So was looking at off the shelf cage designs & TBO i don't fancy any of them. So question is if i pickup a Autopower weld in roll hoop & some extra lengths of DOM tubing could i make something myself (Minus points, no welder, welding experience, tube bender nore notcher). Or have a fabricator make additional pieces.


This is the idea for passanger compartment. Criteria, save my skin in side impact & rollover situations. Keep targa panel. Stiffen longs.

There could be extra tie in bars to suspension, but thats not this cage's primary purpose.

I would take a look at some of the cages in other 914s. I dont know about that design.

Chris Foley (CFR) makes some really nice cages that are race proven. It looks like you're missing some pretty critical pickup points. http://www.tangerineracing.com/Rollcages.htm

Another option is to run it through a cad program and check for torsional rigidity, but if you dont know what I'm talking about, just look at pictures

tonyc (username here) makes some great 914cages, too.

what Seanery said:

http://www.tcdesignfab.com/914projects.htm

I made mine out of PVC pipe!

I would highly advise against learning to weld on a roll cage.
you can certainly add bars to an off the shelf type of cage, but I wouldn't do it yourself. Pay a local race shop to do it for you.

I've welded for about 8 years now and did all of the welding on my own car except for the cage. I wouldn't touch the cage. I view that as the most critical welds on the whole car and won't place my life on the line for such an important weld.

brant

Welding only looks easy on TV. Once you learn and you understand what not to do it is easy, but getting there takes a while. That said cages aren't too difficult IF YOU KNOW HOW TO WELD AND HAVE ALL THE TOOLS.

Think of it this way: The cage is prety much the only thing that is keeping that ---hole Miata (see Racer Chris' recent video) from stuffing his bumper into your passenger compartment, causing serious injuries or a fatality. Do you want to have that cage full of "beginners mistakes"?

--DD

Ive built a few from scratch cages, and also installed/modified a few off the shelf cages (OG racing,Autopower, Safety Devices, etc)

before you buy a cage or attempt this at home, get some pieces of 1.5 and 1.75 in dia do DOM tube and learn to fishmouth tubing, and weld, learn to weld in ackward postions, ie overhead and blind.

then try and destroy your welded joints..if the tube deforms and bends, and the weld holds, your on your way...

then you have to design a good cage.

I modeled a Safety Devices 911 cage on a FEA program and it showed very few hot spots.... An off the shelf cage can work as foundation for a really substantial cage that ties all suspension pickups, together and trangulates the whole tub

Youll need a mandrel bender, a notcher, a right angle grinder, and of course a suitable welder. Also helpful are comealongs, hydraulic jacks etc.. There are tools available so you can copy and tranfer the fishmouth you need to you tubing.

I personally at some point in time wanna put a cage in my teener.

I like the work that has been done to all the teeners by TCDesign.If I lived in Ca. i'd have him do me a cage no problem.

I'd think that after all the teener cages he's done,he'd maybe make a semi-broke down kit that he'd ship to a customer for final welding?

A guy on the East coast dreaming of a cage install by a pro like Tony,will never flip for putting his car on a hauler for a 6000 mile round trip for a cage.But he still wants one.

Does anyone ever had him make and ship a semi-complete cage to final fit and weld at home????.

Just asking.

Ron

QUOTE (RON S. @ Nov 15 2005, 07:12 AM)

Does anyone ever had him make and ship a semi-complete cage to final fit and weld at home????.

Both Tony and I have been asked about this before.
Neither of us (to my knowledge) have taken that step so far. Shipping of a roll cage is a big deal for one thing. Liability is another. At least if we weld it ourselves the liability issue is under our control to the greatest extent possible.

Guys great advice thanks again. I'm with Ron on this one. There has to be plenty of owners out there who'd want cages but without the many miles travel for fitting. I do get that these are custom but surely there's some leeway.

Chris, understand your worried about liability, who wouldn't be. Could a partnership be arranged in different States between the likes of yourselves & sufficiently qualified welders / installers?

Looks like the only option is to find a local raceshop & have the whole thing fabricated. Using a off the shelf roll hoop as a starting point doesn't appear to reduce cost or gain any advantages.

