8T1-7T9 BIONIC VETTE

$1,500.00 for a six point cage......$1,700.00 for a eight point cage.....using 1 5/8 cro-molly steel pipe.....I rip out the upholstery....and reinstall......
The six point will prevent use of rear compartment roll up cover......eight point with halo bars will prevent use of sun visors......Seems kind of expensive upgrade that degrades the appearance and use of my car......I'm off the track for good.....Sure would have l enjoyed a deep 11 second run. :seeya Cappy

GrandSportC3

I have also decided that - after I will hit 11's - I will not install a cage in my 68'.... I still might go to the track.. but I will race on street tires and I won't get close to 11's on them...

:cheers:

Olivier

QuickVet

Im surprized it cost that much. you can buy a cage for a lot less in jegs. I wouldnt think it to be impossible to install yourself.

Why dont you just go to the track and not rev the motor in each gear to the point you are able to run 11s? You can still have fun not running your fastest every run :cheers:

GrandSportC3

In my case - a cage would mess up the looks of my Vert and is out of the question... If it would be a coupe.... I would put the cage in.. but not in a convertible...

:cheers:

Olivier

gkull

Cappy

Who ever quoted you Chromoly doesn't know what they are talking about :rolleyes:


You can not put that in your car and expect to be safe. It's pure 101 welding school. After you weld chromemoly you have to heat the bars or should I say the whole cage to @ 375 degrees to anneal the metal.

I believe in safety first. I have a custom job cage and I paid $450 to have custom carpet and fire proof sound insulation mating installed.

I have no sun visors.

I did a custom job. Or i should really say i had a race shop put in a custom 1 3/4 .130 wall seamless mild steel welded to the frame job that meets many racing saction body requirements.

I would like to see an Alston kit or even a Jeg's and determine how good they are.

It's a posed pic above lake Tahoe Nevada. Her feet don't touch the petals with my solid mount sparco seat

Cappy i would get the rule book and really see what is require for an above 10.99 car. Your probably only equired to some small 4 point. Which would mean a solid welded hoop behind the seats and two bars at a 45 degree angle back to the highest point in the frame about centered on the rear wheels.





[Modified by gkull, 3:41 PM 2/6/2003]

8T1-7T9 BIONIC VETTE

gkull,

I wanted to use smaller diameter pipe.....I didn't want fat 1 3/4" pipe. I didn't want 1 5/8" pipe either....I was hoping 1 1/2" would be okay and still comply with NHRA rules.....
The guy claims his Chromoly 1 5/8" pipe is in compliance with NHRA rules.
The ones they sell in Summit and in Jegs are 1 3/4" pipe......Price $150.00... I could go this route however that's some fat pipe.....
Seems this guy charges $700.00 for the 6 point then $800.00 to install.
I did not want to loose any of the space or components on the car....I would not be able to store my glass tops in the back anymore. I would have to wear sun glasses with no visors. :cool:
Just too much taking away from the car and the cost is high.....I don't have experience with welding....and the who do.....want my first born as payment. :seeya Cappy

Crash Dummy

I agree with gkull...

Chrome-moly components are no where in the NHRA rules for a 11 second car. Nor is it in the rules for a 9 second car although it is probably recommended as they are structurally sounder if welded correctly. And I agree with gkull that you do not need a 6 or 8 point cage to go into the 11's. Why not e-mail or write your NHRA division director with your questions? I know when I was finishing my Super Gas car I snail-mailed(e-mail was not the norm) the Div. 4 director a few times about things we had questions about.

Here's a link to contacts for those Division Directors......
http://www.nhra.com/tracks/dd.htm

And I agree with Olivier.... a 6 or 8 point cage in a vert would just look plain silly. Why have a vert if it has a bunch of bars around the top?

JoeC427

:iagree: Listen to gkull. He know what the heck he's talking about. I purchased mine from jegs, remove the interior my self, found a local race car welder that would come to mu home and after two weekends it was done. I did the fiberglass repair (the holes in the floor) myself and I think it cost me 500.00 parts, labor, ect. if your car went 11.91 without it, you most likely will be back in the 12's, but much safer.
:flag

Paul in Warren

Keep in mind that Cappy lives in a completely different world, one that doesn't necessarily play by "our" rules. Hawaii is one helluva expensive place to play the hot rod game! A gallon of milk is 6$ ! One could easily expect to pay up to 30% more for just about anything out there. Think about it - truck freight? Nope! Everything has to be shipped by boat, takes a long time to get there, then you are VERY limited in finding qualified people to actually install something for you. :nonod:
Cappy, check with the NHRA and make some decisions - a cage IS a $$$ P.I.T.A. Do you want this to be a hot street car with occasional strip use? or are you really wanting to make this a strip car? This is what you're really talking about here!
Also, you're just about at the limits of what the IRS will take. If you up the ante even more, or get it to hook any harder - bring a dust pan, oil dry, and a flatbed tow truck with you to every outing you make to the strip. :auto:

gkull

Cappy - Get out a ruler an look at how small an 1/8 of an inch is :) Then look at 1 5/8th and 1 3/4inches.

