The turbo project was nearing completion when I decided it was a good idea to have a rollbar in the car. There are a couple of reasons for wanting a rollbar in your car. First, with huge torque and horsepower, a car can become a handful pretty quick. The rollbar may actually have to serve its purpose as a safety device and save your butt. Second, the bar was going add alot of stiffness to the chassis, making it handle better, launch straigher, and probably have less squeaks and rattles. Last, the bar was likely going to be required to race at a sanctioned dragstrip. The NHRA rules say that if your car runs 10.99 or faster, you must have a 6 point rollbar. I hope to get into the 10s before too long, so I figure I'll do it now before I get booted off the track. I am all for big horsepower cars, but I like to have some peace of mind that my safety equipment is up to snuff..

.125" steel reinforcemnt plate

.125" steel welded down

The bar was tacked together at the top

Above, you can see how tightly the bar fits against the roof. That is great. You want the bars to be tight against the car. But, I tried to weld the seams from below, and I could only get 2/3rds of the way around the tube. I was stumped, and frustrated. I took a day off, and went back fresh. By removing the drain tubes from the sunroof area, and really forcing the cage forward, I could get access to the tops of the tubes through the sunroof! The cage wedged against the roof while sliding forward, but the roof flexed enough to allow me to push the cage through with some soft mallet persuasion. It was good that I didn't tack the bottom of the cage to the floor first.

The main hoop slid forward about 8"

From above I could weld up the tubes.

Then I slid the whole welded assembly back.

Notice the tight fit. S & W really made this thing hug the interior.

Rear attachments

Another shot of the rear attachments.

I still have to weld up the side bars, but those should be relatively easy at this point. It seems like I may have to remove or modify the armrests on the doorpanels for clearance. I'll put up some more pictures when I get the whole thing done.

A litttle about the rollbar kit. It is 1 3/4" tubing with a wall thickness of .134". S & W pre-notched the joints on the cage. I bought the entire 8 point kit for $109 on a sale they had. I think it cost less than $50 to ship. You can't beat that price for a very high quality kit. I ordered directly from S & W racing. I am quite happy with the fit and finish as well as their service.

The only extra work I had to do was trim the rear attachments slightly, they missed on the cut angle by about 10 degrees. No big deal, just a straight cut on my chop saw and they mated to the floor with no gaps. I also had to shorten the side bars by about an inch. Probably because I mounted the bar a little bit closer to the dash than some might. I am not that tall, and the bar is supposed to be 6" behind your helmet. The whole job, not including stripping the interior and replacing it, took about 10 hours. I had freinds help getting the main hoop and rear bars aligned and tacked together. Then I finished the rest on my own.

The rollbar is finally in and painted now. The removing and reinstalling of the interior was the most time consuming part of this job. She is almost ready to go now. Just have to add some harness belts and I'll be ready to fly.

Side bars welded

during paint stage

All painted

Looking back

With interior again Even the backseat

Had to squish that seat a little

Thats all for the rollbar install.....