Spyder Roll and anti intrusion bars

[Spyder fan]

Given that Spyder have been one of the main suppliers to Elan owners for some little while, it is surprising that they do not have a complete set of web-savvy instructions/photos, etc. Or do they and we don't know about it?

Pete,
Resources are limited to the amount of cash injected by customers. How much did you buy this month related to your Elan's? and how much of that did you spend with Spyder?
Our hobby is a very small niche in the scheme of things especially when you remember that there were fewer than 20,000 cars produced for Elans and +2's. Some anorak can tell you how many MGB's were produced, and Lotuselan.net is a far better resource than MGB.net ( I made that site up, but you know what I mean).

Have you bought the Evante? I'm only jealous if you have.

Alan

[PanoGuy]

Alan Thomas makes a good point, my figures were for the US spec high-back seats, if you have low back seats there should be little or no problem for those under 6'2"
Doug C
Now if I can just get my clutch unstuck....

[bast0n]

Now if I can just get my clutch unstuck....

Use it or lose it...................

[PanoGuy]

I was just traveling for a week or two. I've never had one stick so quickly. But I suppose I can break it loose.

[gearbox]

I have emailed all this to you, but it seems others are interested.

Alan, Thank you for your email and you beat me to the punch on posting it to this thread. You have given me hope that I actually can fit with the roll bar. I'm in the US and the car I have is a Federal car with those nasty headrests, which by the way only come up to my shoulder blades. Plus, if you ever pulled the covers off, you can quickly see, the 18 ga sheet metal used to support the headrest is a joke. I was thinking about removing them altogether and getting the low back upholstery to recover them. BTW does anyone else get the impression that the Elan seats are much like lawn furniture? I know you have been told this a million times before, but "SPECTACULAR BUILD!" on Kermit. You give the rest of us a high bar to reach for, not to mention the inspiration to keep us going. Thanks again for the response. Allan

[Allison]

Allan,
hi and apologies for delayed response. Yes with our standard seats there is some restriction on how far back the seats will travel. Its not the vertical bar directly behind thats the problem. Its the side loop bar which catches on the outer top corner of the seat. If it helps, I'll try to describe the seat location. There are two grooves on the floor where the front lower bar of the seat can be located. Ours is in the front groove and the seat adjuster is one "notch" less than the longest setting. This means the seat is resting against the loop bar.

I've attached two pictures (UK car) showing the footwell layout. The side bar bar runs behind the carpetting and cannot be seen. The work to install them involved cutting back/trimming the fibreglass to give a clear run in the cill. I didn't modify the bars at all.
Hope this helps! Please advise
Peter

[PanoGuy]

OK Allan, I just took another look. With my high-back seats I get all but the last adjustment notch on my seat. 19.5" from the front edge of the seat to the clutch and brake pedals and 23" to the gas pedal. Give it a try and see how you like it. And there is always the low-back seat option if you find it too confining. And if the headrest only comes to your shoulder the bar will be level with your ears. This might solve the rear vision problem in the inside mirror.
And one more heat cycle broke my clutch loose, thanks to those commenters, including Martin Stuart and Tony Vaccaro.

[crannyr]

Allen,

you have a PM

[gearbox]

Peter, thank you for the great pictures, first time I had seen the forward bars anywhere. Gives me a good visual on how these parts come together and what need to be done. But a few more quick questions. I noticed that there is a 90 degree bend on the back outside corners where it ties into the roll bar from the sill. Is the sill bar just a straight tube where you cut a hole in the back wheel well and slide through? Or is it more like a "J" making that job a bit more challenging? I am assuming it slides in from the rear wheel well. And how does it tie into the roll bar and chassis. From the picture it all looks like it was welded in and the front looks like it bolts together at a sharp 90.

Panoguy, thanks for the detailed description of the seat location, and from Alan's pictures, it almost looks like you can push the seat all the way back. My taller passengers will suffer greatly though unless I get a roll bar without that brace as in Spyders earlier versions, plus that will improve rearward vision. Not so much worried about going upside down than someone slaming the side of my car. While the head rests are really not that short, it's pretty close, and I often get the feeling that if I stick my hand out, I could drag my knuckles on the ground while I drive lol. But I have to say, among all my cars, it is the only one that consistantly puts a smile on my face. Can't wait to get back home in November and drive through autum leaves with the top down .


Rick, Thanks, PM right back at you.

[garyeanderson]

I guess that this topic is lacking in pictures. That seems to be the norm here for some reason. I like pictures and I asked Alan for some of his Duratec Elan build and he kindly sent me a lot of the progress photos that he took on his multiple visits to Spyder when they wanted money for the work that they performed to make the "Super Sprint" a reality. I looked through most of them until I came across these. They show the side impact bars (sill bars) pretty well. I hope this answers your questions.

Gary

[gearbox]

Gary, Thank you, that is exactly what I was looking for. Now I see that the sill bar has tight radius 90 degree bend before bolting through the roll bar. Makes sense, this way you can actually fit it in a reasonably sized hole made in the wheel well. If you look at the Spyder stock photo, it looks like a much wider bend of a 6" or more radius that made me think how in hell do you wind that in the sills? Yeah, I think I am sold. Thanks again Allan

[Jas]

Here are two pictures of a Sprint Coupe with the Spyder roll bar.
As you can see it sits some what lower than the roof.
Sorry I don't have any better pictures.

I have the TTR / Safety Devices roll bar, and it limits the rearward movement of the seat, so that it can not go to the last position.

[Allison]

Allan,
the cill bar is straight at the front but there's a slight, gentle bend at the rear. It clamps to the roll bar and the front bar by means of 2 semi circular clamps. At the rear, one half is welded to the roll cage and the other is loose. At the front the welded clamp is on the short front bar. I had to cut the cill bar to length - and this was where it got fiddly trying to juggle the size of the hole in the rear wheel arch, the length of the bar, the trimming of excess fibre glass along the length of the cill and the angle on the bar so that everything came together. We installed the roll cage section some time before adding the side and front bars. There's no welding required - all bits came ready painted and finished - just cutting the cill bar to length.
Peter

[Allison]

Allan,

hi - this is what you wanted! You can see there are 3 sections - roll cage, side bars/front bars and up & over section. The up & over gives you a major challenge to get in/out of car so we've not got that. The diagram shows the semi circular clamps and the gentle bend on the side bars towards the rear.
Hope this helps
Peter

[robertverhey]

Thanks jannick, finally answers my question, I see a spyder cage will fit in a coupe (with clearance to spare it would seem). But on a road car, it....ain't pretty. Robert