Smoked tires has a simple 4 point in his flat rear window car. I can still put my tops in back. that's why i left my stock 79 folding seat on the passenger side. My only problem was i couldn't fit my big cooler in back anymore.

QuickVet

I think his car is way to nice to have a roll bar in it :smash:

8T1-7T9 BIONIC VETTE

Paul,
I wise person once said "What we have hea....is a failure..... to communicate......"what we're goin to do.....is make your mind right"...Well you made my mind right, Paul.....
After I calmed down from the price shock of 8 point roll cage.. and reading your post...common sense kicked in. The thought of cutting up this car to gain another second out on the drag strip does not compute.....I will continue fine tuning an already fast street car.....I don't have to prove anything.....Unless someone wants me to be their little Huckleberry....Then I bolt on the MT ET STREETS....it's hammer time. :smash:
Besides that, I can't afford oil dry and a dust pan...or a flat bed truck....So I'm taking it off over here boss. :seeya Cappy

Maurice

So you gonna sell my your 2x used Mickey Thompsons now???

8T1-7T9 BIONIC VETTE

Maurice,
Some how I knew you'd appear :D
You didn't read my post.....where I said, "If someone calls me out....I bolt on the MT ET Streets.....I still have 2x brand new 10" MT ET Streets......however you'll need rims and 1/4" spacers to get them under your your car. You can have them for $125.00 each.......let me know and I'll hold em for you. :seeya Cappy
BTW I still have a brand new (still in the box) set of AFR 210 Heads angle milled to 64cc CNC and ported with special high lift roller cam springs and special head gasket.... a brand new (still in the boxes) Small Base Comp roller Cam with roller lifters....I'll let the complete set go for $2500.00..... :seeya Cappy

yellow 72

:yesnod: :iagree: :cheers:

DeenHylton

Looking at page 203 of the 2003 NHRA Rule Book you can see a picture of the MINIMUM requirement of an approved roll bar. The rule books states the minimum diameter is 1 3/4" no matter what material is used (mild steel or chromoly). A 5-point (read FIVE-point) bar is the minimum...4-points behind the seats plus the sidebar. The side-bar is ONLY required on the drivers side and can be a swing-out bar for easier entry/exit. For those of you running a convertible you must run a roll-bar when exceeding a 13.99 second E.T. (read S-L-O-W)
For those of us running T-Tops you can run as quick as ten seconds flat (10.00 E.T.) with out a full roll-cage if your firewall, floor and body are unaltered. One thing I want to point out is I had said in a previous post that you had to weld the roll-bar in if you had an OEM frame rather than a Unibody. That is NOT true...you CAN bolt the bar in but it needs to be bolted directly to the frame. As in previous discussions all welding must be wire-feed MIG or TIG...no stick-welding, no grinding of welds.
:smash:

ricketyray

I noticed yours is color matched... looks awesome :cool: ties in great with the rest of your interior; You do that yourself?

71roadster

George,
why would a chromoly roll bar need to be annealed? My buddy used to make circle track motorcycle frames out of chromoly and they never annealed those. I'm currently enrolled in a welding course at the local community college so would be real interested in how your thoughts jive with those of the instructor. Not trying to slam anybody, just trying to get the whole story.

Thanks
Chris

gkull

Chris when you weld Chromemoly the welds become crystal and brittle. The first impact or frame flexing the welds fracture instead of bending. All race car frames are annealed before they start hanging any pieces on them. I think they have to bring the frame up to something like 375 degrees. At races I seen people doing repairs and they hook the big arc welder leads outside the repaired area and turn it into a monster light bulb for a little bit.


[Modified by gkull, 3:42 PM 2/6/2003]

'79ProwlerOrange

Can you guys post pics of where the cage bars go through the floorpan? I would like to do a 6-point with swing out/Removable door bars, and i want to see how you went through the floor and welded to the frame. if you dont want to post them i'll gladly take them in a email :D Thanks :seeya