If a guy was planing to build a dual purpose street & occasional strip hamb era hot rod should a roll bar be high on the list, regardless of the horse power ratings? HRP
Would definitely stiffen things up. Really depends on rest of the build. Old original chassis that was designed to flex should be boxed or have cross bracing added first. If you're using a new / chassis or building one that's less of a concern. How good - rigid is the body ? If it's more than a 2 seater, rear seat access is challenging with roll bar. If you're planning regular drag strip time, makes sense to get it into the build plan. Easier to include it up front than tear the car down later. The amount of fab most of these builds take - its a drop on the bucket.
Depends on where you are racing I suppose. I personally do not depend on turtling a car so unless i am doing it for looks I don't bother with one unless the sanctioning body requires it.
This has been debated many times, but my personal opinion is that since I don't wear a helmet on the street, I don't want that plumbing close to my head. Out in the world I'm much more likely to be rear ended at an intersection than to roll my car.
Depends on how fast you will Go!! Not looking @ rule book , I believe 7:49 faster ( based on Et not Mph) a 4 bar required @ most drag tracks , Then there ( not sure on Et) 6 point required then so on, Some times you can sneak a pass or two in before they band you , We Street Rer's refer to a roll bar a """Jungle gym""" I personally do not like to run my street driven 32 in 1/4 because No Jungle gym, Im a little nervous sum times even running @ 6-Os 1/8 with out.
To my mind, anyone building a car with plans of driving in a "spirited" manner should consider a rollbar, especially a car with unibody construction. I did.
I don’t have one in my ‘40 or my Cometkazi truck but If I could do it over again I’d probably put one in them. It depends on how fast you are going to go. as mentioned I think 7.49 1/8 and into the 11’s 1/4 you will be required. Most period street cars wouldn’t be that quick, but some will be. If well thought out and constructed they can be made to be not as intrusive.
I share the opinion. And while we don't like to think we'd ever need it, only a fool would think I want to take this old car make it go faster then FORD imagined back in the day, and think it will protect you enough to survive a typical 2023 car calamity without building in additional structural support. But it's the danger of dying that makes life worth living. Or someone wants to live longer to do it again, they might think it's necessary. And those that don't think to do so, they have sanctioning bodies to govern us and make it a rule. Mean while, nature bides it's time.
Not unless he has a good plan.... If the plan is to race it, and it will be an open car, and go kind of quick, then the sanctioning body of the drag strip will probably require one. If it's a closed car, and quicker yet, same applies. If you're never going to go real fast in the car, then might be better without it. "Fast" has different meanings to different people. If you look at the mph that different levels of roll protection are required in different types of racing, you might get an understanding of what has been proven over the years to provide the necessary protection. I have a cage in a street driven car that goes to the strip occasionally, where it gets up to 130 mph or so. If I never did that with the car, it probably wouldn't have a cage.
If you have a car like a T bucket where you sit at least half outside the frame a roll bar might be good insurance if you get t-boned.
4 point in my old '33. Pushed back far enough that I can't bonk my head on it even if I get tossed around a bit. Mostly a street car, but also meets the requirement for how fast it is at the moment. -Abone.
I had a main hoop with rear bars and a single bar going forward in my '33 Ford 5w many years ago. It was my only car, and I ran it at Lions every chance I got. Me and my buddies bonked our noggins on that roll bar many times while out horsing around on a Friday or Saturday night. I'm debating building a chrome bolt-in rollbar for my Sam Conrad tribute roadster, I liked how it looks in the pictures of it in race trim.
Also a 4 point in my '40. Legal for as fast as it is. Don't forget to check out a rulebook before you cut any tubing.. -Abone.
Danny, to answer your question, I'll say no. Regardless of horsepower is what stops me on that one. I'd say only if expected times at the strip make it necessary.
My coupe was equipped with a roll bar when I got it, however rules in the 60,s were quite different in drag racing. out of necessity because I race and this thing is stupid fast I installed a 8.50 nhra certified roll cage. It all depends on how quick the car is, what tracks and sanctioning body's you are racing at, and the tech inspections at these tracks you want to get on. Rules for safety equipment and for that matter everything have gotten stricter over the years, and continue to change in some degree.
11.49 and quicker for a basic 6 point roll bar and that should legal to 10.00, after that you need a cage.I think it’s 13.99 and quicker for convertibles.
If it passes modern tech for a sanctioned race, it will likely have bars that are close enough to your head for you to hit. If it is, you will need to wear every point of the harness, every time that you drive. If you don't even a minor dust-up with a road clown might result in you getting dead, or worse.
Thanks for posting. A bar will only take you from 11.49 to 11 flat. That's what am fighting with my '29 RPU, with the race engine is should run mid 10's pretty easily, but I am stuck with using a bar. So, I will have to be satisfied with 11's quarter mile and low 7's in the 1/8th. If it was a coupe or sedan, it would have a legal cage, well padded .
Im putting one in my OT. But basically for looks. Kinda. I’m placing the roll bar as far away from my noggin as the specs I looked up for it with the seat all the way back so it will be as far away from my noggin while cruising. Racing style seats with a high head rest and a 4 point harness. I’ve put a shoulder height “body reinforcement” in a couple builds. They were completely hid under the interior. Definitely improved the rigidity's of the coupe body. My boss occasionally put “cages “in builds that also was hid under the interior. Not built to a racing spec but definitely added rollover and some side hit protection.
yup....I put all the straps on when I drive Plan II. 30,000+ miles of that, so far. There are qualifiers. If the firewall or floor are modified, this is true. If not, then you can use a bar to 10.0. Unless my memory fails me, then I'd want to look in the rule book, very carefully, before deciding what to do.
My idea was to reinforce the sub frame connectors that I added to the undercarriage. Being a street car not a race car I wanted to make sure the bar was not a bodily hazard during impact if that should happen. I also wanted an esthetic factor, the bar needed to look the part of the theme I was building. I made up a template bar using PVC tubing, after it was fit to the car I had a local chassis shop duplicate the template in DOM tubing. I fit the bar, fabricated the mounts and tig welded it together. The bar is removable if needed, it bolts to the sub frame and the rear crossmember, it has added rigidity to the car for sure.
@gimpyshotrods said it. Wife gripes about the 5 point harness, Wouldn't want to wear them in a daily.
One of the roll cage suppliers sent me hand drawn dimensions for their hoops and halos. Bought the hoop and was delivered not much more than bending one myself. I’ll build the rest but It was a nice head start
The Jalopy Journal
