johnc Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 Additional attachments will help the Autopower bar. The roof tabs go from where the hinge mounts are, forward to the roll bar main hoop. One additional rear brace going to the strut towers will also help along with a bar across the strut towers. But, once you start doing all this welding, in hindsight it would have been better to pay for a proper welded in roll bar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 Additional attachments will help the Autopower bar. The roof tabs go from where the hinge mounts are, forward to the roll bar main hoop. One additional rear brace going to the strut towers will also help along with a bar across the strut towers. But, once you start doing all this welding, in hindsight it would have been better to pay for a proper welded in roll bar. Yep. Exactly why I took 74_5.0_Z's diagram of his main hoop out of the photo album section and had that same hoop bent for me by a local cage builder. I did modify it slightly by using 1.75 x .120 instead of his 1.625 x 1.20. Getting the hoop done is the tough part. I've cut and notched the diagonal with a Harbor Freight tubing notcher, but that's as far as I've gotten. Keep getting side tracked on other projects. If you have a welder, a tubing notcher, a chop saw, and something to cut the plates that weld to the floor and the strut towers and the roof like a band saw or a jig saw I'd say do it yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj paul Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 oh ya i can definately do it myself. but this is more a street car for right now. my next z is going to be a race car. or when i get another z this one will be the race and that one would be the street. what im wanting to do, is since i already have the autopower bar from the PO, just make an unintrusive unibody strengthener out of it. since i already have the welder, saws, notcher, tubing, etc. im just wondering if its a good idea to try and somehow attach this thing to the strut towers, even if i dont attach the autopower bar, the strut towers are defenately getting braced between them. and thanks for the comments/suggestions guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spotfitz Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 dj paul, What you describe wanting to do is what I had described doing to my Z. I'm still at the stage of sourcing someone to plasma cut the tower plates(hint, hint anyone) and then will run a tube between the towers. Just inside the towers I had planned to run a tube to each upper/outer corner of the autopower bar. I feel this will form the best structure, almost triangulated. If someone feels there is a reason for me to not do it that way, please speak up! I had considered making the two tubes tie to just the tower plate, but it seemed easier to tie them to the cross tube with a tube notcher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj paul Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 i think that would be cool, but im not sure if you need it? like johnc was saying after all that work and if your going to have to get someone else to do it, might as well get a proper cage. if your not bent on doing this soon, i can show you what will be done on mine, should be here within the next 2-3 weeks. i first have to finish sanding the engine bay because i just got the new rails welded on! and i need to put the 240sx rear subframe on, but i will post pics on the strengthening i do, im gonna try and get my friends to run it in CAD (im only 1rst year engineering student) to see what we can come up with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spotfitz Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 It may take that long for me to get back to it. Money is alittle tight right now and I need to finish my tranny tunnel to get the rest of the interior in and finish the engine bay wiring harness(waiting for parts right now, which is why I'm broke). I may just make my own tower plates, rather then have them plasma cut. I'll hopefully borrow a buddies welder again and I'll throw it together. I didn't want to go all out on a daily driver/occassional autoX car. Side bars aren't fun to climb over every day. If you get some CAD drawings before I get back to it, I would love to look at them. Anything up to 2004 I can view/edit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Con Brio Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 Hey Johnny Red great pics,thanks. The bar looks great. Is that the 1.75" or 2.0" bar you installed. I'm waiting to order mine but haven't decided which size to go with. I'm concerned about clearance issues. Like yourself I have aftermarket seats (Recaros). Does anyone know if the removable crossmember brace is welded to the optional harness bar??? Or are they two seperate pieces??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 I didn't see this mentioned when scanning the latest posts... The ERW bar isn't LEGAL for SCCA. Only DOM material is allowed with mild steel these days. I'd not get the ERW bar personally. FYI, my cage is built out of .120 1.5inch tubing... You'll be fine with the 1.75 DOM. The tubing is stronger than the 2.0 ERW tubing. