I should have some pictures in a couple weeks, my new car is going into 7's only tomorrow for a new cage.

Marcus

I'm not trying to start an arguement, but I decided to look this up since I have more than a passing interest in accident reconstruction (possible future career).
Different parts of the body can withstand different loads, and I think the brain is actually one of the better ones, since it's surrounded by goo. ;) Unfortunately, the neck (you know, the thing that connects the brain to everything else) is one of the weakest. HANS anyone?
You can sustain a 10G crash falling off your bike. You can easily reach 20Gs with an impact as low as 35mph. I think your aorta tears at around 50Gs.
Be safe out there!

I almost got an izzy's cage, but i got a paeyton cage...Forgot why.

Not a cage, just a Kirk 4pt Rollbar with Impact 5 pt harnesses

http://photos.imageevent.com/section...%20_Large_.jpg

http://photos.imageevent.com/section...%20_Large_.jpg

http://photos.imageevent.com/section...%20_Large_.jpg

Scott/ Russ,

Thoughts on petty bar in an Improved touring application?
Scott, I noticed the ITA/IT7 designs didn't have one?

Also, there is no question on the legality of a jacking pad, correct?

thanks!
Marcus

Actually, I've got a high Petty bar in my RX and have also driven an RX with the low bar style. IMO, the lower style adds more to chassis stiffness and also keeps you from breaking your arm during point bys for those dang ITE/World Challenge cars ;) The higher style proved more benificial in the quick FEA I did with my low X in the rear.

Scott

On the jacking pads.. there's some debate on whether or not the jacking pads are legal... the debate is, IMO, poorly based on the "any # of tubes within the confines of the cage" argument.

Personally, they're a great idea, keeps the rockers from being crushed in (like my cars when I bought it) and since the pad is only resting against the metal of the rocker, does nothing to add to the chassis strength.

Thanks! I dropped my car off at the shop Saturday, and sent along a description of the pad. They were going to call me monday (head cage guy was at Laguna Seca) to discuss.


Marcus

Been absent for awhile, pretty busy. I am a firm believer of a low petty bar. I also think it must be supported from the back of the horizontal tube by support tubes to the rear attaching plates.

Show Pics of your cages please!
 

Hope this picture shows. It hasn't been welded yet. Going Oval track for now, would like to " play" Road Race with it some day.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3.../caged7006.jpg :eek:

Oval... If you can do it within your rules, and you have enough length on your halo and doorbars, get the mounting point of the hoop OFF of the floor. The rocker and the crossmember junction is a very strong area. If you dont have the tubing length, at least build some decent pads that run up the verticles and box them in.

What class are you running in that'll allow RX's to run?

Are those support bars going back to the rear mounting points legal for IT?

It's a Sport compact series. www.AISpeedway.com
then find rules 4 cyl. I was hoping someone would have some input
on good ideas. That's the main reason the cage isn't welded yet. I thougt about using a hole saw and cutting down through the crossmember and dropping the
main hoop into the holes in the cross member. Then I thought about a box or plate that would tie the crossmember and the area by the inner fender and the quarter panel verticle section. The class likes a plate 6" X 6" and the 4 main points of the cage welded to them. So what your saying is to tie the crossmember and the quarter panel areas verticle panel together with say a plate and weld the main hoop to the plate. The main hoop right now will stand on the crossmember and just fit under the roof allowing me to place a piece of flat steel to weld the main hoop too at the base of the tubing. I also have the large gusset plates to weld the halo to after they are welded to the main hoop. The cage in my VW has the halo welded directly to the main hoop. Thoughts on which is better? This may be a tight fit with the gusset plate. This cage has 3 door bars with verticle door bars on both sides. We thought about cutting the top off the car and locating one without the sunroof option. Is their a RX7 without the sunroof option? We did the VW without cutting the top off. However all cars that were built over the winter for this season the guys cut their tops off to weld their cages. Our motor rules allow 12a only and no porting work. Just any Carb work and any exhaust may be used 2250lbs max weight for class and we have to weight 2250 lbs in the VW and the RX7. A 1600cc 16 Valve would have to weigh 1920lbs I think. right now we scaled the car as it was in the picture and we are 2146 lbs with 54% Left Side 48% cross and 51% Front and 49% Rear. The gas tank and all that goes with it was still in the car for that shot and still is. Where is the best location for a cell 8 gallon max has to be on the center line of chassis in a steel can or fire wall built. Battery has not been moved to rear of car yet and can be on the left side. The numbers look very good for this car. WE run Hoosier R3SO4 and KUMHO 710's in this class. 235 section width max and 8" rim width any backspace. This class is basically a pro class with small payout. 1/2 mile donut shaped track 18.04 was turned the other night. Pro late models do 16.7 here. We have 4 races minimum left this season and other tracks yet also. I'm open for any recommendations. I haven't won with the VW since 2003 and that was the last win for a VW also. We would like to get this out there and shake it down and then take it in for the winter and come out with a winner. Thanks
Tim

