how is a roll cage painted?
 

stupid question, but how are custom roll cages painted. i mean once the cage is fitted in the car and all the tubing is welded together, how do they get it out of the car to paint it? they could probably test fit all the tubing and get it painted first before welding, but then the welds wouldn't be painted. so how is it normally done?

Logically I woul dhtink that the cages are painted in the car. Obviously a good deal of masking would have to take place if the interior is left intact. Since my car is devoid of interior, painting my cage/bare metal floor, is pretty straight forward.

Pauly D
www.iridiumracing.com

Yup, strip the interior (if you have it, and unless your running spec calsses I dont see why you would want to keep all the crap anyway), and lotsa masking tape! :D

It ain't hard it's just a real PITA. Only parts you really can't get to is the front of the downtubes if the windshield is left in. I used those foam brushes for those hard to reach parts.

Chris

When KirkRacing built my cage the front down tubes, dash cross bar and main hoop were painted before it was put in the car. Then just the welded areas of the pre painted tubes had to be re-painted and the rest of the cage (door bars, rear down bars, etc.) were easy to paint after a bunch of paper and tape!

Some of the custom show cars you see with roll cages are stripped completely and then the roll cage is painted with out masking any other parts of the car. Then once that is dry all of the tubes are covered and the rest of the interior is painted. I suppose it is easier to mask off the bars than it is to mask off the interior. That is how I plan on painting my next ITS car if I decide to go to all the trouble of having the interior a different color than the cage.

There are SEVERAL options
 

When I started out, I went the easy way...I went to a sign shop and got a quart of "1 Shot" sign paint in the color I desired. Then, I stripped the entire car out and painted the inside, cage and all.

The main thing that I realized after all of this is that is does not matter what color your cage is, unless it is bare steel. If it is, grab a piece of card-board and put it behind the cage and spray gently to put a protective coating on it.


THEN...go buy some roll-cage padding and add the accent you want in the color you want.

Balz

http://www.balz.myip.org/racing%20stuff/Arrc10.jpg

And remember that even the nicest race cars are 20/20 cars. They look good from 20ft or 20mph. I'm not advocating a sloppy job at all. Just don't get too carried away with pointless details. Paint is weight. As long as it ain't rusting it's got enough on it.

Chris

so true,
I recently got the chance to go to Ford Msport in Cumbria (UK) and got to see the Focus World Rally cars at very close quarters and spend a long time talking with the guys that make them.

They use 1 colour coat on all their rally cars (not the show car) no under coat, no filler , no seam sealer nothing at all

OK, here's how we did it on my cage.

First, of course, the holes were cut in the floorboard, and the cage was dropped down. Then we took the flat black Hammerrite, and held up a stiff piece of paper behind the bars, and started spraying. After everything we could paint, was painted, it was lifted up, and then the bars that still needed to be welded were welded in place, then those pars were painted. Admitedly, the interior was nice and painted to match the exterior before we did the cage. I wish we had done the cage beforehand, but we didn't.

anyways, here's how it turned out:
http://www.fatboyraceworks.com/~ndah...k/DSCF0253.JPG
http://www.fatboyraceworks.com/~ndah...k/DSCF0213.JPG
http://www.fatboyraceworks.com/~ndah...k/DSCF0210.JPG

I just got the paint and a 2" roller and went to town! came out very very nicely!

You can also have it powdercoated prior to installing.

Rattle Can it, it's cheap, easy, and will weigh less. Just be sure to block off anything you don't want sprayed once you start painting. I was told you could not paint prior to the install. They said it would mess up the welds. You got me.

Its not the welds that would mess up...think, have you ever applied EXTREME HEAT to something that was painted?? Paint doesn't like to stay intact too well...aka, melt/bubble..all that good stuff. Painting it and then welding would just ruine the nice new paint job. Thats why you have to paint it afterwards. Hell, if it wasn't for the fact that the shit can rust, I wouldn't even bother with painting it..chromoly, mild S, whatever, its there to save you, not look pretty..you want pretty get some 'MonkeyBars'

#1, yes, paint will f*** up weld, you want the area to be welded to be very clean for a good safe strong weld.

#2, yeah, paint will bubble and burn too, so doing it before hand is a waste of time.

#3, rattlecan man.. Paint the whole damn interior a nice neutral color.

PaulC

I'm getting ready to put an autopower bar in mine, but before hand, I was gonna cover it in spray on bedliner....

Dan

you mean like that rhino lining stuff? how much does that weigh?

I dunno... It can't weight too much... I'm not too concerned about weight, considering I can save/lose more weight off my body then I could be yanking stuff out of the car... hehe...

Dan

I think they still sell Hammerite in spray can form. I like to use that on cages because the finish makes wear hard to see. Plus, it seems to be a bit tougher than just spray paint.