FIA Roll Over Bar installation

[michaeljclark]

Hoping someone can answer a query for me please

 

I was about to order a 1/2 hood for my 2007 Roadsport SV, when I was informed at a North Kent meeting that for Club track days I need an FIA roll over bar, and that the 1/2 hood differs between the basic roll over bar and the FIA one.

 

I'm assuming that for the FIA roll bar I need one of these: FIA Roll bar

 

As I understand it, I'm going to have to:

 

Remove the old roll bar

Jack the seven up (and I know I need to use stands)

Remove the shock absorbers (do the wheels have to come off for this too?)

Install the new FIA roll bar and bolt it in

Reinstall the shocks

 

Exactly how difficult is it to remove the shocks (I have Bilstein adjustable ones), am I looking at simply removing the bolt from behind the seats (that I've heard about) or is it more complicated?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Mike

 

07 Plated RoadSport SV 150 in Red with Black nose band and stripe

[Z3MCJez]

Not fitted one of those, but fitting the roll cage must be similar, right?

 

As you say, you'll need to get the rear shocks off, as a bolt goes up into the roll-bar from underneath. I guess you *might* not need to remove the wheels, but for the sake of 4 nuts on each side, it would be madness not to.

 

The shocks are not difficult to unbolt at the top, assuming the bolt's not seized in place. Mine has hex-head bolts in place, and it's a short job to get the bolts out and the shocks out of the way. Whether you have to remove the tillets to get access, I don't know (I don't have tillets). The more difficult job with my cage was pursuading the rearmost bolts into place!

 

Overall, a relatively simple job, albeit likely to have something that doesn't fit perfectly which makes it a bit frustrating ...

 

Jez

[jingars]

Run the bolts in and out of the threads on the new bar long before you get it anywhere near the car to check the powdercoating isn't going to cause threading issues.

 

I had this problem on my second hand FIA bar that I had blasted and coated.

[jingars]

Mine is a 1995 (under dash) chassis, but I guess that you will still need the special bolts that go up into the bar from below, down by the dampers?

 

Might be worth getting the appropriate CC fastner pack while you are at it.

 

Edited by - jingars on 8 Jun 2010 17:53:52

[Archie Procter]

Agree with all , plus you will have a metric chassis so make sure you buy the metric FIA bar and the appropriate fitting kit otherwise you will be there for hours wondering why it doesn't all fit together!

 

The bolts that go up through the chassis recesses have very thin heads on the imperial cars so they don't foul on the dampers. No idea what the metric ones are like but if they are the same then ensure you have a socket that is capable of tightening a very small bolthead in a limited space.

[Ian B]

Mike, not sure whether the boot cover will be the same?

 

Perhaps someone can confirm?

 

---

Ian - Slightly Vider SVelte SuperVeloce model 😬 - Joint AR for North Kent - Area details and calendar here

[michaeljclark]

Thanks all

 

I wish I'd paid more attention at Caterham South, when they had the Bilstein's out to stiffen the suspension.

 

I saw Kevin take the top bolt out when he took one of the shocks out, but I didn't see if he did anything at the other (bottom) end. Does the bottom end just slot into the rest of the suspension somehow?

 

Ian: Re the boot over, it must be said that the "slots" in the cover that the rear arms of the standard roll bar go through seem to have some slack in them, but the boot over does look a look a little worn (all the velcro is coming to bits)

 

It's times like this that I wish there was a Haynes manual for the Seven!

 

Cheers

 

Mike

 

07 Plated RoadSport SV 150 in Red with Black nose band and stripe

[Shad]

The top mounts are behind the seats, 3/8" cap head bolts. The lower ones run into the de-dion and are 9/16" hex head, if I remember correctly. Might be different on a metric car though!

 

Simon

niknak.org

[Archie Procter]

The bottom end of the bilsteins is a long bolt with 19mm head into the Dedion tube (well it is on the imperial chassis anyway). When you are taking it out note where the washers come out and in what order before they all fall out on the ground - it could well be something like 2 on the bolthead side and another on the tube side.

 

Reassembly is pretty much the reverse of removal 😬 - line up the top bolts first as they are the trickier, leave the jack under the A-frame so you can move the Dedion around to line up the bottom bolts if you need to.

[michaeljclark]

Ta

 

I suddenly had a brain wave - people build their Caterhams, so it must be in the build manual.

 

Sure was: Section 8, Page 3 (or page 111 of the whole manual)

 

So I think I'll wait for a pay day this month and make a call 😬

 

Mike

 

07 Plated RoadSport SV 150 in Red with Black nose band and stripe

[Englishmaninwales]

The bolts that go up through the chassis recesses have very thin heads on the imperial cars so they don't foul on the dampers

 

Make sure these go in with coppaslip as they can be very difficult to remove even after just 4 years. Guess how I know

 

Edited by - Englishmaninwales on 8 Jun 2010 23:22:27