Guest -=81zx=- Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 I am wanting to buy a cage for my 81 280zx from [/url]www.swracecars.com but they don't have one for my car but they make one for the 240z and 86 300zx. my question is which one do think would be closer to fitting in my car? i know neither on is going to be perfect but i can work around that. thanks in advance derek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest -=81zx=- Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 i only want to get the 8 point cage if that makes a differance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katman Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 And you want a cage for what purpose? Sorta need to know that first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest -=81zx=- Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 to add saftey and stiffen the chassis. if that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katman Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 Ahhh, chassis stiffening. The S&W cage won't do much of that. It will, however, add a bunch of nearly worthless weight above the CG. The 280ZX, like the Z that preceeded it, is most flexible forward of the firewall. A 3 point strut tower bar would be a giant first step, do some searches on that. After that you really need a custom engineered cage. Most cages are designed for safety. Effective stiffening (versus mental masturabation) usually encroaches seriously on the passenger compartment, so effective cages are rarely seen in street car applications IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 240hybrid Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 http://www.jegs.com They have cages...4 point, 6, 8, and 10 points cages. I believe they have some for your year too. Search their page, get a catalog, or call. Calling might be best for this type of item as far as year/model fitting. http://www.zcarparts.com MSA sells 6 point cages too, but their getting pricey. They have them for the 280ZX...the yellow/black cataloge list them. They went up to $750 from what I heard though. They're "auto-power" cages that can be bolted in or welded, and from what I heard this brand is of good qaulity and is what is in my 73. Good luck Chase Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest -=81zx=- Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 Thanks i didn't know about the jegs kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumbo240ez Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 Katman, if you could, you might want to post the mag article that featured your Z cage building expertise and execution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260DET Posted January 8, 2004 Share Posted January 8, 2004 Ahhh, chassis stiffening................................... Most cages are designed for safety. Effective stiffening (versus mental masturabation) usually encroaches seriously on the passenger compartment, so effective cages are rarely seen in street car applications IMHO. Don't know about the second gen cars but a friend of mine has a half cage in his first gen and I've just started to do the basics for mine. IMHO the first gens flex around the rear as witnessed by the number that crack their roof arches. My '77 creaks in the rear when diagonally crossing a shallow gutter, it even creaks when going around some slow, sharp corners. The friend's car with the half cage does not creak at all and feels tighter on the race track than mine. The good thing about a half cage too is that it does not intrude forward of the seat backs. You can also incorporate a rear strut bar and seat belt anchorage points in the design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katman Posted January 9, 2004 Share Posted January 9, 2004 Katman, if you could, you might want to post the mag article that featured your Z cage building expertise and execution. It's been hosted by somebody on this site but after a quick search yesterday I didn't find it. I've emailed a scanned copy to several people, perhaps whoever put it up before will speak up. I'll see if I can put it up somewhere. A search on "ITS 240Z cage article" does produce links to several threads of great interest however. Good thought provoking discussions from folks other than me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad-ManQ45 Posted January 9, 2004 Share Posted January 9, 2004 http://home.comcast.net/~brad-man/index.html This should get ya'll to the ITS cage article on my page Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260DET Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Hmmm, so noone uses or is interested in a half cage? You want to have your brains bashed out on a full cage? We are talking non racing use aren't we. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KEINsm Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 I was thinking about getting a 6 or 8 point cage to my car in the future to mainly increase crash safety. Of course, any old car can use a stiffer chassis too. I haven't found good info regarding passenger friendly street-oriented cages. The thing I'm most concerned about is side impact safety. Although dying in your Z can be the most pleasant death (for some), I want to avoid death if possible. Does anybody know if the MSA cage is good as a daily driver? Can a 4-point harness be secured on there as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 I was thinking about getting a 6 or 8 point cage to my car in the future to mainly increase crash safety. I think the point was that having a cage (especially a full cage) in a street car can be more of a liability than a help, as far as crash safety is concerned. Race cages are designed for a properly restrained, helmetted driver. Period. Thank you 260DET for mentioning this - nobody seems to believe me for some reason. Also, speaking of "proper restraints", have you ever actually used a 4 - or more- point harness? Totally impractical for the street. I would be shocked if you used them for more than a week. When properly belted, you have precious little mobility (i.e., you have to remember to pull the door closed before you cinch the harness down, because you won't be able to reach it otherwise). If you are worried about side impact, you can reinforce the doors - maybe add a door beam like on the later cars, for instance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 What Tim and 260DET said. Here's what it's like to live with a 5 point harness system: http://www.betamotorsports.com/benchracing/gridroutine.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bluex_v1 Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 here's a thread that has some good suggestions that match that ITS article and explain some of the reasoning. http://www.hybridz.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=55291&highlight=#55291 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Race cages are designed for a properly restrained' date=' helmetted driver. Period. Thank you 260DET for mentioning this - nobody seems to believe me for some reason. [/quote'] I still don't agree with those statements. More unsubstantiated opinion, no matter how definitively you state it. I don't see how striking your head on a cage is anymore lethal than striking it on a structural member of the car. So the big issue then is encroachment. I guess the couple of extra inches the bars protrude from the roofline are what makes the difference? Following that logic I guess we should all drive convertibles. Wouldn’t the added strength be an asset in roll over accidents where the cabin is crushed toward the driver? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Race cages are designed for a properly restrained' date=' helmetted driver. Period. Thank you 260DET for mentioning this - nobody seems to believe me for some reason. [/quote'] I still don't agree with those statements. More unsubstantiated opinion, no matter how definitively you state it. I don't see how striking your head on a cage is anymore lethal than striking it on a structural member of the car. So the big issue then is encroachment. I guess the couple of extra inches the bars protrude from the roofline are what makes the difference? Following that logic I guess we should all drive convertibles. Wouldn’t the added strength be an asset in roll over accidents where the cabin is crushed toward the driver? Unsubstaitated? Maybe. I guess I haven't done any crash tests with dummies. Exactly how much data do you need? This is just common sense. The bars in a front cage DO generally encroach more than a "couple of inches" - often to the point that you can hit your head on them within the range of motion allowed by your stock restraint system. I might be convinced to concede that a full cage could be of benefit in an accident where the roof would have otherwise been crushed (although this is probably still debatable). So in what percentage of accidents is this the case? I would contend that in the vast majority of accidents that you are likely to be in on the street, the cage will do more harm than good. Seeing as how in a Z, there is pretty much no way to keep the roof bar out of the range of motion of your head - I would go further to say that the full cage would have a high probablility of causing injury in accidents where none would have otherwise occurred. Yep - that's still my opinion. For that matter, what data do YOU have that says that a full cage will increase crash safety on the street? As far as this just being my opinion, find me one manufacturer that says that their cage is designed to be safe with an unhelmetted driver, wearing a 3-point retractible belt. Just one. I would contend that "helmetted and restrained" has always been a fundamental design assumption for race cages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synlubes Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 [url']http://www.betamotorsports.com/benchracing/gridroutine.html[/url] This seems to always be the case with me. Good one John. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zguy95135 Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 I got my rollbar from IoPortRacing.com, heres the link. http://www.ioportracing.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=IPRS&Category_Code=AP170 their products are good quality. you have to weld the front and back parts together though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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