Craig's Panther Project - Interior
Posted by Craig Hendrickson On 2017/1/2 20:07:20
Rollbar 8-point System.
The is the completion of the latest major project on my Panther project. It is an 8-point rollbar system manufactured by Competition Engineering and custom fitted to Panther interior by my helper, my welder and I. Here's one view of it (other views to be shown in subsequent posts).
I imagine your first question is WHY? "Isn't the stock Packard strong enough in a collision?" The answer in my opinion is: usually, but sometimes not. The weak point is the doors, particularly on a 2dr HT whose door is longer than a 4dr and it doesn't have a full "B" pillar. So, if one gets "T-boned" in an accident right at the door, the only thing keeping that offending vehicle's nose out of the passenger compartment is a 0.0629" skin panel, an interior door frame, glass and a regulator! Starting in 1973, some goobermint agency mandated that all auto manufacturers start puting reinforcements inside the doors to protect against side impact. This was actually a good idea. I'll be putting thousands of miles on Panther in 2017 and there are a lot of crazy, inattentive, drugged-up, drunk and just inept drivers out there. If Panther gets smacked, that's too bad, but I don't want to be affected.
The is the completion of the latest major project on my Panther project. It is an 8-point rollbar system manufactured by Competition Engineering and custom fitted to Panther interior by my helper, my welder and I. Here's one view of it (other views to be shown in subsequent posts).
I imagine your first question is WHY? "Isn't the stock Packard strong enough in a collision?" The answer in my opinion is: usually, but sometimes not. The weak point is the doors, particularly on a 2dr HT whose door is longer than a 4dr and it doesn't have a full "B" pillar. So, if one gets "T-boned" in an accident right at the door, the only thing keeping that offending vehicle's nose out of the passenger compartment is a 0.0629" skin panel, an interior door frame, glass and a regulator! Starting in 1973, some goobermint agency mandated that all auto manufacturers start puting reinforcements inside the doors to protect against side impact. This was actually a good idea. I'll be putting thousands of miles on Panther in 2017 and there are a lot of crazy, inattentive, drugged-up, drunk and just inept drivers out there. If Panther gets smacked, that's too bad, but I don't want to be affected.
This Post was from: https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=186428