Alright, what would you guys do. I'm a little strapped for cash, but I need a roll bar. Now, there's this guy that works just on miatas and rents them out. In January, he said that he would plasma cut a cage out of one of his cars (it isn't legal for road racing) and then I could buy it from him, hack it up, and weld it into my car. Now, he wants $500 for it and I do all of the work. Here's the alternative. There's a company that makes rollbars for the miata and they're pretty nice, from what I can tell. Here's what they offer http://www.flyinmiata.com/index.php?deptid=1612 and I'm looking at the "M1 Hard Dog Sport." It's 285 + 50 shipping, so 335.

What I had thought of doing before was to take the old cage and hack it into something that looks like the Hard Dog Hard Core Hard Top (bleh, what a mouthful) bar, but even if I get the pre-made one, it's still cheaper. The only advantage the one that I'd be hacking up is that it welds to the chassis, but it also goes into the trunk (what little I have). So, what should I do? I'm really leaning towards the M1 Sport and then welding that to the chassis.

 

get the hard dog/flyin miata piece. don't bother with someone's used hacked up piece of garbage they're trying to pawn off on you for $500.

at least that's what i would do.

 

I agree. Get the Hard Dog bar. http://www.bethania-garage.com/default.htm That is the website for the people who actually make the bar.

I assume that you're trying to run track stuff, since you "need" a bar.

#1, go ahead and get something that meets SCCA specs. The "Hard Core" part of the product name.

#2, DON'T get the "Hard Top" bar. It sits farther back, and thus LOWER in the car. Unless you're 5'2" tall, you're going to have to remove padding from the seat bottom as it is to pass the broomstick test to get on track. Don't make it any more difficult for yourself. You CAN still run a hardtop with the non-hardtop bar. What you can't do is use the side clips. I've run many a track day in my street car and have never had a loose top issue not using these side clips.

#3, Make sure you get a harness BAR. It might cost extra, but it's worth it.

#4, The "Double Diagonal" is, IHMO, the one to get. Visibility is improved, especially with the rear-view mirror.

So, as a Miata owner... I recommend the HDHCDD bar. "Hard Dog Hard Core Double Diagonal" bar. I'd call Bethania Garage for pricing to see if buying direct saves you anything or not.

#5, PAD YOUR ROLLBAR. And use the SFI stuff. Why? One, it's safer. Two, you have SO much better visibility. I couldn't believe the difference when I changed it over on my car.

Good luck.

Diane

Edit - BTW, the simple fact that the other bar you're talking about ISN'T LEGAL for roadracing would make me pass. If it's not legal for RR anymore (or never was) do you really want to pass up something that is to put the non-legal piece in your car and risk being told you can't run at whatever events you "need" this rollbar for?

 

mines custom welded and I personally would use a bolt in bar in my track car but that's just how I feel......I also agree with the above about buying the hacked POS used bar


here's mine for reference (notice the rubbing from the hardtop) doesn't get much higher than that....

 

Yes on all of r2x's wisdom, as a former Hard Dog owner I can tell you they're very well made and a much better choice than anything cut out of another car, but you do need to pop for the full option one, it looks like this:




PS- That particular bar lives on in elgorey's track car

Jon

 

If you're using this bar for HPDE, you'll want an approved bar. The Sport's tubing is only 1.5x.120, and for a 1500-2500lb car I believe 1.75x.120 is required.

The HD Hard Core single-hoop and Boss Frog ClearView are both legal for basically any HPDE. They cost a bit more (both around $400) but it seems worth it for legality, no?

Personally, if I go with any bar, it'll be the ClearView - mainly because I have a combination that Hard Dog doesn't even support (glass window in the soft top AND a hardtop).

 

Hey - another Meotter owner here voting for a Hard Dog Hard Core Double Diagonal. It does obstruct the top corners of the rearview mirror a bit but you get used to it.

One thing - I went with a hard top version of the bar (even though I don't own a hard top) because it sits a little lower and further back. This makes getting under it a little bit of a challenge BUT I street drive my car like 7k miles/yr and I didn't want the bar as close to my head. I have it SFI padded but even that would hurt under impact (see other recent thread about rollbars/cages in street cars).

