Hello everyone,

Been lurking for a while now and finally decide to join the forum

I recently "acquired" a 914 track car that I'm currently rebuilding. I don't have the $ for a custom cage so I'm in the market for a weld in. I've been searching and have no luck in finding what I need. Does anyone sell a weld in roll cage that has side hoops that hug the A pillar and come down in "front" of the dash? I'm not a big fan of a bar that ties in the left and right side hoops that sits under the dash board. I would rather that bar sit closer to the front fire wall and above the steering column. That way I can install the dash over that bar.

Sorry for the long post.

Thanks,
Ron

Have had both bars in different cage sets up, i.e., under the steering column and also above. No question the room you get with the above set up is worth the effort.

What are you planning for tying in the shock towers, which makes a HUGE difference in stiffness.

if its legal

most 914 wheel to wheel sanctioning bodies don't allow it, or put you into the highest classes if they do allow it.

You can run the bar under the steering column and still have it behind the dash face. There's much more room for the bar underneath.
However, this does require the down bars to go through the dash.



The bar under the column:
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And with the dash in place:
Click to view attachment

That is worth the extra effort Andy just to save your knees.

This is how I did mine. I am not sure if the stock guages will. I know the dash will.



Click to view attachment
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Very nicely done. Like the dash as well.

Thanks everyone for your advise and photos. I have more to think about now

@SirAndy, I never thought about having the cross bar underneath the steering column, didn't think the lower dash would fit over it.

I did take in consideration the "legality" of how I envision the roll cage. (got tired of reading all the rule books) I'm just afraid of building a roll cage to only find out that my car has no home to play or bumps me into a higher class.

I'll keep all you posted on my progress...wish me luck

Thanks,
Ron

you should pick the place you want to play first
go visit those guys
if there are other 914's there ... look them over
buy those guys a beer....

find out who the eligibility person is...
buy that guy a beer too

then (I prefer in writting since you can print and save emails) ask before you do.... Ask that eligibility guy how many points the roll cage is allowed to touch the chassis for his club.

really building a track car to use and not abuse the rules is just as important as any of the other fabrication components.

I'm the porsche eligibility chief for my race club.
I hate the look on a guys face when I tell him he has to "undo" something he has already done. Usually the applicant gets pissy and mad about it.... Seriously, ask questions first. If an applicant screws up he only has himself to blame.

How about seam welding the entire car, is that allowed?

It depends on the sanctioning body.

for PCA production class wheel to wheel it wouldn't be
for my vintage racing organization it would be.

In PCA at least, your car would be a GT (non production) car so it would be legal
most of the vintage clubs adhere to scca wheel to wheel competition rules. Some to FIA. Usually those rules have a cut off date... say 1967 (in which case the 914 isn't allowed) or others use the 1972 rules. So if it was legal in that period then its allowed... but crankfire and things that were not invented may not be allowed. for example I had to buy a twin plug distributor, because crankfire didn't exist in 1972.

so it really depends on the club
and really the best advice I can give the original thread poster is to find out where he wants to run and use their rules.

brant

@ Brant, I'll start reading all the rule books again and try and talk to more owners about their build.

Thanks,
Ron

Ok...I guess my little teenier has no other home than in PCA GT class, or in the future maybe HSR West. My real question: Should I just buy a weld in roll cage kit and build on it, or have someone build a custom cage for me. I'm trying to do this on a limited budget.

BTW, I acquired the car in this condition. So, trying to put everything back on it to make it a "production" class car would cost too much $.

Thanks again!

"bolt in" cages still require welding of the foot pads

If you shop around, you can usually find a circle track fabricator that can handle the cage fabrication easily and fairly priced.

I guess I'd get an estimate and then decide on price
I'd probably go weld in if the prices were similar

I have one car I converted back to street and removed a "bolt in" cage from... it still shows where the foot pads were

Just an FYI, there is an article on cages in the latest issue of POC Velocity, but it is not online in PDF format as of yet. It will be here if/when the club posts it for downloading:

http://www.porscheownersclub.org/multimedia/velocity.shtml

Thanks everyone for your input and advise. Think I might end up going with a 6 point weld in roll cage. Hopefully I can find a fab guy close to home.

I'll keep looking at the Velocity news letter for that article.

BTW, I think I'll end up building the car to fit in in a PCA GT class and somehow fit it in with the POC. With my budget I know the car will not be very competitive, but I know it will be very fun to drive and learn how to make the car quicker

Thanks again

There is a shop called Lucas Fab in OC that is probably worth a chat for cage building. You should definitely check out a POC short-track (now called PDS) event if you have not done that already -- the Streets of Willow track is a real blast. PCA around here has some parking lot autocross events but few if any real track events, depending on the local chapter you're in. LA and Santa Barbara are pretty much "wine an cheese" chapters whereas OC and SD are a bit more active in autocross and DE events.

Have fun!

We make custom cage kits. This is one we shipped to the west coast a couple months ago.
Click to view attachment

That is a great cage Chris. How many pieces are shipped?

Thanks Chris for the info on Lucas Fab. Hopefully this week I can make my way down there and see what they can do for me.

I've done some events with the POC back in the mid 90's with my old Mk2 Golf. Had a blast on the Streets of Willow. I would really like to do some of their PDS events in the future.

Yay! Got my roll cage from someone here on the forum. Thanks everyone for helping & steering me in the right direction.

All of them?

The main hoop is fully assembled, and the Nascar door bars are tacked together for easier fitment while still allowing for adjustments.

- Yea I meant to ask if that entire cage would slip into the drivers compartment and I guess the 1 / 2 is slip in the complete main hoop, then weld on the Nascar door bars.

It's possible to assemble the basic structure into the car with a few tackwelds at each joint, then separate the front hoop assembly from the main hoop, and remove everything from the car for welding/painting.
You have to leave connecting the two halves and welding in the door bars until the cage is permanently in the car.
It actually takes a bit of effort to reinstall the two halves in the car because the fit is rather tight even after assembly.