Rollbar structure retrofit

[Rick R]

Do you know if the rollbar and "reinforcing safety" structures on the SRA can be (easily) retrofitted on a 2008 Brammo Ariel 2?

• MIG-welded tubular steel rollbar structure with forward, rearward & cross bracing, to prevailing racing standards per SRA weight class
• Fabricated reinforcing safety structure added under pedal area (inside tub)

[DarthChicken]

It's welded to the frame.. it's part of the frame..

[Rick R]

It's welded to the frame.. it's part of the frame..

Right - apologies if it's a silly question, I'm really un-knowledgeable about this, but how easy is it to have that same rollcage welded onto a Brammo frame, on a fully-functional, completed car? Would the car have to be pulled apart and put back together or something like that?

[bolus]

I imagine it could be welded to a complete car. You would not be able to get it powder coated back to the original color though unless you strip the entire frame for recoating though. Then would be the task of getting the parts. That might be a difficult thing for TMI to sell - just a component of the frame. They probably order materials car by car so it would not be just off the shelf stock. So Im guessing that TMI will not be able to sell you the parts.

So you would be bringing the car to a chassis welder, getting custom made parts and having them fit and welded. Then figure out how to repaint.

The under the tub stuff would probably be a lot more work. remove the tub, make parts, weld on, replace tub.... Just removing the tub is going to take days All the rivets need to be drilled out. Remove the seats, center console if you have one, probably remove the fuel tank which means removing all the coolant hoses which means replacing coolant.... Makes my eye twitch just thinking about the work that would go into removing the tub.

So no, not easy if you want the frame paint looking good. Plus not going to be inexpensive.

[Curt]

I'm curious why you'd want to permanently add the safety features of an SRA car.

[Rick R]

I'm curious why you'd want to permanently add the safety features of an SRA car.

I'm looking to possibly buy an Atom as a 100% track car. I'm not really interested in wheel-to-wheel racing (not good enough a driver for that), but even just for Time Trial / HPDE I wouldn't feel entirely comfortable regularly tracking an Atom without a rollcage - I'm kind of a safety nut.

I had noticed on eBay a heavily modded 2008 Atom for sale (someone on this forum knows the owner, there's another thread on it) which seems to have several track-specific upgrades but not a rollcage or the other thing inside the tub. So at this point I was wondering whether it'd be easier/cheaper to buy an SRA and possibly have some performance work done on it, or retrofit a cage on the 2008 Brammo...

[Curt]

You're probably already aware, but most who track the car use the "roll bar hoop", a $990 option from TMI, which bolts on to the frame in five locations. It is very sturdy. Some even track without it. In fact, I think Eddie Hill tracks without it. The SRA vehicle welds that "roll bar hoop" to the frame and includes, I think, four more support members (2 extending in front of the driver's head, and two diagonal members to support the hoop itself). I'm not sure about the additional bracing to protect the driver's feet in the SRA, but perhaps you can find some pictures.

Whatever your safety needs, best of luck purchasing a car. You'll love it.

[DBeach]

Buy a SRA and play with the engine. The SRA has additional bracing underneath and also under the foot area. Better yet, have TMI build you a SRA with the SC engine.