Yes, I'm finally getting a 6pt roll bar installed in my car. Decided to go with the first guy I met with. Turns out that was a good decision. I went by this morning to see how things were progressing. He's got the main hoop bent and tack welded into place. Here are some pictures:

http://kjett.home.mindspring.com/Images/hoop1.jpg

http://kjett.home.mindspring.com/Images/hoop2.jpg

http://kjett.home.mindspring.com/Images/hoop4.jpg

http://kjett.home.mindspring.com/Images/hoop5.jpg

The roll bar is being built from 1"-3/4" x .083 wall 4130 Chromemoly tubing and will be completely TIG welded. I've taken design tips from a number of people that already had bars installed in their Chevelles and I'm trying to incorporate the best things of each of these designs into my own roll bar. The main hoop is not even visible from the side of the car as it runs parallel with the 1/4 window weather molding. The driver/passenger bars will contour the door panel in such a way that I will retain usage of the door handle and window crank while the door is closed. The rear bars will go through the package shelf allowing the back seat to be used. The main hoop cross bar will be positioned in such a way that I'll have full adjustment of both driver and passenger seats and I'll be able to remove and install the rear seat without a problem. Perhaps MOST importantly this roll bar will be 100% IHRA/NHRA legal, including the driver side swing out arm.

I'm excited. Now I'll be able to race safely and legally smile.gif

Looks good so far!!! Gettin ready to do the same thing!!

Now that loser in the other lane will have to beat you fair & square, as opposed to ratting you out to the officials smile.gif

Looking good graemlins/thumbsup.gif
Betcha can't wait to go back to the track! :cool:

Originally posted by Georgia69:
Now that loser in the other lane will have to beat you fair & square, as opposed to ratting you out to the officials smile.gif Mike, :D graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Lookin' good, Kenny. Make sure he protects your windows from weld splatter. It will pit them.
When is the ETA of the next ET slip??
Been wrenching every day on the Camaro/Chevelle engine swap. One of them will be running this weekend. ;)

you said the rear bars are going through the package tray so you dont loose the back seat but what about the bar that runs across the main hoop you couldnt actually get by that If some one wnated to sit in the back seat is ther any way to beable to get in the back seat and still have a legal cage

Does the main hoop bars go to the frame? The picture kinda looks like it's welded to a plate that will be welded to the floor board.

Lee

Originally posted by BillsCamino:
[QB]Make sure he protects your windows from weld splatter. It will pit them.
I guess you have never seen Tig welding being done first hand. There is no weld spatter with Tig.

Originally posted by 70_chevelle:
Does the main hoop bars go to the frame? The picture kinda looks like it's welded to a plate that will be welded to the floor board.

Lee In the third picture down (#4), you can clearly see the sheetmetal floor is cut out enough to expose the original frame underneath that the roll bar is tack welded to.

BTW, Ken, did you realize the bar was tack welded with a Mig? If your counting hairs, that's not being Tig welded 100% :rolleyes: ;) tongue.gif graemlins/clonk.gif graemlins/waving.gif .

Looks good so far Ken.

BTW, ask your builder what radius he's using for the bender of that tube. It looks to me like a large radius, maybe 7" or so?

Hey Ken.. Im sure you'll like your cage. It will stiffen the chassis up quite a bit. What did you decide to use for your swingout hardware?

Originally posted by 10secBu:
BTW, Ken, did you realize the bar was tack welded with a Mig? Todd,
That is EXACTLY what I was referring to! :(

Originally posted by 10secBu:
I guess you have never seen Tig welding being done first hand. There is no weld spatter with Tig.Actually, I see more welding done in one WEEK than most others will see in a lifetime (REF: profile). I have 42 full time aircraft certified welders and 137 machinists in my dept. :rolleyes:
All residing in a multi-billion dollar state-of-art facility.

Well, I took it to be the tack welds were just temporary. Since the bars are chromoly, it is illegal per NHRA to Mig weld the cage...must be Tig.

Originally posted by BillsCamino:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Georgia69:
Now that loser in the other lane will have to beat you fair & square, as opposed to ratting you out to the officials smile.gif Mike, :D graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Lookin' good, Kenny. Make sure he protects your windows from weld splatter. It will pit them.
When is the ETA of the next ET slip??
Been wrenching every day on the Camaro/Chevelle engine swap. One of them will be running this weekend. ;) </font>[/QUOTE]Thanks for th tip, Bill. Sounds like your swap is going well. Did you go to the nationals today? Me and some friends took a white water rafting trip on the Chatooga. Can you say Deliverance smile.gif

Originally posted by Umass:
you said the rear bars are going through the package tray so you dont loose the back seat but what about the bar that runs across the main hoop you couldnt actually get by that If some one wnated to sit in the back seat is ther any way to beable to get in the back seat and still have a legal cage I assume you're referring to the cross bar on the main hoop. Mine will be 4" below the top of the seat back on the driver and passenger seats. It will be a little difficult to clear the bar but could easily support 1 or more rear seat passengers. And yes it is legal.

