Second Roll Bar

[Got the Bug]

If the single roll bar is Klink, the dual roll bar is Wood Allen.

[Buzz]

Lol!

mickmate, I checked out your site. If I decide to keep my forward braced bar, it needs to be rechromed. That would mean removing it and shipping it to the US for plating and paying duty on the whole cost of the work and shipping when it gets back. Would I be just as well off having you fab me a new one in stainless or chrome plated steel? Can you give a rough idea of cost for a single, forward braced bar?

[mickmate]

Hey Buzz, a single forward braced bar would be $195 (front braces are quite long) in 1 1/2" .120" wall seamless DOM 1020. That is the same tube we use for the SCCA roll cages I've made. The last stainless bar I made was $300 and that was in a brushed finish 304 ready to be polished. I typically make roll bars as a (very complete) kit that needs to be assembled and tacked in the car. Then they get removed and welded, benched and finished. Some guys chrome, some paint and some powdercoat them. If you could take some good measurements for me we could make it complete here and ship it. Last overseas inquiry I had was in Germany and the best price I could get to ship it was $340 or something crazy. We may want to check our options (prices) on that first. I tried to post the pic from my gallery of the double wide bar I made but I'm picture posting challenged..........

[mickmate]

[Jon Miller]

Two roll bars look great if you've got a Z3 or Boxster....not so great in Cobra. After 11 years of building, I would rather go with a single on the passenger side than two bars. Given the rough loud ride and wind, my regular "copilot" is my son, NOT my wife. At age 12 he's well below roll bar height anyway. When he grows I guess I'll move the bar to his side, or just let him drive.

-Jon

[289fia_cobra]

I like two bars :

1 - for happy hour
1 - for after hours...

[mike herbert]

I made my passenger roll bar removable. I think I've only had it in twice.
Unfortunately I'm not smart enough to figure out how to post my pictures so here's the link.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2016890...7603100167544/

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by mike herbert

I made my passenger roll bar removable. I think I've only had it in twice.

Huh. How do those little plugs stay in the holes where the bars went?

[Buzz]

Originally Posted by mickmate

Hey Buzz, a single forward braced bar would be $195 (front braces are quite long) in 1 1/2" .120" wall seamless DOM 1020. That is the same tube we use for the SCCA roll cages I've made. The last stainless bar I made was $300 and that was in a brushed finish 304 ready to be polished. I typically make roll bars as a (very complete) kit that needs to be assembled and tacked in the car. Then they get removed and welded, benched and finished. Some guys chrome, some paint and some powdercoat them. If you could take some good measurements for me we could make it complete here and ship it. Last overseas inquiry I had was in Germany and the best price I could get to ship it was $340 or something crazy. We may want to check our options (prices) on that first. I tried to post the pic from my gallery of the double wide bar I made but I'm picture posting challenged..........

Sorry, mickmate, I got sidelined and lost track of the thread. Your prices are very reasonable and it may well be a way to go for me if the shipping and replating costs of my bar work out to be more. An exact set of drawings with precise measurements would be easy for me to supply. There are chroming shops in Trinidad, but they exist primarily to plate reworked steel drums for steel band instruments and the quality may be dubious. I need to do some research.

[mike herbert]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Huh. How do those little plugs stay in the holes where the bars went?

They are held in with wing nuts on threaded studs under the body. There are no bolts from the top side. Everything is glassed in from underneath.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2016890...7603100167544/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2016890...7603100167544/

It takes about 15 minutes to install or remove the roll bar and to put the plugs in.

The only problem with makeing inserts on a finished car is matching the paint. I made the inserts and faired them into the body while it was in primer. Ken Pike did the painting. Some people have had aluminum caps made to fit in place when the roll bar is removed but it ends up looking like 3 gas caps.

[mickmate]

Mike those are really neat. I like to see guys making the effort and having the foresight to do clever touches like that. Buzz just let me know if it looks feasible.