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This is the front plate for the rollbar. This is what the door bar will sit
on. I used oversized plates for these to span between the rocker panel and the front
subframe.
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Here is the same plate with the door bar installed.
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I also used a slightly oversized plate on the hoop corners. I bent the edges up
so that they could attach to the rocker panel, the rear seat vertical, and floor. I
figured that attaching to three surfaces is better than attaching to one.
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I modified the rear bar slightly, by bending it to meet the floor further
forward. Since nothing attaches to the rear subframe past the shock mount, there is no
real reason support it further back than this. I figured that supporting the rear
subframe closer to the suspension points makes the chassis more rigid.
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I used a Miller 130 XP with .030 solid wire and C25 shielding gas to weld my
rollbar. While I'm certainly no expert welder, the Miller welder makes it easy for even
an amateur to get strong and decent looking welds. I can't recommend this welder enough.
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These two pictures show how I modified the way the center downlegs attach to the
car. As delivered, S & W designed these bars to sit somewhere on the middle of the
floorpan. I didn't see how this benefitted me in any way, and actually considered leaving
these bars out until I came up with this idea. The plate that wraps over the tunnel is
one piece. This ties both downlegs together and provides significant extra protection
against the hoop punching through the floor in the case of a rollover.
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These last four pictures give you an overall feel of what the finished project
looks like. The seat you see there is a Corbeau Forza II racing seat. At a mere
19 pounds, it is in line with my goal of shaving some weight off the car to make up
for the hundred or so pounds that the cage adds.
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