This is topic Autopower roll bar into '03 cobra in forum Road Racing, Auto X & Drifting at Northern California Ford Owners  .


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Posted by mtbaughs (Member # 4052) on :
 
I thought I'd throw some pic's up from our web site of the Autopower bar I installed in our customers '03 Cobra. Fit and finish turned out to be excellent. While this bar isn't an expensive custom bar it does have the advantage of being bolted into the car within a day. This is Autopower's 2" diameter .120 thick bar with the optional rear harness brace and diag. brace. Both of which can be removed for street duty and will allow full access to the rear seat. This bar fits '96 and later hardtops. For those of you looking for some roll over protection out in the turns.




 

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Posted by 1Sicgt (Member # 714) on :
 
What plates did you put on the underside of the body. Just curious, becuase I am manufacturing some to be used with the autopower bolt in bars.
 

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Posted by mtbaughs (Member # 4052) on :
 
We just used the plates that came in the kit for the underside. If a person wanted a little more they could take a 1/8" 6X6 steel plate and drill the three holes in it I imagine. If you wanted to go that far with it I'd also cut the top plates off and just weld new ones onto the tubing to match the 6X6 lower plates. Just depends on what you want out of the kit. This bar provides decent roll over protection but it isn't very good for strengthing the cars structure do to it's mounting locations. There is a difference in stiffness in the car but nothing like a car that has a bar tied into the structure of the car instead of the floor pan/wheel wells.
 

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Posted by 1Sicgt (Member # 714) on :
 
Ya, we are making the plates that go under the car, to make its mounting legal to run in NASA. (hence I'm a CNC Machinist.) So if you ever do one, and they want a legal bolt in set-up let me know.
 

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Posted by jcm3man (Member # 3834) on :
 
Just so you both know... I just attended the official NASA Race tech workshop and quite a few rules have changed. You might want to check with me to verify what you are doing will be legal, in HPDE or RACE.

It's interesting that only about 10 shops sent techs to the workshop. If you are to be tech station for NASA it is required to go to the Race tech workshop and now there are only 10 shops or so that are able to do legal NASA tech inspections. The roll cages, seats and harnesses are being heavily scrutinized now and they are not taking any of the rule changes lightly.

I can tell you more than 60% of the cars (HPDE and Race) will not pass tech the first event next year.

I have an entire 3" 3 ring binder full of rule changes and I thought I would give you a heads up.

Check the new NASA tech shop list and you will see that not many shops are listed.

The class was a 9 hour event and covered all changes in detail.

FYI
 

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Posted by mtbaughs (Member # 4052) on :
 
What else is new haha. Their always changing something to piss everyone off. This car doesn't run with Nasa so it wasn't a concern to install something to Nasa's spec's.
 

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Posted by Yellow94GT (Member # 431) on :
 
I would have a hard time doing that to a Cobra if it belonged to me.

Good looking bar though
 

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Posted by mostang (Member # 3352) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by mtbaughs:
We just used the plates that came in the kit for the underside. If a person wanted a little more they could take a 1/8" 6X6 steel plate and drill the three holes in it I imagine. If you wanted to go that far with it I'd also cut the top plates off and just weld new ones onto the tubing to match the 6X6 lower plates. Just depends on what you want out of the kit. This bar provides decent roll over protection but it isn't very good for strengthing the cars structure do to it's mounting locations. There is a difference in stiffness in the car but nothing like a car that has a bar tied into the structure of the car instead of the floor pan/wheel wells.

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quote:

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Originally posted by 1Sicgt:
They do make a bar for it, not that one imparticular. The harness bar, and diagnol are added options. We picked them up from Livermore Performance. Good guys, very willing to help. Check them out here Livermore Performance

Also if you plan running any open tracks pay the extra, get the DOM tubing. ERW is not legal in some groups. Its like $30 more.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Yellow94GT:
I would have a hard time doing that to a Cobra if it belonged to me.

Good looking bar though

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I feel ya! I think it looks horrible. There is no point in having the backseats if you have those jailbars back there. Do you need that bar to drive on the street? There are so many other suspension parts to add that won't mess up the cars looks. Its an 2003 cobra for god sake, but I guess to each his own!
 

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Posted by mtbaughs (Member # 4052) on :
 
[/qb][/QUOTE]I feel ya! I think it looks horrible. There is no point in having the backseats if you have those jailbars back there. Do you need that bar to drive on the street? There are so many other suspension parts to add that won't mess up the cars looks. Its an 2003 cobra for god sake, but I guess to each his own! [/QB][/QUOTE]

The bars are removeable for when he is on the street. The back seat is completely useable. Yes you don't need the bar to drive on the street This car see's about %50 track duty and %50 street duty. One might question placing a bar into an '03 cobra I guess because they feel like it is too cherry of a car. I could understand that....though I think a wiser person would opt for a bar which provides solid mounting points for harnesses and roll over protection when cruising down a road race track at speeds better than 120 mph. Believe me the cars suspension and pretty much everything else has already been upgraded. I think you tend to be more into beauty and show appearance which is fine while others tend to enjoy saftey and function when using the car in a track setting. Since this is a dual purpose car thats what the customer wanted. Not to mention returning the car back to factory by removing the bar can easily be achieved.
 

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Posted by 9lbpony (Member # 3510) on :
 
If the owner is anything like me he'll quickly get used to having the cross brace in place and will remove the rear seats in favor of a delete kit to offset the weight of the cage.

Personally I think nothing makes a car look more serious then a cage. Even a 4-pt adds some safety and gives you a place to mount some real seat belts.

The panel cuts turned out really well. I remember using wrapping paper tubes to figure out where the bar wanted to pass through the panel. I also remember the fear that comes with the commitment of the hole saw hitting the plastic...

I see their finish hasn't changed though. Black paint that is later wrapped in plastic and tape isn't an optimal choice. I sanded mine and repainted it before it went into the car.
 

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Posted by RixSikCobra04 (Member # 5058) on :
 
Don't let these pics fool ya. I've seen this car up close, it is not ugly by any means. Good work, Mike.
 

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Posted by mtbaughs (Member # 4052) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by RixSikCobra04:
Don't let these pics fool ya. I've seen this car up close, it is not ugly by any means. Good work, Mike.

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