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New Blackbird Fabworx NC RZ SCCA legal roll bar, soft top compatible!

14K views 32 replies 8 participants last post by  Blackbird 
#1 ·
We've been busy at Blackbird Fabworx.
The NC crowd has been asking for a long time for an SCCA legal roll bar that fits under the soft top.
For a long time we wrote the concept off, but with the recent release of the ND RZ roll bar it became clear that our design details can be reused to design a new soft top compatible roll bar for the NC chassis.

What's the big deal, you ask?
It's a huge deal.
In 9 years of the model run there has been exactly 0 roll bars that achieved that.
Yes, you read that right, there are no NC roll bars that are SCCA legal and soft top compatible.. in fact, there's only 1 NC roll bar that is SCCA legal at all and we make that one too, our NC GT3 -


To familiarize yourself with the concept of our RZ bar, here are the key features of the ND RZ that are applicable to the NC chassis -

* Allows full use of the factory soft top which can be lowered from the driver's seat.
* SCCA Legal. Not kinda legal, not almost legal, not "hopefully you can sneak it by tech" legal. 100% SCCA LEGAL.
* Taller than OEM hoop structure.
* DOM Steel construction with full X brace and a harness bar as standard.
* Factory seat travel and recline retained in full.
* Allows all plastic and carpet trim panels to be reinstalled (with minor trimming).
* High grade hardware kit included.
* High quality powder coat finish included, many custom colors will be available for just $80 additional fee.
* Minimal weight gain in comparison with the OEM hoop structure it replaces, with the ND we were able to get it to about 26 Lbs gain, obviously the NC is a different chassis and this number can change by a good margin.

Target pricing of $1300 or under, this was our target for the ND bar and it ended up at $1195.

So, last week we got our development car -


Got busy pretty quickly -


And were able to test our prototype hoop design not only with the soft top but with the DG hard top as well -


Perfect fitment under both tops -


Lid went back on Sean's beautiful Club (thanks for coming, Sean!) -


The hoop is very tall, great news for the broomstick clearance challenged folks -


I'll keep updating the thread as we go along :icon_cheers:
 
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#27 ·
NASA legality of the NC RZ confirmed!

I have been asked to verify NASA legality for the NC RZ roll bar and therefore submitted the bar for review.
So, NASA guys, I received the official word from Jerry Kunzman that NASA will indeed allow cars equipped with our NC RZ on track, and there you have it :phillyb:

Note that tech might ask you to drill a hole into the rear leg of the bar so that they can verify wall thickness, but that is up to your local tech to decide.
 
#32 ·
So just in case anyone had doubt about the legality of our bars for both the NC and ND, the new edition of the NASA CCR has been posted and in it NASA was kind enough to list the approved Blackbird Fabworx roll bar models (which are all the bars we make :)).

Click the link and scroll to 11.4.7 Roll Bars (p.41 of the file) -
https://nasa-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/document/document/282/2016.2.pdf

So there you have it :)
 
#33 ·
Customer submitted photos, thanks Bruce!

Shiny bar!




Shoulder belts wrapped around the harness bar, this is the preferred method of installation for shoulder belts (as opposed to eye bolts) -


The main panel is trimmed for harnesses -




IMHO the holes are located a bit too high, but I don't have a way to measure this and might be just fine.
The thing to remember is that when you install harnesses, the shoulder belts should run in a straight line between the harness bar and your shoulders without hanging on the trim or the seat.
This is one of the important things to remember if you're shopping for a racing seat as well, the shoulder belt slots need to be matched to your height.
Example for properly matched height and belt routing -


Happy owner!


Before anyone pulls an "internet grill master" and roasts the owner for running factory seats with harnesses, I did mention to him that this will not be a safe way to run at the track and he informed me that he only uses the harnesses to hold him better in the seat when he autoxes which is A-okay in my book :icon_cheers:
 
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