Time for Project Nova to get an eight-point rollbar. We started with an Art Morrison Enterprises general-purpose eight-point kit with optional rear seat retaining bars, a swing-out side bar kit, and Corbeau three-point harnesses. Outlaw Motorsports stitched it all together with a Millermatic 211 MIG welder.
Outlaw’s Ron Aschtgen used...
Outlaw’s Ron Aschtgen used a hydraulic tubing bender for several operations, but here he’s narrowing the AME main hoop to fit inside the Nova cabin. AME’s generic kit uses 1¾-inch diameter .134-inch-thick mild steel tubing throughout for conformity to NHRA specs.
Deciding to go with a weld-in rollbar is a major turning point in building any street car. There’s a mental block that says, “Hey, this is a race car,” when you still want it to function as a street car. The choice to do a rollbar, however, is made a lot easier if you know that not only will you be safer, but your ride will be much stiffer, and as a result, will feel much lighter. Why? Because a stiff chassis is one that responds quicker, moves sooner, and preserves the intended suspension geometry better. It’s also why weld-in beats bolt on every time.
For Project Nova, we reached out to Art Morrison Enterprises for one of their eight-point mild steel rollbar kits. AME is a major player for chassis, rollcages, and rollbars, and has for decades been synonymous with cutting-edge chassis design and safety. Our general-use AME eight-point kit is a time-tested design, offering the protection and stiffness we desire while fulfilling the necessary safety requirement. We also supplemented this kit with the optional rear seat retention mod; this places the rear bars over the top of the rear seat and through the package tray instead of through the seat back. We’d be able to keep our rear seats for that rare situation when we still need to use it. Street use being the primary function of this ’68 Nova, we also ordered a Morrison swing-out side bar kit. This retains the driver-side bar in place for safety on the track, while allowing it to swing out—or be removed entirely—for use on the highway. Suddenly, a race-only deal has become quite street friendly. A win-win situation for sure.
The main hoop attaches to...
The main hoop attaches to the Nova’s rocker channels via .125-inch-thick 6x6 steel plates that must be formed over the sheetmetal. Note: The surface has been prepped with a grinder for welding.
With any rollbar installation, consideration must be given to seating and harnesses. We had already installed a beautiful and supportive pair of Corbeau Sport seats in black vinyl ($299 each), so it was only natural to choose a matching pair of black Corbeau three-point dual-release harnesses. The “dual release” refers to the extra shoulder strap latch, which can be disconnected from behind for stowage, rear seat access, or maintenance. The Corbeau seat/harness combo is the perfect choice for modernized muscle that sees aggressive street and track use. It feels great, looks good, and won’t break your bank.
Of course, doing a truly safe weld-in rollbar depends on having a competent MIG welder—which we have in the form of a Millermatic 211 with Auto-Set. The Millermatic 211 was designed from the outset for serious hobbyists and professionals; the features we love the most are its ability to operate on either 120 or 230 V, and to take the guesswork out of control setup. With Miller’s Auto-Set, all you do is set your filler wire thickness and your material thickness via two dials. The Millermatic 211 will set the wire feed speed and amperage automatically for a perfect weld every time. And the Smooth-Start feature provides a spatter-free start too.
Our MIG welder of choice:...
Our MIG welder of choice: Miller Electric’s Millermatic 211 with Auto-Set. We had it loaded with thin .030-gauge filler wire because we were welding to thin sheetmetal. The 211 has a multi-voltage plug (MVP) allowing us to run it on 230 or 120 V.
Putting it all together for us was Ron Aschtgen of Outlaw Motorsports in Riverside, California. Outlaw does a lot of rollbar and rollcage installations, as well as full chassis fabrication, and this job was right in their wheelhouse. For a job like ours, Aschtgen typically charges $750 for the labor—which in our case includes doing the swing-out bar, mounting the harnesses, and painting the rollbar. Total time on our eight-point Morrison kit was 12 hours over a two-day period. We are extremely pleased with Aschtgen’s handiwork, and we will have no qualms tossing this Nova around on the track.
Take a look at how Outlaw tailored the AME kit for our ’68 Nova, then go over to www.YouTube.com/PopularHotRodding and check out the videos “Rollbar Installation” Parts 1 and 2 to get the inside scoop on how Aschtgen got the job done!
A tubing cutter is indispensable...
A tubing cutter is indispensable for fabbing a rollbar. Eastwood also offers one (PN 21749, $69.99) that cuts up to 2 inches in diameter at angles up to 60 degrees. Here Aschtgen makes a cut on one of the rear-facing bars.
