piston Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 (edited) i bought a 6 point cage from brokedickracing.com and the package was shipped from s and w performance. someones the middle man here but its all the same dragster style cage like JEGS sell...they ended up sending me a 8 point cage instead but im not going to use the door bars because its going to be a street car and it makes it very uncomfortable getting in... as you can see the main hoop is extra long so you can cut it to fit your needs. next i had to cut up the 6x6 plates to make the hoop support and keep it NHRA legal(6x6). i think? i ended up buying extra plates because one plate will not cut it for the main hoop support. it will look something like this.... started to weld moving to different areas at a time. my welds are ugly and not the greatest but i think it will do the job. i couldnt stand the ugly welds so i had to get my grind on.. i first had to tack only one spot of the hoop to bottom supports then tack the rear support bars and grind the main hoop floor spot weld and roll it forward to finish the welds around because ther is no way to weld in between the domelight area and roof because the hoop runs straight with the domelight thingy. once thats all done, the rear plates go in and the hoop gets weld down. no more factory seatbelts...another $$$ heres what the rear plates look like next to my fabricated fuel cell area. you will no b able to run these bars if you keep the factory spare tire well because it drops right into the area. however you can cut them to make it work on the strut tower area. im diggin this look though. heres how it will look like with rear bars around and 6x6 plates around the tank. here i welded in the center angle support bar plates. had to hammer a bit to make it sit nice and flat. i had a line down about 1/4 ways so it will bend easier. heres what i hate about cheap cage. all kinds of gaps to fill and is all cut cheapy. i had to do alot of grining and cutting to make it all fit. all done.. roof clearance.. overall i think for what i paid, its not a bad deal. its heavy andthick.alot of cutting and grinding needed but it does the job and not a bad price for a budget cage for safety reasons. Edited December 5, 2009 by piston edit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc052685 Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 Not too bad! Now what size wire are you using to weld and there seams to be alot of splater. Are you using a gas MIG or flux? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
280zjoel Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 Looks good:2thumbs: I hope your short. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piston Posted December 5, 2009 Author Share Posted December 5, 2009 (edited) lol, im 5-6. i check my seat adjustments and everything before i welded it in place. i still have a decent amount of room to play with. i didnt want to go too close to the roof and walls because i want to be able to use all my factory panels and be able to put em in without hassle especially the domelight cover panel. the welder is a harbor freight mig welder i think, not sure, my bros letting me use it. im using gasless 0.35 wire. thats probably why it splatters but it welds real nice in certain spots. everything is all grinded down to metal. im no pro so settings on the mig is all new to me also. Edited December 5, 2009 by piston edit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big-phil Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 I would NEVER fit in that car haha. My seat is an inch from touching the back area! That looks very very good, and I was really thinking I'd like a cage untill that last pic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAG58 Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 I would NEVER fit in that car haha. My seat is an inch from touching the back area! That looks very very good, and I was really thinking I'd like a cage untill that last pic. Truth. 6'3" With Really long legs means my seat is pushed back as far as it would go. Though that is a very clean looking install even with flux-core. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc052685 Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Yeah that spatter looked off. If you get to doing more weling like this you should seriously consider investing in a gas mig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr jdm Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Hey it turns out you can have them make a custom main hoop. I forgot who it was but somebody on here posted dimensions on a very tight main hoop. Here is there order form. http://www.brokedickracing.com/Instructions/BDRCustomrollbar.pdf I wish I know about these guys, I bought my cage from Jegs, havent installed it yet but shipping was 120 dollars, I could of went and picked it up from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus© Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 it looks like your welds have quite a bit of porosity.. did you clean the metal and ensure you had a proper ground?! Also grinding down your welds may not pass inspection depending on what sanctioned group you want to run with. Its hard to tell but did you grind the diagonal and horizontal supports?! Other then that.. good work on the cage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Hey it turns out you can have them make a custom main hoop. I forgot who it was but somebody on here posted dimensions on a very tight main hoop. Here is there order form. http://www.brokedickracing.com/Instructions/BDRCustomrollbar.pdf I wish I know about these guys, I bought my cage from Jegs, havent installed it yet but shipping was 120 dollars, I could of went and picked it up from them. 74_5.0L_Z posted the gif. You can find it in his gallery. It works great and is, as stated, very tight to the body. In most racing organizations, grinding welds on your cage is verboten. Not sure about flux core wire either, but I would thing mig would be the minimum allowable also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoov100 Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Isn't that a little dangerous having the main hoop, so far away from the inside of the body? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piston Posted December 8, 2009 Author Share Posted December 8, 2009 hoop sits far enough to clear my head(helmet). it looks far from the pic but isnt really that far IMO. about 3 inches! the diameter is just big. 1 3/4. i figure if anything is going to happen unexpected, with my short a$$, the hoop is in its place to protect me!!! not way behind me. the highest area on the z chasis is in the center roof area and my head happens to sit only a little farther back from that area. brokedickracing makes custom bends but you can actually work with this one if you like to move it farther back, its doable and ready to go when order. i just didnt want the thought of the roof crushing on top of my head if anything. with the specs of the hoop posted on here by hybridz member, it sits really close to the inside walls. im keeping panels so i had to ditch the specs posted. i grinded down the welds to clean it up, if the track tech ask, my car runs somewhere in the 14's. if it does 10s, im going home happy!!! its really not a drag car, its more for the street and just for safety reasons. i grind down the front plates but didnt do that good of a job in the rears(ran out of disc). i honestly think it welded even better with the coating on it in some spots!lol. i can hook up gas to the mig, just dont have the time to get gas plus i had a roll of gasless wire already. its a little far up for the taller guys, but it clears for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprayed280zx Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 What cage kit are you using part #? And how much was the cage? Thanks for the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piston Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 check out the web site. brokedickracing.com, not trying to advertise for them but they have prices on there. i paid 260.00 or so for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piston Posted December 14, 2009 Author Share Posted December 14, 2009 scuffed is up with some scuff pad, clean with acetone and rattle can it with rusttough gloss black.. similar to rustolium i guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timbo1jz Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 very nice work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inferno 08 Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 Looks good! I'll most likely be picking one of these up over winter break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piston Posted December 15, 2009 Author Share Posted December 15, 2009 (edited) cage was my winter project! but i ended up finishing it in about 2-1/2 weeks. now i can lay down my bed liner and sound proof materials. progress baby.... Edited December 15, 2009 by piston edit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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