CR Roll Bar???

[coosawjack]

Don & DV....

What is the CR roll bar made of??

Mine appears to be nickel plated and requires frequent polishing or it goes flat and dull...I hope it's no plated BRASS!!

Thanks,
Cobrajack

[dscott]

Jack, It is made of plain old steel with nickel plating.
Don

[coosawjack]

Well...I was right about the nickel!!

How do you keep it bright??

Rub-A-Dub once a month??

Thanks,
Jack

[dscott]

Jack, strip it off and have it chromed!! Otherwise a good polishing every once in a while.
Don

[Steve Kirkham]

We tried several times to get a rollbar chromed, and every time it just wasn't quite right. Generally the colors in the joints just didn't turn out right.

Finally we just went to making the rollbars out of 321 Stainless instead of beating our heads against the wall whenever somebody wants the chrome look. They polish up gorgeously, and will never lose the outer layers. Or flake, crack, peel, scratch off, discolor ....

...or get eaten away from the inside by rust.

If I were going to get a rollbar polished, I'd think seriously about just getting it duplicated in 321 SS. It's a permanent and beautiful solution.

If you like this option, I'd recommend checking locally. We really wouldn't be able to do it for you, since all our rollbars are made in Poland.

[Double Venom]

Coosawjack,
May I assume you have one of the "old" roll bars from the "old" CR's?

They got a lot of people on that "Nickel" roll bar and sidepipes!

Chromed is OK, especially if you have a good chromer and the welds are decent, but like Steve indicates the proper stainless is pretty darned sharp.

Don, correct me here but aren't you working on stainless roll bars as an option?

DV..it's time to get back to work.

[dscott]

DV, I am working on stainless.
Don

[Jack21]

Food for thought. CR factory roll bars were "Cosmetic only". Meaning they were there for looks, and not in the slighest way designed to protect the driver in the event of an actual rollover! CR recommended having a roll bar fabricated locally for prootection in the event of a bona fide rollover.

Cosmetic only rollbars should be banned! It is a rollbar, or it isn't! This leads to a false sense of security, and sticky insurance litigation in the event somebody gets scrunched in a flipover where his/her rollover bar folds like spaghetti.

Stainess is a good way to do this. And, just plain carbon steel tubing would work also if it was chrome plated or ceramic aluminum coated outside, and coated inside so it wouldn't rust from the inside.

[Double Venom]

Jack,
CR's roll-bars were true roll bars, at least some of them, well most of them, but then again it depended on when you bought your car.

Second, the CR's mounting is more than adequate for SCCA and NHRA roll bar specs. That is if you mounted it differently than in the book. Even meeting the necessary spec's., CR's refused to call it a true roll bar, simply because of the liability involved. That's once question I never got a different answer on..."their strictly cosmetic"!

DV...do a 4-point guys!

[jdean]

I had one made locally from .120 mild steel. I wanted it to be a little taller than most I have seen, and I wanted it to be a "real" one that was strongly mounted, so I had a special perch fabricated on the side of the frame to secure the rear bar.

Steve K, I thought trouble getting the chrome plating job was just me.....but it took 3 tries at the chromer to get it right. Seeing your response, now I am thinking this might have been expected. THe chromer called it a jinx.



John

[Jack21]

DV,

The "Cosmetic Only" came from Don Vancleve at CR. He recommended against purchasing the CR roll bar, and having one fabricated locally if I want true rollover protection.

Due to liability, CR listed their factory roll bar as cosmetic only.