Got tired of the autopower. lost too much legroom, and I wanted some more structural rigidity... So, I took the car to Piper Motorsports, and this is what I got!!!

 

whoa very nice!!!

 

2nd that, do you plan to make the next Fudd's meet dan?

 

Looks like very nice work, real solid!

I've got a question about the autopower though, how did it restrict leg room? Was it noticeable or only for those that have their seat all the way back?

 

what does autopower label this roll cage as? race street or what? it looks very good, but from the pictures it still looks like a 4 point to me.

 

that looks awesome, SCCA certified?

 

Wow thats so serious, does that car ever drive on the street?

 

^Sorry that is prolly a dumb question after looking at the interior

 

Driver's side lost the last couple clicks on the rails, so yeah, if you have the seat back all the way it sucked... I couldn't ride in the passenger side of my car anymore...

Dan

 

This is a RollBAR, not a cage. It isn't the autopower bar, I took that out and had this custom bar built.

Dan

 

Car was actually a daily driver until about a month ago, when I bought a jeep... Car now gets driven on non-rush hour days and weekends...

Dan

 

that looks like a very nice piece. how much structural rigidity does it give compared to the cage it replaced?

 

How much did the whole thing ended up costing you. Becouse I am going to need one for my 80 SA and still havent decided if to do it myself or let somebody else do all the cusing.

Thanks Mindaugas

 

^^^I also wouldn't mind knowing this. I think that someone told me once that they had one built for 1k or so.

 

Did they just modify the Autopower one? The main hoop looks exactly like mine (Autopower).

 

I need one of those.

 

looks sharp but downtubes should go to the floor onto a 10"x10" plate. to better handle a crushing roof. spread the load over a much wider area. and onto a horizontal surface instead of vertical (rear strut towers).

Then do a 2nd bar between the rear strut towers so they won't move.

 

nice!

 

The bar ran me 900 with tax and everything

Nope, this isn't a re-done autopower. The main hoop might look similiar, but if you look at where it mounts, you'll notice it's on the cross brace behind the seats. It also fits much tighter to the roof.

As far as the 10" by 10" plate, where pray tell could you put that in the back of an fb, that would be stronger than a TIG weld to the Shock Tower? The reason why I went with Mitch Piper is because I've seen his work put to the test, many times, and I've NEVER seen it fail. Finally, Where are the rear strut towers going to go? It's not like an FB has an independent rear suspension that WILL put weird loads on the strut bars independent of each other... That, and depending on how you read the rule book, it may be illegal for the class I run in... SCCA SM2

Dan

 

looks good...not a fan of roll cages personally...makes me feel like a caged animal...but that looks pretty sweet

 

Thats about the best roll bar you can get without making it a "cage".

 

How can i contact mitch piper, is he around fairfax? Ill be needing one of those or a cage real soon.

 

For that price you could get a full cage...if your not using it as a streetcar. Just my $0.02. Carl

 

Put the 10x10 plate on the floor directly next to the strut towers. just inboard of the strut towers. And make your plate go all the way around the strut towers to reinforce them. This is how it is done in ITA, Pro7, EP, and my car. The way the downbars are installed now puts a vertical load (roof collapsing) onto a vertical surface and all the load will be on the welds where the down tubes connect to strut tower. My way puts vertical load onto a horizontal surface and the downtube is pushing directly down onto a 10x10" plate, spreading the load over a greater area. Like a washer. Much less likely to punch thru the floor.

With a 10x10" plate the top of the rear springs would be pushing onto the 10x10" plate, reinforcing that area again.

Plus SCCA *requires* a 10x10" plate for road racing if you ever go that route.

You can see mine here FYI:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...99631087qFPvhP

As done by a shop who specializes in 1st gens and had refined his design and done over 25 by the time I had him do mine.

As for a rear strut tower bar, they do take a vertical load when under compression and tying the two together just makes sense. Not required but why not while back there with the welder.

I'm not saying your roll bar is bad, just not how I would do it. It's nothing personal! And it does look nice.

 

so how is it not called a cage when it's welded. i believe a roll bar is bolt on while cages are welded like what you have, hence a roll cage. it may not be a full roll cage, but it's there. it's just weird how you only had it made it done into a 4 point.