School me on full roll cage pricing

[Apex Media]

Yeah we cut most of that area as well and covered the holes in aluminum...I like a nice finished look and thin aluminum is pretty light, so I splurged. We went into the roof area and took material as well but didn't get every bit.
I feel like we could have done quite a bit more but the the car has a very expensive paint job on it and we were afraid of damaging the paint so we erred on the side of caution. If I had a less cherry donor I would have done a LOT more cutting on it.

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Very nice! yeah im going to do similar to you. I have some templates i’ve made already for the sides but have to change them up a bit due the package tray getting removed soon. My interior is all painted as well at the moment which i regret now since ill have more painting to do after the cage gets done. didnt know i was going this far with the car until i was already past the point of no return lol. Heres my interior after i “finished” it about a year back. i made all the black pieces as well as the heel plate/mats too and im already working on redesigning them again. Never ending project lol. I should probably make another thread soon and post all my pictures on there of the car.
Sorry im bringing you an already painted interior Sal! We’ll talk more about it when i get closer to getting the cage made

 

[Fabman]

Very nice! yeah im going to do similar to you. I have some templates i’ve made already for the sides but have to change them up a bit due the package tray getting removed soon. My interior is all painted as well at the moment which i regret now since ill have more painting to do after the cage gets done. didnt know i was going this far with the car until i was already past the point of no return lol. Heres my interior after i “finished” it about a year back. i made all the black pieces as well as the heel plate/mats too and im already working on redesigning them again. Never ending project lol. I should probably make another thread soon and post all my pictures on there of the car.
Sorry im bringing you an already painted interior Sal! We’ll talk more about it when i get closer to getting the cage made

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I have the same story, my car was a show car that slipped into a race car bit by painful bit.
Built totally backwards, but that's just how it worked out. We do scratch built cars the other way around.

 

[Apex Media]

I have the same story, my car was a show car that slipped into a race car bit by painful bit.
Built totally backwards, but that's just how it worked out. We do scratch built cars the other way around.

I was checking out your build thread and laughed to myself and said, “Well im glad im not the only guys going this same painful route from show car to race car” Made me feel a little bit better! Haha. I’ve leared a lot so far with the way its been done so i cant complain too much. My bank account of the other hand...

 

[302BOB]

With all that cutting, you guys should have been Surgeons......

 

[Apex Media]

@Fabman Question: What did you find the best tool to use to trim your doors and cut out that sheetmetal?

 

[Fabman]

@Fabman Question: What did you find the best tool to use to trim your doors and cut out that sheetmetal?

We used a combination of an air hammer w/panel cutting attachment and an abrasive wheel.
The reason my car ended up like this was that I did one track day and the promoter told me, "Well, its fast alright but you'll never be able to make a drag race car into a road race car.....I told him, "Watch me".
The rest was an evolution that goes on to this day.

 

[Apex Media]

We used a combination of an air hammer w/panel cutting attachment and an abrasive wheel.
The reason my car ended up like this was that I did one track day and the promoter told me, "Well, its fast alright but you'll never be able to make a drag race car into a road race car.....I told him, "Watch me".
The rest was an evolution that goes on to this day.

Thanks! I may try to give it a shiznit with my Jigsaw and appropriate blade and then pick up an air hammer if that doesnt work.

From the looks of it, i think you showed him and then some what could be done

 

[Fabman]

Thanks! I may try to give it a shiznit with my Jigsaw and appropriate blade and then pick up an air hammer if that doesnt work.

From the looks of it, i think you showed him and then some what could be done

Well lets just say I was far more prepared to do this than he thought I was. I just wasn't expecting to have to do it.

 

[PaddyPrix]

For what it's worth, mine was around $4k for the cage, window net, 6 point harness, front/rear windshield removal/re-installation, with no painting. I'd like to think it was a halfway decent deal, but I tend to be one of those support local first guys anyhow. I did have the car stripped and pretty much ready to go, which keeps the labor costs down. I did make sure to let them know that I was doing it for NASA, so we spent some time going over the rules, and they made a call to one of their buddies who is a regional head to get all the little things exactly right, as they'd pretty much be the ones likely doing the tech inspection on it anyhow. If you're going that far, definitely ensure they take the time to do that.

 

[Apex Media]

For what it's worth, mine was around $4k for the cage, window net, 6 point harness, front/rear windshield removal/re-installation, with no painting. I'd like to think it was a halfway decent deal, but I tend to be one of those support local first guys anyhow. I did have the car stripped and pretty much ready to go, which keeps the labor costs down. I did make sure to let them know that I was doing it for NASA, so we spent some time going over the rules, and they made a call to one of their buddies who is a regional head to get all the little things exactly right, as they'd pretty much be the ones likely doing the tech inspection on it anyhow. If you're going that far, definitely ensure they take the time to do that.

