[Jack jr]

Do you need the targa bar in a sierra or could you remove it and put a roll bar in its place, I don't think it would take much to make a roll bar stronger then it, and i like the look of a roll bar more then the targa bar.
Cheers Jack.

[greyghost]

if its a road legal car the targa holds the seat belts, any roll bar will run into legal issues holding the factory belts

[ZUZUKI]

You're right in thinking that the targa bar is not very strong - it is better than nothing, but not by much, especially as most have a bit of rust going on.
Rollbars typically get mounted with 100mm x 100mm x 4 or 6mm thick plates sandwiching the body - wheelarch & footwell behind the seats.
Brown Davis in Bayswater have done a CAMS compliant rollbar along those lines. I'm sure not in stock, but could build one - would be around $1200 I suspect.
Sierra panels are on the thin side, so even a rollbar so mounted is not as strong as most of the same sort of design.
Most leave the targa bar in place, for seat belt mounts, like greyghost said, but there are also regs about head clearance to hoops & insurance companies don't like them, so check that as well before fitting one.


6 point cages that go into the front footwells are hard to fit - a Sierra driving space is already tight enough for most people.
Possibly the best versions go external off the top of the scuttle (often also picking up the top door hinge mount) with side to side cross bars above & below the windscreen, then up over the cab roof, to meet a loop at targa bar level (but behind, and not attached to it), with bracing tubes back to the wheelarch or the tiny bit of tub floor behind the wheelarch. A side to side cross bar just above the trans tunnel with a triangulation brace from low on P/S to high on D/ S is pretty much as strong as a Sierra can be, but adds a lot of high up weight & cops have been known to pick on exo cages, but I don't know the legalities behind that.

Rgs, Michael

[303zuke]

ZUZUKI wrote:

You're right in thinking that the targa bar is not very strong - it is better than nothing, but not by much, .......

Rgs, Michael

What do you base this on?

I've seen 4 Sierra rollovers, both on-road and off road, including being a passenger in one of the on-road spills, and in every case the Targa bar held up very well. The windscreen panel doesn't hold up very well, but the Targa bar is rock solid.

[MrRocky]

I agree, targa bar holds up quite well in rollovers.
Windscreen frame squashes like its made of cheese

[Jack jr]

Gday everyone i understand that the targa bar works well i prefer the look of a single rollbar behind the seat.
Cheers Jack.

[ZUZUKI]

Hmmm, I've seen 2 & in both cases the targa bar squashed over sideways.
1 car had a bikini top & no doors, the other was full soft top with doors. I guess every instance is different & it would depend greatly on speed, angle of impact, condition of car etc.
The full soft top car had hidden rust behind the plastic trims at the bottom of the targa - on the impact side (passengers), it tore quite badly.
Fortunately both instances were at slowish speeds, there was only the driver in the car & were not hurt.
The best thing Sierra's have going for them is light weight. I am also into Land-Rovers & Series / Defenders don't have a targa bar, are much heavier than a Sierra & don't perform very well in roll over instances.
Rgs, Michael

[Jack jr]

Has anyone made a rollbar not roll cage that replaced the targa bar in a sierra.
Cheers Jack.

[Gwagensteve]

The engineer signing off the revised seatbelt mount will be the best person to advise you about what/how to construct a replacement targa bar.

It’s hard to make a bar that looks good without (expensive/complex) roll bending or having the new targa bar sit on the tub.

Steve.

[alien]

Keep in mind too that the targa bar ties into the windscreen frame above the doors, so by lopping that off you're taking away a lot of rigidity in both the windscreen frame and the rear bar.

I know you're doing it for personal aesthetics, but safety still has to be a consideration =) As best as it can in a Sierra anyway lol

I personally like the targa bar and would be looking at plating it / strengthening it, the seatbelt brace bars and the windscreen frame to have something between a roll bar and the factory solution if it was a path I was going down. That and make sure you have good seats taller than you lol

[Jack jr]

Thanks for the reply's I know a guy who builds hot rods i'll find out who he uses to engineer his projects and have a word with him. I will get the 1l ute up and running before i do this as once you remove the targa bar you can't fit a roof and at the moment i daily drive the 1.3.
Cheers Jack.

[Jack jr]

G'day, I've started building a roll bar for the sierra it is attaching to the original targa bar mounts and uses the original bars from the tub to the seat belt mounts for reinforcing.
Cheers Jack.

[Jack jr]

G'day,
i haven't uploaded a photo of my roll bar so here is one if any one is interested.
Cheers Jack.