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Con Brio Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 Thanks Mike. I'll go with the 1.75" DOT based on your recommend. Any chance you know if the removable cross member bar and harness bar are welding together to form an "X" type shape or are they seperate pieces that can be used independantly of each other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 Hmm... I don't know the answer to that one, But I bet Mr. Coffey does. He's an Autopower dealer. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tube80z Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 FYI, my cage is built out of .120 1.5inch tubing... You'll be fine with the 1.75 DOM. The tubing is stronger than the 2.0 ERW tube I'm curious. Is this at the same wall thickness? Since DOM is made from ERW does the work hardenning really make it that much stronger? Cary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 I can't tell you the technical answer to that. What I was told in a letter from the tech folks who run the inspections for the silverstate challenge and other open road events was there was enough concern and apparently more than one example of ERW tubing failing in situations where DOM wouldn't. A while back I was building a car and we were forced to remove the cage because it wasn't DOM. I had about 60 hours in the cage work, and I wasn't the fabricator, I was the helper. We weren't real happy when we were told on the phone that the cage wouldn't pass tech. They (the organizers/ tech folks) then sent us the information in writing. Not long after that the folks at SCCA followed suit in their rules. Someone smarter than I could give you the technical reasons and an engineering statement on metalurgy failures in ERW vs. DOM. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 The diagonal brace is welded in. The harness bar, from the last one I saw, it also welded in but it is not welded to the diagonal brace. But its been at least a year since I looked at (or sold) one of these Autopower roll bars. I suggest you call Autopower to check. BTW... I am no longer an Autopower or Odyssey battery dealer. I didn't sell enough and didn't want to invest thousands of dollars up front to get Jobber pricing, so it was easy for potential customers to find cheaper prices elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Con Brio Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Thanks Johnc. I agree, calling them is the best way to go. I'm currently in Japan at the moment so the forum is a little easier for me at times (crazy 14 hr time difference). I have to tell ya, trying to build a car half way around the world has it's challenges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Con Brio Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 I just finished ordering my roll bar from IOP. I went with the 1.75" DOT w/ opional removable cross member & harness bar. After speaking with Ken he informed me that the bars are seperate and can be used independantly of each other. It's being shipped unpainted (no guarantee), I'll be chrome plating it once it arrives. I would like to thank all those who answered my questions and assisted me on this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cable Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 Digging up an old post, but does anyone have pics of the Autopower 6 point bolt-in cage in their Z car? Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 Here ya go... Here are som detail pics... passenger side rear attachments passenger side roof attachments passenger side front roof attachments... Drivers side front floor attachment... drivers side roof attachments... Door bars... ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cable Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 That's awesome!! Thank you for the pics and it looks like the bar held up pretty good considering the damage to the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DREW RBZ Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 I have installed autopower bars in all of my Z's. The metal in the wheel arches where the bar attaches is thick/strong enough to take a good beating. Make sure you put in some good bracing on the underside (i.e strips of heavy guage metal or very thick large washers.) I have personally seen the after effects of a high speed crash and rollover with one of these bars installed on a 240z and if it was not for the bar I doubt the driver would have survived. Of course a full cage etc. would be better but for a street driven car it is perfect. My 2 cents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cable Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 I have installed autopower bars in all of my Z's. The metal in the wheel arches where the bar attaches is thick/strong enough to take a good beating. Make sure you put in some good bracing on the underside (i.e strips of heavy guage metal or very thick large washers.) I have personally seen the after effects of a high speed crash and rollover with one of these bars installed on a 240z and if it was not for the bar I doubt the driver would have survived. Of course a full cage etc. would be better but for a street driven car it is perfect. My 2 cents If I end up buy a Autopower bolt-in cage I will end up welding up the cage to the floor after installing bolting it in anyway, just for good measure. So far the cheapest I can find the Autopower bolt in cage is $550 w/o shipping. Anyone know of a place cheaper? Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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