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Nice! Thanks for the info, cupcar. Bill, only if I had thought of that before I redid the interior...
A weld in doesn't change the interior much at all, and is going to be much stronger, lighter and stiffen the car more. It can also be tied into the B pillars if you so desire.
think I still owe some pics of my rollbar ...
finally:
but as addition to the seemingly never ending story on HEIGO ...
A friend in Germany got his rollbar with single diagonal bar like mine, but his lines up left bottom to right roof ... which means clearly build for RHD.
Phone calls, the usual 'stressful' communication etc. ...
HEIGO claims they do it now always this way coz German TUEV does otherwise don't give technical clearance for registration renewal ... "TUEV claims that the driver could hit his head ... "
on inquiry ... as expected complete BS ...
he got so frustrated, he will just re-weld it by another company, he's sick and tired about their excuses and don't want more stress by lawyers etc.....
Man, the Heigo RS bolt-in bar is not working out so well. Apparently, there is a bolt receptor in the RS that is slightly higher than the non-RS cars. Here is a close up picture of a real RS. See the rear bar is bolted to a location higher than the rear seat back anchors.
So CupCar and I found out the hard way that the Heigo RS bar doesn't really work if you try use the seat back bolt receptor instead. The rear bars are too short and the cross bars are too long. CupCar modified the rear bars, and I'm thinking about welding in a couple bolt receptors like the RS.
What I'm not too happy about is that, Heigo and FVD knew about this but it was not mentioned anywhere, and they certainly did not warn me about that when I ordered the parts. They have not been very helpful with me finding a solution either. They won't let me return or exchange for different parts. Nor will they tell me the exact location on how I can add the anchors. Overall I'm not too happy with the customer service at FVD. I have a set of brake ducts from them also, and they don't fit that well either. Don't think I'll order anything from them again.
^^^^ Talk to Tony Colicchio--you'll get better, and likely won't cost any more. How many bars and cages has he done just for the Rennlist crowd? (He's down at Laguna offering driver support at the SCCA Nationals this week. I think all three of his drivers are on/near pole.)
Man, the Heigo RS bolt-in bar is not working out so well. Apparently, there is a bolt receptor in the RS that is slightly higher than the non-RS cars. Here is a close up picture of a real RS. See the rear bar is bolted to a location higher than the rear seat back anchors.
So CupCar and I found out the hard way that the Heigo RS bar doesn't really work if you try use the seat back bolt receptor instead. The rear bars are too short and the cross bars are too long. CupCar modified the rear bars, and I'm thinking about welding in a couple bolt receptors like the RS.
I would be surprised if the bolt receptors are different RS vs C2. They are the left over rear seat pivots from the production of the C2 tub; the RS tub is nothing but a modified C2 tub.
The seat pivots were never intended for a roll bar mount in the first place and I see no reason why Porsche would move them since they have no function in the RS.
My thought is that Heigo doesn't make these bars too often and they screwed up and built our bars with the back struts dimensioned for a car with a sunroof as they are shorter by the amount I would expect them to be in that case.
I simply cut the Heigo strut with a pipe cutter and welded in a 1.75" diameter X 0.125" wall thickness piece of tubing to lengthen the strut 1.75" (2" may be better) at the bottom of the strut above the X strut bracket on the seat pivot end then powder coated the parts. The 50mm Heigo tubing fits inside the 1.75" tubing neatly, leave some over lap.
Well, Heigo and FVD both said there is another anchor, but they don't have any picture or drawing to show me. I couldn't find it on any parts list that indicated there is a unique part for the RS. So I don't know who to believe. The pictures do show a higher mounting point for the rear bar. Anyway, just want to point it out here, in case someone else might go down the same path in the future.
I's got too much time and money invested in this now, I have to find a way to get this to work. I probably would have gone for a custom weld in cage if I were to do it all over again. If I can't get a new anchor in, I'd do the extension and stuff to make it work.
BTW, I also cross threaded the front seatbelt anchor when trying to get the roll bar to fit. Good times...
Picture below is very clear of real RS installation.
Note that the aft going strut length is marginal and could be longer as shown by threads apparent at arrow. The upper mounting point for the aft going strut is higher in the RS because bar is taller and would require a longer strut than a non-sunroof car.
Note that the lower mount for the strut appears to be in same position at the rear seat pivot as I show in pictures of my installation above. I think Heigo and FVD are confused on the position of this point and it is same in RS and C2/4.
I don't know about you guys but I never felt very secure knowing that only 2 small bolts through the seat bracket were holding the rear of the bar in place
I don't know about you guys but I never felt very secure knowing that only 2 small bolts through the seat bracket were holding the rear of the bar in place
Good point.
It is stronger than one would think looking at it.
The pivot stud is 14 mm in diameter and projects out around 5/8 to 3/4" and welded in quite securely right in the corner with sheet metal in 3 planes around it. The Heigo strut has a tubular receiver that goes over this stud.
The stud takes an 8 mm bolt in the center and I used a 12.9 grade bolt with a thick hardened washer. This bolt draws the strut bottom over the 14 mm stud into the corner of the chassis quite snugly against all 3 planes of sheet metal.
The hoop's 'X' brace also wedges the strut bottom into the corner.
Downward and rearward forces are quite well supported, at least it appears that way.
Strong enough? I would trust it more than some of the bolt in bars I have seen out there, but a welded in cage or bar is best no question.
i like how the heigo are bolt on direct with no cutting and using existing mounting from rear seat belts - definitely give it a custom color for the finishing touch
10-18-2013, 09:04 PM
