RustX7

This message goes out to anyone who has actually installed the Kirk Racing rollbar in their convertible FC.

My question is this: Did the floor mount portions of your rollbar lie flat on the floor of your car, making drilling and wrenching easy? I hooked mine up to the seatbelt mounts on the top part, as you're supposed to, but now the portions that are supposed to lie flat on the floor aren't flat...especially on the passenger side, where there's nearly a cetimeter of space between the bottom of the rollbar and the floor of the car. I'm not concerned about this coming out perfect. The thing is pretty damn rigid even without the floorbolts, so any way I can jury rig it will be cool. Like with a spacer or something?

Also: the bar comes with bolts and two plates which obviously fit in with the bolting to the floor somehow. It seems to make logical sense for those plates to actually go under the car, making the bolting nice and solid and compensating for the thin body material of the car itself... but is that the way it goes?

And please don't refer me to the link on fc3s.org ... it's missing all these details..

genII Drifter

Are you making sure to shove the bottom of the rollbar towards the back of the car. I'm sure you are, but mine fit in perfectly, although I did it at the kirk racing shop. and yes, the plates are supposed to go underneath the car.

hope this helps.

john

genII Drifter

A spacer would probably be allright as long as the bolt got screwed onto the bottom plates anough. no flames please (rotarymaz) I know he has done this as well and may have a better idea.

Kirk racing's contact info: "info@kirkracing.com" if you haven't tried to contact them, I think Julie Stewart is the correspondant.

Trav

I've eyed this rollbar before and looks nice. Clean and simple and I think enhances the look of the 'vert. How much did this one cost?

I'm a bit curious though -- I've never been a big fan of the bolt-in bars. How about welding the bottom mounts to the floor-pan? I know the weak point is still the floor pan -- just seems like there would be a stronger way to do this... ideally the bar would mount to the frame somehow -- although I know that top mount probably is better than the floor pan.

RustX7

I've jammed it as far back as it can go... the floor-pan, in addition to not being anywhere close to smooth (it has like, bends and grooves and stuff, and they're not damage related, it's just the shape of it) it also slopes up towards the back, leaving more room under the front part of the rollbar than the back...

Thanks for the confirmation on the plates, drifter.

As far as the welding goes, trav, you probably could weld in additional pipe to get the bar to meet the actual frame. That's way out of my league unfortunately.. bolt-in is good enough for me.

And as for the cost, I bought it a while back but it was a little over $200, and I got it directly from kirk racing rather than through ioportracing. It was somewhat cheaper that way. bear in mind you'll have to pay more for paint/powder coat if you want it to be nice, unless you're good at that stuff of course..

ERAUMAZDA

do u have pics

RX-Heven

iTrader: (1)

Mine fit perfect also. However, if yours does not, you could just bolt it up with the bottom plates until it fits perfect, i.e. sandwich the floor pan between the p[lates and floor mount and tighten like hell. There should be no problem with doing this unless the gap is really significant. In your case when you say 1 cm, that is not significant.

RustX7

good to know.. I was thinking about trying that but didn't want to end up drilling twice, messing everything up, etc.. If I get out of work sometime in the next 1000 years I should be able to post a pic

crackavelli

I installed the rollbar in my convertible and also had a bout a centimeter gap on the passenger side. I went ahead and bolted it down (with the metal plate on the underside of the car.) Everything was flush when I finished!!

ERAUMAZDA

any pixs"

genII Drifter

did any of you paint the rollbars a different color

ERAUMAZDA

pics

RX-Heven

iTrader: (1)

I had mine powdercoated

RoninAutoBoX

Did you mean ?:

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/attach...postid=2256064

Trav

I think he meant

genII Drifter

any closer pics, I know about powdercoating but not a lot.

RustX7

Sorry I haven't posted pics of mine, guys. The car that actually works (sort of - my TII with an idle problem) has been taking up all my time, and the fact that my vert has become the project car is making me consider selling the roll bar anyway... But maybe not Anyway yeah I will post pics of the gaps mine has tonight.

ERAUMAZDA

if u sell u have a buyer

RustX7

Now let's see if attaching a picture wants to work for me this time...

eraumazda, I will definitely let you know if I am selling.. thanks for mentioning your interest

RustX7

Ok so if you look at the attachment you can see how much room there is.. that's the driver's side, the other side I think may even be worse. And the rear part is touching the floor (though it may not be on the passenger's side, really don't feel like checking right now)

Trav

Yeah, I'd be interested in the bar if it doesn't work out w/ Eraumazda.

I'll eventually pick one of these up anyway, just not high on the priority list. "Safety first".. blah! It's already safe, it doesn't run yet!

Keisuke T.

I'm going to buy one real soon for the 91 vert I bought for my fiance. I want to install it as an added safety measure but I am also concerned with looks and I heard from a lot of you that the Kirk Racing one is nice. I considered one from Autopower that Racing Beat referred me to and they look good but the finish is black and not guaranteed for damage during shipping (??). I would like one in chrome or polished as the car is blue. Also, I have some rust behind the seats due to a leak in the top (which I'm replacing now) and from what I understand about oxidation welding would make this worse. What can I do to rustproof? What color does the Kirk Racing rollbar come in and can a body shop make it chrome? How much protection does it offer when properly installed in case of a rollover (totally unexpected)? Any opinions are greatly appreciated, this is my first vert.