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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.

An "8-point" rollbar system is NOT a "roll cage". It is a multi-triangulated main hoop rollbar with front and rear bars and two cross braces on the main hoop. This makes 8 points of contact with the floor or frame. In Panther's case, it is to the very sturdy T-L frame or body for the crossbrace. The door bars also pivot for ease of entry, but this is optional unless you like playing "Dukes of Hazard" upon entry and exit, which I don't.

The first challenge was which rollbar kit to get. Of course, no one makes one for a 1956 Packard (or any other year Packard). I found a kit that I thought might work and contacted the manufacturer, Competition Engineering, which is one of the best in the USA in this field. I asked their tech department for the dimensional specs on a kit which looked like it might work. It turned out to be nearly perfect for the Panther with one minor exception: the main hoop legs were too short for the height of the roof because the kit was actually for a Mustang! That was no problem, however, because we cut and the welder attached some extensions to the lower legs and now the height is correct. The width was perfect because the Packard T-L frame is more narrow than the body, which is supported on "outriggers". The Packard T-L frame happens to be almost exactly the width of the Mustang subframe!

The next problem was how to go through the substantial Packard floor material to the frame. It is possible to weld to the body, but because of my experience with race cars, I wanted to weld directly to the frame. Well, after looking at some Youtube vids, the answer was obvious, cut out the floor in that area and then weld it back when done! Here's an example in the front strut/down bar area:

The next challenge was that there was no where to weld the front downbars! The front outrigger was too far forward and the next one back was too far to the rear. So, we just fabricated a new outrigger in-between those two with an underlying angle gusset for strength and had the welder attach it to the frame at top and bottom just like the original outriggers:



The rest was just cutting the end of the downbar to the correct angle and welding it in place. It is not going anywhere, even in a side impact.

The next challenge was the side doorbars. This car is a driver and needs to to have easy entry/exit. Competition Engineering make a pivoting doorbar kit for their roll bar kits. This is NOT recommended for a full-on race car, but is fine in a street car. The only critical part was making sure the pivot point at the front downbar was at about the same radius as the door pivot radius because the doorbar will be lanyarded to the door: Here's some pictures:







The "dip" in the door bar is to clear the armrest on the door panel. It will still protect the driver/passenger.

What remains to be done is very minor. Some cleanup of the welds for cosmetic appearance and then painting the entire rollbar system gloss black. Later, a 3-point shoulder part of a seat belt system will be attached to the main hoop upright, just like a modern car.

In future posts on this thread, I'll show what I'm doing to the dash and the rear "business coupe" area.

Any questions or comments are always welcome.

Craig

Continuing...

I thought you guys MIGHT be interested in three other things I'm doing my Panther interior, all of which are like a modern car:

(1) Installing top of front upper dash speakers
(2) Installing Vintage Air conditioning
(3) Upgrading the dash switches and controls

Rather than repost everything from my website to here (redundant), here's the link:

1956packardpanther.com/Panther/dashpanels.html

I will post pictures of the finished installs in a few months. The ones shown on my website are "in process" ones. I'm actually further along with this work than the website shows, but I'm doing mostly shop work, not website work at the current time.

Think what you may about what I'm doing, but my 1956 Panther will be a brand new car with modern upgrades and conveniences when I'm done. But that's the point of a "restomod & custom", isn't it? And I still have my 55 Pat which is an unrestored original, albeit with a few upgrades like front disc brakes and a modern stereo.

Craig

Nice on the dash. Which Vintage unit are you using? I wonder if anyone in the Packard world has ever taken advantage of the Vintage custom control program where they make their controls function with existing dash spaces.

There is a 2 or 3 year old resto show I've been watching on the Rev'n channel where Vintage adapted their controls for a heat/cool system to 55 Buick lever slots. I would think the 54-6 Packards would be perfect for that service.

i like the repurpose of the ash tray holes! that was a great idea!

cli55er Quote:

For sure people today would rather have cold air blown on their face than cigarette smoke.

Craig

HH56 Quote:

Howard, it's a "Gen II Magnum" series for big cars and vans. Not cheap, but it's the best out there in the aftermarket.

Craig

I have the painted and mostly repurposed dash done enough to show a trial assembly.





Left switches: top: lights (same), middle: high/low beam switch, bottom: wiper (same, but electric).

Right switches: top: left-most A/C control, middle: Liter (now a "power plug"), bottom: starter (ignition)

steering column surround: left: emergency flasher on/off, vent levers (same), right: cruise control switches, auxiliary lights on/off.

Middle: 2nd A/C control, A/C outlet, 3rd A/C control

Right side: clock (new), "V" (same), Packard emblem (same), "Panther" script (new & custom made).

Far left & Right: directional A/C outlets.
Craig