car. I've decided that my life/health is worth the added cost over the cheap padding.

It's silver in that pic. It's just the lighting in that specific pic that makes it look white. In that pic, you also see the back of the SPARCO SuperSports seats and the Moroso battery box. If you believe, this used to be a brown car.

-Bern

lol i didnt even realize that was his battery box, It looked like a lunch kit haha. Im wondering why he wouldnt mount the battery box inside one of the bin cubbies. Amazing that the car used to be brown, thats unbelievable. A very nice example of a first gen. But anyways holy crap ive gotten this thread off track sorry bout that

Another thing i just noticed, his paint color is Honda white-silver.... Maybe it changes a little bit depending on the lighting, just a thought

Talk to DirectFreak. He's got a cool cage with swing outs for side impact protection... I PM'ed him on it years ago, cause I like it... I wanted something more than just a roll bar without the complications a a full on cage.

Might combine that idea with Bern's integration of the rear strut bar... I'd bet where Mazda put the suspension is a pretty strong point in the chassis.

On a side note, Why does RotaryRevn's bar and Max7's bar look different, even though they're both Autopower... RotaryRevn's looks like it's missing something.

And who made YapaKanichi's bar?

Autopower has several options for bracing, harness add ons and crossbracing, solid and removable.
So depending on what options you get they may look different.

https://www.ioportracing.com/images/streetrollbar.jpg
Street
https://www.ioportracing.com/images/racerollbar.jpg
Race
https://www.ioportracing.com/images/...ortrollbar.jpg
Street Sport
https://www.ioportracing.com/images/boltinrollcage.jpg
Bolt in cage
And you can mix and match, mine has the harness as well as the diagonal and seat brace.

I have been considering a autopower race bolt in for some time, but I worry about it restricting the movement of my seat. Im nearly 6'1" and although I dont even need the seat all the way back, I worry about the cage limiting the movement of the seat.

any of you have this problem

Definitely getting padding on any bar fellas, no matter how far back it is.

I used to drive a miata with a roll bar in it, granted its a lot lower than one would be in a 7, but never know what can happen in a crash. I was reared once in the miata, head slammed back into the bar, thank god for the padding or else I would have almost definitely gotten a concusion (sp?). Still had a bit of a headache, but it was gone after a few minutes.

Please pad any kind of roll bar/cage you get.