Roll bar spacers?

[ike84]

With the BK roll bar extension costing close to a grand, I had a thought...

Has anyone ever raised the roll bar from where it mounts?

2" thick aluminum plate cut to fit the footprint of the four posts, drilled out to accept bolt spacers for each mounting bolt, and then bolting down the posts on top of this.

At first I thought of using just spacers without the plates, but I am concerned that the compressive forces that would occur in a roll over may be enough to shear them.

Also, out of curiosity - the sheet metal that runs between the front and rear posts on either side, is that structural? The welds between the plates and the bars are pretty stout but the metal is only 1/16th" thick. The location is perfect for mounting a harness bar but it seems like structurally it wouldn't be up to that task (basing that on fia's requirement of backing plates being 1/8" thick)

Best,
Ike

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[Van914]

$400-500 is the going price for a used one. I think I saw one for sale on Rennlist

[78F350]

Does your car have a convertible top still? If it does, mounting the frame of the top 2" higher may cause some issues.

If you are fabricating stuff, why not just make your own version of roll bar extension like the BK bar or your own 4 point bar?

I don't know much regarding structure at the moment, but I did notice that the bolt-in cage in one of my Boxsters is bolted through the structure of the car to heavy plates underneath.

[The Radium King]

... or lower the seat?

[ike84]

I do still have the soft top. I thought the BK would clear with the top still on? Maybe I'm wrong about that.

Truthfully I can't stand the appearance of the BK extension. It's very much an "afterthought" appearance and I'm trying to keep things aesthetically proper.

My seats are bottomed out already. I could remove the bottom cushions on race day but that still doesn't give me a good solution for proper placement of a harness bar.

What I'm trying to ultimately achieve with this is proper install of schroth 4pt asm belts for both road and track use while making it look factory, and that's simply not possible with the stock setup.

Jon, those plates your referring to are pretty standard when installing aftermarket safety equipment. My (very superficial) understanding is that FIA requires all additional mounts that attach to the vehicle structure (hoops, cages, lap belts, etc) to be reinforced by an additional 1/8 steel plate welded to the body or frame. They don't want us rednecks bending new hoops on the local muffler shop's pipe bender and then welding it to the floor pan lol.

Thanks for the input guys. As always, it's much appreciated.

On a side note, I think it's frustrating that there's no middle ground when it comes to track prepping this car. You're either bone stock, or you're balls deep with a cage.

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[78F350]

Originally Posted by ike84

I do still have the soft top. I thought the BK would clear with the top still on? Maybe I'm wrong about that....

Clearance might be good. It's that the frame for the top is mounted to the sides of the roll bar. If you put spacers under the roll bar the whole top will be higher. Probably won't latch at the front or reach the body in the back.



Not insurmountable, but requires more figurin'.

[ike84]

Oh damn, that detail completely escaped me. I'm startin to slip!

Back to the drawing board...

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[Van914]

With the BK bar top functions normally

[The Radium King]

race buckets mounted to the floor, safety devices bolt-in roll cage. run with hardtop (ztop, oem) - they won't check broomstick.

[ike84]

Has anyone ever run a cage with the soft top still installed and functioning? I would be open to that idea. Not quite factory look but definitely safer than OEM.

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[The Radium King]

the safety devices cage works with the soft top. and bolt-in so you can keep the main hoop (w roof attached) but remove the lateral bars, etc. (so's you don't crank your noggin).

[ike84]

Hmmmmm.... Jon - do you want to part with that cage?

I've come up with a solution for the harness bar that I'm going to test out for structural integrity in the next few weeks. Purlin clamps (who the hell came up with that name?) are designed to attach tubes without bolts or welds. I can use these to "strap" a harness bar to the the forward uprights on the hoops. I've gotta test how strong they really are - supposedly the working load on these is over 1000 lbs. Im gonna try to rig up two of them to lift the rear end of Wifey's escalade. This should be fun!

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[78F350]

Originally Posted by ike84

Hmmmmm.... Jon - do you want to part with that cage? ...

Only from my cold dead hands. One of my biggest regrets in selling parts is letting go of a ready to weld in spec Boxster cage from Hanksville Hot rods. I don't think they are available anymore.

[The Radium King]

like this? ...

[ike84]

That's niiiiice.

I wish these things were still being produced. Is spec boxster racing completely dead?

King, is that for sale? Or are you just showing off

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[The Radium King]

yessir, i'd sell it. problem becomes getting it from where i am to where you are costs as much as the cage.

it still shows as available here ...


https://www.stableenergies.com/Roll-Cage-Kit-Boxster-lsquo97-lsquo04/productinfo/SD-P986/W%2CST%2CBKTS/

[78F350]

Originally Posted by The Radium King

yessir, i'd sell it. problem becomes getting it from where i am to where you are costs as much as the cage.

it still shows as available here ...


https://www.stableenergies.com/Roll-Cage-Kit-Boxster-lsquo97-lsquo04/productinfo/SD-P986/W%2CST%2CBKTS/

Nice, I might have to buy another. I didn't expect it to have all of the approvals.



The *Free shipping excludes "oversized products". Do you think it might qualify?

[ike84]

I noticed that too - the listing says both free shipping* and "shipping cannot be calculated until your order is processed" lol. I thought that I had read recently that they had stopped production on these... A phone call may be in order.

Where do the forward mounts attach? Do you drill into the frame there?

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[The Radium King]

Originally Posted by ike84

I noticed that too - the listing says both free shipping* and "shipping cannot be calculated until your order is processed" lol. I thought that I had read recently that they had stopped production on these... A phone call may be in order.

Where do the forward mounts attach? Do you drill into the frame there?

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drill through and to do properly put a 4" x 4" backing plate on the other side so that things don't tear through at an inopportune moment. if a street car then carpets to deal with, but part of the lesson to learn: street car or track car - choose one. jack of all trades is master of none.

[ike84]

Ok, here's what I got for hardware options for attaching a harness bar.

First pic - The u shaped cross buckle clamps are my first choice. The seem the strongest option. The only issue is I need to find them in 1.5" to work and I can only find 1.3”. The search continues.

Second pic - The cross pipe clamps are second choice. They're only 1/16" thick but I can easily double them up. They seem also strong but I don't think they will make for a clean looking install. Not my priority, but always a consideration.

Next question - what are these little hoops on the inside of the front post of the roll hoops (3rd pic)? Ive never noticed them before - I'm guessing they're to attach a cargo net or something similar?

Thanks for all the help everyone. Opinions, as always, are appreciated.

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