do i need a roll bar? 70 charger

[jakepup]

i am building a 1970 charger thats going to have around 850-900 hp "440 with blower" and im wondering with all that torque do i need a roll bar for body stiffness? i have hotchkis connectors installed, this car will only have 11" wide street slicks and caltracs so will porobably never launch hard or "hook up" hard, am i going to twist stuff up??? thanks in advance!

 

[Burns69RT]

Depends. Are you going to track it? Once you hit 11's to 10's they require you to have at least a 4 or 6 point cage. And looking at those hp numbers it'd be best you did.

 

[jakepup]

i will not be going to the track with it, i might once or twice just test and tune to see what it will do, just going ot be a hopped up street machine!! all im worried about is the body getting twisted up, it will never have full slicks or a weekend of racing on it. just dont want to get on it on the street and have a windshield break or something haha

Depends. Are you going to track it? Once you hit 11's to 10's they require you to have at least a 4 or 6 point cage. And looking at those hp numbers it'd be best you did.

 

[Burns69RT]

Normally I would cage it regardless just for safety but with subframe connectors you should be fine. If I were building your car, even it just being a street machine I would do a 6 point cage in it just because of the power. But a clean looking 4 point would suffice. And it would help a lot for stiffness. If you're dead set against a cage that's fine your should be fine. But I've never been in a muscle car with that much power and it not having any sort of cage in it.

 

[jakepup]

i guess my theory 'right or wrong" is if i ever were to roll the car with a roll bar in it id be dead anyways from my noggin bouncing off the roll bar pipe, or with no roll bar id be dead from being crushed just the same, without a helmet i cant imagine there is much more of a safety factor either way, on a track i can totally see the benifit!

Normally I would cage it regardless just for safety but with subframe connectors you should be fine. If I were building your car, even it just being a street machine I would do a 6 point cage in it just because of the power. But a clean looking 4 point would suffice. And it would help a lot for stiffness. If you're dead set against a cage that's fine your should be fine. But I've never been in a muscle car with that much power and it not having any sort of cage in it.

 

[Bb70charger500]

You could do a small frame setup behind the rear seat in the trunk and under the dash this will stiffen it up a lot and you won't have the ugly roll cage I've seen a few people do a setup like that works great .
And you will at least get one pass on the track till you hit the low numbers then they will throw you out .good luck

 

[Cranky]

With that much horsepower, even without 'hooking up' it will still apply a lot of stress the the chassis. Think about this....you're out on the road doing 60 and decide to mash the loud pedal. If it doesn't break em loose, it's going to put a good strain on the chassis. It should break them loose with that much power so there goes your safety factor if the car decides to bust it sideways. To me, a roll cage isn't one bit ugly not to mention they are your friend. I've seen it happen too many times to not have that beautiful jungle gym inside my high horsepower car.

 

[Burns69RT]

If you wear you seatbelt you shouldn't hit your head on the top of the cage...

 

[jakepup]

well lets hope i never have to find that out!! i will probably just put it in.

 

[WileERobby]

Good advice here. Whatever setup you decide is better than nothing, with that power. I 've cracked windshields with a lot less.

 

[daytona kid]

I put a $350 Jegs roll bar in mine that bolts with plates to the frame and subframe connectors, and added bars to make it a 10 point that connects from the shock towers to the frame at rear end hump. And it is nhra legal. I think a padded bar is ok on the street but have doubts about the safety of a cage without a helmet.

 

[NCC1968]

I'd do it. I plan to add one to my VIPER BEE........b/c I know I will drive it stupid now and then and my kids would hate for me to die just yet.......

 

[GetX'd]

Nuts not to put a cage with that kind of power.

 

[Cranky]

Good padding will also help protect your head should it come in contact with it but using a helmet will also add to that protection. A buddy of mine got a concussion from hitting the wall at the track and he had padding and a good helmet but it probably would have been worse without padding. He hit the wall pretty hard at about a 45* angle.