Yep, it is allowable, as many tubes to a mounting plate is allowed. As long as the plate is no bigger than 144 square inches 12x12. Check with NASA rules, not to sure about them.

Been really busy, did this Auto Cross Honda last, finished off a 500 hp 740 Volvo cage and sheet metal work. Thought I would try to resurrect this thread.

Flame away all you Mazda owners. To me work is work!

Being this was a early CRX, has to work around the fuel and brake lines in the interior.

Work is work Russ, and well done cages know no brand loyalty ;)

Let's see that Volvo!!!!

Here's a couple that I just rapped up. An ITB BMW:
http://www.izzyscustomcages.com/imag...d/P8250054.jpghttp://www.izzyscustomcages.com/imag...d/P8250051.jpghttp://www.izzyscustomcages.com/imag...d/P8250044.jpg
Bigger pics of the BMW: http://www.izzyscustomcages.com/BMW318Cage.html

A 240sx showcar/auto-x 6 point bar

http://www.solo2.org/blogs/images/so...r_P9120063.jpghttp://www.solo2.org/blogs/images/so...r_P9120065.jpghttp://www.solo2.org/blogs/images/so...o_P9120066.jpg
Bigger pics: http://www.solo2.org/blogs/speed%20r...llery/125.aspx

I just finished installing the FIA Roll Bar padding in a 99 Vette I did a rollbar for last month. Customer painted it and came back. Basically a NHRA 6 pt roll bar with ChassisWorks swing out bars. Car is used for track days and Street, not drag racing. He waiting to do a full cage for the time being and wanted some track protection.

Here is a couple of pics of the nearly 500 bhp 740 Volvo ITE car.

Come on people, some of you must have some pics of your cages, please post. I want to see more.

Just finished this today, a Chevy S10 Blazer, guy wanted a rollbar, so I gave him one. Put in a removable horizontal bar with clevis joint and push/pull lock pins. Used 1.5"x158" DOM, did not want to use 1.75". Lots of interior plastic issues to deal with, but all in all, not to bad of a job.

Cool beans. Now the goods from his trip to Costco won't kill him in a frontal collision.

So what's an IT legal cage for say a blue '87 RX-7 cost with steel prices being what they are today? Dash is already out, floor is clean, etc.

wow.. these cages are baddass..

whats the average price for one of these cages?

Don'y really like discussing prices of cages on forums. It does depend on what the local market can bare and the price of Steel at the time of the job. Steel prices fluctuates like gas prices. Cages in the Seattle are are generally 25% higher than in my area which accounts for why I am getting alot of customers from the Puget Sound area.

Also depends on the type of cage (NHRA, SCCA, Rally) and how much material is being used and how much prep (interior). Prices Start at $1000 and go up. Roll bars are less and full on 12-14pt cages are higher.

Whoa there, partner. Might want to check your GCR again... rule says max 100 square inches, no longer than 12 and no shorter than 2 in any plane.

I have been waiting for somebody to catch my error. I was thinking about an old stock car series that is now defunct. Been awhile, you must be pretty sharp. Alot of people have read that with out catching it. Good Job!

