Auto Power Industries/DSE/Tiger Cage

[Chassisworks]

Originally Posted by Sieg

Hope that doesn't create any unnecessary brand maintenance.

We shall see. So far the only thing of note is a bunch of our parts ended up in one of their ads on another car website. We were pretty stoked about the free exposure.

[Ron Sutton]

Originally Posted by Chassisworks

Regarding the placement of the main hoop: Per NHRA rules the main hoop of a roll BAR must be within 6" of the helmet, vertically and horizontally, but it does NOT have to be that close when you have a roll CAGE. I do not know if this is the case with any other sanctioning bodies (NASA, SCCA, et al.) but thought it worth a mention.

Yes. When we used to install roll bars a lifetime ago, we mocked up the driver & set them 4" away from the roll bar main hoop. Didn't want the driver's head hitting the bar ... even with a helmet. In PT cars it needs to be 5" in my opinion.



Thanks Ron! There are definitely differences. The old Alston name is still around as 'Alston Race Cars,' mostly selling parts Chris designed in the '70s.
Yup. Yup. Exactly.


Interestingly, it was sold last year and purchased by one of our competitors.

Hmmm. Weird. Why would a company want to use the old Alston Race Cars name.

[glassman]

Originally Posted by Ron Sutton

When you say it's from "Alston" ... is that Chris Alston's Chassisworks or the old Alston Race Car Engineering brand that was bought out when Chris' brother Tom's company went defunct long ago?


I ask, because Chris Alston Chassisworks builds the best roll bars. The use a higher grade of steel, because Chris understands steel. And the roll bars & cages fit tighter to the body which provides more room for people to move around... especially the driver who can get quite busy in the cockpit.

Chris Alston Chassisworks, bout three years ago, problem is they (the people i bought the roll bar from, not CA)can't find all the parts. The guy had a 2nd gen and sold it....
The guy i'm having do the install / welding use to work there. He opend up a company here in the east bay called 'East Bay Metal fab", ....

mike

[Ron Sutton]

Originally Posted by glassman

Chris Alston Chassisworks, bout three years ago, problem is they (the people i bought the roll bar from, not CA)can't find all the parts. The guy had a 2nd gen and sold it....
The guy i'm having do the install / welding use to work there. He opend up a company here in the east bay called 'East Bay Metal fab", ....

mike

Okie Dokie. The main hoop should fit good then.

[TheJDMan]

Even today I fondly remember watching Alan in that red and white Camaro hole shot the competition. Damn he was quick on the lights!!!

Ron,
I have a question regarding the roll bar braces that you show in red which connect to the subframe connectors. The SCCA requires a diagonal bar that intersects the horizontal seat belt bar and attaches at the base of the RH hoop mount up to the corner of the hoop behing the drivers head. How would one incorporate both of these bars?

[Ron Sutton]

Originally Posted by TheJDMan

Even today I fondly remember watching Alan in that red and white Camaro hole shot the competition. Damn he was quick on the lights!!!

Ron,
I have a question regarding the roll bar braces that you show in red which connect to the subframe connectors. The SCCA requires a diagonal bar that intersects the horizontal seat belt bar and attaches at the base of the RH hoop mount up to the corner of the hoop behing the drivers head. How would one incorporate both of these bars?

I have seen it done two ways. I edited the drawing to show both ways.

The image on the left is version #1, where the diagonal bar & the subframe bar basically make a x-brace on the passenger side.

The 2nd image is version #2. I prefer this version, as the diagonal bar connecting to a 2"x3"x120" wall subframe connector (fully welded to the floor, front & rear frames) will be a tick stronger & lighter. But technically it doesn't fit the letter of the rule.

I asked the guy who had done his car this way, and he said he simply ran the design past his local SCCA tech director before building it and got an OK. So, if you go this route, I'd get approval first.

[feeble]

If I understand the SCCA rules correctly, isn't the diagonal bar supposed to be continuous?

Here is my car:


Several things I'm not real clear about yet are:

1) Height of the harness bar relative to the cutout in the seats (obviously I'll need to figure out what seats I'm going to use.)

2) The harness bar that came with my kit has bends on both ends so that it would not be in the same plane as the hoop when installed. Wouldn't it be better to have it in the same plane?

3) The bars that Ron shows in red were included with my kit but will not work in my car as the subframe connectors connect to the suspension pickup point directly underneath where the main hoop attaches to the floor. Any thoughts for an alternative location?

Thx!

[Damn True]

For both NASA and SCCA the diagonal is supposed to be uninterrupted, the harness bar is the one that should be segmented.


FIA as well if memory serves but it's been a long time since I reviewed those rules.

[Tuske427]

Wow, sure am glad I stumbled across this post. I'll be adding those "red" bars to my rollbar to tie into the subframe. Thank you, everyone, for sharing this info.

-Brendon

[Tuske427]

"red" bars added. It's like the "version 1" based on Ron's attached images posted earlier.