CAGED

And it’s beautiful. Pics to come tomorrow on the install, let’s see if it fits...

 

Congrats dude.
Hope it’s worth it in the end.

 

Good to hear.

GL on the install.

 

Good to hear that Jim!

 

congrats jim!

 

So

Pretty sure you're already on a lot of tracks
And
You would be adding weight

So are you adding just for safety? Almost sounds like a dumb question but I'm actually curious

P.S. paint it red

 

It is red

3909 lbs before

Rollbar is +50lbs
- removed OEM F/R seats 200lbs
- removed rear airbags, rear seatbelts and assorted trim etc 30lbs
- removed OEM battery and assorted stuff 74lbs
- removed fender liners 24lbs
- removed dust and dirt and gravel and track clag 1lb
+ install Sparco Evo 2 seats with sliders and Planted brackets 70lbs
+ install Schroth 6-point harnesses 12lbs
+ install VoltPhreaks battery 7lbs

3719lbs after

You were saying?

 

Wow fender liners weight that much?!?!

 

I researched a bunch on removing fender liners. Guidance seemed split on keeping or removing. Things about protection, aero, etc. Jim just curious what made the decision to remove for you?

 

And pics man!!

 

I’ve got the BS rear liners which are bigger and metal lined on the back half. I estimate the rears are 6lbs each and the fronts are 5lbs. Maybe less, call it 16lbs total, I don’t know I’ll try weighing tomorrow.

Not so worried about aero.
Pros: Better brake and engine cooling in front. In the rear I get another inch of tire/rim possibly if I can get the offset right (was already rubbing clear through the rear fender liners and the front as well). Also much easier access to adj suspension components I have to get to.
Cons: unprotected brake and fuel lines (will cover with gorilla tape maybe), there are some sharp frame edges that the liner was probably protecting my tire from on suspension compression (will have to grind down).

 

Found some trick self-adhesive Kevlar felt tape to cover brake and fuel lines with out of an abundance of caution. Goodbye liners.

 

Still no pics man?!
Come on now...
Sidebar: Was browsing the IG when Studio RSR posted something for BMW. I commented about a harness bar for sedans. The guy John said they’d like to develop something for sedans but need a car...so if any of our sedan brothers are in SoCal, contact those guys.

 

So. I finally got a free weekend to put the Studio RSR cage in and try to finish the seats and harnesses etc.

Let me first say that it dropped in perfectly. Fit and finish are impeccable.

BUT.... this is not really a rollbar. At least not an effective one as designed. Think of this as a super pro-looking harness bar. The reason is problematic mounting points.

Here is the bar in the car. Pretty sweet looking.




First issue. Front mounting point is on top of some sort of super hard welded plate (had to use up two concrete drill bits just to get through) that bridges a channel. This point is probably not so bad, but there’s space underneath the plate, and then there’s the raised bit of the floor that made up the thigh support for the back bench. I don’t think this area would survive a rollover, and those legs would slip off the bump anyway.




Here are the rear mounting points. These are just dangerous IMO. The plates on either side slide right in place, and you can even use the OE 10.9 seatback hardware bolts. Now look at how the bar terminates on the plate. I took two angles to show that there’s nothing but air under the rear bar ends. In the event of a rollover, 100% that those plates break. There’s literally no support.





So, while I get that it was advertised as a drop-in cage and was going to have some compromises, I’m a little disappointed that it fails in such a critical area. Will be giving this feedback to the Studio RSR guys, as I think the design could be modified to address these issues while still remaining “bolt-in”. While the bar material and construction might be to NASA spec, the mounting points probably won’t even pass a cursory inspection. Maybe I can modify this bar to be better secured on the rear points.

Right now, this design, I couldn’t recommend. Let’s see if it’s something that can be fixed...

 

disappointing

 

Yeah, unfortunately the mounting points look pretty weak indeed.

 

Have been making progress. Slowly. Every time I dig further into the car I find something else to repair/replace. This week it’s new front hubs and rebuild of calipers, new dust shields with 3” hose adapter welded on for brake ducts, installed Hella horns, etc. Well, the interior is done at least...
Studio RSR Rollbar
Sparco Evo II Seats
Planted base and side mount brackets
Schroth 6-point harnesses with other bits

Looks pretty good in there I think

 

Do you sit lower with this setup? With my seat all the way down at the back I'd still like to be another inch or two lower.

 

Pretty much same as I sat with OE seats, side brackets are on the highest setting. If you forgo sliders you can get really low, probably 3” lower.

I should add that I sat in the OE seats with the seat bottom all the way down in back and up in front. So the additional 3” of adjustment will get the seat 1” off the floor if you want.

 

Excellent. Yeah, I won't be using sliders.

 

 

Wow you really did that! Looks amazing.

 

I’m starting to think that I should take the sliders out because they are practically useless. With the space limitations you only have maybe 6” of adjustment forward and back, and with no back seat what’s the point. However the steering wheel is already at its lowest setting and perfectly placed for how high I have the seat. I don’t know if I want to be any lower but stability would improve.



Thanks guys. It’s not perfect but will get there in time.

 

It's also stronger/safer without sliders. What's the rake like right now? Can you take pic from the side with the door open?

 

Looking good Jim!