rob cc

anyone know where i can get one ?

can be half and bolt in, any ideas? pics?

M3-FAST

iTrader: (1)

I asked a similar question before xmas and also got no replies lol!

After some digging around etc and speaking to a few people it appears there are a few options for us newage owners.

Scoobyclinic fit the safety devices cage (that is designed for a classic) into the newage cars with no issues, HOWEVER there are brackets that need to be welded. The cage then bolts on to those brackets.

I was trying to find a bolt in cage as I didn't want to completely strip the interior etc for welding. This cage also requires mods to the dash I believe.

A solution for me was the Cusco Safety 21 cage - I managed to find one advertised on here by another member so swiflty went and purchased it from him. It was in great condition so set about installing it!

It was the dash dodger type cage but we were both unsure if it would 'dodge' the more bulbous dash of the newage model. It didn't but was pretty easy to mod. I basically fitted in the rear half of the cage which included a diagonal support bar as well as a harness bar. This required drilling near the top suspension mounts and bolting through the body using strong spreaderplates. It then mounts on the floor just behind the front seats.

The front of the cage consists of 2 curved bars (left and right hand side) with a strenthening brace bar between the two (above the rear view mirror). Because the left/right bars effectively required mounting to the floor an inch closer to the seats (to dodge the dash) it meant an inch of material would require removing from the bars above the front door openings.

I took them to a pro-welder who cut off the mounting lugs, before removing an inch of tube, before re-welding the lugs back on again. The job looks pretty neat and once painted black and covered with lagging, can't be seen!

The previous owner of the cage also had custom door bars made and these fitted on a treat.

Some pics below - let me know what you think

budd

iTrader: (5)

it looks like a good job, but 'dash dodgers' are no longer MSA approved so the car can't be used for any MSA sanctioned events, and if it's not intended for Motorsport where the wearing of a helmet is mandatory then you’ve probably decreased driver and passenger safety rather than increasing it.
Motorsport helmets (as apposed to motorcycle) are required to pass rigours tests in order to achieve Snell / FIA approval, one of these tests is the ability to withstand an impact with a roll cage. Looking at your pics you'll realise why this is, the drivers and passengers head is placed very close to the unyielding roll cage, soft padding my well cushion your head when climbing in and out but will have no effect at all in a big shunt which sees your head bouncing around and banging on the cage.
Without the protection of a crash helmet it's easy to imagine what will happen if the car is involved in any kind of serious accident, even a minor side impact could prove fatal particularly for the passenger whose section of cage isn’t padded
If the car primarily for road use then I’d suggest at least fitting some seats with some side protection for your head, hopefully then the ‘wings’ on the seats will provide some protection either that or drive round in a crash helmet.!!

M3-FAST

iTrader: (1)

I fully understand that dash dodgers are no longer MSA approved, that is exactly why the previous ownerwas changing it

The car is no longer used on the road and is only trailered to track days, hence the fitting of the cage and harnesses. Obviously, track days dictate the use of helmets, which I of course wear! I would not travel in a road car with a front roll cage fitted as I value my head too much!!

The cage has made the car a lot more rigid and hopefully provide some protection in the very unlikely event of a roll over

The entire cage is padded now, from the centre section forward on both the passenger and drivers side

budd

iTrader: (5)

That's good to hear and I’m sorry if I sounded like I was lecturing but too many people fit cages for the looks and don't consider the dangers of using them in a road car. It’s only a matter of time before someone is killed or seriously injured in a badly modified car before the Government get involved and ban any form of modification ( it’s happened on a lot of European countries ) and we don’t need to give the powers that be any further ammunition.

I’ve been guilty of this myself firstly with a TVR that ended up with a half cage as I was using it more and more on track but I still used it on the road and then in a highly tuned 200SX that was a stripped track car but again I still used it on the road, neither were daily drivers and only used on the road occasionally but none the less the proximity of cage and head (particularly in th3 TVR) made using them on the road was a real risk.
My current Impreza is been built to run in the Nippon Challenge and as such will have a MSA cage (probably the OMP bolt in) and again whilst the car will be a proper race car with all that entails I intend to compete in road based hill climbs and sprints some like the Manx Classic require the car to be road legal so I will still keep it taxed and tested and this will inevitably mean I’ll end up using it on the road from time to time, and while knowing the risks doesn’t minimize them in anyway I’m hoping that using a seat with some head protection will at least make the risk acceptable.

BTW buying a cage that no longer meets MSA approval is a great way of obtaining a piece of quality at a good price, another thing about your car that's nice to see is correctly fitted harnesses, most people simply bolt them to the floor behind the seats this is a recipe for a broken neck, the MSA blue book states the belts should be horizontal + or – 20 degrees which makes your pretty much spot on.

M3-FAST

iTrader: (1)

No worries, I didn't think you were lecturing, my reply might have sounded a little 'to the point' but I was busy at work and prob should have waited until I had more time ha ha

I fully agree about the modified car issue, and would be gutted if the government ever followed the routes of other countries and banning all mods. I run an E90 M3 as my daily driver, and even that has been lowered etc - I love my cars

If you have a nippon challenge car you will probably recognise where my cage came from, out of Karen Philips classic WRX! They had to remove it and were going to install the straight legged Safety Devices cage also.

The harness bar is a good feature of this cage and yes, provides a perfect mounting for the harnesses. One thing I am unsure of and you may have advice.....as you can see on the picture if the harnesses, they still have the clips on them for using mounting eyelets. There is no way to easily remove these as the harnesses are stitched at each end so can't be unthreaded. My only option is to use a grinder or saw and very carefully remove them without damaging the harness belt or is it OK ti just leave them on? Just don't really like the look of them thats all, they dont interfere with the operation of the harnesses.

rob cc

Cage look wkd mate, well want one, but prob just the rear part with the cross beams. Just for show really! Thanks for the info!

budd

iTrader: (5)

Sometimes when I offer advice in threads and I read back my post I think god that sounds so patronising but it’s not the way it’s intended, but I guess that’s the problem with remote communications email, texts, forum posts etc it’s often easy to offend unintentionally or sound like a 'know it all' , as I said I don’t mean to tell anyone how ‘suck eggs’ .

And yes I know Karen and her hubby who prepares the car, not sure what she’s doing this year as the Subaru Cup which she raced is struggling for entries and the last I heard she was considering moving to the Nippon in GT 300 class rather then production in the Cup,I'm also undecided although I'm favouring the Nippon at present but as they all run together I don’t suppose it makes a great deal of difference in real terms.
You can follow her progress and that of the series at their new web site ;
http://reddragonraceandtrackclub.com/
Re your harnesses I see what you mean the with clips hanging down, I think what I’d do is tape them up with blue duck tape , out of sight is out of mind as they say, or if you really want them gone tape up the surrounding belt in duck tape and carefully grind them off, if you use a thin cutting disc( 1mm ish ) then you should be able get them off relatively easily with minimal heat build up leaving the belts unscathed but if they are doing no harm you could simply leave them because if you change your plans you can’t put them back.

Dutch Scooby lover

iTrader: (3)

If you want the eyelets gone I would use a hacksaw or a 1mm cutting disc.

Wetting the fabric with water before taping up the belt right next to the eyelet will protect from heat, the tape will protect from the grinder slipping and fraying the belt.