Roll Bar rear down strut ideas?

I am redoing my cage a bit since the rear down struts only go to the sheet metal behind the rear seat. I plan on plating it to the floor of the trunk but not sure the best location.

Option 1, is to plate it at the front of the trunk right behind the rear seat and then X the bar from strut to strut. This is because I don't to make the back of the trunk unusable.

Option 2, is run the strut all the way back to the rear of the trunk with enough room to work on then tail lamps. Then X the struts like before behind the rear seats.

Any one have any thoughts that has put a cage in their car before...
 
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Before I'd mess with the cage, I'd check with NHRA's rule book and make sure what you're thinking of doing is acceptable with them. No sense in going through all the trouble if the inadequate cage gets you kicked off the track.
 
I just started installing a cage. This is where I mounted the strut bars.
 

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Jansen, I think that you would reduce flex most if you attached the bars as near as possible to the leaf spring mounting points. And a big "X" is a good idea, although it could probably do just as much good attached across the rear seat opening. It would probably be simpler and nearly as effective to attach a diagonal to the main hoop.

What reinforcements do you have under the car? Anything done to the "A" pillars?
 
If I remember correctly, the rear leaf spring shackle is bolted to the bumper shock absorber, which is in turn bolted underneath the trunk floor. I would think that bolting (or welding) the downbar anywhere near the attachment points for the bumper shock would be great.

Did you end up adding any reinforcement to the rocker panel area under the doors or to the windshield pillar? Do you have subframe connectors?

I've always wanted to crawl under one of the Emmiss MII convertibles and document the reinforcements that they added (or the lack of!) . I recall reading that when ASC built the first gen of Fox Mustang convertibles, they developed a package of reinforcements that they added to every car before they removed the roof. I've also read that ASC did a prototype MII convertible and I wonder if that was where Emmiss got their parts. Checking the Emmiss parts for ASC parts numbers could go a long way in solving this mystery, and might provide a path to new parts.

Love your car, keep up the great work. The new paint and engine are awesome.

I really like that you are adding a rollbar. I think that all converts should have one. I've seen too many cars rolled over, even in simple clear weather accidents to want to drive a convert without a rollbar.