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    Results 1 to 10 of 10
    1. #1
      Join Date
      Apr 2015
      Posts
      188
      Country Flag: United States

      2nd gen fbody (77 Tran Am) 8 point roll bar kit questions- suggestions please

      Hey guys I'm looking into getting an 8 point roll bar kit for my 77 Trans Am. I am installing the cage for rigidity because the car is a t-top car. I am making about 600 hp and rear wheel torque, but I plan on doing a twin turbo LS at some point. I want the rigidity to be good for whenever that may occur- a LONG time down the road. I have subframe connectors, ripped out the frame rails and fabbed my own out of 2x3 11ga tubing, so the name of the game is stiffness for me. I'm not necessarily concerned with meeting NHRA rules or anything, but leaving growing room to autocross and stuff is something I am at least thinking of. Again, major concern is stiffness and maintaining chasis geometry when I beat on this thing- not necessarily meeting rules. I looked at fabbing my own up, but by the time I bought a tube bender (not the POS PIPE bender at harbor freight), the dies for it, the tubing, etc. I calculated that I may only be saving $200-$400 dollars. After I considered all the time I would spend getting the bends right and screwing tubing up I thought it seemed like a clear choice to get a kit. I do not want the rear down bars to go through the speaker holes in the package tray, but I want them to hug the sail panels and rear windows, so if anyone is ever back there that a pipe isn't right where their head would be. Basically what I'm getting at is if any of the kits that have bars that go through the speaker holes I will need to be able to angle them in such a way or have them bent from the kit maker so that the miss the speaker holes and go down through the package tray in a hole that I cut to land on the rear frame rails in the trunk. I also want the cage to be very tight to the headliner and B pillars/sail panels. I have narrowed my choices down to 2.

      1. Chris alston kit, but it's way more money and supposedly for sure doesn't meet any rules (Again, not a huge deal but something I at least think about).
      https://www.cachassisworks.com/p-295...ild-steel.aspx I spoke with a guy at chasis works and he said this would be the kit that it shown in the g street 1st gen grey camaro and it is tight to the body which I like. I also trust that it will fit well. The only thing that has stopped me from jumping on this is the price.

      2. The art morrison (AME) roll bar is shown in their 2016 catalog on page 59. It is only 220 and still only $440 if I go with chromoly- which I will do in the event that I end up buying this cage. I am not sure I trust that this will fit tight and fit well though. There are no pictures, and I speak entirely from how I see the catalog laid out as I do not actually have any experience dealing with AME, but it seems that their products are generalized. Generalization usually leads to bad fitment and headaches from my experience. I will say that they do say they make this for 2nd gen camaros, but I haven't seen pics or anything of how they have actually fit.

      Any help or other kit manufacturer suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

    2. #2
      Join Date
      Mar 2013
      Location
      Boise ID
      Posts
      97
      Country Flag: United States
      No disrespect to either of those solutions - both are great companies and I've toured their shops - really nice.... I paid about $2500 to have one custom installed, mainly because - like you, I wanted it up and out of the way as far as possible. Just finished the mock up of the door bars. I went with DOM. I'm now in the middle of installing the seats and going to great lengths to get the seats down low enough to get head clearance from the cage. And...we spent a lot of time bending the over-the-door bar so it followed the window arch, again all in an effort to create as much head clearance as possible. I've been shooting for 6" but probably going to be closer to 5". I'm 6-1. Telling you this because I didn't anticipate this being such a big deal. Fully thank Ron Sutton for his safety thread as it guided my process. As well, Tim McGilton's cage (DSE) is extremely well done. Take a look at those posts and pics for guidance.
      Have a great day!!
      John

      My build thread:
      https://www.pro-touring.com/members/36672-Goosesdad

    3. #3
      Join Date
      Apr 2015
      Posts
      188
      Country Flag: United States
      R u talking about the tim mcgilton dse camaro? What theead? I see there r pics of it on DSE'S website under their projects. It looks like he basically made the ridetech tiger cage, but it looks like he made it more of a 10 point cage. It also looks expensive, and unfortunately funds are not unlimited for me.

      What I'm getting from what you're saying is to buy the bender and the stock metal and build my own.

    4. #4
      Join Date
      Apr 2015
      Posts
      188
      Country Flag: United States
      Are you using 1.75" OD x .120" wall thickness DOM?



      Quote Originally Posted by Goosesdad View Post
      No disrespect to either of those solutions - both are great companies and I've toured their shops - really nice.... I paid about $2500 to have one custom installed, mainly because - like you, I wanted it up and out of the way as far as possible. Just finished the mock up of the door bars. I went with DOM. I'm now in the middle of installing the seats and going to great lengths to get the seats down low enough to get head clearance from the cage. And...we spent a lot of time bending the over-the-door bar so it followed the window arch, again all in an effort to create as much head clearance as possible. I've been shooting for 6" but probably going to be closer to 5". I'm 6-1. Telling you this because I didn't anticipate this being such a big deal. Fully thank Ron Sutton for his safety thread as it guided my process. As well, Tim McGilton's cage (DSE) is extremely well done. Take a look at those posts and pics for guidance.

    5. #5
      Join Date
      Mar 2013
      Location
      Boise ID
      Posts
      97
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by Schroeder View Post
      Are you using 1.75" OD x .120" wall thickness DOM?
      Yes
      Have a great day!!
      John

      My build thread:
      https://www.pro-touring.com/members/36672-Goosesdad

    6. #6
      Join Date
      Mar 2007
      Location
      Florida
      Posts
      2,391
      Country Flag: United States
      I went round and round on the whole chromoly/DOM thing several years ago and ended up with the DOM for several reasons when I got the cage put in my Firebird. You may find some useful information in the thread I wrote on the safety upgrades. https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...=14+car+safety

    7. #7
      Join Date
      Mar 2005
      Location
      St George Utah
      Posts
      1,243
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by Goosesdad View Post
      Yes
      SCCA only requires 1.75 x .095 dom. FYI
      Blake Foster
      www.speedtechperformance.com
      435-628-4300
      St. George Utah.
      it's always sunny here.

    8. #8
      Join Date
      Apr 2015
      Posts
      188
      Country Flag: United States
      Any more comments? Is the tim mcgilton cage cnc bent or is it all done by hand on a tube hand bender?

    9. #9
      Join Date
      Dec 2010
      Location
      Fredericksburg, VA.
      Posts
      3,155
      Country Flag: United States
      Are you wanting to install a roll bar or a cage? You say roll bar in your first sentence and cage in your second.

      Steve Hayes
      "Dust Off"
      68 Camaro

      Given sufficient initial acceleration, even pigs can fly!

    10. #10
      Join Date
      Apr 2015
      Posts
      188
      Country Flag: United States
      Up for anything. I love the 10 point roll cage Tim mcgilton made. It's the best one I've seen but is also very involved. An 8 point BAR is probably fine for me

      But he way, I did mention specific kit numbers. Check them out





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