In regard to fitting under the bar, I am 5'10" with a 30" inseam so I'm a little taller in the upper torso than some people. When I first put the bar in, I had to remove almost all of the seatfoam from the stock seat to fit under the bar (see miata.net for details on that process). I have since gone to Sparco seats on stock sliders - this gets me comfortably under the bar. If I mounted the Sparco to the floor I'd have even more room.

Not the best pic, but trying to show how I clear the bar:



Hope this helps!!!

- Markus


Modified by Markus at 2:38 PM 2/16/2005

 

I've got a friend selling an Harddog hardcore double diagonal for $275.

PM me if interested and I'll get you his contact info.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PseudoRealityX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">PM me if interested and I'll get you his contact info.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

Another vote for the HDHC bar, but I went with the single diagonal on mine. I had no issues with visibility, but my head was a bit close to the bar on my car, and helmeted I was easily 2" over the bar. No fun being 6' tall in a miata....

 

Yet another HDHCDD owner.

 

Well, I already have a racing seat in the miata, and I'm 6'4" and have a good 3-4 inches of headroom in there, so I think the bar will work out well. Thanks for the advice everybody!

 

wonder if the hard dog, "double diagonal" works ok with the hard top? The reg 4-pt autopower bar i have in my 92 miata rubs pretty bad against the hardtop. Supposedly, iirc, autopwer mentioned it would clear hartops ok. It's not easy finding a bar for a hardtop miata The autopwer bar in my crx is a lot less a pita!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ronmcdon &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">wonder if the hard dog, "double diagonal" works ok with the hard top? The reg 4-pt autopower bar i have in my 92 miata rubs pretty bad against the hardtop. Supposedly, iirc, autopwer mentioned it would clear hartops ok. It's not easy finding a bar for a hardtop miata The autopwer bar in my crx is a lot less a pita!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Did you read the thread?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by r2x &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">#2, DON'T get the "Hard Top" bar. It sits farther back, and thus LOWER in the car. Unless you're 5'2" tall, you're going to have to remove padding from the seat bottom as it is to pass the broomstick test to get on track. Don't make it any more difficult for yourself. You CAN still run a hardtop with the non-hardtop bar. What you can't do is use the side clips. I've run many a track day in my street car and have never had a loose top issue not using these side clips.</TD></TR></TABLE>

So yes, the HDHCDD works with a Hard Top.

 

yea i did read the thread. Seems like this was the closest to the answer i was trying to find;

"#2, DON'T get the "Hard Top" bar. It sits farther back, and thus LOWER in the car. Unless you're 5'2" tall, you're going to have to remove padding from the seat bottom as it is to pass the broomstick test to get on track. Don't make it any more difficult for yourself. You CAN still run a hardtop with the non-hardtop bar. What you can't do is use the side clips. I've run many a track day in my street car and have never had a loose top issue not using these side clips."

Just because the hardtop will fit on, with the rollbar in the miata, doesn't necc mean it won't rub. The autopower bar i have on my miata right now, was advertised to be hartop compatible, and technically you can throw the hardtop on. However, it rubs pretty bad. I have the hardtop on pretty much all the time, so it's more of an issue. The info in this thread is very informative, but it doesn't answer whether or not the hard-dog, "double diag bar" rubs or not, even though it may fit inside the hardtop. I really would like to get another rollbar, and the rubbing issue is one of my main concerns.

If there is anything i missed, then i apologize

 

With the old big puffy padding, I could hear that squeak against the hardtop sometimes. Haven't had the hardtop on since changing to the SFI padding, but my guess is it wouldn't rub. I'd test it out for you, but it's WAY too cold up here to put the top down (it'd break the window if I tried). If your BAR itself is rubbing on your top, then I think the HDHCDD would solve that issue, but I'm not 100% sure since I haven't tried it myself.

 

thanks a lot!

Sorry for the confusion back there.