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.

thank you sir! will installing ladder bars affect how i put the cage in?

Probably not. The terminus for the rear bars in a unibody car is on the sheet metal of the trunk floor. 6" x 6" x 1/8" steel plates are welded to the floor, then the ends of the diagonal braces are welded to the plates.

ok one more question what about these kits,
http://www.detroitspeedshops.com/cgi...&page=category

Originally Posted by muteboy49

ok one more question what about these kits,
http://www.detroitspeedshops.com/cgi...&page=category

Hmmm....
Where's the main hoop?

Summit shows it and says in the description that it is included.

ech nevermind its sold seperately and all together its more than the summit kit.lol
thanks for all your help tech i appreciate you helpin me out this early in the mornin

Aww heck, you're welcome. It's just a little after 10 PM in Phoenix.