Another thing with a cage is if you do get in an accident on the street, they may not be able to get you out very easily.

On the street, it's true, the MAIN purpose to cage is for structural rigidness, and any safety advantage would be secondary. Remember, OEs make car to absorb impact, not withstand it.

I like the idea of hiding as much as you can behind/in the body panels, though most are correct that there will be compromises. Monoque & 'space' frame technologies are just that, and you could take that a step further by increasing the thickness of existing metals used in a body/chassis. For example, look at a 'ghost' image or 3D of a Volvo chassis/frame.

With like a 10 second car or better, if you wreck on the street at speed, not much short of bags & belts are going to help (not much help), and you most likely will die. Even with bags & belts, many people die daily in car accidents in 'regular' cars. Your chances are going to be better though if the car absorbs as much of the impact as possible.

Me, personally, there's only so much chassis stiffening I'm willing to do (cost, weight, practical), and when it comes to safety on the street, I guess I'll take my chances like the next guy.

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This is a very interesting thread. I am questioning putting a cage in my car for several reasons and this just added to it. My problem is that I plan on running maybe a low 11 high 10 in the 1/4 so I believe I need one if I want to be able to go to the track and not be kicked out. Ahhh the dilemmas of life.

Here is a thought for the people who just want the structural rigidity and do'nt necessarily need the cage. syborg tt was talking about his truck where they used liquid steel to fill in voids to make it more rigid and it reminded me of a article I read where racers in japan were using a two part spray foam insulation and putting in cavities in their cars to stiffen the chassis. Maybe this would solve some of the problems by just using the spray foam like the liquid steel.

This is an industrial spray foam and is like a two part that is mixed when it is sprayed not the stuff you buy in a can at Wal-Mart.

I did the spray foam trick with My Chevelle about six years ago. I can't say I felt any change in structural rigidity however it make a noticable difference in sound deadening with minimal weight gain. I put in dead areas in between panels, like below the C-pillar, inside the brace below the B-pillar area and some of the kick panel area. I noticed a decrease in "drone" noise when on the highway.

One thing I don't know if it has been mentioned already but I believe it to be fairly importaint in any vehicle with a cage is to improve how the seats mount. Found small bolts through sheet metal wont be enough to hold your strapped in but in place when the rest of the car is no longer flexing or crumpling. If your seat tears loose a big headache will follow.

Pull up next to a cop at a stop light and give him a thumbs up with a helmet on!

Yes, I have been seen that vehicles with bigger hp w/o roll cage, :wow: I would paranoid while driving on bigger HP:drive W/O roll cage: :drive: .

I was also going to use a 4pt roll cage with removeable crossbar. The main reason was to be able to be able to have the shoulder harnesses mount to the crossbar when the crossbar is in for track and just use the lap belt part of the camlock harness when I still want to use the back seat (and still HAVE a backseat).

Does anyone understand my way of thinking here?

When your car will be half street use and half track use, it is an option.

And while I am at it, anyone have a recommended manufacturer of
a chromoly cage for E-bodies??? (Cuda/Challenger)

Thanks

this is my first car i'm rebuilding and putting a 4pt roll bar in but i wouldn't feel safe with a roll bar that isn't welded together. having bolts to hold pieces or a piece of roll bar in place seems sketchy due to if that bolt was to break, there could be some serious consequences. if you do put a bolt i would atleast put to bolts at each location so if one fails you still have a back up.

Ive driven street cars with cages. A legal to 10 seconds cage, if done right, can almost be like having no cage at all. Just takes the right parts and a well thought out install.
My current project will be way faster than 10 seconds. So I had an 8.50 legal setup installed. We are just finishing it up, and while its a bit more intrusive, my installer did a top rate job of keeping it out of the way (as much as possible) as well as making it safe for the speeds planned. Lots of work getting everything to fit together. When you cut the floor out of the car (to channel it over an aftermarket frame) NHRA rules require a bunch more work to make it legal. But the majority of the extra work is under the floor.
There are 3 things about street car cages that can cause problems. First is a crappy design/install that places the tubes in such a way that you are constantly banging some part of your body against them. A well designed cage will minimize this. Second is the cross bar. It can make it impossible to use the rear seat. Alston has some very nice hardware that makes a removeable cross bar possible. Lastly are the door bars. Lots of people use swing outs. I used them. Once. Rattled, PITA to open when in the seat, etc. This time we put removeable door bars in using the same Alston parts. If your not racing, you can leave the cross bar and door bars at home.