Broken windshield after roll cage install Options

[Bill's Racing 914]

Is it common for a windshield to break when driving a 914 after installing the roll cage?

I just drove the car around the neighborhood after tuning the Webers. I now have a diagonal crack running from the upper front corner of the passenger side window down to the lower center of the window.

I rebuilt this 1970 914 after pulling it out of the desert two years ago. It has non adjustable KYB shocks in the rear and Bilstein struts in the front. I installed a stock front and rear swaybar. Both are non adjustable. I have the front end lowered as far as it can go. The rear is still near stock height. I will drop it when I get coil overs.

I also put in a 6 point cage kit from Tangerine. My welder followed the installation instructions to the letter. Very happy with the roll cage kit.

The car does ride really rough and hard. There is zero body roll. I did notice deflection between the upper frame of the windshield and the top front bar of the roll cage when I would go over rough sections of road.

Is it that after stiffening up the frame by adding the roll cage and stiffening up the suspension that the 1970 windshield finally broke after I hit a few bumps in the road?

Is this common? Is this why most racers just cut the front windshield off? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

[Krieger]

I put in Chris's cage too and added to it. I also welded a tab on each side of the windsheild frame (near the top) to the cage. I used butyl to install windshield. No problems with cracked glass after many autocross and timetrials.

[Bill's Racing 914]

I put in Chris's cage too and added to it. I also welded a tab on each side of the windsheild frame (near the top) to the cage. I used butyl to install windshield. No problems with cracked glass after many autocross and timetrials.

I was planning on adding the tabs too. I am an aerospace structural engineer. The cage is good enough to pass the tech inspectors, but there is no lateral stiffness in the front of the cage. There should be a bar under the dash going from the left front pillar to the right front pillar. Also a diagonal is needed from the center of that bar down to the point where the passenger side front pillar attaches to the frame. I also need to add struts between the front pillars through the firewall to the top of the shock towers.

I am debating as to whether to just cut the windshield off or not. This car had rust int he hell hole so it will never be a concourse car.