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I can do your cage. Have done at least 8 so far between the NorCal regbion and here in Danville, VA. Basic cage starts at $1800 and goes up according to what you want. I’ve been a NASA member since 1995 and was an instructor for 5 years. I also have a chassis dyno in the shop if you want to do tuning.
Mark Welch
444 Wilson Street
Danville, VA 24541
434-770-2645
I’ll look and see if I can find any pictures or if I can get to my car to take a picture.
I just picked the cheapest, closest cage builder who’s done se30s and let him do it how he wanted. I actually didn’t know it was legal to run tubes in the trunk at the time. I went to Chris schimmel “Competition Cages” in hillsborough, NC. Cost me 18 something including removing the sunroof cassette, a dash bar, and nascar door bars almost tight up to the outer door skin on the driver’s side. He also put in the window net included in that price. I think I posted pictures on this forum somewhere.
Get your racing seat mounted where you want it and take your window and right side net with to the cage builder so they can weld that stuff where it needs to go instead of guessing how what you buy is going to mount. If your going to lower your steering column you should do that also before you get the cage put in. If the cage builder is far away ask about leaving the trailer there while it’s being built. I made the assumption I could leave it but his yard is to small, so he has to arrange it with a neighbor.
http://www.spece30.com/forum/16-general-discussion/52815-2011-rules?limit=10&start=50
Heres some pics of questionable legality. I believe there is a serves no other purpose rule about cages.
Here you go. I unloaded the car from the trailer on Friday and drained the water for winter. Sorry it took so long
[attachment=1647]IMG_0903.JPG[/attachment]
[quote=“ilateapex” post=60670]Here you go. I unloaded the car from the trailer on Friday and drained the water for winter. Sorry it took so long
[attachment=1647]IMG_0903.JPG[/attachment][/quote]
Thank you very much for the help!
What is the silver plate with two bolts in it next to the mounting plate?
That is a reinforcement piece for an aftermarket rear sway bar. You can see my rear bar attachment points and similar reinforcement here:
[quote=“King Tut” post=60722]That is a reinforcement piece for an aftermarket rear sway bar. You can see my rear bar attachment points and similar reinforcement here:
[/quote]
What he said.
You can’t see it in the picture but there is also a tube from this mount that goes forward and ties back into the B pillar bar. Also, keep note that non required bars do not have to meet the minimum bar size (they can be smaller).’
Just FYI.
[quote=“ilateapex” post=60731][quote=“King Tut” post=60722]That is a reinforcement piece for an aftermarket rear sway bar. You can see my rear bar attachment points and similar reinforcement here:
[/quote]
What he said.[/quote]
Thanks for all of the help.
I am looking for a cage fabricator in the NJ area. Anyone have someone? I have looked at the NASA cage requirements, is there a document that is specific to E30’s?
I can do it here in VA near VIR. I’ll be in NJ on Monday next at Guten Parts and Service if you want to meet to talk about cage design. I’ve built several Spec E30 cages and Spec3 (E36) also.
There’s no real document/white paper for SE30 cages. Rather, it’s probably best to use a seasoned fabricator who can offer you options, i.e., door bars, rear supports and bracing, etc. That same fabricator should be aware of the GCR’s and requirements for the sanctioning body. NASA and SCCA are the same, essentially.
At my shop, a good safe, solid cage starts right at $1850. That’s with “X’d” door bars. NASCAR style left bars add another $200. Includes window net from I/O Port Racing, your choice of colors.
Mark Welch
444 Wilson Street
Danville, VA 24541
434-770-2645
(Soon to be) www.GoE30Racing.com (site under construction)
X’d means a cross or 2 bars forming an X covering the door opening. NASCAR is 3 parallel bars that protrude into door opening. The bars are supported by short uprights. More tubing and more difficult to make but better protection.
Cages are kind of complicated. You need to go sit in some e30’s and have their owners talk about their cages. There’s a bunch of variables and features and without sitting in a car you’re not going to understand the significance of what folks might try to discuss in this thread.
NASCAR bars is a door bar design where the bars intrude into the car’s door. This is a popular design because it’s perceived to give the driver more protection. Some cars have it on the driver’s side only. On the downside, you have to gut your doors and it’s harder to get in/out of your car.
The location of the knee bar is a big deal. Getting it high enough to clear the knees, forward enough to clear the dash, low enough to block the engine from intruding, and also clear the steering column is a neat trick and frequently not successful.
Getting the A and B pillar bars nice and snug against the pillars is also tricky.
Read a lot of threads about cages and look for pics. That will get you started. But that’s no substitute to sitting in people’s cars and talking to them about what they like and don’t like about their cages.
My first car had x brace door bars not NASCAR. If it had not reached end of life I would have probably done something to strengthen it’s driver’s side door bars. It’s need bar was a little low and forward. It gave me shin a nice whack when the car reached end of life.
My current car has A and B pillar bars too far from the pillars and the knee bar is too high. It has NASCAR bars which do make ingress/egress harder, but I feel much more protected. When I got the car it already had a cage. I’ve never worked with a cage builder and had a cage built to my specs. Hopefully I’m a couple yrs out yet from car #3.
Last post on this subject for me. According to Ranger, “cages are complicated”. They’re really not. There’s a finite amount of space inside a car and a professional will use it to a.) give you as much room as possible and b.)fit as closely as possible to roof, A and B pillars, and doors in case of roll over or wreck. His comment about “knee bars” begs some difference of opinion. It can go below or above the steering column. Below it has to be padded, so no shim hits. It will not stop an intruding engine, no matter what! If you hit so hard that the engine comes into the driver compartment, well…the knee bar is the last of your worries. He is right about sitting in other people’s race cars to try to think about what you like and don’t like. Lastly, the matter of getting in and out of a damaged car or car on fire is somewhat determined by the driver’s size, as odd as that may sound. Very tall or fat driver’s may opt for a front door bar design that allows faster exit. Removable steering wheel should be a request also. Since 1995, I’ve built over 140 cages. They are definitely personal, as they should be, but not really that “complicated”.
Mark Welch
[quote=“cageman” post=69777]Last post on this subject for me. According to Ranger, “cages are complicated”. They’re really not. There’s a finite amount of space inside a car and a professional will use it to a.) give you as much room as possible and b.)fit as closely as possible to roof, A and B pillars, and doors in case of roll over or wreck. His comment about “knee bars” begs some difference of opinion. It can go below or above the steering column. Below it has to be padded, so no shim hits. It will not stop an intruding engine, no matter what! If you hit so hard that the engine comes into the driver compartment, well…the knee bar is the last of your worries. He is right about sitting in other people’s race cars to try to think about what you like and don’t like. Lastly, the matter of getting in and out of a damaged car or car on fire is somewhat determined by the driver’s size, as odd as that may sound. Very tall or fat driver’s may opt for a front door bar design that allows faster exit. Removable steering wheel should be a request also. Since 1995, I’ve built over 140 cages. They are definitely personal, as they should be, but not really that “complicated”.
Mark Welch[/quote]
They aren’t complicated to you because you know what you’re doing. I only barely do. To the PO tho, there’s a lot more ways for a cage to crappy, or for cage features to vary, then he likely understands. So to him, I would describe cages as complicated.