QUOTE (Racer Chris @ Nov 15 2005, 04:19 AM)

Shipping of a roll cage is a big deal for one thing. Liability is another. At least if we weld it ourselves the liability issue is under our control to the greatest extent possible.

Just market them as yard ornaments with big stickers that read "Only for use as a lawn ornament. Not to be used as an FIA/SCCA/POC/PCA approved Porsche 914 safety device for motorsports competition even though it's a perfect fit and will pass inspection and will save your life."
-Ben M.

QUOTE (Racer Chris @ Nov 15 2005, 04:19 AM)

QUOTE (RON S. @ Nov 15 2005, 07:12 AM) Does anyone ever had him make and ship a semi-complete cage to final fit and weld at home????. Both Tony and I have been asked about this before. Neither of us (to my knowledge) have taken that step so far. Shipping of a roll cage is a big deal for one thing. Liability is another. At least if we weld it ourselves the liability issue is under our control to the greatest extent possible.

Chris,

I think that guys like me that live here in Outer Slabobia are caught in a catch 22 situation.

Spending a couple grand on a cage that is a work of art is no problem.The cost's of transportation is.

Plus,when the car leaves the driveway,it is gonna,REPEAT GONNA receieve some damage somewhere from someone,whose gonna point the finger of blame at someone else in a never-ending circle.Translation,lots of sleepless nights and day-long anxiety attacks.

My thoughts for some of the do-it-yourselfers would be to pre-fab the main hoop at the rear of the cab and the upper roof hoop that runs from the rear hoop,up front along the top of the windows,loops the upper windshield header and around back to the rear hoop.

Those two pieces,surely wouldn't be to hard to ship separately.Those are the two hard pieces.The rest can be fab'd at home.

In addition,If your using a cnc bender,the programs by now are locked in stone for a nice snug fit for every 914.


Just a thought from us poor souls out in the netherland,

Ron

For those of us out in the sticks we ought to pool together and buy this.
Then we could pass it around and each use it to build our cages. Or one person could buy it and rent it out to other members. One way or another I'm building a cage someday. I have an engineer friend who will do FEA on the design and weld inspection on the work.

-Ben M.

With all due respect to TonyC and Chris, there are many capable shops within a couple of hundred miles that can and do build really nice cages for teeners.

I agree with Brett.

If you live near Chris then get Chris's cage.
but if you live in the middle of no where (myself included)

you will find MANY good race shops that can build a custom cage.

Try reputable circle track shops.

I'll bet they are common in the south.

I guarantee there are many shops that can weld and build quality cages. The fact that they haven't done a 914 before, doesn't mean they aren't professional race shops.

brant

QUOTE (airsix @ Nov 15 2005, 01:07 PM)

For those of us out in the sticks we ought to pool together and buy this. Then we could pass it around and each use it to build our cages. Or one person could buy it and rent it out to other members. One way or another I'm building a cage someday. I have an engineer friend who will do FEN on the design and weld inspection on the work. -Ben M.

wow. low buck tools is a few miles from me...

Again, not rocket science.......but it does take a good weldor.
I bought an Auto power cage(around 500 bucks from I/O Port Racin'). It's pre-bent .....Did the fitment my self with a few extras thown in (and a couple items thrown out)and my buddy welded it in. IMO, a cage is a waste without tying it into the body for a stiffness increase....tho I have not yet tied in the suspension towers.

You need a torch & grinder to fishmouth or a good drill press
& hole saws. Metal fabrication is not a speciality of mine....but I learn quick and am not the sharpest kinfe in the drawer.

I bought a tubing bender and notcher and welded it myself.
Nodoy would follow through locally, so I did it.
I have welded for years, and had a pro teach me Mig.
I tested several joints and they were great.
I trust my work is done right, It's my life.

I built three 914 race cars to race at a local circle track, used a bender, MIG and a grinder on the first two, bought a notcher for the third! Each one was better than the one before, I had a lot of accidents (circle track is a contact sport), the cars were a lot tougher than I expected, not a single failure! And I learned some interesting things about racing and 914's. Build it yourself!!!