That's what I figured. ;)

But, I've seen so many illegal IT cages it wouldn't have surprised me if you'd said, "News to me!" :D

I usually use a plate in the 8"x8" dimension, only used the 12"x6" in one application. Can't afford to build illegal cages, being that I am involved with Oregon Region SCCA and that my shop is only 3 mins from the track. Everybody would here about it. Never had a car come back either from SCCA/Conference for a illegal plate, tube or construction, thats the way I like to keep it.

Cages
 

SCCA rules say the plates can be 100 sq in (example w/b 10" X 10")(12" X 8"). 8" X 8" is 64 sq inches.

hello all from the land down under........

i thought i might post up pics of my cage. we here in Australian Sport compact are very serious about saftey. when your pushing 700 hp plus thu a tiny tyre like the classes we run ( Max tyres of 28x9 inches) you want all the saftey you can get.

my cage is ANDRA approved( Australian Natinal Drag Racing Accociation ) which is the same body as your NHRA.


i do have to say that there are some wicked cages here on this post and is a credit to all that have made them.



cheers all
Ernie
www.eziracing.com


http://www.eziracing.com/images/setup2_004.jpg

http://www.eziracing.com/images/setup2_007.jpg

http://www.eziracing.com/images/setup2_010.jpg

http://www.eziracing.com/images/setup2_013.jpg

http://www.eziracing.com/images/setup2_009.jpg

http://www.eziracing.com/images/setup2_006.jpg

Very cool, how fast?

still sorting it out Russ...... will be in the high to mid 8 sec bracket.


this setup is only 6 weeks old and im still getting used to the feel of the car. it used to be a nice street car before i changed it to a full drag car.

some of the build pics can be found on my site under pics 2 page.

www.eziracing.com

when you see the car i gave it to my engineer as a shell with a diff in it thats all..... i get the car back 6 weeks later looking as you see it now.

will post up some progress times when we sort it out.




Ernie
EZI Racing

Just finished up a roll bar for a Focus, kind of a Mazda. Have a Civic and a 2nd Gen next to finish. Working a little slow do to a minor injury to my welding wrist/hand.

Sweet welding skills :D

Hmmm...what's a ticket from the US to Australia cost? :)

Hey Russ: We're entered in the PIR enduro on 10/15. If you're around the track, look us up... but no fair picking on my amateur welds! Cheers, Jim

Cool, see you guys there. We are driving the yellow Staff's Auto FC. Give me a holla

I wish I were driving the Cascade Enduro, but I'm not. Hopefully I'll be instructing at the school the day day before.

Russ has my RX-7 in his posession right now. Hopefully there will pictures here of my cage on here soon!

Just had one hell of a week. Was supposed to be working on Josh's RX7, sorry Josh! Squeezed in a 04 Subie WRX for a rear roll bar so the guy can take it to the SEMA show. So I give the guy a good deal, hell of a roll barat a very good deal. Some how the first night it was hear the rear bumper cover gets gouged. That will cost around $200 to have fixed. After the guys picks up the car, guy was ok with damage, already had cover pulled and ready to go to a friends shop. Guy takes car to another shop to get the interior finished in the back. Main hoop has all the rear bars plus X's. Shop found a qtr inch burn mark on the headliner near the top of the hoop and is hidden to view unless you crawl in upside down to find it. He wants me to replace the headliner and the 2 b-pillar plastics parts because the are slight imperfections at the top due to the shields I used to protect the interior.

He shoots me a price of nearly $400 for all. There is no way the headliner is ever coming out and in. Hoop is to tight. He could paint the bars and add the padding and you would never see it. Nope. had to order the parts myself and was able to get them for $125 less. Good luck getting it done!

So then, old customer of mine with the blue Spec Miata listed here in pics came by with his Wife's 04 turbo Miata and wants a roll bar today so he can track the car tomorrow at the HPDE held by conference at PIR. All damn day and turned out nice. Least something is going right. Had to work around all of the interior and soft top. Soft tops are tighter in side than hardtops and require a different main hoop. I posted pics below and you can see how it looks. Car even has rear wind deflector and I was able to work around it.

