I've decided to start the ball rolling on putting a cage in the prelude, and while I'm not racing yet, I think it's prudent as I'm tracking a lot, and don't really enjoy the idea of being seirously injured.
That said, I don't want to bar myself from possible venues of competition, but forsee myself mainly interested in the honda challenge series; therefore, should I build to the NASA specs, or is there a more "generic" set of rules that I can use that will allow me to run in NASA and SCCA sanctioned races?
Also, can someone take the time (please) and define the whole bracing/6poin/multipoint/diagonals/etc of roll bar construction, as I'm a total newbie retard in that regard (and most others). Thank you.

 

When my cage was built, the NASA rules were the exact same as the SCCA rules.

Keep in mind that honda-challenge rules are more open than SCCA IT rules. If you want to keep legal in both series I'd build by the SCCA rules for the class you'd be racing in. You wouldn't want to build a 10-point cage then decide you wanted to race IT.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bb6h22a &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've decided to start the ball rolling on putting a cage in the prelude, and while I'm not racing yet, I think it's prudent as I'm tracking a lot, and don't really enjoy the idea of being seirously injured.
That said, I don't want to bar myself from possible venues of competition, but forsee myself mainly interested in the honda challenge series; therefore, should I build to the NASA specs, or is there a more "generic" set of rules that I can use that will allow me to run in NASA and SCCA sanctioned races?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I believe that all cages built to SCCA IT rules will be legal for HC and other NASA classes. NASA and specifically HC allow certain modifications that the SCCA does not (like gussets to the body with a weight penalty).

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Also, can someone take the time (please) and define the whole bracing/6poin/multipoint/diagonals/etc of roll bar construction, as I'm a total newbie retard in that regard (and most others). Thank you.</TD></TR></TABLE>

The SCCA GCR (as well as the NASA rule book online) does a pretty specific job of explaining exactly what each of these terms means. Briefly, a "point" is a mounting point. You are required to have six, and may have two additional points to the firewall as braces for the a-pillar bars. A mounting point consists of a plate (specified in the GCR by type) and all of the bars that attach to it. Any number of bars may attach to this "point" so long as they all connect within the max 100 square inches. "multipoint" would mean that more than one tube connects to that plate, such as the main hoop and the main hoop's cross brace if they do not come together before they attach to the plate. "diagonals" are just that...cross braces that run diagonal between two parallel bars as in the required diagonal between the two uprights of the main hoop. "bracing" is either the required bracing as stated in the rule book, or optional bracing. Basically, you're allowed as much bracing as you want in your cage so long as you don't exceed the max number of connections to the body (ie. the bracing is between tubes in the cage and not from the cage to the body, like a dash bar between the two front a-pillar bars).

 

I chose to build to the SCCA rules. Simply for the fact that it leaves me the choice of running in both.....