Second cage is done

#1





#2

my $0.02 …
gut feel says that the dash bar is too bent and will just continue bending in a side impact. Also, looks to be about the right height to de-kneecap the driver.

Are you sure the rear down bars are between 75 and 105 degrees to the main hoop in the plan view? - they look like they are too far in at the top

cheers,
bruce

#3

Bruce is right. In a side impact that Knee bar will fail and could really do some damage.

#4

Keeping in mind that our tightly-controlled (yes, I know, stabilized) rules prohibit you from removing the heater box, which is, incidentally, huge, many cage builders will tell you that it is "non-traditional" to put such "elaborate" cages into cars with a heater box still installed. What they are trying to say is: "How the hell do you expect me to route the front cross-bar with that giant heater box in there?!?"
My experienced cage builder luckily was able to give me a high cross-bar that somehow clears everything without any dramatic bending. I’m still not sure how he did it.

#5

three comments/questions:

  1. are you allowed to bend the main hoop like that? looks very odd that you would bend the hoop backwards above the harness bar.
  2. the cage is set back in the car very far.
  3. very few of the bars share attachment points which are crucial in distributing a load in the event of an accident.

Great to see another racer ready to roll on-track.

#6

It doesn’t look like it bends back, but it does angle back quite a bit. If it does ‘bend’, that would violate the requirement for the main bar, diagonal and horizontal bar to be on the same plane (15.6.6 & 15.6.7)

The rear down bars angle looks to be around 55 degrees from the main hoop, hard to tell from the front view.

-Scott

#7

wsl wrote:

[quote]It doesn’t look like it bends back, but it does angle back quite a bit. If it does ‘bend’, that would violate the requirement for the main bar, diagonal and horizontal bar to be on the same plane (15.6.6 & 15.6.7)

The rear down bars angle looks to be around 55 degrees from the main hoop, hard to tell from the front view.

-Scott[/quote]

in the last photo he posted I swear that bar changes planes right above the cross bar.

of course it could be an optical illusion.

#8

Wow it sounds like there are a couple of structural engineers racing in spec e30. :whistle: First of all the knee bar isn’t above your knees it’s above your shins, optical illusion number one. Also we are both short drivers 5’9". It is stronger than it looks. This is the third cage ellingsworth has built for spec e30’s. IT’S LEGAL. And it’s very comfortable.

#9

wsl wrote:

[quote]It doesn’t look like it bends back, but it does angle back quite a bit. If it does ‘bend’, that would violate the requirement for the main bar, diagonal and horizontal bar to be on the same plane (15.6.6 & 15.6.7)

The rear down bars angle looks to be around 55 degrees from the main hoop, hard to tell from the front view.

-Scott[/quote]

they are on the same plane. The pictures make it look like it bends backwards but it’s actually bending inside to compensate for the bend in the B pillar.

#10

Just curious Mike, but if you and your dad are around 5’9" why did you decide move the main hoop so far back from the B-Pillar?

#11

DMoses wrote:

The main hoop needs to be near where the rear seat meets the floor. This is suggested to be the best spot for such a crucial structural member of the cage.

#12

remember that it is a four door so the B pillar is further forward.

Not to keep piling on, but for anybody preparing one of these cars, it really doesn’t take that much to remove the sunroof cassette and it lets you get the cage tighter to the roof.
cheers,
bruce

DMoses wrote: