It's nothing to do with where I sit. I actually sit farther forward than you'd think, there's plenty of room for a bar behind my seat. It's more that I want the bar as far from my head as possible so I can still drive and be marginally safe without a helmet. I know there will still be more risk to my head in an impact than the stock bar, but with padding and some distance I think I'll be okay. From what I've seen of the Elda/GFL, if I used it my head would practically be resting against the roll bar.

I'm hoping for something sortof like 3312DC has...his is the closest to what I'm picturing anyways. SCCA legal, in basically the same spot the stock bar is but higher, but still enough to allow soft top operation. From what I've seen, you can gain a few inches over the stock bar height and lower yourself a few inches with racing seats, and then pass the infamous "broomstick test".

 

Actually, I don't have any pictures of the completed bar. If you wish to mail me a digital camera, I'll take the pictures and post them. Otherwise, I'll do that sometime when I can borrow one.

(I'm actually so much of an uber-geek that I don't bother too much with common tech toys like cameras and PDAs. I tend to play more with Crays....)

 

Ah, OK. That's the main reason I stayed stock while I was using it as a daily driver.

Any bar that works with the soft top is going to sit where the ELDA bar does. That's a function of the soft top, not the bar.

If you get rid of the soft top, then you can move the bar back a little and up higher. You don't really want it too far back, though. At least, the harness bar wants to be within eight inches of your shoulder. Also, the farther back the bar is, the more you are relying on the windshield frame to not collapse. And (unless you plan to make the car totally open) the less height you have under the hard top.

IMO, the best spot for the bar is where I have it, right about in line with the front edge of the rear shelf. That's where most bars and cages end up. I was very worried about that location with the stock seats and belts, but in the harness and race seats I'm much less concerned about hitting it. This is another reason why you have to consider the whole safety system as a totality.

 

I've got a bar that replaces the stock hoops and bolts into the stock bar holes. It was custom made ( I picked it up used ) ( built at Lucas shop in Houston ) but it looks just like the Mugen bar photos.

The bar is the max high for the softtop , and is as far back as you could reasonably go. My harness bolts into it and it's got tabs welded in to guide the stock belts for when the stock seats are in.

The downside is that it's not as wide as I would like and I would like it to be higher.

It appears to be a decent compromise for a weekend street car / track car.

 

If I don't use it as a daily driver would you suggest getting the full cage? I'm guessing that a full cage will run about $2000-3000. About how much would I be looking at for a custom rollbar?

 

A cage is much safer than a roll bar in a roll.

If your fab charges that much for a cage then I'd guess proabably $1k for a roll bar. TCD charges much less but thats not an option for you.

-Ry

 

That all depends. I think I paid about $1300 including tax, but that also covered the seat bracket fabrication and harness installation.

 

seat brakets alone can run a couple hundred.

 

TCD is doing my car and its right around 2k with the cage, seat mounts and mounting it, and window net.
I think that was including the quick disconnect for the steering wheel but am not sure.

 

yeah tony is way cheaper than just about everyone else. He can do a roll bar only for ~7-800.