1959 Devin SS Rollbar Installation - On A Roll

The second bend was made on the tube bender.

Once again the angle is checked to make sure the two sides are parallel.

The bar is laid on a flat surface and checked for square from top to bottom.

A second check on a flat table was made to be sure the legs were not twisted in relation to one another. (If they are, they can be fine-tuned using a long piece of tubing as a lever.)

After checking the position of the bar, Minette located a solid place on the frame to mount the sleeves that the bar will slide into. The sleeves should be mounted to a major frame member and the brace should feed the potential load of the car into the frame. Don't mount the bar to a small tube or unbraced sheetmetal. This steel plate would be TIG welded to the rear suspension pickup towers, which are part of the sturdy rear bulkhead.

The sleeves were cut from tubing just slightly larger inside than the outer diameter of the roll-bar tubing to ensure a snug fit. We used this attachment method so the bar could be removed through the body.

The sleeve ends were dressed to remove any burrs that would make the bar difficult to install or remove.

Minette made the sleeves from two sizes of tubing to get a wider base to weld into the chassis, yet keeping a snug fit on the bar. Here he TIG welded the two-part sleeves together.

The finished sleeves, ready for welding into place.

The bar was dummied into place and checked to make sure it was square. Then everything was tack-welded together. When that was done, the finish welds would be completed.

Once the sleeves were installed, they were drilled for two Grade 8 (or NAS) bolts that hold the bar in place. This drilling jig keeps the bolts at right angles to the bar. The bar bottoms in the sleeves and the bolts are merely to keep the bar from falling out. Minette welded retaining nuts to the back side of the sleeve to make removal easier.

Now to add a rear brace. Minette used welding wire to check his angles before cutting steel. Once again, a longer piece than needed was cut, then trimmed to length after bending.