tytek

Looking into a possibility of installing a cage in my C5Z and was wondering what kind of price points are out there. SCCA or NASA spec would be preferred.

Does it make sense to buy a weld-in kit and have it installed by a local shop? Or does it cost the same as having one done up from scratch locally? Is there a design that is better than some others? I think that having 'nascar door bars' would be a wise thing to do.

To lower the out of pocket outlay, I'd gut the car, in order to prep it for cage install. I decided against just doing a rollbar after reading about how weak the stock a-pillars are. Is that really true?

Thanks for any advice or feedback y'all are willing to provide.

road pilot

To get some incite--go to WolfCraft rollbars on the internet.
Good luck.

Bad Karma

It's on my list as well, since I really want to work my way towards wheel to wheel. I'd love to do the work myself but I don't have a tubing bender and I trust my welding for exhaust work... but a structural cage done in the car makes me a little gun shy.

Just from what I've come across, not actually requesting a quote, I'm guessing in the $6-$8k range. Might be less if the car is brought in stripped down.

Personally, I would feel much better with a good fabricator making the cage to my car not a mass produced bolt in or weld in kit. It allows for a better fitment and better quality control. Also, I'll be looking for somebody with cage building experience when the time comes (thankfully, I'm not far from Black Dog Speed Shop).

StreetSpeed

I'm getting a NASA approved cage being installed as we speak. $4500. Got quotes as high $6200 from a name brand performance shop we all know and love. Sounded like the biggest difference was going to be pretty shiny paint as opposed to rattle can black. I could care less.

lefrog

Look at my rollcage build thread here: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...ld-thread.html

Download the 2 pdf about the cage design, that will give you an idea of the options to build a cage.

My fabricator (www.bfrchassis.com) built my custom cage for $800 (yes you read it correctly, that includes labor and tubing). I gutted the car myself and also painted the cage and put everything back together myself. It is a lot of work but that price is hard to beat!

tytek

Great thread on this topic. I read it and even posted in it. But, because your price seemed low to me (which is a good thing), I treated it as an outlier, not the norm. It certainly was a great deal - in fact, the cost may justify me trailering the car all the way out there and back. How long did it take BFR to get it all done?

Still curious what others are paying...

rmackintosh

Like most have said here, the price can vary greatly. You can go pay someone $6000 and get a nice cage or you can go find a local "cage artist" that does just as good cages for around $2000 +/-. My cage guy has been doing them for 30+ years, I have even tested one at 150 MPH and 8 flips and lived to tell the tale.

Basically, you need to find the local racers and find who they are using and look at the work/designs.

crimlwC6

3500 to 6000 is about what to expect for a custom cage. Depends on weight of car for which tubing to use which determines whether or not roof has to come off, whether or not you are going to cut out factory piece and replace dashbar or weld the cage into existing dash bar, paint option, etc.

lefrog

Time varies depending on how busy he is with his other racers. He mostly does modifieds and if some racers had bad weekends, he is busy fixing their cars. I did my cage late spring and was not in a hurry so it took about 3 weeks. I heard from someone who had him build a cage for a C4 that he did it in 3 days.
He is very flexible and easy going, just give him a call or drop him an email and he'll tell you if he can do it or not in your timeframe.

tytek

Also, any idea of how many feet of tubing ends up being used for a typical SCCA/NASA spec cage? I remember reading that about 75ft is a good estimate...

C6psi

So any progress with the cage? I am dropping mine off the first week in January to get installed. Was quoted 2500-2800 from a very experienced builder. They indicated depending on the extras that it could go up.

tytek

In process of setting up a date with a builder in northern OH. He is experienced with cage builds and has done a few C5s. The price quoted is very much in line with your quote, including paint and nascar style door bars. I am hoping to keep my window regulators, but we will see once the car is stripped, if that is even possible. Should have it done sometime in late February...