To mate the rear-facing down...
To mate the rear-facing down bar to the plate that will go in the trunk, a narrow angle had to be cut to make it flush with the plate. A bandsaw is ideal for this long cut, but Aschtgen also used a cold saw for cuts with shallower angles.
Several things you can see...
Several things you can see from this shot: The main hoop has only been tack welded at this point so that it may be moved easily if needed. The main hoop has also been painted to simplify matters later; areas to be welded will be wiped with paint thinner as needed. The rear bars have actually been trial fit several times: to fine-tune the angle of the trunk joint, to sneak up on the bar length, to open a hole in the package tray, and to tweak the bend in the bars.
Here’s the intended trunk...
Here’s the intended trunk joint. See how the square mounting plate has been formed to the shape of the trunk. It’s also near a corner, which is inherently stronger.
The main hoop and rear bars...
The main hoop and rear bars are initially mocked up and tacked into place. Once you’re happy with the placement of those, you can weld it permanently before moving on to the crossbar, side struts, and forward bars—in that order. Check out the auto-sensing “Arc Armor” Digital Camo welding helmet from Miller (PN 248-260). It automatically dims when welding, and you can set how much light it will screen out and how fast it reacts.
You want to sneak up on cutting...
You want to sneak up on cutting and notching the crossbar—you can’t make it longer if you cut it too short. Aschtgen checks that the height is the same on both sides before welding it in place. This one is 22� inches from the bottom; our Corbeau harnesses will wrap around it and over the shoulder perfectly.
The AME side struts gave us...
The AME side struts gave us the perfect opportunity to further stiffen the chassis by tying them into our welded-in DSE subframe connectors (see “Twist and Shout!” June ’12). The key is to place all rollbar joints where they can do the most good. Note the aluminum sheet between the main hoop and the interior panel. Aschtgen used this technique extensively; it avoids damage to the headliner and interior while welding.
For sidebar placement, Aschtgen...
For sidebar placement, Aschtgen temporarily reinstalled the seats and marked the bar where the bends were needed. The armrest bend should be made first, followed by an elbow at the floorboard plate.
While grinding a spot on the...
While grinding a spot on the rocker channel for the sidebar’s plate, we discovered another nice surprise from the previous owner—a huge fiberglass patch job in the floorboard that was nicely disguised by spray-on rustproofing. We ripped it all out, revealing lots of rust holes. We’ll bring you the floor patch panel story next month!
Note the downward elbow that...
Note the downward elbow that Aschtgen bent into the sidebar where it meets the baseplate. All the moves up to this point were repeated on the passenger side—up to the point where we cut the bar out to put in the swing-out kit. We’re keeping the bar solid on the passenger side to beef up the overall stiffness.
This small tab was added at...
This small tab was added at the base of the side strut on top of the DSE subframe connector. This will be the anchor point for our three-point Corbeau harnesses.
Here’s the AME swing-out sidebar...
Here’s the AME swing-out sidebar kit. The left piece is the hinge for the bottom of the bar; the right one is the latch side that goes at the hoop. We upgraded the ⅜-inch pivot bolt to a �-inch bolt to give it more strength. The locking pin can only come out when the spring-loaded button is pushed.
We hated cutting out a perfectly...
We hated cutting out a perfectly good sidebar—but it was worth it for the added convenience. The pipe you remove is used for the swing out, so mark the orientation before you cut it.
The swing-out bar will need...
The swing-out bar will need to be shortened slightly, and the hinge side beveled for clearance. The hinge channel should be welded first. Then carefully measure/drill the pivot bolt for the hinge, and grind a nice clearance radius for easy swing out. Finally, you can weld the latch channel (shown). The channel can be held to the swing-out bar with the pin in place to help inform your weld.
We like Eastwood’s Extreme...
We like Eastwood’s Extreme Chassis Black satin for a rollbar, which sees lots of wear and scraping at touch points. Eastwood Extreme Chassis Black has three times the resin of normal chassis paint, making it incredibly durable when wear is an issue.
For running autocross or track...
For running autocross or track events (not to mention on the street), Corbeau’s three-point double-release belts are perfect. They bolt directly to existing harness points, with the shoulder belt typically mounting to a rear seat bolt. (Ours mounts to a mounting tab.)
Here’s the finished AME rollbar...
Here’s the finished AME rollbar with our Corbeau Sport seats and Dodge Neon center console installed. After we get the floor patch done, we’ll install our new Auto Meter Elite gauges, do a Dynamat install, finish out the interior, then hit the chassis dyno for some tuning.