Yeah. Those bage builders are hard to come by.

I agree about the getting in out of the car with the cage and high bolster seats. But honestly it isnt that bad even with the X brace.

I also agree about the need for a removable wheel (even in a normal street car).

Jimmy, (still love the avatar)

The only way to do a cage and make it liveable on the street is to do it under the dash. This keeps the knee bar away from you and really opens up the interior. When driving the car.. you will semi forget you have cage. The only bar that really shows is the windshield halo (and Tony has a new design that fits the winshield tighter).

95% street: Weld in some stiffening and I dont mean chassis GT stiff kit.


B

Whats your opinion about the Petty bar that Tony did for Rob Ways?. Good set-up?.
Livable for the street?.

Thanks, Pat

Robs bar is removable. But just like all removable bars.. the owners never actually remove them.

Robs bar is totally livable on the street. I dont really care about my passengers comfort.

The bar in Robs car made a hell of a difference in the strength of that tub. Its all about the placement of the down tube. We took it to a very strong area on the car (inner wheelhouse corner of frame rail) and NOT to the floor. It is far enough forward that it doesnt freak passengers out sitting behind it.


B

I rode in it and I liked it. Wasn't that bad after I learned how to sit down into it. Ya, hella stiff. I could tell that its quicker on the turn on compared to my stocker.

On the list for wanna/gotta have it.

Brad,

[QUOTE]95% street: Weld in some stiffening and I dont mean chassis GT stiff kit.

What stiffening are you referring to, if not the GT kit?

Mike

We really beefed up our main hoop mount at the firewall\rocker intersection. The plate wraps around the horizontal and vertical surfaces of both sections. Also moved the FI ECU inside.

The rear supports required a lexan window for passthru. The bend in the bar was necessary to allow the stock lid to funtion normally.

The front mount plates are up against the inside wheel wells. This adds support to the forward section of the car and will help keep a wheel from being pushed into the cabin which is a common failure in a major front quarter imapact.

Our doorbars are as far to the outside as was possible. We left about .25" for the padding. The horizontal bar is up under the dash to keep it away from our shins and lower legs.

Our rear supports attach to the forward part of the rear wheel wells. Our vintage class does not allow tying into the suspension pickup points but this could easily be done later if we progress to a production class.

The seat back brace only had to be about 1.5" long.

I had a pretty good idea what I wanted before we started the cage. Even with all the extras the car is less than 1900 lbs with the full steel body and steel bumpers. All the glass is lexan and that helped with the weight alot.

I wouldn't track the car without a cage under any circumstance.

regards,
dr

I only use the bar to the floor for my video camera while autocrossing.
I agree, the floor is pretty weak and would be pretty worthless to support the roll bar in an accident or rollover.

Steve

i am 6'2" as well. it's a tight fit with stock seats, but i will get racing seats that bolt directly to the floor,
which will give me plenty of room. the targa top still fits on, no problem.

Andy
(IMG:http://www.sirandy.com/pix/914/2003.07.16/car005.JPG)

DR..


Please tell us about that carbon fiber skin for a passenger door ?????


And tell me your name.. I dont know if DR is Doctor..or Dave Ranchero ??



B

Mike,

Your can strengthen your frame rails by adding one or two of the following:

1. outside clam shell behind rocker from Restoration design
2. Brad Mayeur clam shells (more for rust repair)..but you get the same effect..they are crude however compared to the form fitting of no. 1. on the list.
3. weld flat steel in a U shape from one side to the other on the INSIDE of the tub. It all gets hidden with carpet when you use 16 gauge. The U shape starts at the bottom of the fenderwell and wraps all the way around to the other fenderwell. You can weld it on every few inches. It takes some work to get around the E-brake setup.. and to get over the center tunnel on the firewall... but it works MUCH better than No. 1. and No.2 because you have now tied both sides of the car together with a very strong piece (lower firewall).


B

brad,

the door panel was laid up from 5.7oz twill CF cloth with epoxy resin. The layup was done on a large sheet of glass to achieve a smooth finish. I have some experience working with fiberglass but this was my first CF project. What I found out is that a part this large needs more than one layer of CF cloth or at least an additional layer of fiberglass behind. It came out too flexible but looks pretty good. Right now it is only attached to the door with heavy duty velcro.

Also, I did not care for the epoxy resin from US Composites. It is there own label and took an eternety to harden. I used the correct ratio and mixed the hardener before combining with the resin but it just never seemed to cure well. I will use West System next time. It worked for me in the past. More $$$ but worth it.

I plan on fabricating dash panels next from CF and then some various brackets.

thanks for the interest,

(dr) david rosenbloom

Brad,

Thanks for the info. I was aware of the clam-shell reinforcment approach, but had never heard of the inner frame reinforcement. Sounds like a good idea.

So with these arrangements do you think the GT stiffening kit, which adds the reinforcing plates behind the cockpit tub, is not really necessary for a street car?

Mike

Thanks David. My CF experience is very limited.. but I'm highly insterested in learning about it. You car turned out very nice. Quality work.


Mike,

I do not feel the GT stiff kit is needed unless you are running springs rates in the rear over 225lbs. and plan on racing the car (alot). The reason the GT kit even exists..is because the shock tower tries to rip off the end of the frame rail. It does this because of excessive loading of that area (bigger springs and racing). the GT kit tries to stiffen this on the OUTSIDE of the frame rail next to the shock tower. Worthless... it will still crack and break under racing conditions and high spring rates. Its a band-aid for a bigger problem.


B

Brad,

What kind of re-inforcement scheme do you recommend for the rear spring/shock towers?

Thanks,

Andy

Down tubes from a main hoop to the tops of the shock towers. Much like the pic above. Which all race cars should have anyway. You can do this without a main hoop. Weld a piece of square tubing across the engine compartment firewall right below where the engine lid mounts. Again.. tie both sides of the car together and weld tube from the sqaure tube to the front side of the shock towers where the frame rail meets the front of the shock tower. These two tubes would be out of the way on most cars and they dont have to be real big. I dont have a good pick of this setup done..

Weld the sqaure tube here across the car. The take tubes to the same location you see the tubes in this pic.


B

dfgsfdg

Like this.


B