Could use some positive remarks if job warrants it. Don't worry Josh, I will be on the RX7 tomorrow!

I feel for ya russ. You try to help a guy out and it comes back and bites you in the rear. You did right on your end.... Karma will bring it back to ya ;)

The miata looks good!!!! I know what you mean on the soft top bars. Getting a decent brace mount with the glass in down position is a PITA... I wont even get into the seat belt guide and harness bar placement.

Russ,

I stopped by Friday, but no one answered the door. Your car was there.

I think I saw that Miata at the track. All I noticed was the stock looking intercooler in the nose though as I was just strolling on by.

My student at the 10/14 Cascade Driver Training brought out his yellow '71 Camaro. Just your average 450 rear wheel horsepower LS1 motivated street car rolling on 18" Boyds. It went like stink and had good braking thanks to big Baer binders. The Hotchkiss suspension was ok, but the thing had a bunch of rear end squat and understeered significantly. The guy wants to work on the suspension some more, get better tires and attend another school.

Hey Josh,

Sorry I missed ya, that was Craig's Miata. He was having fun again. I am on my way to San Diego for a week to do my former job. Have some things to clean up for Folex Co if you know what I mean. 1st class air round trip, only a three star hotel, town car for the week with a $100 per diem plus salary. RX7 has to wait. I will tell you all about next week.


Tell your Camaro guy I have tubular upper and lower control arms, can fix bump steer and make the pig handle way better. Roll bar would help along with sub-frame connectors.

See you next week and take care!

I wondered about the outgoing message. I look forward to the story.

While you have the car I'd like to come make door panels if I may. I'm working day shift Tuesday through Monday. I have next Tuesday off so that would be the ideal day to come by.

Not quite a Mazda....The only thing different is that the cage connects the front shock towers and front frame. The car was used for drifting and the SCCA rules are not so strict for Formula D so it was made simple to save weight.

Sorry for the large picture sizes
http://shadezofgrey.com/gd%20race%20car/IMG_3401.JPG
http://shadezofgrey.com/gd%20race%20car/IMG_3597.JPG
after painted
http://shadezofgrey.com/gd%20race%20car/IMG_3679.JPG
http://shadezofgrey.com/gd%20race%20car/IMG_3681.JPG
http://shadezofgrey.com/gd%20race%20car/story/11.jpg
http://shadezofgrey.com/gd%20race%20car/story/10.jpg
http://shadezofgrey.com/gd%20race%20car/story/7.jpg

Finished...
http://shadezofgrey.com/gd%20race%20car/story/13.jpg
http://shadezofgrey.com/gd%20race%20...y/DSC_0009.jpg

Finally shots of my latest toy & its cage... : http://images.miller-motorsports.com...ldr=misc101805

Marcus

How the heck did you end up with a Mid-Am sticker on a car out in CA?????

Hopefully someone can give me some advice.

I am trying to cage my SPU car.

I bought this bender because no one in my area could "get back to me" with a quote. The one place that did was hella high!

http://www.want2race.net/cage/1.jpg
http://www.want2race.net/cage/2.jpg

Thats the type of car and cage.

http://www.want2race.net/lotus7/Buil...s/PICT2097.JPG

If anyone can offer any advice that would hopefully save me some tube/time/frustration I would be greatly appreciative!

Thanks
~Jonathan

What bender did you get? I did not see it posted. Williams low buck tools offers a pretty nice little compact unit that comes with a die. I had one of the units when I first started and used it for 3 years and then sold it. It is manufactured by Stan's Machine Tools. Was about $500-600. Good for the average Joe!

Thats the one.. I thought i posted a pic.

Any advice ?

Here's one of our race car. It's further along than this now, but I don't want to give away too many of our secrets to any other FSAE teams that may be on this site. ;)

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y20.../DSC015761.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y20.../DSC015751.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y20.../DSC015811.jpg

I'm curious to know why the rear hoop supports meet that cross tube rather than the floor?