1970 Chevy Chevelle - Cheap Street Chevelle: Rollbar

For our six-point rollbar, two support tubes travel rearward (through the rear package tray) into the trunk. Just as with the front tubes, heavy-duty steel mounting plates need to be installed. On the passenger's-side trunk bar, we ran into bit of a snag. The O.E.M. spare-tire hold-down brackets were right where the mounting plate needed to go. But, not to worry--ace rollcage-installer Mark Gallimore contoured the plate to go around the stock brackets. Be sure to grind the trunk pan smooth (to remove paint and gunk) to ensure a good weld job.

Just as with the other end of the trunk-mount support bar, the end that attaches to the main rollbar needs to be marked and contoured to fit. In our case, we found the end didn't need to be given the full fish-mouth treatment, it just needed to be arched a bit.

After the trunk-mounted mounting plate is welded into position, carefully mark the angle in which the trunk-bar tube needs to be cut. To draw a straight line across the end of the tube, Mark Gallimore uses the end of a ruler to serve as a straightedge when marking.

As bad luck would have it, the trunk-mounted support bars didn't go through the O.E.M. rear-speaker holes in the package tray. Thus, we had to cut a small section out of the package tray to provide clearance for each bar to pass through. Notice the cardboard box taped to the back window to prevent any glass-breaking antics from metal chips flying off of the cut-off wheel.

After the ends of the trunk-mounted support tube have been cut as needed, be sure to double-check to ensure that the bar fits properly. If it does, begin to weld the bar into place. With all of the welding going on in such close proximity of the roof, you now know why we removed the headliner. Heck, our headliner was complete junk and in need of replacing anyway, so no love lost there.

After the fish-mouthed end of the trunk-mounted support tube has been welded to the main rollbar loop, carefully weld in the other end of the tube to the mounting plate located in the trunk. Our NOS nitrous bottle was close to where we would be welding, thus, to avoid any unwanted explosions, we removed it before welding the tube into place.

We wanted to replace our O.E.M. gut-ripper seatbelts with a JAZ SFI-approved four-point restraint system. The two JAZ lap belts bolt to the floor using the stock floor-mounted seatbelt bolt holes. However, to mount the shoulder harness portion of the restraint system we needed to weld on these special tabs (shown). JAZ Products has a variety of different tab sizes/styles, or you can hand-fabricate tabs if you so desire.

To comply with NHRA and IHRA (among other racing organizations) rules, all safety equipment must meet SFI-approval. Moreover, to ensure that the safety equipment is regularly checked and/or replaced, there is a code system that indicates when the part was made. In general, SFI-approved items are good (legal) for two years from the date of manufacture.

Check it out. Here is project Cheap Street Chevelle (complete with crazed CC test-driver Kiewicz) fitted with the new S&W Race Cars' six-point rollbar assembly and JAZ Products' four-point restraint system. Even though the rollbar adds about a little weight pounds to the Chevelle, chances are the car will run the same or quicker e.t.'s at the dragstrip because the chassis won't flex as much and the car will hook up better. Plus, in the event that a CC staffer gets too brave at "sawing at the wheel" and throws the Chevelle into a guardrail, the rollbar assembly and belts will provide outstanding protection.