Disclaimer:
I searched... but trying to sift through 200 threads about cusco roll bars and if the harddog bar fits under the hardtop is a bit much. I know roll bars and cages comes up at least once a month. So, bare with me...


I'm wandering if anyone has any photos or experience with a roll bar or cage that was designed/built without the softtop in place.

I know there are plenty of custom roll bars out there, but I can't seem to find a thread that has pictures of this.


I have a hardtop and a removed softtop. I'm looking at having a roll bar (and subsequentially cage) that will fit under the hardtop and maximizes the space where the softtop use to be. It seems a lot of the custom bars i've seen were built to cater to the softtop functionality and so on.

 

here...
this was done at TC Design in San Jose

 

half cage.

 

No pictures of mine, but it's simple to describe.

Your main hoop has four bends and is anchored to plates that are welded on the the shelf just behind the seats. Have the hardtop available so that the person doing the install will be able to tell how to shape the top of the bar.

The rear stays come down from the top outside corners and go back to right next to the rear shock mounting locations. That ties them in the the main frame beam that runs through there.

Then add harness bar, main hoop diagonal, and any other diagonals or braces you need (I don't have any).

This assumes you remove the OEM roll hoops and you don't care about retaining the OEM 3-pts.

You also have to decide how to anchor the hard top, because if you use the factory mounting hardware it is intended to partially bolt in to the softtop motor. I had my fabricator weld a plate onto the bar that made a replacement attachment point for the hardtop hardware, but many people don't bother with this and just rely on the two bolts to the quarterpanel.

 

perfect, thanks you guys! very very very helpful

 

The other thing is that if you want to use the OEM hardtop attachment hardware, the lever for the cam will want to swing through the roll bar. This is impossible unless you have access to the fifth or sixth dimension. So most people cut off the handle of the hardtop cam. If you cut it short you may be able to still use it as a lever. My guy cut it all the way off and welded a nut onto what was left. So I just drop a socket onto it and can ratchet the cammed attachment that way.

You'll see what I'm talking about when you try a test fitting.

 

I have a nut on mine too.

 

My thought was trying to build a bar that do the following:
1. fit under the hardtop nice and snug
2. use up the space that the softtop once occupied
3. keep most of the interior pieces in tack, except maybe the shelf
4. still use the secret compartment
5. have it SCCA legal

with the pictures, it seems like I might be living a pipe dream, unless I omit item 3 and 4.

 

Then you will be looking at a full custom job or the harddog. Do a search on harddog in this section and you will find plenty of pics. When you have a functioning harness bar that means you also have a race type seat. Those two items will make it difficult to leave the center glove box/secret compartment in place. If you have a custom cage builder in your area they can build one too. Just because you have a custom job does not mean you have to build a full cage, they will build what ever you want. Just make sure you stay within the rules of the organization you want to track with. Look at the web sites of the custom builders and you will find plenty with pics of installs on S2000s.

 

Yes, you must omit 3 and 4. This is not really a "daily driver" type mod.

You could, I suppose, hire someone to build a custom interior for you, but it's not going to work to try and keep the stock interior.