Roll cage necessary? Options

[J P Stein]

I did get it from I/O Port. The drawing is not very accurate tho. It's more like the U- weld jobbie.
It had a removable (bolted) cross brace on the roll bar, but the upper attach point was too close to my haid.....outta here. I never mounted the diagonal brace to the floor.....takes up room for the pass.

[ChrisReale]

Did you weld it in yerself?

[J P Stein]

Nopers.....the guy down the street is a pro. I did the lower weld cause he's 280 lbs & we had a fitment problem......I'd have done better with a soft hood....really! I still have bruises from that operation.

[J P Stein]

The plates that are welded to the longs were fabbed as were the plates at the rear bottom and kick pannels.
I didn't think much of their method of attachment to the longs.

This job was a major PITA. Tony C's cages look much better and the front legs are set foward more giving more entry room. The cross bar under the dash barely has clearance for my knees. I'd prolly loose both kneecaps in a big front hit......who needs em'? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

[seanery]

If I were to do it again, TonyC would be my choice. Fitament is/was a major PITA.

[J P Stein]

If I were to do it again, TonyC would be my choice. Fitament is/was a major PITA.

But it was cheep, eh?
Bout 500 bucks.....plus bandaids.

[Steve]

Here's some pictures of just the roll bar.
The welds are the same as JP Stein

[Steve]

Picture #2

[Steve]

Picture #3

[J P Stein]

Hay, Steve, I like them seats. What model ? Gud mounts?.....yada.

[Steve]

My seats are a love hate relationship.
The seats are made by Corbeau.
The model is Forza
They only cost $225 a piece brand new.
The 914 adapters are $20 a piece.
They are very comfortable and if you remove the seat pad there about the same heighth as stock.
I sliced a 1/4" piece of the foam out of the seat pad to create the stock heighth and still be comfortable.
The high bolsters are great for cornering.
Now the down side.
-The top is very wide and creates blindspots when driving on the street.
-The high bolsters makes it hard to get in an out for a daily driver.
-The seats will not go back into the backpad.
No problem for me since I'm only 5"10" and I don't need the seat all the way back anyway.
I'm currently reupholstering the stock seats for daily driving.
I will probably keep one of the Corbeau's for autocrosses and sell the other one.

Steve

[Brad Roberts]

I have little experience in this area..

Steve.. I hate to tell you but that bar going down is close to worthless. The floor is not strong.

JP ?? why all the dam padding ?? Hitting your head on the passenger side bar is going to be tuff to do..LOL

Tony does a awesome street cage that functions very well. The door bar is just above the frame rail and angles up right where the seat starts up.

I still have no idea how or why you guy's think you can hit your head on the tubes ?? The rear hoop is far above my head (6'1) and the front main hoop is too far away when you have the seat one click forward from all the way back. The only bar that I think about is the one to the side of my head. I honestly dont think anyone making the comment has sat in a car with a full cage. There is NO way your racing harness is going to allow your head to hit the front halo/hoop.

Here is one way to the do the race bars..

B

[Brad Roberts]

Here is one street bar..


B

[Brad Roberts]

Here is another...

B

[URY914]

Now if we can get back to the original question.

Putting a full cage in a car that will be driven 95% of the time is not worth the PITA factor.
1. It will look like crap. Bars wrapped with padding is not a nice detail.
2. It will be a PITA getting in and out.
3. You're reducing the size of the interior.
4. If you doing this because you worry about SUVs, you shouldn't be diving it anyway. Buy an SUV.

You can add a roll bar hoop and run some low side bars that will add some stiffness to the car. But you are really just improving the car at its weak point.

A car designed in the sixties will not protect you when hit by a 2003 Ford F150 no matter what you do to it.

What I'm saying is if safety is your #1 concern, you maybe need to think about driving a different car 95% of the time.

Paul

[Don Wohlfarth]

The cabin in a 914 is surprisingly strong. BTDT (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)
With a 95% street car I would not put a cage in it. It is a major PITA getting in and out if the cage is done correctly.
If you have race seats it will be almost impossible to get in and out without a removable steering wheel.
It intrudes on cabin space.
It is a PITA to wear a 5 point harness anytime you drive the car. The good news is the harness will keep you in place. The bad news is the harness will keep you in place. If you can move while wearing the harness it is not tight enough.
If you don't have side impact protection you might as well have none. It's similar to being pregnant, either you are or you're not.
The webbing on belts/harness will stretch.
Depending what group you run with, they may not allow the car on the track without a cage. In PCA the motor would put you in GT 3, a long way from installing a 2 liter in place of a 1.7.
If you're going to the expense of installing a cage do it correctly. I would tie in the suspension points as well.

[ArtechnikA]

I can't move my body aside and wonder if the targa bar can hold the weight of the car.

yes. it can. BTDT. didn't even break the back glass. the windscreen was folded down pretty flat tho. everybody got out with no injuries however.

[JmuRiz]

Brad,
That's the picture/style i was looking for! Who made that cage? Those side bars and the ones under the dash and behind the seats would make a great street cage! Thanks for any info on it.

[Racer]

Freestone,

Was the 3.2 necessary? my guess is not. So, why would a cage be necessary? Sure it will add weight to the car, but it will add structural support as well, at the cost of some interior room and ease of enty/exit. As mentioned, where will your other "5%" be used? will they require you to have a roll cage? I think you know what your budget/conscious is saying...

ps- I like my cage!

[Britain Smith]

That's the picture/style i was looking for! Who made that cage?

All the cages that Brad shows are made by the master...Tony. He is easily the best bage builder in the South Bay area in my opinion.

http://www.tcdesignfab.com/