Features Roll Bars - What's The Best Look?

White !

 

I knew that, just wanted to clarify for others

 

The Whites were and are great car guys. I'm sure Rick will be at Bakersfield with his dragster.

 

there is a great picture of @RainierHooker coupster race car... Now that's a roll bar... fence posts work great !

 

The only way that a bar will work on anything with a shoulder harness is if it sticks above your head, otherwise it is just for looks. If your bar is below your head lap belt only so you can duck down if you roll it.

Just for info. Not bad mouthing anyone's car or roll bar.

 

Mine on my roadster acts as the back bow for the top also. Gary

 

So once this got quicker than 10.99 it needed a 6 point cage. Eventually it ran a 9. Its street legal here in New Zealand and has been on the road since it was built in the mid 70s.

The cage is well padded, tho if I did the padding again, I would go straight to the SFI catalogue and buy their best stuff. The cage is way high, but both me and the prior owner are over 6ft with long backs.

The original plan was to run the car with the cage when racing and to cruise around without it when on the street. Strangely, the cage never came out of the car, as I felt very safe in it with the cage and couldnt see any good reason to reduce safety. Similar views to may folk - there are too many numb nuts out there - So why not leave the cage in there and use the 5 point harness every time I drive the car.

As for asthetics, well thats an individuals call. I figure if my car has a bit of a race vibe, then the cage and harness look like they should be there.

Im now onto a 27 T roadster and thats getting a 4 point cage, and another harness as those numb nuts are still out there.

 

As for low roll bars, I think they are a waste of space. I have been involved in the head injury rehab business for 15+ years and recognise that an unhelmeted head breaks like a dropped ripe watermelon when it hits a steel bar or even the B pillar on your car. Its why modern cars have airbags everywhere.

Now we cant fit that stuff to our hot rods, but we can figure the physics of car accidents and make some smart decisions when building our cars. A low rollbar without a high back seat will mean that if you get rear ended (Liberace'd) your head is going to go backward and maybe play watermelons with your "asthetically appealing chrome roll bar"

I think a low roll bar is worse than no roll bar at all. But thats just a personal view.

 

You are correct Gasser Todd!

 

I stand corrected....it was the White brothers that took over Autopower. In addition to roll bars, Autopower also made flamecut exhaust flanges and we were king of the hill until Bill Casler convinced Gary Hooker to bite the bullet and pay for the tooling to stamp SBC flanges.

 

That's what I thought

 

So, this is an idea I was messing around with recently. Can you have a roll bar that looks cool (not taller than the driver) , still operate a soft top and have it as a safety issue (taller than the driver as previously posted)? Sounds impossible but having owned a Mercedes rag top before I know all Mercedes convertibles since 2000 have fierce roll over protection (as do the Beemers). I saw this on the local craigslist for $95.00 today.


At the rollover, sensors automatically extend what appears to be headrests above to full height in a split second to support the car body and protect the occupants. So instead of the headrests, you re-engineer a chrome roll bar that does the same thing. Looks cool when down, pops up when needed. "hide your technology"

 

This was in the Drag Roadsters thread, reposted from another thread! It could be a good compromise for having the looks of a low roll bar but with added height. Emphasis on the word "compromise", I totally agree with GasserTodd. I guess it's the dilemma of trying to build a period correct car as well as keep it safe. Maybe just drive with a helmet on?

 

Now someone will misread this but that's just the HAMB correct?

In an enclosed car like a later model enclosed car ('40s through the early '60s) if you turtle it you may come out OK of you are tied in. In a car like say my A bone that roof is not going to keep the car off of you.

In a car like a roadster you really need something to keep the car off of you. If you don't have something to keep the car off of you and you turtle it you may actually be better off to not be tied in at all. At least if you are not tied in you have a chance of being thrown clear.

 

Oh the things that passed tech in the '50s...


This roll bar, made of good ol' galvanized fence-post, has been in this ol' drag car for six decades. It sits above my cranium, just barely. That's okay, since I plan to be only driving this thing an eighth or quarter mile at a time, with a helmet between me and the bar should the shiny side end up on the bottom.

 

Let the Devil roll the dice for you.

 

BTT
Roll bars can be cool, but really difficult to get form and function.

VHRA Pendine Sands requires roll bar for over 100mph and a cage for over 110mph.

Although my example isn’t the best looking thing, I feel it has a vintage vibe about it.



Engine build thread
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/blown-4-banger-210-inch-grenade.1220215/


This is a roll bar I made for a heavily chopped and channeled ‘34 coupe. It meets the VHRA requirements.


Build thread.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/34-coupe-survivor-ish.1219403/


This one is a cage. Fitted to a slightly channeled but unchopped A coupe. Again, it meets VHRA requirements to run at Pendine Sands.

 

^Nice work!
Great example of a cage that dictates a helmet. That rear bar is right behind the noggin. Real deal protection that looks good, too.
In the '70's ''show bars'' were all the rage with 4x4 pickups. They were awful!

 

worked on volvos with this ropes system (role over protection system) along with the headrests yu also needed thhe boron steel A pillars to hold up the front of the car

 

In the jeep world where flops and rolls are common , a bar of any sort is better than nothing.
An acquaintance got hot broadside in a 2000 ish TJ by an F350 dragging a horse trailer at over 80kmh and walked away without a scratch.
A jeep and a 32 roadster offer about the same protection without a bar.

 

Hello,

In our old days, there were cool roadsters at the drags. A lot of them went on to fame and fortune in the later years with different builds, teams and race cars. The early inspection teams at every dragstrip had their way of safety rules. When the 1320 Association set the standards, it was to get the head of the racer/driver under the curve of the roll bar.

Brissette, Quincy, Eichenhofer Tahitian Red Roadster or as some people see the color, Candy Apple Red.

1959 Lions Brissette, Eichenhofer, Quincy Automotive Candy Apple Red 29 Roadster.

The Brissette, Eichenhofer, Quincy Automotive Roadster was a great sample of what a roadster could be for competition and street usage, if it were a street roadster. For the untrained eye, and no knowledge of the modified roadster, it could have been mistaken for a street roadster going down the dragstrip… Candy Apple Red/Tahitian Red paint, custom chrome accessories, whitewall tires, Moon Discs, along with matching Candy Apple Red/Tahitian Red steel rims, and a great looking rake to finish a street roadster look. But this Candy Apple Red/Tahitian Red Roadster was a pure drag racing roadster that set records in the Modified Roadster Class as the local So Cal dragstrips. (7 So Cal dragstrips at the time period.)

The old style curved roll bar fit the open roadsters quite nicely and made a good addition to the style and function. Some were above the driver’s head and others were questionable. It was early drag racing and some basic rule structure had to be made. It was the time period and no comparisons can be made for the then/now competition race cars for safety. Style wise, the old days had it in droves.

Jnaki

Harrell Engines Red 1929 Ford Roadster
Another great example of the same style curved chrome roll bar was used on the Harrell Engines Red Roadster during the same time period of 1956-60.
Lion’s Dragstrip
Harrell Engines Roadster

 

Been following your build, love the motor!

My first thoughts were roll bar looks purposeful and not out of place, second thought was paint it mat black, to make it look a lot smaller.

Great motor