Roll Bar Reality Question

[MNspiderman]

If your not going to track race your non street legal fiat while using 1 5/8 DOM steel tubing or better yet Chromoly. Then its mostly for show like on alot of show cars. So whats the harm of having a quality muffler man bend you one up on his mandrel pipe bender then you could go with something cool looking like 2 1/4 - 3" in diameter which would give you a very nice look. I don't have a roll bar yet, the car isn't a drag racer, this car isn't nascar material, Its a Fiat. I have real racing buckets in my car but that don't mean i have to race. My car hasn't been upside down with out a roll bar, And I don't plan on being upside down either after i install a roll bar. When we install roll bars I'd guess that 98 percent of us install them for looks anyway. So thats my plan: Have the Muffler man build me a nice looking roll bar based on the double bend Abarth roll bar. Should be very inexpensive and have terrific results. So has anyone ever considered this Idea besides Me? I have a welder, I was planning on having him bend the main hoop only and the braces and baseplates are easy enough to weld together at home. I was planning on filling the pipes with expandafoam to make them sound dense when you knock on them as well.

[So Cal Mark]

the roll bar will function as a chassis stiffener also. One of the drawbacks to using a muffler tube bender is that the diameter is reduced in the bends. Unless you buy mandrel-bent tubing and cut and weld it won't be as asthetically pleasing as you think

[sptcoupe]

I was going to say the same thing Mark pointed out. I have seen a bar done in a muffler shop, and even though it was nicely painted, it still looked a nicely painted exhaust system.

[mbouse]

Well, i agree on the looks thing. and, after JUST tightening the last bolt on the one i installed this week, i would really hate to go to that amount of work for something that looks like a goofy tailpipe routed through my back seat.

looking forward to the chassis tightening/stiffening aspect of my addition. seriously thinking about removing the rear anti-sway bar while the jack stands still are in place.

[katsi]

Have you guys checked out those tanou (spelling) covers? I saw one on ebay and it looked really great. Kinda like the Mach 5. Go Speed!!
Your pals

Spritle and Chim Chim

[amsiegel]

If the muffler guy has the equipment to bend the exhaust pipe would he be able to bend regular tubing?

[manoa matt]

I've sold two Fiat roll bars this year simply because I did not want to install them in my car. Too much cutting up of the seat, interior panels, and the catch basins on the sides of the wheel wells. The biggest reason I did not install them is because I drive my car everyday and I need to see out of the rearview mirror and sometimes carry packages in the back seat.

My idea was to take an existing roll bar and cut off the upper hoop just above where the rear leg joins. Cut down and re-weld the hoop back so its straight across, then weld on two individual hoops behind the seats like modern cars with the chromed hoops behind the seats.

Something similar to this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigtimes_fiat/3729635859/

I even thought about cutting off the rear legs so it would just go from side to side. It would probably fold over in a rollover, but would still stiffen up the chassis and provide "the look" without all the interior panel/seat cutting.

I realy like this design as it also incorporates a wind screen: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigtimes_fiat/3729649587/ Classy, functional, and unobtrusive.

[mbouse]

matt, that's starting to look like my uncle's Miata, which would be cool, if you can pull it off. cutting and welding that tube and maintaining the roll over strength, while blending the welds to invisible will be a challenge. would you use an internal sleeve at the joints, or butt weld and grind?

the P.O. of the Spider i removed the roll bar from actually yanked the rear view off his windshield frame he was so ticked about seeing nothing but roll bar in his mirror. the rear view i bought from you was to replace the missing mirror for this car when i sold the car (keeping the roll bar for my use).

i'm hoping the 124 Coupe rear view that i modified to my Spider will be low enough to give me line of site UNDER the roll bar i installed. can't wait for my first spin around the block next week.

[manoa matt]

Probably the easiest thing to do would be to obtain that Miata roll bar assembily and graft it onto the base of a stock Fiat roll bar. Chromed tubes and all.

[mbouse]

yeah, that might do the trick.

finding a tubing bender that can getter done and look as sweet as those factory bends would be a challenge all its own

[htchevyii]

All I had to do when I installed my roll bar was to notch the inner panels and I cut one of the supports on each side of the seat bottom so I could bent it in a bit. My car allready had a glue on rear view and I was considering switching back to the stocker, but since the roll bar in no way restricts my vision, maybe I'd better leave it alone. My 75lb dog still rides back there, I hook a truck bed tie down between the roll bar tubes to secure her.