Roll bar

[foolthrottle]

I am thinking of building a roll bar for my 240 z because of the space limitations a cage seems out of the question any ideas or photos.

[jmortensen]

I think that's a very wise decision. I wouldn't put a cage in any Z that I didn't intend to drive with a helmet; there isn't enough room inside the car to avoid hitting the cage with your head in an accident.

There are extended discussions of roll bars and cages over at hybridz.org. Search and ye shall find.

[zbane]

Motorsport auto has them.

http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/CTGY/PIC07

(photo from msa catalog)

[ggarrard]

A friend used ABS plastic tubing to build a template, and bought a hand-operated tube bender to build his rollbar. There would be acceptance issues is you are planning anything more than informal autocrossing etc...

GWGarrard

[gnosez]

If you decide to instead buy one go direct to the source:

www.autopowerindustries.com

Either street (61170L - $425.) or race (60170L - $530.) plus shipping.

I have the street in my 240 which I modified with a bar for the harnesses.

This was 6 years ago and the prices were about $100. less.

Easy fitment without help.

[Seppi72]

I agree with the other posters. I put an AutoPower SCCA roll bar in one of my '72 cars and have another one ready to put into the other when I get to the point of reassembling it.

It gives a lot of peace-of-mind when driving on roads that have either deep ditches or drop-offs. Fortunately, I haven't tested THAT feature yet.:laugh: So far, I have specialized only in nose-first offroading.

It also stiffens up the rear so a strut-mounted cross brace isn't needed. It provides great attachment for the shoulder belts of my 5-point harness and looks damn with the Corbeau CR1 seats in the car.

[Goose52]

...there isn't enough room inside the car to avoid hitting the cage with your head in an accident.

And even with just a roll bar, you can still hit your head on it in accident. Make sure you apply padding to the bar - even if you think your head won't go back that far. Unfortunately, I added the padding to my bar AFTER I hit my head on it in an event involving a spin and an impact with a knife-edged curb. Had a headache and neckache for a while after that! I never thought my head would reach the bar but funny things happen when there's enough force - you come up in the belts, your neck and back extend and wham ...

[jmortensen]

That's a good point and absolutely the bar should be padded. Your head moves all over the place in an accident. With bars along the tops of the doors though, the danger of serious injury is much worse, even if the bar is padded.

[gnosez]

Goose - I completely agreed that all rollbars/cages should be padded but am wondering about your comment re: "you come up in the belts"?

How did this happen? I can only assume you were not using a 5-6pt harness set-up and instead were using a stock seat belt. A correctly tightened harness would hold the occupant in their seat even if the vehicle was upside down. Been there and done that.

One of the first things one learns when 4-wheeling is that stock belts do not limit upward movement. One good bash of the noggin on the truck roof and you go get yourself a harness should you wish to do serious off-roading at speed.

Glad to hear all you got out of it was a headache and sore neck.

[Goose52]

Goose - I completely agreed that all rollbars/cages should be padded but am wondering about your comment re: "you come up in the belts"?

How did this happen? I can only assume you were not using a 5-6pt harness set-up and instead were using a stock seat belt. A correctly tightened harness would hold the occupant in their seat even if the vehicle was upside down. Been there and done that.

This was around 1986 - at the time I had a Corbeau GT-8 seat that was slotted for only a 4pt harness (no hole in the seat bottom). There was probably about an inch slack in the lap and shoulder belts; that inch, plus the back and neck extension, was enough to get my head up and back far enough to hit the bar. I have the stock seat back in now with stock belts so hopefully I won't have another event to test the upward retention ability of the stock belts ! (but at least the roll bar is padded now ...)

[foolthrottle]

My plan is just street driving, road tours and the like. I wish there was some way to add more side protection. heres a picture of the cage in my 55 Chrysler race car, what I would really like to have in the Z but way to heavy and no room.

[Seppi72]

If you're really serious about side impact protection, you can do what I'm planning to do with my '72 rebuild project.

I removed the internal door bolster bar (you have to drill out two welds at one end of the door - I can't recall whether it's the front or rear) and I'm gong to have two strips of 1/4" steel welded in about 1/3 of the distance across and parallel to the outer edges. This will give more intrusion resistance. I don't know how "tall" these strips will be as I have yet to check the clearances involved with the window and lock mechanisms.

Short of a cage or abandoning the ability to lower a window, this is the best way to improve side protection without limiting ingress and egress. If you don't care about ventilation (either window up all the time or no windows), you could just weld some 1/4" wall steel tubing inside the door.