Show off that cage and stiffening mods

by **celigts** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 4:49 pm

So I wanna have a hatch area cage put in over the winter so I'll start early and see what others have done in terms or material placement and application it was all used for.

Currently have a rear strut bar. That's about it for extra stiffening. So what do you have?

by **Gary ST165** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 5:08 pm

not my car: http://www.gt4oc.net/forums/viewtopic.p ... 0#p1255979

by **Insanity-74** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 7:38 pm

Doing a similar thing into my Faff.......got some T45 tube bent to shape....test fit of the main hoop

and preparing the rear suspension towers for the reinforcing plates and ultimately the roll cage attachment points

by **Mafix** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 11:18 pm

by **Mafix** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 11:19 pm

i can go on and on with this thread

by **celigts** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 3:24 am

Well mafix do it up!!

What are some weak points to start with.? Anything with center bracing or would a full cage be what you want?

by **Mafix** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:10 am

it's hard to tell what made more of a difference. i put the cage (bolt in) and the frame connectors (welded in) in at the same time. i'm more inclined to say the cage, while my sideskirts argue that the frame connectors are better. we do have different chassis' but this isn't much different between them.
front strut brace modded:

there rear brace i have no idea what it's actually for. i just knew some guys in an import store. walked in the back and grabbed like 20 different ones. nuespeed for a neon i think? ??

by **Mafix** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:14 am

these are a great stiffening mod

by **801Alltrac** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 2:26 am

Those megans are awesome :smokes:

but mine aren't that clean any more

by **celigts** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 2:46 am

What size material did you weld onto the side skirt runners? Also mafix did you install the cage yourself cuz I'd like to do this also. If not then what material did you use? Is steel the only option of so what gauge is suggested and diameter.

The way to set the pipes on the body would be to weld a plate first then weld the pipe to the plate correct. Sounds like the most effective and strongest way for it to be secured.

by **underscore** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 4:34 am

You can buy bracing that runs down the sides of the chassis for the 185, tho I'm not sure how strong that is vs what Mafix posted.

Also I do believe that rear bar would be from some gen of Neon, I just bought a Neon rear bar but I'll have to check the years.

by **Mafix** » Thu Jul 05, 2012 1:46 am

the bracing you can buy is laughable at best. my connectors are welded the entire length, 1x3 thickwall tube steel. it was fun making them, actually. best advise is to make sure the car is properly lifted prior to installation. (put your car on a lift and measure the door gap prior to lifting. lift it. measure the door gap. be amazed at the chassis flex)

the roll bar i have it literally bolt in. and i see no need at all to weld it in. it uses a double plate. so that's plate-floor-plate. it's not moving anywhere. i do want to add several areas to the cage for hill climbs but that will add more weight which is bad for autox. decisions decisions.

by **Meurz** » Thu Jul 05, 2012 6:51 pm

Gary ST165 wrote:not my car: http://www.gt4oc.net/forums/viewtopic.p ... 0#p1255979

You are not authorised to read this forum.

Money is required to view that.

by **Spectra1** » Thu Jul 05, 2012 7:26 pm

Gary ST165 wrote:
not my car: http://www.gt4oc.net/forums/viewtopic.p ... 0#p1255979
You are not authorised to read this forum.

Money is required to view that.

by **celigts** » Thu Jul 05, 2012 9:03 pm

That's a sick cage! Is there something to follow for making cages? Mafix you said you use 3" tube with 1" wall? And just regular steel tubing?

Any guidelines for the cage to be autoX ready. My local forum has it once a month or so. Maybe next year I'll have the car ready to jump in.