Best lookin alternator i have ever seen, and same goes for your Duster project. My friend had high reving W2 340/4speed Duster in early 90's and that car set my fire on this crazy hobby :)

I decided to start mocking up some weld in reinforcement brackets for my bolt in main hoop bar and pro touring door bars. I am not going to use the rear bars instead I am going to use the upper shoulder belt bolt hole for an attaching point to the top of the hoop for stability, like the 60's Shelby mustang bar ( see last 2 pic's). I also started fitting my new shifter...the console it came with was a plain rectangle so I will be making a "curvy" console so it has some character and style, the new oval top plate is made and installed the console will be built around it.

I've thought about this too! Surprised more don't do this, seems like a great way to tie back into the body and get some more strength.
Love this project, these are really under used body styles.


Jeff-

Since it's mainly a street car and I hate to work around a welded in cage when it comes to installing an interior, the cross bar will be removable for rear passenger access and also will serve as an attaching point for the shoulder belts. Once the interior is installed (rear seat, headliner, carpet) I can bolt the bar in place.

My correct length 6 rib serpentine belts (26.7") from KRC power Steering showed up and I finally had a chance to make sure everything is bolted down and works the way it should before I paint or polish everything. I also picked up a Billet Specialties Black Formula D shaped steering wheel with Contrasting Cuts that match up pretty well with the dash and Billet buttons.

Looks really nice. Where did you got those billet buttons?

There from Autoloc, there the 22mm ones and are laser etched with there control function. Here's a link to there website.

http://www.autoloc.com/products/buttonbuilder/

Hmmm, you've got my wheels turning now. I like this idea, I'm thinking it's just what I've been looking for to put in my car.

My main reason for wanting to add a roll bar is for the cross bar to use as a harness mounting location and like yourself...the car is mainly a street car and I'd like to keep the nice interior not all cut up plus retain access to the rear seat.

Do you plan to make the bar mount to the seat bolt area a bit stouter than the Shelby looking mount? And what do you plan on using for safety belts?

Ultimately I'd like to retain a 3 point retractable belt for everyday use and have a way to bolt the harness bar in place and and install a set of 5 or 6 point harnesses for track days.

I have less room for a door bar than a rear bar though, so it might be easier for me to put rear bars in. Are your door bars going to be welded in?

Loving your build btw...subscribed...

I actually have thought about making the top mount location more wedged shaped and tie it in to the main hoop throughout the roof line bend for a more rugged looking mount but it still will bolt in to a single point and only provide a certain amount of stability... which should be plenty for it's intended purpose.

I plan on using 4 point Racing harness with the shoulder belts passing thru the seat back opening. I figure 95% of the time It will just have front seat passengers so I can run the crossbar and shoulder belts, if I do have rear passengers I won't hot rodding to much and have a real need to be fully strapped in.

The door bars will bolted in at the front mounting points and I am planning on clamping the rear mounting points to the main hoop like a Ridetech Tiger cage.

Here's an update on the roll bar support brackets, I re-made them and got them welded in, the new design not only looks better but without that corner sticking out should be more convenient for rear passengers. I stopped by Summit Racing and picked up a Chassis Engineering main hoop for an "A" body Mopar ...as you can see it was too long to fit on top of the brackets so I'll have to take 3" off each leg and make a jig to hold it so I can widen it at the bottom by about 2.75"per leg so it's tucked in close to the interior panels. I will be on a 5 month Military Deployment soon so the build will be coming to a halt, and I just accepted a position at Patrick AFB, Fl starting as soon as I get back...so the future of the car is unclear, I was offered $15K Thursday night for the car the way it sits, after I chuckled a little I said "That's what I have in the engine and that's not including all the custom made parts on it".