Thanks for your input guys. I am going to call Eddie's on Mon morning and ask him to add the cross bars. Thanks for your help. He is also replacing my driverside floor. I had a surprise when I pulled the carpet out a couple of months ago. A hole in the floor was repaired with a licence plate. You can kind of see it in the picture I attached. The car has no rust any where else on the floor so I wonder what caused the hole. Weird. I got a new stamped floor from Classic Industries.
To get into my car, you first out your right foot in, then your head, then your ass. I explain this to people and some still try to get in the normal way. Then I ask if they know their head from their ass. It's a lot of fun.
If you are not getting a-pillar and halo bars, then a bent door bar with a secondary brace back to where the main hoop meets the floor is a good idea. Also consider a "Petty bar" (A diagonal brace that spans the main hoop) allows you to split the horizontal bar which facilitates access to the rear seat area.
As for head to halo contact, you gotta run racing harnesses and you must position the bar high enough to reduce the possibility of head contact. We're building cars that turn corners, so there is a real possibility of sliding sideways into a tree. This doesn't really happen with drag cars. Point is, a properly placed halo--in conjunction with a racing harness and the right seat--will more than likely save you rather than hurt you. If that tree encroaches the roof area, whattya think that tree will do to your head? Bar, or tree, it's a trade-off with similar endgames. In the case of my Camaro, I actually ended up lowering the seat a bit to gain ample clearance.
And yeah, you'll just love the chassis stiffening. It's as good as most suspension mods. It gets rid of that sloppy feeling during transition while the suspension is taking set.
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Steve Chryssos
For what it's worth, my day job as a project manager for an off-road specialty shop has shown me a few things with regards to cage fabrication, and I'd have ton agree that a fixed side bar is the way to go. A drop-down bar (something that bends or tapers toward the floor board near the cowl) is a great option that will offer both the benefits of stiffening the chassis, ease of entry into the car, and a measure of added safety in the event of a side impact. keeping the bar at around armrest-level, then dropping it down just past the mid-point of the lower seat cushion will provide the protection, and still allow some comfort entering/exiting.
A pinned sidebar sounds great, but is prone to failure... and the irony of being maimed by an item you had installed for safety is horrifying.
For additional stiffening, have you considered a solid body mount? We have milled solid mounts with great results in some of our trucks (elimintaing the crunches and squeaks a caged ride will sometimes offer!), and I'd think that applying this idea on a cornering street car would provide some assitional benefit, assuming you don't mind your fillings rattling around!
I hope this helped somewhat... and you've obviously chosen a great shop to have your cage fabbed... I've heard they do incredible work!
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My foot: Now available in convenient, fast-acting suppository form. problem child kustoms studio
I called him this morning and asked him to install the door bars. You guys really make it seem worth it to have them. Ottatyme I already instaled aluminum sub frame body mounts. I like the difference they made. The car needed them because if rubber ones were to compress the t56 would hit the trans tunnel.
I don't know if it to late but here are the door bars that we did in my project
I know they may not be legal. The bars were added to stiffen the chassis. I also have to consider my wife. If i want to keep her happy you have to make so she can get in and out of it without killing herself. I also plan to drive the truck so it has to be driver & passenger friendly.
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Is a car ever really done???? It's like a ball of yarn unwinding, that has no end... Author DKz Garage
Marty I thought it was to late because I Already had asked him to put in the strait door bars. He called me today and told me that with strait bars I would need to remove the arm rests from the door. Then I asked him to put the curve in the bar and run the bars under the arm rest like yours is. He is also using the bar you have that goes from the middle of the bend to were the main hoop and the floor meet. Thanks alot for your pictures. I always wanted to build a 4.3 TT for a Corvair project.
PICTURES!! I got her back today!!! They couldn't get the bar that goes from the bend in the door bar to where the main hoop and the floor to meet without hitting the recline knob on the Cobra seats. We decided just to not use the bar. I think it turned out great. I noticed a huge difference in stiffness. The car does not rattle nearly as much as before when going over messed up roads. The floor patch was also done very well. Thanks guys for your input.
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
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