I talked to autopower about a roll cage, none in the works as of yet, So I asked if they needed a R&D car(maybe mine). He said sure, so I was thinking about it for a minute, I had one in my 85 MR2 and I just felt cramped. The only reason I am considering one for my car, is that my son will be taking controls of the helm early next year, and I just want him to be as safe as possible ( I know dont give a 16 year old a Z in the place when I pick him up from school he tells all the girlies its his next year) anyways, I am really considering to donate my car to science , Its not etched in stone as to weather I will, but if anyone in san diego wants get a hold of Autopower, Just wanted to know when they are available how many of you would consider a Roll cage for their Z rockets? I know they weigh your car down but you can never pay enough for safety

 

as long as it fits nicely, I don't have to cut up a lot of carpet and plastic interior bits to install it, it does not cost a fortune and I can attach harnesses to it I'd be interested....

PeteH

 

Kirk Racing already has a roll bar for the 350Z, and my experiences with bolt-ins, Kirk > Autop00per.

I had a Kirk on order, then after seeing what Mitch Piper could do, a friend and I had Piper do a pair of custom roll bars. My threads on my roll bar are here:

in the Road Racing / AutoX forum
in the bl1ng forum

I wouldn't suggest a full roll cage for a street car though. Just my opinion...

 

John... your roll bar looks good. My problem would be that the horizontal bracing across and the diagonal bracing down to the floor would be too tight for me to fit.

I have the seat all the way back, and reclined a little so that I can fit with a helmet. I have the Avalon Hardbar, and I have to remove my headrests in order to fit in the car with the bar in place.

From the pictures in your other thread, I would not fit with that custom roll bar. If Piper could move the horizontal brace up and maybe with a bow in it so that it is horizontal above the rear speaker bulkhead... then I might be able to fit.

I'll call them and see what thay can do. Plus, need to figure out shipping to Houston.

Cheers,

PeteH

 

The seat can pretty much go all the way back, but it can't be reclined all the way. The main limitation is that the stock seat is too wide and interferes with the roll hoop. The way the Mitch designed it, the angled the hoop back as much as possible, and the seat goes back much farther than the Kirk bar. You definitely need the diagonal though to triangulate the design, otherwise it's not structurally sound in the event of a roll over / big accident. I'm not a structural engineer, so I really can't explain it in more detail...

 

i am planning on getting a roll bar... my shop (TechnoSquare) is building a jig for a full 8 point racing cage for one of their race car team customers... its an awesome cage.... for my purposes.. i just need the rear half of the cage- (roll bar) where you can mount racing harness onto it, and have a spot for a camera. a full cage imho is overkill for the street. currently with their bars in place in the race car.. (where the clearance inbetween the roof and the bar is less than 1/2 inch) it will limit how far back your seat will eventually go. i'm not too tall. so i dont have my seat way back... since the floor of the Z isnt necessarily flat, they welded in two flat pieces on the floor to mount behind the seat, and cut into the plastic pieces covering the rear strut bar housing. they welded there to complete the framing, with i think an X or /\ brace. hopefully i can sneak a few picts out..

but yea. safety first.. besure to pad the places where you might hit your head.... hehe

 

As John said, roll bars are not really appropriate for street cars. All your son will do is bash his head on it should he (god forbid) get into an accident.

Anyway, I thought Autopower were true-bolt ins, while the Kirks required the tubes to be cut to length?

 

I have been looking for a roll cage for the Z. I would prefer someone to make a bolt in cage that way, when I would like to install anything else into the car, I can remove it to do the work and would not have to work around it. A nice cage would be a fulll 4 point with the extensions in the front that run along side the outside of the seats. Does anyone have pictures of the KirK Racing roll cage and how it bolts into the car?

 

Cusco has a 4 and 6 point bolt in cage for the Z already also - ours are arriving May 7. They offer a dash escape version (curves around the dash),and a pass through version (goes through the dash).

I can post pics of it tomorrow on our site if you like

Adam

 

i been looking for curved style ....pics would be great -ty

 

Pictures would be great, can you show where they would mount to the frame inside the car and also let us know if any cutting is involved and where. Thanks.

 

No, I said that roll cages are not suitable for street cars. Some roll bars are fine for the street, like mine. I've got plenty of buffer room between my head and the roll bar, and I'm 6'2". I'll try and get some more photos this weekend of me sitting in the car with it to show you what I mean.

Both the Autopooper and the Kirks are true bolt-ins, the Kirk requires no cutting...

 

You can do a search for pics of my Kirk install. I am 6"1' and had to fab 3/4" plates to raise the bar up into the headliner. Then I bought a Corbeau Forza to drop my azz 1". Now the top of my helmet is 2-3" below the top of the roll bar. It is fine and if I had to take it out, it would look stock with some new inner trim pieces.

 

Don't you dare try to tell me tell others what you said! lol

Actually, from what I've been told, it's all fine and good if you have clearance under normal conditions, but in the event of a crash, things crumple (inlcuding the bar) and there is a distinct possibility your head will impact on the bar. That is the primary reason they are not a good idea for street cars. A roll bar requires a helmet.

 

I would but the search is down. If you could post any pictures on this thread that would be nice. Thanks.


Also, Z1, I didn't see any pics on your website, do you think maybe you can post some here as well.

 

her are some pics guys. Uses 40mm chromoly tubing. Above is the dash through version - we can special order them, though plan on stocking the dash esacpe (wraps around the dash). You do need to cut the rear plastic panel for the cage to go through.







Adam

 

moved

 

How Much?

 

pricing will be determined when they arrive, but sub $700.00 for the dash escape version (bends around dash - the one above is the dash through version)

 

In the event of a roll over, that cage will crumple easily. There's no triagulation whatsosever for the roll hoop (and no harness bar).