gkull

I have seen some very ergonomic Vette cages. They are not in the way of in and out access and they enhance the looks of the car when you open the door to see a set of nice 5 point belts and bars.

Vettes or nearly any production car are not designed to be survivable in wrecks over 120 mph. You are doing over 135 in just 1/4 mile are you also going over 150 on the freeways?

I've seen in person and pictures of what was left of Vettes after wrecking at high speed

Sigforty

I have seen some nice ones, but not that really fit me. As for the hwy speed it has been a while since I have passed 150 mph regardless of venue.

73BLWN

This one has always made me consider a full cage. http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...000whp-c3.html A nice work of art. My local speed shop will put a 4 point roll bar in for $800. I'd like to go 6 point and add removable bars. I like the idea of being safe, safer, but I'm 6'3" tall and 230 pounds, it's tough to get in and out with the tops on. I plan on installing the roll bar this winter. It'll be an inconvience, but I dont really care because it will look cool, and my car was never a matching numbers car.

I'm just trying to go have a bit of fun, and back up some numbers. I'm wondering what I can do "get away with" resonably safe in a few weeks. I will heed the safety thoughts as I pursue the day.

Manuel Azevedo

You can buy a rule book from NHRA and follow the rules laid out for Bracket racing and you will have a reasonally safe car then. It will also give you sound back (the book) if someone at the track wants to make up thier own rules on you. Good luck.

gkull

This winter I'm cutting both of my floor panels out. I've wanted to do it for years. From the foot well to the coming back towards the seat you will notice that it raises up @ 2.5 inches under the seat. I'm cutting the raised part out and then I will weld the steel seat bolt down brackets back in and of coarse reglass and reinstall my aluminized heat shielding matting along with my fire retardent short pile carpeting.

That additional 2.5 inches would help with your 6'3" height

ajrothm

I don't give a $hit about rules.....I sign the waiver at the track before I race.....if I crash, its my a$$...my choice...I am responsible...I don't think the race tracks should be liable if you sign a waiver....

Either way, I'm not hacking my car up or putting a bunch of race car $hit in it.......I only drag race it a few times a year at the strip.....but i'll bust some a$$ on the street with it...


BTW I am also a licensed NHRA racer, I also race motorcycles and have been 225mph at a sanctioned 1 mile race.

Sigforty

Nice!!

427Hotrod

I will admit that I resisted putting a 6 point bar in my car for a long time. I spent a lot of time and $$ to make it removable as well as have soft top still function. Of course even at the time it needed a full cage since it's a convertible at it's speeds. So it made it *quasi-legal*. I also added full harnesses etc etc.

I figured the bar would be a PITA and I would remove it usually. I've found that it's not that big of a deal with the swing out arms and it just stays completely in there.

And it definitely did stiffen up the car and make it launch straighter and smoother!

I've seen some bolt in 4 points in C-3's that fit very nicely and adding side bars wouldn't be a big deal.


JIM

morganjd

at milan, if you run NOS, you must have a full face helmet, no exceptions

mvette76

hey73blwn if you dont mind someone tagging along i would be interested! my vette should be apart by then hopefully getting ready for paint

NassyVette

For guys who spend more time on the street than the strip, does a 6pt cage become a bad idea? If ur not in a harness or wearing a helmet, I'd imagine the chromoly/steel tubing could be a problem for the unprotected occupant bouncing around inside. Thoughts?

Vogie

Roll bar padding is required in some areas. Check the rules.

Vogie

Hope you never cross the center line.

BKbroiler

Running time trials rather than actual racing, the guy in the other lane will be far,far behind.

gkull

Do you know what injury most race car driver die from? I will give you a hint..... the Hans device prevents this injury. It's the "G" forces exerted on your neck/brain stem from having a heavy head and weak neck. Dale Ernhart and John Lingenfelter would not have died if they had a Hans device on. If I was in a wreck so severe that my skull got cracked hitting the bar would I have been better off without a bar? I don't think so. Your neck would be broken or through the side window. In actuality if I have my seat belts on I would have a hard time getting my head to touch the bars. The padding is more of a helmet saver so you don't ding up the nice helmet paint job.

The only padding I have is right next to your head.

73BLWN

Well, I'm back in town, and I see you guys were busy bantering. Good stuff.

Gkull: I have thought about cutting the floor, but will most likely hold out and put a race seat in for track days if I end up with a cage. I do like your cage Gkull.

morganjd: I will ask about the NOS and full face helmet.

I've been thinking about the NOS blow down tube. I did see a remote NOS valve on the shelf at Hitech Motorsports. I was thinking maybe one doesn't need a blow down tube if the bottle is mounted outside the vehicle. My bottle isn't mounted, so I might as well mount it outside with the remote valve. We'll see if I can score the valve this week.

NassyVette: For me, I'd rather hit my head on the bar then my t-top opening. A roll bar with some padding might be nice. I'd go with removeable side bars just in case they bothered me during normal day to day driving. I have heard others banter about how some shops won't roll bar or cage a street vehicle, so your point is very valid.

ajrothm: Love the attitude. It's like wearing helmets to pedal my bike around the neighborhood. If I start wearing a helmet to do that, I might as well wear one when I shower, or cut the grass. It's my life my choice of what risks to take! As long as it doesn't hurt or kill someone else, leave me alone!

mvette76: Absolutely you could and should come. I'll pm you as the date approaches so we can coordinate. Assuming all goes well. If I fry the clutch on chassis dyno day, I'm starting to think all of this will be a bust.

FYI I called the track today, but no one answered. I'll keep trying.

Off to the garage for the balance of the evening. I only have 3 bolts holding each seat in, my afr gauge stopped working, and weee...the motor started idling about 200 rpms higher like I have a vacuum leak. I'm out of town friday-sunday again, so I better get to it.

73BLWN

Well I lined up a trailer, helmet, driveshaft/halfshaft safety loops arrived, fire jacket, etc. all good. I swapped the pulleys to the higher boost setting, changed the plugs, adjusted the valves, and just before I went to the chassis dyno on monday, I tried to verify the timing. It was showing 45 degrees initial. I mark my distributer and the marks where dead on, so I figured my dial back timing light went bad. The chassis dyno timing light showed the same timing???

The bad knews is my balancer bolt is missing, the dampner spun on the crank. The best guess, I have at this point is the dampner tried to make its way off the crank, and sheared the key, and somehow pulled itself back into place (unlikely), or the blower rotor timing got out of phase, locked and sheared the keyway. Grr...





The bottom line is...I'm most likely done for the season. At the very least, I'll need a new ATI blower hub. I run the big block seal super thick dampner. this shouldn't have happened. I torqued the dampner bolt, and used lock tite red.

I'm not devasted, but I'm not happy.

Thanks for the support. It looks like the strip will be next year.

FYI, 3600 rpms showed 455 torque on the chassis dyno. Lean mid 13's, and the blower snout seal let go and started spraying gear oil.

mvette76

that blows! get the bugs worked out for next year! maybe i'll have mine back on the road by then (doesn't look like it will ever be a hole car again)and bring them both to the strip!

TheSkunkWorks

"If you've got a $10 head put it in a $10 helmet." Evel Knievel

white454

Good Reference page.... LINK