More pics, and some higher resolutions HERE

Just got it primered with a little paint on it. Obviously need to do some cleanup inside... Some items of note... it's fairly straitforward. We were trying to balance safety with weight and not go overboard with the extra bars. The harness bar is curved because my seats sit VERY far back in the car. I still want to have a passenger seat for right now, so no petty bar. This is also why the bar goes strait down the center roof area. The passenger firewall bar angles over to meet a more reinforced area (as opposed to going strait forward).

I have no clue why the door bars "lean" out. This appears to be a style of the builder. The cage was built by Chris Schimmel in Hillsborough, NC. Close to home, quality work, and at a good price

 

Looks damn good from what I see.

 

Out of curiosity, and if you don't mind my asking,

1) How much did the cage cost to build?
2) Do you have to remove windows, so the welder has access for welding?
3) What ruleset is this built for?

Thanks in advance for the answers, the cage looks nice by the way!

 

Jeff that looks great. I particularly like the attachment points - still "attached to the floorpan" but primarily uses the rocker sill. Good stuff.

Looks like the door bar "leans out" because it has to go so far back (and curve around the b pillar). Your main hoop is the only one I've seen that is on the elevated "rear seat" part of the tub (if I'm seeing the pics right). I've seen an interesting solution to this from Piper.

I love my custom Kirk Racing cage but would happily recommend Chris Schimmel at Competition Cages here in NC. Really good stuff.

 

Karl, the main hoop sits on a pad similar to the front. I'm assuming this allows the load to be spread out over a larger area. Again, this seems to be a builder style thing. The miata that was in before me had very similar front and rear floor mounts.



mojoGSR92, the builder removed the driver window (it's now gone forever). The passenger side stayed in. I believe the cage should be IT legal, though it was specifically built to NASA (and honda challenge) rules - though I/we decided not to take advantage of the almost unlimited national rules. This car will already have a weight disadvantage to the CRX shells in H1. Not to mention cost was an issue. Adding 6 more attachment points at a cost of $500 (made up figure) just wasn't very appealing.

 

Okay, that picture makes it clear to me now. The load spread thing makes sense and ties in the strong vertical structures in the process.

--Karl, glad to know a whole bunch of skilled cagebuilders within several hours of his house...

 

I like how he did the door bar. Makes things a lot easier when you can loose the window. My "boxes" for the main hoop are exactally like yours.

 

Looks great Jeff
Looking forward to watching you race

 

Nice looking cage.

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I do my main hoops up on the step too and curve the shoulder bar as well to fit a big driver. There are lots of planes of steel joining together at the floor there that you can reinforce and tie to with the allowed 100 square inches of steel mounting pad.

 

nice roll cage.

 

Looks good!

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I have a stupid stupid semi-OT question that came to mind for you guys with nascar bars/no driver-side window:

If you tow your car to the track on an open trailer, and it rains on the way there.... you just get a wet butt when you race? Or do you cover the window with a lexan filler or something for travel?

(edit) and question part 2: what to do if car is parked on trailer in parking lot where you are staying at a hotel or something and the window is wide open?

Ben, who is curious and wants nascar bars too

 

One common solution is to use the stock window or a lexan replacement during transport. You can usually rig some straps and/or wood blocks so that you can slide it in and fasten it in place. Or a heavy duty trash bag taped in place (probably wouldn't hold up to transport, but good enough for the paddock).

 

Regarding the price... I've emailed the builder to see about posting the price publicly. I personally don't have a problem saying, but I want to make sure he feels the same way.

It's probably not a big deal.

 

Very nice
Probably very similar to what I'll end up getting.

 

I cover the seat with a tarp if it is raining or remove the seat cushions on my pimpy race seat. Car just gets wet. I have always left the car at the track where I feel it is safe from thieves but I really wish I could afford an enclosed trailer. So much less stress related to thieves.

 

Looks very nice Jeff.

 

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I have the glass window held up by bungee. Not 100% water tight, but good enough.

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Remove steering wheel and kill switch, put tarp over car.

 

Just heard back from the builder.

The cage was $1300.

 

loolks very nice. good price too.

 

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That's a damn good price. Wow.

As to the question about rain...I don't have either window in the car and to this point have not fabbed up a cover thingy. I remove the cover from the seat, that prevents the wet *** thing. Miraculously, I've found that very little water gets in the race car while I tow. Almost none. I tow with a giant Suburban though, so perhaps it's punching a large enough hole into the wind that it also helps the rain thing with the car.

 

Chris mentioned using a canvas "sleeve" with two tabs on it. You just slide it down over the top of the door, then close the door on the tabs. Seems easier than a sheet of plastic, and probably more wind-resistant as well.