C6psi

Yes mine was with the push out style bars also. Not as familiar with the position of the window regulators on the C5. It seemed to be in the way on the C6 so it got axed. Have you considered tube size? I was trying to get mine down to 29XX to go with the 1.5" tubing per NASA to reduce weight and increase room. Are you going to drop your own tanks or let the shop?

tytek

Good questions. My car currently is 3,100lbs wet (all fluids and full tank + full interior with race seats and harness). I would suspect that with a lot of the interior pieces out, no gas, and a cage added, I should be able to get to just below 3,000lbs. My car also already doesn't have AC, radio or diff counter weight, FYI. And remember, race weight would also be without side window glass.

I would prefer to go with 1.5" x .120" to get the most interior space and least weight, but the 1.75" x .095" is actually 5% lighter, since the walls are thinner... according to this calculator: https://www.roguefab.com/calculator.php.

It looks like NASA also permits a car below 3,000lbs to utilize 1.75" x .120" tubing, but while stronger, that would add almost 25% more weight.

Any idea on how much tubing will be used in your cage? What color do you plan to have it painted?

In addition, my understanding is that NASA specs are more conservative than SCCA, so if you build it to the NASA spec, it should also pass SCCA inspection... right?

tytek

I guess I forgot to add the airbag removal, which will save quite a few pounds - I need to figure which steering wheel to go with and how to mount it. Any ideas there?

crimlwC6

Ngr quick release hub. Love mine.

C6psi

So it looks like SCCA requires a larger tubing at a much lower weight than NASA but for our cars would constitute the same tubing.

2. The size of tubing to be used shall be determined on the basis of the
weight and speed potential of the car. The following minimum sizes are
required and are based upon the weight of the car without the driver.
Vehicle Weight (lbs.) Tubing Size (min.)
outside diameter x wall thickness (in.)
Over 1500 1.500 x 0.120
1.750 x 0.095
1000 - 1500 1.250 x 0.090
Under 1000 1.000 x 0.060
Dimensions are nominal. 0.005” (0.127 mm) variation in wall thickness
is allowed.
3. Each mounting plate shall be at least 0.080” (2.03 mm) thick if welded


It seems that the SCCA rule book did not offer as much detail on the specifics of cage construction as the did the Nasa rulebook.

Good info on the tubing weight, I will likely go with the 1.75" tubing as I beleive it offers two key attributes, higher strength and lower weight. Will have to just give up the .25" of room.

Not yet calculated the tubing to be used yet but I was guessing it would add 100 lbs. That puts it at 60' of tubing +/- 5'.

Will go with red to match the exterior.

So by removing the Driver airbag, passanger airbag, mounting bracket for PS airbag, metal bracket attached to dash pad, airbag controller and all hardware I pulled 16 lbs 11.8 ozs out.

Sideglass 8 lbs. 2.6 ozs.
Window reg. 4 lbs. 9.8 ozs.
Outside window seal 1 lbs. 2.8 ozs.
Inside window seal 14.0 ozs.
Cut out inside of door 4 lbs. 12.4 ozs.
Door panel pass side 9 lbs. 10.8 ozs.

Total 29 lbs. 5ozs.

So with the AC system 30lbs 9ozs, each door at 29lbs 5ozs, and the airbags at 16lbs 11.8ozs that should cover the cage weight.

tytek

Good info here! I ought to be able to meet the <3,000lbs requirement quite easily then. Can't wait to get the car done...

Make sure to post pics of the during and post transformation.

Do you plan to run the stock steering wheel, or do you already have something else installed?

C6psi

So the stock steering wheel was less than 3 lbs (after I stripped it down). I can't imagine that an after market adapter, quick release hub, and wheel are less than that? If I need more room after the cage to ingress and egress I will consider.

tytek

I posted in your other thread. I do agree with your sentiment of going with the strongest cage possible, after doing more research. A 25lbs penalty for it seems negligible. Thanks for all the insights.