Originally posted by 70_chevelle:
Does the main hoop bars go to the frame? The picture kinda looks like it's welded to a plate that will be welded to the floor board.

Lee Lee, the main hoop is welded to the frame. The picture I posted shows a cut in the original floor board. The hoop goes through the floor board and is welded to the frame. The guy doing my car was complaining about the sahpe of the frame and the amount of grinding he had to do before it could be welded. I said hey, you new it was a 30+ year old car when you looked at it the first time smile.gif I think he was just trying to make me feel better about the cost :rolleyes:

Originally posted by 10secBu:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by 70_chevelle:
Does the main hoop bars go to the frame? The picture kinda looks like it's welded to a plate that will be welded to the floor board.

Lee In the third picture down (#4), you can clearly see the sheetmetal floor is cut out enough to expose the original frame underneath that the roll bar is tack welded to.

BTW, Ken, did you realize the bar was tack welded with a Mig? If your counting hairs, that's not being Tig welded 100% :rolleyes: ;) tongue.gif graemlins/clonk.gif graemlins/waving.gif .

Looks good so far Ken.

BTW, ask your builder what radius he's using for the bender of that tube. It looks to me like a large radius, maybe 7" or so? </font>[/QUOTE]Todd,

Thanks for pointing that out. I didn't really notice that it wasn't TIG welded. How can you tell that's it's a MIG weld vs. a TIG weld? I have NO experience in this area. Is it common to use a MIG for tack welding and fitment work? I'll make sure to mention to the guy that I hope he doesn't think that's permanent. I'll check with him on the main hoop radius and let you know what he says. You've got a lot of experience in this area, does it look like he's going about this the right way? Thanks as always for your feedback, Todd.

Originally posted by hoffbug:
Hey Ken.. Im sure you'll like your cage. It will stiffen the chassis up quite a bit. What did you decide to use for your swingout hardware? Tony,

I originally thought that I would be using a slip collar style connector. When my roll bar guy tried to order the slip collar setup he was told that it only comes in 1-5/8". Seems like a lot of the roll bar hardware is made for 1-5/8" rather than 1-3/4. He ordered a clevis pin style swing out kit. We I met with him this week we discussed a couple of different ways to create a pivot where the bar meets the floor. I let you know which one we end up using.

Ken, the Mig weld has a much larger "blob" look to it. A Tig tack would be much flatter in appearance.

BTW, Chris Alston'S Chassis works sells a 1 3/4" clevis kit just like the ones in my car (mine are 1 5/8" for a cage, not bar).

I know Chris Alston has these as I used them when we converted a roll bar to a full cage in a C5 Corvette here recently. We used these Clevis' on both sides of the car. Be warned the kit is quite pricey...I believe there over $300 for a roll bar kit. The cage kit has one less machined part and is nearly half the cost.

The Vette we did is going to be run out in Nevada in the open road race courses. The owner wants to compete in the 200 mph class :eek: .

Ken,
Anyway I can get you to dig out these pics?

Originally posted by jakeshoe:
Ken,
Anyway I can get you to dig out these pics? You've got mail smile.gif

Thanks!!

Ken, I don't know if it's too late but I have a swing out kit on my bar. I am going to be removing it and welding a solid bar (contoured) in its place. The swing out will flex too much and you'll loose the advantage of the stiff frame. Whenever I let off on the big end this thing makes a clunk, and you can really feel the flex. It is nice though to be able to remove the side bar.

Links have errors. Says "page not found".

Originally posted by gatewayracer:
Ken, I don't know if it's too late but I have a swing out kit on my bar. I am going to be removing it and welding a solid bar (contoured) in its place. The swing out will flex too much and you'll loose the advantage of the stiff frame. Whenever I let off on the big end this thing makes a clunk, and you can really feel the flex. It is nice though to be able to remove the side bar. Can I jump in on this one :D Do you have a pic of the contour bars and is it NHRA legal? Good info! I think I'll skip the swing outs.

The rule is that the side bar must be "at a midway point between the shoulder & elbow".
It does not say anything about the "knee" or "Lap". I will say that I have seen them at the track so they must pass tech.

Here's a pic, it has the swing out but it could also be solid. You could even get away with a bit more contour. Not on a sub 10 sec chassis that requires certification though.
http://www.thunderracing.com/images/c5corvette/wolfe/wolfe_c5bars6.jpg

The way that bar is bent I would think it would just collapse with any impact behind the main hoop. :confused:

You're probably right, I guess theres no real good solution, maybe I'll keep my swing-out and install a solid bar below it to stiffen things up.

in my 65 i have my main hoop. where are you going to mount the side bars i am having trouble finding a place to do it. fire wall or floor cant decide. do you have any pics. also do you like your swing out kit. i got a comp eng one. thanks

So where did the site go I get 404 not found. graemlins/angry.gif

Jim