I've had similar thoughts!!!!!!
The most obvious thought would be to fit some sort of column with a
collapsible section, whether composed of some sort of 'lacy' gridwork, or
whatever,
that would shorten when hit. However, such an item would require that the upper
part of said assembly be SOLIDLY fastened to the scuttle framing, which in turn
would have to be SOLIDLY fastened to the framing, so that the "special"
column section would indeed provide the slack. Even though the Healey is often
described as being of "semi-monocoque" construction, it still lacks the
designed-in crush zones of today.
I guess what I'm saying is that modern cars are designed as a "package" so
that body/component, safety/integrity issues are handled by the TOTAL assembly,
acting as a unit, rather than modifying one part of an antiquated design.
Having said that, if someone comes up with a good way to do it, I'd certainly
be
interested. :-)
Dick Hosmer
HBT7L18556
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