Caged Interiors

[SDgoods]

This is exactly what I want, but are harnesses still "safe" attached to a bolt-in cage?

 

Also, that looks like a Bride Zeta Type S, or an Exas III.

The bar isnt going anywhere. What is your concern with the harnesses? When the bar comes out again im getting a rod welded in right there to keep them sliding laterally.

[rnye]

 

Full cage and harnesses.  Run it on the street and use padding on the door bars/halo.  Probably worthless, but whatever.  

 

 

 

 

NASA/SCCA legal, Bride seats, no carpets/etc.  When the car goes into paint I am going to see about having the seats lowered to possibly clear the bars... We'll see. 

Edited March 31, 2014 by rnye

[Xnke]

While I don't think driving it without a helmet is safe, I have to say that is about as low as an S30 should ever go...it looks great at that height.

 

Is that X-brace behind the roll bar required?

[johnc]

The X in the rear braces is not required, its just one option.  Most folks run a diagonal in the plane of the main hoop and for a FIA cage they run one additional diagonal or the X brace pictured in the plane of the rear braces.

[Tony D]

We're worried about your head, not our time.  Have your buddies take a baseball bat, wrap it in foam, and then have them hit you in the head as hard as they can.  That is the best case scenario.  Worst case: take a 1.5" OD steel tube and have your buddies do the same thing, without the padding.

 

That is going to surface later...it's too good an example not to repeat and claim as my own. Remember, you heard it here first!

[RebekahsZ]

Will it clear with sideburns?  Just kidding, but put your helmet on and make sure you don't have to have a crick in your neck when driving.  I like it and am jealous.

[Gareth. J.]

Would a properly padded (not that SFI 45.1 fire rated hard plastic) cage be any harder on your head than the stock interior? The standard 'A' pillars have basically no padding under the vinyl, the horizontal section above the door is the same also.

[johnc]

Yes - mostly flat sheet metal vs thicker wall round tube. And the issue is more distance from the head then material your head hits. At a minimum you loose 2" of clearance to the bare bar.

[tube80z]

Yes - mostly flat sheet metal vs thicker wall round tube. And the issue is more distance from the head then material your head hits. At a minimum you loose 2" of clearance to the bare bar.

 

Actually more distance is probably not that helpful.  It allows more acceleration before impact.  If you look at most new cars the interior has become cramped so that you don't have as much room to move before you touch the plastic.  The key is to have something that spreads the load over a wider area.  I have been looking closely at this for my new street car and haven't decided if I want to use structural foam in the roof rails or use tube that seats into the flat panel.  I have already figured out you can run tubing inside the wheel well from the rocker up to the back of the fender top to complete the lower leg.  Not really SCCA compliant but for a street car probably good enough.  There are also a lot of clues to be taken from modern cars like the 3 series BMWs for how to reinforce the front end.  And like Dan's cage you can do a cross bar the mimics what modern cars run under the dash.  

 

Cary

[johnc]

More distance is helpful if the belts get to slow the acceleration - assuming a race seat and harnesses.

[Tony D]

Or if far  enough you never hit it at all... The prime thing you take away adding a cage inside the existing crash structure of the unit body.

[Wedge]

I know nothing about roll cage but couldnt you do an x section on the top bar instead of having them pass next to your head or like this )( fixed in the middle its not as strong as straight bars ,but for street use it clears your head...

Edited July 6, 2014 by Wedge

[JMortensen]

Not legal for racing, but not a bad idea. There is a guy who does Miata cages like this, and several people have run a roll bar and just added a single bar to the top of the windshield frame right in the middle and claim that it stiffens things up quite a bit more than just the roll bar alone.