Long time since I've posted pics or updates of the car, after this last weekend I thought it was time for a little update as we head into the racing season.

Kirk 4 point went in without too much trouble:





Rear points, and homemade trunk brace (Thanks Tweakmeister for the idea)



The Cobalt GT-sports do dust a little on the wheels.....



But after driving them, I think you can see how I feel about Cobalts products through this last pic....



If anyone has any questions regarding the roll bar install or anything, don't hesitate to ask.

Looking forward to some HPDE days this summer!

Later,
JP

 

Can you please take a side view of the rear legs of the rollbar and rear shock tower, so I can get an idea of how much room there is between the two?

I can't seem to grasp how far back the Kirk legs go and why they go beyond the rear shock tower in the first place.

 

Reid, let me see what I can do....

As far as why the legs go back that far, thats just the way that Kirk does thier stuff for DC2's. The backing plates are tightened against the rear chassis with longer bolts than are used in the fronts.

Whether Autopowers design, or Kirks, is thought better, both locations are arguably good ones.

JP

 

exactly what I was thinking. Is there any advatage or disadvantage to having the rear legs go all the way back there then to have them go to the shock towers?

 

Cobalt GT Sport

Come on up to Columbus on June 21, 22 and autocross.

 

Here ya go Reid:



And here is where the rear points connect to the chassis, which I think is a great design:



And yes, GT-sports do rock, anyone that autocrosses or does HPDE days and daily drives should give Andi a call

JP

 

The Kirk bar was originally designed to attach to those points with the rear tubes following the C Pillar all the way back and curving down. This was legal (and safe) as long as you used 1.75 .120 wall for the construction. I'm not sure if its still legal to do it that way.

The reason for doing this was so I could put the rear seats down and get all of my crap in the hatch. I used to carry 4 wheels/tires (225s), EZup canopy, toolbox, cooler, luggage, jack, jackstands, and spare brake parts back there with no problems at all and still was able to see out the rear window. I promise that you wouldn't be able to do this with the legs attached to the rear shock towers.

 

I have a question. The Autopower roll bar for the DC2 have the rear legs mounted on the legs of the main hoop. The Kirk roll bar have the rear legs mounted toward the center of the main hoop. Is there a reason why Autopower/Kirk chose to mount the rear legs that way (besides the Autopower bolting to the shock towers and the Kirk bolting to the rear tub)? Thanks

 

my thinking only by examining the picture is that they want to have the same point where the diagonal of the main hoop meet the rear arms. why the diagonal meets not at the far corner is probably because it puts it away from being right behind the drivers seat. im not quite sure if all this is necessary or even the better thing to do, but apperently they do and i wouldnt guess their experience. and i think the anchoring of the rear arms to the rear crossmember is a good idea as well, but i kinda think the more important thing is to keep the rear suspension more stable, instead of the actual chassis. plus, having the rear arms so far back eliminates some of the crumple zone if the rear end gets smashed, so it transmits the force of a rear end collision more to the rest of the chassis. but again, i would call them the experts.

 

Having the KIRK 8-point cage w/NASCAR door bars is the way our race CRX is set up. The install was with a weld-in kit rather than the bolt in that you used. The feet for the main hoop are set as far back in the floor pan as we could go to gain clearance above and behind my head. (pictures are available e-mail) Now to the question about the rear legs-the unit was designed this way to do as noted-follow the C pillar and thus provide more protection back there. So far as I know the tubing is not bent at all; at least ours wasn't. The diameter and wall thickness are a function of the weight of the car (see the GCR on this one). I prefer the legs going as far back as they do as that adds additional stiffness to the chassis.

You might want to place the seat a bit forward of the top of the main hoop. Even if this is not possible-definitely pad it with SFI approved material. Your helmet and head will be much happier as will the tech inspectors.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Catch 22 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
The reason for doing this was so I could put the rear seats down and get all of my crap in the hatch. I used to carry 4 wheels/tires (225s), EZup canopy, toolbox, cooler, luggage, jack, jackstands, and spare brake parts back there with no problems at all and still was able to see out the rear window. I promise that you wouldn't be able to do this with the legs attached to the rear shock towers.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Suprisingly the same amout of chit went into the bnack of the SSB car with the cage going to the fender well as with your old Kirk. It is amazing how much junk you can get into the back of an Integra and still see out the rear window.

Looking forward to towing ...

 

how much?

 

looking good

wouldn't mind one down the road...

 

On my Kirk 8-pt cage, I went with an X-Brace adder. I adds stiffness to the cage, but it also adds lots of weight and lose some visibility! The whole section behind the main hoop weighs 55-60 lbs. See HondaJon's picture 2 and imagine an X brace going from the rear stay to where the corner of the picture is. The X is right where my rear view is. I had to place a rear view mirror where the passenger visor is and then look towards the side of the X-brace.
I only post this for information for those considering adding the X-brace. Else.. I've very happy with the cage. I'll try to get picts of mine some time on my web site.