Custom Anti Roll Bar- Cheap opportunity!

cobraboy said:
Well I thought I may as well try and source a 25mm 306 roll bar to mod so I tried the ebay route with no luck, frustrated I started googleing 306 tuners and came up with a couple of companies.
First call I spoke to a guy called Steve who said he would make me a 25mm bar no problem, then the penny dropped, I said if you are going to make one can you sell me a straight piece of bar ?
He said - yes, what are you going to do with it ?
I said I am trying to improve a Rover P6, there then followed a long silence, Steve then said to me that he had drawings for these and had produced a sample for a Rover guy who had never come back to him with any feed back, nor had any money changed hands.
Understandably I was embarrassed at what is a pretty poor show IMHO and feel that If I was in his position I would be telling P6 owners to shove it.
But he is such a nice guy, in little over a week I have my rollbar, to the drawings he kept from what 2 1/2 years ago ?

So there you go Torsion performance 01162 710666

£130.00 delivered

And if its too mighty I'll try a thinner one.
Click to expand...

2.1/2 years ago is about right. I was that "Rover guy", and I produced the original drawing (it's on page 8 of this thread).

If you read through the subsequent posts on this thread you'll see that after I visited him to discuss Steve did indeed make a sample bar, which ended up in Northern Ireland with Tim and Gavin.

However, to make the project economically viable for him at an affordable unit price, I was given an approximate batch size of, say, 10 - 12 bars. Despite a lot of enthusiasm at the time on the forum, no such firm commitment was forthcoming so the project withered on the vine.

Also, I spoke to Steve a few times on the phone, so to say there was no feedback is disappointing but, hey, everybody has their own view don't they?


Well done getting your bar as a one-off at that price. I guess Torsion Performance's view has changed.

Stan
 
BTW is the round section with hex end or hex? It's not clear from the picture. Of course if round then that's quite a bit beefier than he for the same diameter.
 
The photo of cobraboy's new bar is not like your drawing though Stan, and I'm guessing not machined in the same way to the sample bar Tim and Gavin now have? Was that offset machined, I remember not so? More like Mal And Classeparts bars?
Cobraboy your bar is centre machined and for clearance has two steps right? Did you specify that?
Jim
 
Hi all
My bar is centre machined with two of the hex flats extended, the round section is 25mm diameter - it is a beast !

The only thing I plan to do is to smooth the transition form hex to round a bit more as it is currently a bit sharp ( steep )
 
corazon said:
The photo of cobraboy's new bar is not like your drawing though Stan, and I'm guessing not machined in the same way to the sample bar Tim and Gavin now have? Was that offset machined, I remember not so? More like Mal And Classeparts bars?
Click to expand...

When I took my drawing to discuss with Steve, he came up with the proposal to have only 2 of the flats extended longitudinally for clearance and the sample bar was machined thus.
 
cobraboy said:
Well I thought I may as well try and source a 25mm 306 roll bar to mod so I tried the ebay route with no luck, frustrated I started googleing 306 tuners and came up with a couple of companies.
First call I spoke to a guy called Steve who said he would make me a 25mm bar no problem, then the penny dropped, I said if you are going to make one can you sell me a straight piece of bar ?
He said - yes, what are you going to do with it ?
I said I am trying to improve a Rover P6, there then followed a long silence, Steve then said to me that he had drawings for these and had produced a sample for a Rover guy who had never come back to him with any feed back, nor had any money changed hands.
Understandably I was embarrassed at what is a pretty poor show IMHO and feel that If I was in his position I would be telling P6 owners to shove it.
But he is such a nice guy, in little over a week I have my rollbar, to the drawings he kept from what 2 1/2 years ago ?

So there you go Torsion performance 01162 710666

£130.00 delivered

And if its too mighty I'll try a thinner one.

Click to expand...
Well done,
That's a good result and reasonably priced.

Mark.
 
vaultsman said:
When I took my drawing to discuss with Steve, he came up with the proposal to have only 2 of the flats extended longitudinally for clearance and the sample bar was machined thus.
Click to expand...
Hi,

I was going to try and take a picture as I thought that was the case but couldn't specifically remember, I remember it being very well machined. It is a beast of a bar, it will make the car sit much flater in the corners, on an otherwise standard car I think it may well induce understeer, you'll have to really push it during your testing and let us know how you get on :) We never got the chance to try the bar in isolation.

Tim
 
drabbers said:
Well done,
That's a good result and reasonably priced.

Whew its been a long time in the incubator for you Northern Hemisphere-ers.
Ive been going around and around and around on roundabouts for years now. At least three circuits for every entry.
I do put my hazard lights on as a warning to other motorists.
Been chased but never caught!
I just can't get the smile off my face.
Click to expand...
 
Right, that now makes sense. So Tim, are the radiused areas of your bar exactly the same looking at cobraboy's photo?
Aside from the obvious advantage of having more material along the length, can the difference be felt between say your offset machined Peugeot bar and this design? I know you opted to keep your version of this one but it is also 25mm as opposed to your 24mm Peugeot, so how much difference can be contributed to thickness vs machining technique I wonder?
Can anyone see any disadvantages to this design? Machining cost should be roughly the same so I'm considering what best route to take when machining my Peugeot bar.
Otherwise it's great news that there's an affordable off the shelf bar now available!
Jim
 
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Ok, so page 10 of this thread answered my first question. Stan had put detailed photos when he first received the sample bar.
I've been out measuring on my car with 24mm in mind and reckon I'm going to emulate the Bygone bar with a short hex length and long sweeping radius. By my calculations the total length machined into each end could be as little as 100mm but I will probably use 110mm, the radius starting at roughly 75mm. The gradual increase in diameter should clear the top link nicely.
Graeme when you get a chance could you measure your bar and see how close those measurements are to yours please?
Jim
 
Today I fitted the new roll bar, firstly I smoothed the transition from hex to round a little as I felt it was a bit to steep, then on it went. It was a bit of a fiddle to thread it through, I removed the nearside wing, but it went in alright, and cleared body and suspension with no mods at all.
I had previously removed the cap bolts and copper slipped them so it all came apart well.
003.JPG
002.JPG
I then spent the rest of the day grafting on a series 1 bonnet that I had stripped and added a bit of scoopage :)
007.JPG
Last thing of the day.................. the test drive !

Well it was dry and I fairly flung the old dear into a few nice sweeping and not so sweeping bends and I have to say the difference was astonishing. I normal driving the car is flat, in hooligan mode I would say that there is 75 % less roll, yes there is understeer, but there was understeer before.
Keep in mind that I am still using the stock tyres that the old dear was wearing in 1984 ! ( don't worry they will be off soon )
So to sum up, I would not want a thinner bar, as why would you if the car has not exhibited any serious detrimental side effects. Yes there is more testing to be done but I feel so far so good.
I am now having to re evaluate my plans for improving the suspension in light of today's findings.
I hope this review is useful and would say that the upgrade is a no brainer.
 
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Thats great news! your first transition from hex to bar looks better but that secondary transition is a bit scary and I would want a longer transition to remove that stress riser. The stiffer and fatter the bar the more important to remove those stress risers.



Graeme
 
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Graeme
Thanks for the feedback.
The top flat in the first pic shows the transition better, I think the camera angle and lighting are throwing the other angles a bit, I set them out with tape so they are quite equal, although not as gradual as in your pictures.

What diameter bar is the one in your pictures please ?

Mark
 
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