FC Cage/Tube Chassis Building ?'s
 

Hey all, I am sick so I have been drawing a thinking about stuff to do with cars (have to keep myself occupied some how :D).
Well I was wondering if you could build a cage and cut some of the parts off of the car, and replace with a composite panel, like say the floor pans. Kinda make a Tube/uni-body hybrid car.
Does this sound like a good idea, or is it stupid?

You can buy a done GT car with a 20B for 35 K, or you could build on for 50k. :D

Not stupid, but a lot of work when you can get already built GT cars for a song..

Hell, 7's only is selling GT2 3rd gen's (although I suspect they aren't full size) with 12As (which should put them in GT3?!) for 25k, and they are fast little buggers..

Edit: I guess I'd say this. If you don't know how much work this is now, it's too much to tackle. Start with installing a roll cage in a standard shell and see how hard that was. Once you get that down, then you can move up into a tube frame chassis if you want to give that a shot.

PaulC

Yup, I am getting my education now, thought college was hard, HAH

Ah.. WAY over my head, except making the floor pan.
Hey Paul, and Carl you probably know this, how much does it cost to have a good company make/install a roll cage in your car?
Whats the point in buying a go fast vehicle for cheap when you could spend almost twice as much building it your self :D I did that with my FZR, put about 5 grand in parts, and a ass load of my own time, wasn't really worth it financially, but I am glad that I did it.

A good cage = $1500-2000.

I agree with jason that it should cost about 1500-2000, but there's always someone who's willing to cut those rates down to 700-1000 for the basics.

Me, i'll spend the 2K on a well designed and constructed cage with a builder who will spend the time to setup the car exactly the way I want it done.

PaulC

If you are going to cheap out a bit, don't do it on the cage. First thing to do is get a copy of the rules for the class you plan to race in. Second would be to work with an experienced cage builder to design the cage and identify the best mounting points in the car. Looking at an already built cage in a similar car can often make some of the issues clear early on, such as where to run the bar to tie the two sides of the front together, either under the steering column or over it. A good rule is every cage you build you learn a little more about what doesn't work well. Take your time and plan it out, ensuring your seating position is clear of obstructions and comfortable (I raced my rookie season with a door bar pushing into my arm. Not good when you are trying to learn how to handle youself in a pack at 100 mph). As for a tube frame or custom floorboard, I'd advise taking your time. It's much easier to repair a production shell which you can take to a body shop than to repair a custom tube frame car if you have an incident. Start easy, move up slow and ensure your skills improve before you build a supercar and you should be fine.

my $0.02 Canadian

-Trent

Yeah, a cage is definatly NOT something that I want to cheap out on, that is the biggest part safety wise.
I have found a good cage place, I think they have the same garage as Pineappleracing.

I'd also recommend doing NASCAR style door bars for the extra room for the driver. This requires gutting the drivers side door, but it gains you a great deal of space in the driving position.

-Trent