Legalities of a roll bar (and general question)

[RaYmO]

Yeah... if you get the rollbar and have the standard NA seats... Put some padding on there at the very least.

I changed my seats to Sparco Sprints at the same time as my BD install and the sprint headrest sits very high compared to the stock NA seats... If I were rear ended then the seat is the cushion between my head and the BD bar.

Remember... there's a LOT of idiots out there... regardless of how well experienced or how good a driver you are... it only takes ONE idiot to take you out. If you aren't prepared properly then I think the BD safety measure could potentially cause more harm than good.

[lowmiata]

I've answered my question to an extent, now all that remains is to actually decide if I need a roll bar or not.

http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/NR/rdonl ... /VSI28.pdf

It may interest you to know that a roll bar such as the BD does not require an engineering certificate! Basically as long as you don't modify the structure of the car or modify components such as seatbelts or seats.

Maybe in your state but others it has to be.
FWIW in regard to heads hitting the roll bar, and this is the reason you have to get it engineered:-
When fitting a roll bar you must pad anything within 350mm of anywhere you can touch with any part of your body
it has to be more 20mm thick or more and has to be fitted in a way that its not easily removed ie with zip ties etc

My sparco's cover all of the roll bar and with the wings its very hard to touch any part of the bar.
I don't feel comfortable in a mx these days without a roll bar, have gotten used to mine!

fits under the hard top with about 3/4's of an inch clearance.

[StanTheMan]

Yea I tried to find the equivalent document for the NSW RTA. couln't find anyyhing anywhere.

[lowmiata]

Going by that vic roads information you cant legally fit a BD bar

It uses seat belt ancorage points!

I honestly cant see how you don't have to get it engineereed

you would get every man and his dog making roll cages! not really something you want a novice doing!

I'd ring an engineer just to be sure

[TieNN89]

NB8B seats

are the seat height in the nb8b the same as the nb8a?

[greenMachine]

Many many moons ago, when I first installed my bar, I was informed that there was no NSW requirement for inspection/engineering for the bar. Criteria was no intrusion into passenger space, no detriment to ingress/egress, no adverse effect on visibility.

Indirectly, this has been confirmed as there have been no problems raised at the subsequent four or five rego inspections.

My car has since been engineered, so I am covered in any event

[Blue94t]

The engineer who is certifying my SR20det conversion said he has no problems at all with passing the BD rollbar. This is in Vic.
Jake

[Hot Rodders]

NB8B seats

are the seat height in the nb8b the same as the nb8a?

No. the nba seat backs are lower than the nbb

[bensale]

Thanks for all the responses guys! First of all I love the boss frog twin roll bar, they look fantastic!

I'm still of two minds, but I think i've decided not to go with the roll bar for a number of reasons. One is that i'm probebly much more likely to be rear ended than roll the car so the roll bar could do more harm than good.

Also I cant justify spending the money ATM to do it properly, ie with new seats. Also considering that in all honesty it is for astetics as much as safety I dont really want to have rolls of padding on the bar.

I'm still not 100% sure, but I dont think i'll go for it..

Thank you all for you help

[Alex]

hmm not sure about your reasoning there with the rear ending problems

Incase anyone had forgotten this thread

Clicky

I'll leave you with the image of the tray of a one tonne ute sliding over the bootlid - BD roll bars are not a luxury, they are an essential item in an MX5!

[Alex]

I'm amazed noone brought it up earlier

anyway about the Hardtop, on my NB8A my hardtop only just touches the top of the bar, I just placed some felt there to stop it rubbing and it's fine, no issues with soft top though

[Okibi]

I had to modify my brown davis to fit under my NA6 hardtop of our NB8A.

[StanTheMan]

My hard top cleared my NA BD roll bar. When I had it.