MY Cage Build Thread :) (56k beware)

[magnetic1]

Nothing compared to Watts's setup... but here goes. I started out doing a lot of research into prepping my IP car. I asked around and I searched a LOT. Thanks to everyone on here for all your help. I started at first looking for some cheap cage building options, but reading and gathering information really opened my eyes. Contrary to what I originally thought, there is a LOT more to a cage than just bars... and was why I ponied up the extra $ to go with RRT.

Barry, James, Dave, and now Steve really helped get the project moving. They managed to get almost the entire project done (its still getting some minor tweaks) in about 2 weeks!!!! As you can see in the pictures below, the cage is well triangulated, all bars goto single points, cage is mounted as close to the body as possible, welds go all the way around... the cage is even symmetrical between sides!

Thanks a BUNCH to RRT for their great work. I highly recommend them and their knowledge for anything from wheel studs to a cage for a Modified car to a World Challenge build! Thanks guys!

And so it began:

[magnetic1]

After about 2 days worth of work, I finally got most of the interior out.

25-30 lbs of sound deadening material:



At this point, the car leaves me and makes its way to RRT. Dash comes out:

[magnetic1]

Barry goes to work:

[magnetic1]

A-pillar gussets:





Rear Bulkhead points:

[magnetic1]

James fitting the foot protection:





Door bar getting put in:

[magnetic1]

Almost done!



Painted!





In action! (taken from Maximum-Cars )



Car felt real good, but Im going to need some time to practice and dial the car in before my first race. The workmanship was absolutely amazing.

[-ursa-]

Awesome! Glad to see you still have that seat. I can still see the 3D Autoworks sticker!

[magnetic1]

Awesome! Glad to see you still have that seat. I can still see the 3D Autoworks sticker!

Yup.. putting it to good use!!!

[Jean-Claude]

NICE!!!!

[krisko]

Nicely done...the first few pics gave me a headache though remembering gutting my own car out.

[mike325ci]

looks very solid - a very nice piece of work!!

i really need to find a good cage builder out here in the NYC-area for my track car...

[Steve J.]

looks very solid - a very nice piece of work!!

i really need to find a good cage builder out here in the NYC-area for my track car...

RRT is in Northern VA, not too far from you.

[ShishCoBob]

[Dinanify]

Question: Magnetic, with only 20-30 lbs of weight savings on the sound deadening, I'm wondering a couple of things (since I"m going to have a cage put in come this fall)....

1. Does the sound deadening have to come out for the cage to go in?
2. If you had to do it again, would you leave the sound deadening in? (that's a lot of work for 20-30 lbs, anyway, just trying to get a feel for this).
3. Also, how do you remove it? A cage builder mentioned the use of a heat gun, but Interested to hear more about what's involved)

[B.Watts]

In a Prepared class car, the only real benefit of getting rid of the sound deadening is aesthetics. Otherwise, the sound deadening is well located (low and central) ballast to help you meet the required minimum weight.

[S.Lang]

As far as tools to remove, you use a heat gun, a metal scraper (like a joint compound applicator), a lot of beer and a LOT more cusswords.

[Tommy R]

Nice looking cage, but why at the base of the main hoop are the attchment points so high from the floorboard/distribution plate? I realize that's not likely something that'll ever come into play (God willing), but there's some strength lost in doing so. I was just wondering if it was done for a particular reason.

Otherwise, it looks very nice!

Tommy

[Dinanify]

In a Prepared class car, the only real benefit of getting rid of the sound deadening is aesthetics. Otherwise, the sound deadening is well located (low and central) ballast to help you meet the required minimum weight.

With that mind, would you leave it in the car? Does anyone have any pics of their cars with the sound deadening still installed, but with the floor interior bits removed? I'm not sure what it looks like exactly.

[magnetic1]

Not sure why the main hoop bars are so high, perhaps for the door X bars to fit right? You'll have to ask Tourenwagen since he built it....

The sound deadening around areas that need welding WILL have to be removed. Other than that, its asthetics.. but just remember, if you ever decide to go further than Prepared, it will be a REAL pain in the butt to remove the sound deadening when you've git a cage in the car.

If I had to do it again, I'd prolly still remove the sound deadening. I'd prolly better prepared myself though with a fan/AC to cool myself and a better scraper (I was using a drywall plaster scraper) , Id also suggest thick gloves as I got blisters from the removal process.

[SG_M3]

With that mind, would you leave it in the car? Does anyone have any pics of their cars with the sound deadening still installed, but with the floor interior bits removed? I'm not sure what it looks like exactly.

I did what magnetic did and removed it all. Its a PITA and not really worth it except for asthetics.

[Steve J.]

Nice looking cage, but why at the base of the main hoop are the attchment points so high from the floorboard/distribution plate? I realize that's not likely something that'll ever come into play (God willing), but there's some strength lost in doing so. I was just wondering if it was done for a particular reason.

Otherwise, it looks very nice!

Tommy

If you look at the bars that go from the B Pillar base to the rear bulkhead, the only way to get them to the base of the Main roll hoop is to cut through the back seats. As of now they are right on the seat base, and the Xbrace and cross brace both tie into the same points. Its very solid with all the load paths entering that one point with a total of 5 tubes being joined at that one location. You could go overboard and full box in that section upto that point into the side of the chassis, which is something that might be in the future, but for now, for the class its in, its very structural and safe. The cage has two more bars going in, and its done for now...needs to be fine tuned for the next race, and she'll be golden...as long as Magnetic can handle it

[Dinanify]

Thanks for posting the pics Sean. Does the deadening do anything for heat coming from the tranny? (I see some on the tranny tunnel there)

[Eddy@ApexRaceParts]

how much diff does the sound deadening make removed. if you had a auto-x / track car that was still streatable with a basic cage then is the ride a lot louder with it out, and so you'd want to leave it in?

[Geo31]

If you look at the bars that go from the B Pillar base to the rear bulkhead, the only way to get them to the base of the Main roll hoop is to cut through the back seats. As of now they are right on the seat base, and the Xbrace and cross brace both tie into the same points. Its very solid with all the load paths entering that one point with a total of 5 tubes being joined at that one location.

You have a solid cage proped up on stilts. Those tubes tie to and middle (not very middle, but certainly not the ends) of an otherwise unsupported tube. I have to agree with the previous poster that it loses a lot of strength that way. I noticed that the first time but wasn't going to say anything, but the previous poster is right.

You could go overboard and full box in that section upto that point into the side of the chassis, which is something that might be in the future, but for now, for the class its in, its very structural and safe. The cage has two more bars going in, and its done for now...needs to be fine tuned for the next race, and she'll be golden...as long as Magnetic can handle it

Boxing that section in with the side of the coachwork and the rear seat structure would be absolutely the thing to do. This would return the strength.

[Steve J.]

Only concern would be if it was allowed in Prepared class.

We'll look into it, and fix if needed. However, because of where the forces are being exerted, it would not makea substantial difference to fully box in that area. I agree it would help, adding material almost always helps...to an extent.

Thanks.