Overdue update, since all of this was conducted over the Winter of last year and completed a few months ago.
Samberg Performance makes more than just the subframe parts for the RX-7 V8 conversions, they also make their own roll bar. The Auto Power Race roll bar I had installed in the car a couple years ago served its purpose well. I had no issues with its fitment, but felt that it was too rudimentary overall. I wanted to step it up to something of a different caliber.
I asked Samberg to make me one of their roll bars with the addition of a diagonal brace on the main hoop.
I also wanted to maintain a “naked” finish so it has a metallic look. To achieve this, they had to brush the tubing on the lathe with a scuffing pad. Other segments that couldn’t be spun on the lathe prior were scuffed by hand. All of the welds were done with stainless steel which gave a nice rainbow effect:
Installed… the rear points mount differently than the Auto Power. Instead of mounting to the wheel well, the Samberg bar bolts directly to the rear strut towers and features an integrated strut brace.
The main hoop fits extremely close to the headliner and touches at the moment. I’ll need to figure out a way to keep it from vibrating against the trim and making noise…
I also dropped the car off to Samberg and had them make me a top-brace for the front mounting ears of the Cobra differential. Before, it was just a pair of bolts with washers holding down the differential to the subframe. Under extreme forces, the bolts can bend the washers and pull through the mounting holes. The top-brace should help mitigate this possibility, as well as adding reinforcement to another vector. I don’t have any pictures of the brace itself, but here’s a picture of someone else’s entire rear subframe with the same brace:
weld porn boner