James and I have been waiting many weeks for this, and after a patient wait, our cars are now garnished with a lovely set of roll bars. TIG welds are beautiful, roll hoop dimension maximize the shape of the B-pillar and roof line... I'm very pleased. This is a cross post from the ricer forum: https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....threadid=67065

Mine:

 

From the other side.... note the tight clearance between the B-pillar and roll hoop...

 

My rear X-brace which mounts behind the fuel cell:

 

James' car:

 

James' went for a different rear brace to mount to maximize his storage capacity... wuss! j/k

 

Very nice John & James.

 

Do you have a brighter pic of James' rear brace? The pic is very dark..

 

I don't at the moment... James picks up his car today, so I imagine he'll take more photos and post them here...

 

How did you brace the forward mounting points of the bar? That metal there is PAPER thin. When I installed my Kirk bar, I didn't even have to turn the drill on to make the holes, I could almost just push the drill through the metal. It took some pretty hefty reingforcing for me to really believe in the bar's strength.

 

The roll hoop is mounts to the chassis at a welded box that Mitch created. There are reinforcement plates underneath as well. I don't have the photos of the "box", but I know tha Jon @ Piper does...

 

great now you can run time trials with us! can you still open all of the bins behind the passengers seat?

 

Yes. Although a bar goes right in front of the large bin, so the door can't swing open any more, Piper removed the hinge pins at the bottom so that you can open the latch and pull the door up and out completely. The bottom edge of the door is in a little groove, so when closed and latched it's snug and won't come out.

I'm sure John and I will be much faster now that we aren't worried about rolling over!

 

I haven't had time yet, but here's John's pic lightened up a little.

You can see that the rear braces in mine go right back behind the divider between the seat and trunk, to a plate Piper had welded to the rear deck last year to mount the eyes for my harnesses. Two straight pipes with a small bend in them, and they don't cross in the middle, like John's do.

 

pic

 

That ROCKS!!!
Questions;

1. For street use can you bang your head on it?
2. How much was it installed?
3. Does it cut down on how much you see out the back window? How much?
4. Were is the company located?
5. Can they make a bar that still allows access to the glove box?

Thanks!

 

1. For street use can you bang your head on it?

No. (I'm 5' 10") It's flush up against the roof.

2. How much was it installed?

Just under $900, but John and I may have gotten a little break by bringing both our cars in at the same time.

3. Does it cut down on how much you see out the back window? How much?

In mine, the diagonal blocks the view a little, but it's not bad. In John's, the X brace in the cargo compartment may block it a little more, I'm not sure. Either way, it's workable.

4. Where is the company located?

Piper Motorsports
8393 Euclid Ave, Unit Q
Manassas, VA
(703) 530-0353

5. Can they make a bar that still allows access to the glove box?

As I mentioned a couple of posts up, you can still get into the box: the door doesn't swing open anymore, you just remove it altogether. The diagonal blocks the opening, so you can't get big things in and out easily, but it's still accessible for most purposes.

If your priority is full access to that box, they can probably work something out for you, but you might have to compromise somewhere else: passenger seat travel or strength of the whole roll bar system.

 

I'm 6'2", there's plenty of room between my head and the bar, mainly because I don't pimp the seat and the roll bar is angled back a bit. My X-brace mounts far enough back that it doesn't obstruct my rear view at all.

 

Cool! I need to find a good manufacturer in California.

 

Any installs in a roadster? Seems to me needed there more?

 

A roadster would be a whole other thing. Our rear braces go back into the cargo area, which you ain't got. And it would have to avoid interfering with the top going up and down. It'll be tricky, expensive, and probably not offer as much protection. My advice: if you want to track a car, don't get a convertible.