Roll cage, sign off or inspect for auto-x??, or is that just time-trialing??? Options

[Mueller]

I don't see myself doing any big track events any time soon but a few autocrosses before the season ends are planned.

I hope to start on the interior of the car soon, and it was brought up that we could cover some of the tubing of the cage with custom covers that would fit over the padding, of course the covers can come off, but it might be a PITA to R&R for inspection.

I've seen a few cars that had inspection decals on the cage or roll bar, but I didn't pay too much attention to them.

thanks

[Randal]

Roll bars are required for time-trials, not autoX. In fact you can run the driver's education weekend (3 days) and the first event without a roll bar, but it's required after that.

And if your going to run time trials I'd seriously looking at a cage, just for safety sake.

Is this a street car as well?

[Brad Roberts]

They drill the cage and check wall thickness. Cover it however you want.



B

[Mueller]

Yes Randal, this car is going to see street use. (90% steet, the rest auto-x)

The cage was built by Tony @ TC Design, it is very close in design of the one that Andy has in his car (same builder)

I already have the padding, I went with the high impact, high density stuff (it gets denser as it is compressed)

Since the car is primarily a street car, I want the cage to look good as well and I'd like to cover up the zip ties needed to hold the padding on, so that is why I'll be covering up the padding.
(call me vain, LOL)

(IMG:http://www.tcdesignfab.com/mikem-01.jpg)

[Brad Roberts]

You need a total of 2 pieces of padding. Dont go overboard with it.


B

[Mueller]

You need a total of 2 pieces of padding. Dont go overboard with it.

now you tell me, i bought about 6 or 8 pieces of it... @ $13.00 a pop, ouch....

[SirAndy]

You need a total of 2 pieces of padding. Dont go overboard with it.

now you tell me, i bought about 6 or 8 pieces of it... @ $13.00 a pop, ouch....

hey, i take some leftovers!

i need to put the padding on mine, sell me some!
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Andy

[Mueller]

not a problem Andy, I believe I bought 3/4" and 1" thick padding, it comes in 3 foot lengths.......I should have a few left overs.....now I just need to decide if my cage covers will be black leather* or blue to match the rest of the interior

*not sure if we'll use real leather or not, depends on the total cost.

[Randal]

Mr. M.

Glad to see some more of Tony's wonderful work. He is an absolute Master.

Wonder how he is doing on Mike. Ambrozewicz car (from Sacramento)? That is going to be a neat car.

I'll take some of that covering if Mr. A. hasn't already got it all.

BTW Andy and I are going to send our cookie cutters to that polisher in LA and show all you guys up.

Cheers.

[seanery]

I bet Al could do some nice stuff with cookies.

[Randal]

They drill the cage and check wall thickness. Cover it however you want.

That is what "they"should be doing......

[Don Wohlfarth]

Mike, I just read your previous thread of when you need a cage. Agreed, 4' off the ground at 100mph. Your question now is about covering the cage for a mostly street car. As someone pointed out earlier these cars are small. When you start adding a cage it starts getting tight.
Look at a cage as part of a safety system. You want to be secure in a seat. May mean going to race seats. Race seats are designed to work with 5 point harnesses. Race seats and harnesses are a first class PIA on the street.
Keep in mind that all seat belt/harness material is made to stretch to help absorb some of the energy of your body coming to a sudden stop. (I seem to remember 15% as a minimum on new belts, older belts are more.)
Brad said you only need 2 pieces of padding. I'm not sure that's true, depending on the group you're running with.
I think a good rule of thumb is to pad any bar you can touch when securely belted into your seat. You're using the right stuff, the hard foam padding.
To give you some idea of the energy your body has to deal with in a crash look at http://www.isaacdirect.com/
When I built my car I ran the same door bar as you have for ax. Last month I had it cut out and put in NASCAR door bars on both sides. I have gutted doors so I was able to have the bars go out into that space. Decided I wanted a little more protection 4' off the ground at 100mph. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Dave_Darling]

Mike, you may only need 2 pieces of padding--but your passenger will also need two.

And I think those numbers assume race belts, not stock three-point belts that allow you to move around significantly more.

The rule of thumb is that you want padding on anything that your body can contact when belted in. Or that your passenger's body can contact.

--DD