mouseIX

So the time has come for my car to go under the knife. Some serious safety upgrades are happening over the winter break. The shop I'm using specializes in Porsches, but the 2 fabricators do amazing work. My question for those with caged Evo's is:

What do you like about your cage?

What is annoying about your cage/what would have done differently if given the chance?

Any suggestions for my builder?

I've spoken with Balrok several times and taken a few pictures of his cage as reference, but the more pictures and info the better. He has already suggested stitching the main hoop to the b-pillars and have jack points made for the bottom side while the car is in the shop. I plan on following NASA rules.

Thanks in advance for the input!
Pictures much appreciated!

Cheers,

Craig

Balrok

iTrader: (15)

What, not like this?



Hey, it saves weight


But also - consider renforcing the floor pan under the driver and legs. Some people kevlar the underside, but most road race cars weld in diamond steel plate right above the floor. In case you have an "intrusion" in that area.

mouseIX

Werd. Just spoke with the shop owner. He wants to put rocker bars on both sides. And he is throwing in a fire system haha

Driv200

iTrader: (1)

Great tips about drivers floor and main hoops. I'm looking for cage ideas too. How much are you spending and what type of metal?

Robevo RS

iTrader: (16)

just make sure you will get a proper cage designed for the evo.

example custom cages. com

for countless reasons.

mouseIX

This will be a one off cage built for the car. I will forward the link to customcages.co.uk to my builder for additional reference material.

mouseIX

I have the lucky situation to have previously worked for the shop that is building the cage. It has been discussed that I will get materials and paint at cost. Then the throw some bones to the fab guy for all his hard work (I'm having it TIG welded). Material and final concept will be discussed this Friday when I go in and have a meeting. It will be NASA spec.

Balrok

iTrader: (15)

I would also suggest mig instead of tig because it will put a much fatter bead in half the time. The tig cages are normally moly instead of DOM. On that I'd go the 1.5x120 route. 1.75x120 is overkill and adds some 58 lbs when I did the math. 1.75 x095 weighs less then both but having the extra room and strength of the stiff 1.5 is better in my opinion.

Custom cages as rob suggested if you want FIA out of the box.

mouseIX

I'm more concerned with weld penetration than size of the bead. Plus TIG just looks so gosh darn pretty lol. I think we are doing the 1.5x120, but I will verify on Friday.

Oh and my "roommates" have Bells Two Hearted on draft

I also found this just searching the Miller forums in regards to MIG/TIG cage building.

"MIG or TIG...

Let's clarify what I said in the past. Most NASCAR teams MIG weld the chassis. It's mild steel. Now with Chr/Moly, I only recommend TIG. As of today, only 2 NASCAR teams are TIG welding chassis. They are Penske and Yates. As far as performance and safety....about the same. The TIG chassis will be lighter because of less weld material deposition but this equates to only about 11 lbs per chassis. During a chassis deflection test we did, the TIG welded chassis did perform slightly better but those types of stresses will never be seen on the track so both chassis perform equally well. I build stock cars and we MIG weld our chassis. I do, however TIG most of the suspension items. Some sanctioning bodies require TIG welding. Check your rules.

Hope this helps

Here are some pics of the chassis we are doing now.


Andy"

-original source.http://www.millerwelds.com/resources...and-roll-cages

Balrok

iTrader: (15)

Sigh, always IPA's lol. But ya makes sense on the welding. I'd guess it'd be both really. The sections you can get to esp with your roof off and the main joints all Tig, but the areas where you need fill like A and B pillars would get Mig'd.

mouseIX

More than likely. Next on tap is a special edition terrapin stout.

awdboosted

iTrader: (30)

I'm building my cage with 1.5X.120 tubing. However the NASA rule book states that the car needs to weigh in less than 3K. I also think that doesn't include fuel weight. I personally will take the extra weight for the extra room, reducing the chance of head butting a tube in an accident, and helping visibility.

I might need to find some weight reductions. LOL

mouseIX

Needs to weight less?

Balrok

iTrader: (15)

Empty, without fuel, driver or any gear. Your likely 2700 and change right now as it is stripped out. So don't go crazy with bars , and consider other weight loss plans you already have in mind.. I'm at 2900 empty with mine, non RS. But also they don't weigh you for annual stickers, it's a 'we highly recommend but it's your head' rule so if your over because of a safe cage it just means a list of weight loss upgrades eventually, so I wouldn't worry.

For tt and de also it isn't required in the first place so you'll have plenty of time.

mouseIX

I'm just confused with the part of the rules making you weight less than 3k lbs. Most sanctioning bodies require a minimum weight not a maximum weight. It doesn't make sense.

The plan was build the car sub minimum weight and then place weight in ideal locations in the car to meet the weight requirement.