Good to know! Thanks. I know different areas/states will differ in price a lot but it sounds like you got a great deal! Been enjoying checking out your build thread as well!

 

[PaddyPrix]

Good to know! Thanks. I know different areas/states will differ in price a lot but it sounds like you got a great deal! Been enjoying checking out your build thread as well!

You've got no shortage of great places up your way, so no worries for you, and yeah, supply/demand drives part of it, as does quality. I'm fortunate to have Autopower in town, and worked with them previous, but looking forward to see the rest of your build... and thanks for the kind words. oh, if there was only a thread somewhere that we could spy in on yours

 

[Apex Media]

You've got no shortage of great places up your way, so no worries for you, and yeah, supply/demand drives part of it, as does quality. I'm fortunate to have Autopower in town, and worked with them previous, but looking forward to see the rest of your build... and thanks for the kind words. oh, if there was only a thread somewhere that we could spy in on yours

I will start one soon! Have a load of pictures to post. just waiting for some time to start/ where to start. Lots of older stuff to post on top documenting prep for the cage. Keep an eye out!

 

[Tonymustang302]

For what it's worth, mine was around $4k for the cage, window net, 6 point harness, front/rear windshield removal/re-installation, with no painting. I'd like to think it was a halfway decent deal, but I tend to be one of those support local first guys anyhow. I did have the car stripped and pretty much ready to go, which keeps the labor costs down. I did make sure to let them know that I was doing it for NASA, so we spent some time going over the rules, and they made a call to one of their buddies who is a regional head to get all the little things exactly right, as they'd pretty much be the ones likely doing the tech inspection on it anyhow. If you're going that far, definitely ensure they take the time to do that.

i hope it was made with metal tubes and not pool noodles

 

[PaddyPrix]

i hope it was made with metal tubes and not pool noodles

Lemme know the next time you're down in SoCal and you can be my guest to karate chop it into small pieces. Don't mind me videoing

 

[Tonymustang302]

Lololololol

i will be down there sooner than you think when the car goes to wwr

 

[blacksheep-1]

One of the things I never figured out with rules makers was that they frown on chromoly. They used to approve rolled, welded tubing, until the foreign crap started splitting, so now they want rolled tubing which is pretty expensive, if you want to cut some weight, (and it's allowed) use chromoly, yes it weighs as much as mild steel, but if the rules guys are on their game they realize that chromoly is much stronger than mild steel and will allow either a smaller diameter or thinner piece of tubing, that.. and using TIG welding, rather than MIG, can really save some weight. I don't know if any of you have ever picked up a sprint car chassis, but 2 guys can walk around with it, no problem.

 

[Fabman]

One of the things I never figured out with rules makers was that they frown on chromoly. They used to approve rolled, welded tubing, until the foreign crap started splitting, so now they want rolled tubing which is pretty expensive, if you want to cut some weight, (and it's allowed) use chromoly, yes it weighs as much as mild steel, but if the rules guys are on their game they realize that chromoly is much stronger than mild steel and will allow either a smaller diameter or thinner piece of tubing, that.. and using TIG welding, rather than MIG, can really save some weight. I don't know if any of you have ever picked up a sprint car chassis, but 2 guys can walk around with it, no problem.

I asked about that and the answer I got was that most people aren't qualified to properly weld Chromoly so they don't like you using it.

 

[PatientZero]

1.75" .120" wall DOM is almost exactly 2lbs per ft so it adds up quick.

I thought the reason chromoly is not allowed is because it splinters and shatters rather than bending like mild steel?

 

[Fabman]

1.75" .120" wall DOM is almost exactly 2lbs per ft so it adds up quick.

I thought the reason chromoly is not allowed is because it splinters and shatters rather than bending like mild steel?

SCCA is .095 so its about a half pound lighter/ft.
Only the mandatory bars in my cage are .095 the rest are .085 or .065.
You can get a lot more stiffness with a lot less weight penalty if you use selective sizing both in OD and wall thickness, so I went with the DOM.
If I had it to do all over again I would do it in chromoly without a doubt.

 

[PatientZero]

My current 4 point bar is 1.75 .120. I think I'm going to cut it out completely and go to 1 5/8" for the full cage. Is chromoly legal? I know I've seen somewhere it wasn't legal for road racing.