Thread: how hard to install cage?

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how hard on a scale of 1-10 is putting in one of these cages?

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...2D3130&FROM=MG

thanks guys
steve

We've got one sitting on the garage floor, ready to install in my one Son's Capri, and it is essentially just a bunch of tubing and some flat floor plates. Not a lot came in the way of instructions, so you have to pretty much engineer each one to the car you are doing.

There are some very specific regulations about how to mount them (so far from the drivers head, the back bar has to intersect so far down, the door brace has to go so far between the drivers shoulder and floor, etc. And the welding has to be first rate. They also specify that if you have a subframed car you can mount to the body, but on a full framed car you have to go right to the frame.

We are still researching what we need to do to make his legal, and I'll bet Techinspector can quote us chapter and verse on what you need to do.

By the way, these are a great value. We have a tubing bender, so initially we thought we would just buy the correct tubing and bend up our own. After doing the math, we would have had more money in just raw tubing than they get for the prebent setup.


Don

oh yeah man im always pricin raw materials lol. hopefully tech will hop in on this one that guys unreal. and i know the weld cant be dressed up but say i mess it up while im installing it can i just grind the weld off and re do it?

The bar shown is for a unibody car with subframe connectors. The bar for a frame/body car is different. Which do you have?

To answer your question, it would probably run a 5 to 7 on the difficulty scale. It takes a lot of time to fit the bars properly. Also, if you are not an expert welder, fit the bars up and tack them in place, then hire a pro to come over and weld them up for you. It'll be the cheapest money you ever spent.

One more thing, that is a picture of a roll bar, not a roll cage.

Roll bar install.....
http://streetmachinesoftablerock.com...opic.php?t=217

my 84s a unibody. would you happen to know what exact type of cage i will need to run high 10s?
and are the subframe connectors required?

haha ok scratch the 10's. im not looking to go faster than 11.50

Originally Posted by muteboy49

my 84s a unibody. would you happen to know what exact type of cage i will need to run high 10s?
and are the subframe connectors required?

With an unaltered floor and firewall, you can go 10-flat with a 5 or 6-point roll bar. If you're gonna start thrashin' on the car, you will want to install subframe connectors and an 8-point roll bar at the minimum. The 8-point system pictured above at Summit would be perfect for your car. The two bars that run down from the crossbar/sidebar intersection toward the center of the car are the bars that weld to the subframe connectors.

ok 2 things. w/o subframe connectors the car will twist like a wetnoodle with a 10 second motor right? and how hard are subframe connectors to weld in?

Connectors aren't that bad. It's no different than any other car-crafting project. Take your time, measure twice and cut once.

I think anyone who installs a bar without connectors in a unibody car is kidding himself.

NHRA.COM or NHRASportCompact.COM has drawings along with their rules. They set the standards, most of the other racing sanctions just copy the NHRA rules on safety items. You also need to take a look at roll bar padding, seat mounting, seat belt mounting and window net mounting rules. No matter what the actual ET they will inspect your car for the higher standard if you have a cage in it. For example, you will need a window net with a cage.

"For example, you will need a window net with a cage."

John, this is not necessarily true. You can have a cage in any car, no matter if it runs 25 second et's, but a net is not required until the cage is mandatory....10.99 with an altered floor (in excess of 4 square feet) or altered firewall (in excess of 1 square foot) and 9.99 with an unaltered floor and firewall.

at milan i believe anything under a 11.49 requires a window net

Originally Posted by muteboy49

at milan i believe anything under a 11.49 requires a window net

If they are requiring that, then they should be ashamed of themselves. It is not in the rulebook.

hmm i could be wrong. im almost positive thats what the track rules are though

Richard, I'm sure you are correct, but it's the local tech inspector(s) we all have to deal with at the events. We run a 11.90 Index VW which has run a quickest run of 11.11. Not only do the inspectors require a net in our chromoly caged car but they also request/require that we run with arm restaints since we have a 1960 Bug with an original "cloth sunroof". Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate that they are not selling safety gear for profit, just trying to lookout for us to have racing fun and to do it safely. I think that racers sometimes don't understand the inspectors have a tough job.