Jim, first, thank you for the response.
Those door bars look awesome and I would have no issue incorporating something like that into my design, specifically because you’ve still retained 100% of the aesthetic nature of the original car, while vastly increasing car safety. But, and, don’t take me the wrong way here, going simply by what the rule book says about roll-cage design, I don’t see how that would be in any way legal (NASA rules anyway). I mean, obviously it is, and someone has signed off on it, but just judging by the “letter of the law” as outlined in the book, I don’t see how it would be...AND in a nutshell, that’s what I’m finding most frustrating about this journey so far. It seems like car eligibility has less to do with the actual “rules” and falls more on the whims of the local chapter or even possibly the tech inspector at a particular event. Have you ever been given a hard time about your cage setup? Did you get approval and/or design notes from a tech inspector before you built it?
Speaking more to my general frustration thus far, I quarried the NASA forums about my ‘68 Mustang’s HPDE eligibility with a NASA approved roll-bar, Kirkey vintage race seats, and 5-point harnesses, and in a month plus I only got a single response; that I should really just leave the vintage car on the street.
Granted, I’m just getting started, and I probably need to actually go to some events and try to talk to some of the NASA officials. But it’s winter, and that’s a good time for starting a new project.
Anyway, thanks again for responding. I’d be happy to incorporate something like your door bar design, especially if it meant that I might even be allowed to do some actual racing...