Hot Rods Do you have or plan to install a roll bar in your hot rod?

Brother made one for his '29 Tudor/tubster, more to hold the sides together than to preserve his flattop I think. 1964.

 

I entertained the thought of taking the single seater to trog but for one thing it's a long way from South Dakota to New Jersey and now open cars have to have a roll bar and I'm not putting no Fnnnn roll bar on it!

 

It’s too ( if the word “also” fits when substitute

How does one do a chrome cage ?

 

A large decision, my roadster looks cool without a bar, but should I ever get upside down, the pavement and the ditch will grind the best and best looking part of me off, never to be seen again. But a roll bar may beat me senseless and I could continue life slobbering all over myself, what to do? Its a good question Danny, one I'm not sure I know the answer to.

 

I just started working on a roll cage for my glass 36 pickup. I have the main hoop mocked up...

 

Convertibles have different requirements...

 

Cu

Yup, your correct. He did say he made 11 second passes in the 1/4 mile, and for myself, I wouldn't feel comfortable going that fast in a roadster without a proper rollbar.

 

I had one put in my Henry J years ago for looks.. I will need to revisit that installation if I can ever work on it again.

 

How does one do a chrome cage ?[/QUOTE]
Years ago, you may have been able to find a plater with large enough tanks to do that, finding one today might be a challenge. Stainless may be an option, but it's legality may be in question. A few of Cleveland's Floyd Trevis' sprint cars had chrome cages, and they were required to be chrome plated to be allowed in IMCA sprinters, before they became mandatory.
In a street car, or any other for that matter, any place that you can touch should be padded, and seat belts are a huge plus, always. I have lost too many friends to rollovers where they were partially ejected, and had their upper bodies crushed by the car or truck. I don't know anyone whose life was saved by being thrown from the vehicle.

 

This is a little extreme for a street/strip car. It's not needed by too many here. Safety is a big concern of mine. Those who have worked in ems have seen wrecks involving great injury and death. I have seen more than my share. It makes you look at things differently than if you were not to have had those experiences. With all these bars I don't hit my head.

 

Nope, just seat belts...(lap)

 

You are right.... BUT.... if he went to the work of installing a roll bar , then think it through before building and installing it. I mean , his head is above the bar and he is all belted in, a flip and he is screwed six ways from Sunday.

 

Just like he would be in a flip without the roll bar!

 

having been on my head a few times, my roll cage paid for itself. of course my helmet, arm restraints, and belts played a big part, along with the wing that created a kinda crumple zone. I gotta agree with racer-x. if you do build it, build it right. if it's just for show, don't bother.

 

Here's something to think about with only lap belts holding you in. The NHRA has rules in place for a reason.....

 

As I was building my coupe, I had a 4 point cage tack welded in place (think old dirt track 4 point cage here). I've built a boat load of dirt track race cars through the years, I know how to build roll cages. The cage cleared my head by several inches when belted in the seat (there is a lot more room in a 48 model car). However, the bar above the door(s) proved to be a different issue when entering or getting out of the car through an open door (dirt track race cars you got in by sliding through the side window opening). Shortly after the cage was tack welded in place, I banged my head on that bar above the driver side door 3 different times in a matter of days. After the 3rd time banging my head on that bar, the cage ended up on the shop floor. The car may end up hurting me, or more someday, but its a chance I'm willing to take. I'm not racing the car.

Bumping you head on the cage bars hurts, its an instant headache that lasts several hours. If the cage is not there, I can't bump my head on it. That has undoubtedly has saved me from countless headaches over the last 7 years and 60,000 miles. Not having a cool looking cage in my dirt track replica hot rod is a small price to pay for having prevented all those head bumps and the headaches that go with them that I surely would have had by now. Gene

 

Malcolm's "roll Bar" would bust your melon big time if you were rear ended or in a wreck without a helmet.

On an OT board I participate in a member got killed about 80 mile south of me when some old toot turned in front of him and he hit the guy's pickup and then went off in the ditch. The back of his head smashed on the roll bar he had put in the car.

 

With a roofed car, if I were going to improve safety I would probably start with door bars inside the door before a roll bar. More likely to get plowed into than roll.

As for daily driver 'vert with a roll bar;
An OT suspension company I work for from time to time received pics from a father that had placed one of the companies roll bars in his son's 'vert. The bar is placed further back so as to allow a bit more usage in a street car and not really have to worry about smacking your head against it.
As mentioned a roll bar can be more dangerous than safe in a typical street car.
Kid missed the turn and ended up rolling the car, doing a couple of end overs, and then down a 200' drop in a 'vert.
Kid was banged up, A-pillars and windshield were pretty much flattened, but the roll bar took the hit and kept the car from crushing the kid and he walked away.

With that said, it's the mounting of the bar that is more critical than the bar itself.
Seen a few hokey creations, and even a competitors car that rolled at an OT/RR event and the foot plating used was too thin. Roll bar tubes actually punched through the plate and floor when the coupe flipped onto its lid. Scary stuff, took me a moment to realize what I was looking at with these two tubes poking out of the floor pan.

I've seen a few roll hoops on various roadsters from Model Ts to Miata's. Some look useful, others are simply aesthetic death bars that will most likely do harm than good.

If you do go through with a roll bar/hoop, just make sure to do plenty of research on ideal placement, and even more research on proper mounting and what reinforcement of the body/frame may be needed to make the bar useful.

 

@dartracer Is that an A coupe? If so is it welded to the chassis through the floor?
Thanks
Pete

 

This is my roadster. Vintage glass body. Completely lining the inside of the body is what I call a half-cage. You can see what’s above the body.
The car runs mid tens in the quarter.
Flame on...
r



Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Yeah, I have a 4 point bar in my coupe. Attached to the frame..

 

You are missing the point. Why put in a roll bar that is not thought through.

 

people car it the roadster with rope rollbar. glad I never had to use it

 

Well an advantage of a well constructed roll bar, even a minimal four point is that it offers a place to add shoulder harness. The cross bar the harness connects to has to be the right height to prevent spinal compression injuries. The addition of a shoulder harness over just a lap belt is a quantum leap in safety. Shoulder harness provides head and upper torso from contact with steering wheel and dash in a front collision. In side collisions it keeps your body inside the car. In rear collisions it keeps the body in better alignment. In roll overs it keeps the body from hitting various hazards inside the car and other passengers while being thrashed about.

 

The roll bar in your roadster might not be the prettiest I have ever seen but I would much rather have that one protecting my melon than a small bar that put more emphasis on looks that safety. HRP

 

I have one in my 51 Henry J and need to get one in my 41 p/u, those that race kind of understand the concept of why you need one, those that don't race are on the outside looking in so to speak and don't understand the trade offs. I've never hit my head in the years driving my car on the street, it's like an old wive's tale always passed around and an excuse by those on the outside. I'd feel much better in a car with one than without, all it takes is getting yourself in a situation, then it becomes quite clear why you would want one.

Ask this guy if he wished he had a roll bar, oh wait you can't, he's dead.

 

That will leave a mark

 

I've got one made sitting in the garage. Should it be bolted to the frame or the body? In an accident what if the body comes loose from the frame? I have a firewall between the gas tank(in the trunk) and the interior behind the seat. Info is needed here...…………………….

 

Granted,that one was bad, but check out this poor guy, watch it replay in slow motion, Don Renfrow was lucky. HRP

 

If you install it to NHRA rules it has to be welded or bolted if you have a full frame. You'll have to cut holes in the floor pan to access the frame for welding. More work for sure but it is the proper way to do it. If it's a car you could go through the parcel shelf for the rear tubes or dont use a backseat and through the floor before the bulkhead.