8 point roll cage advice needed

[carrollm]

Santa dropped off a roll cage for me this year and I would like to gather as much info as possible before starting this part of my project. The car is a midyear coupe, body is off the frame. Just eyeballing it, the biggest question is where does the main hoop sit? I see that he frame kick-ups are right behind the seat. I do not care if it is visible. I just wander where to start. I have a very experienced welder to do the work for me, but I would like to give him some pointers from those who have gone this route. As always, Thanks for all the info/pics you guys provide!

Happy + Safe New Year!
64mike

 

[henny496]

roll cage

Hello Mike
Mid years are a small car for a cage. I have pics of mine if you want to see, but I can tell you a lot of the headaches that go with it
Let me know what you are intending on doing with the car
take care
Tom

 

[carrollm]

Tom, thanks for the reply. I am building up an autocross car. 66' 355/4sp. I originally wanted to put a 4 point roll bar in, but for a few bucks more you could get the 8 point. Funny thing is, my wife saw it circled in my Jegs catalog (this is the classic way of getting what you want for christmas!!)and got it for me for Christmas. My frame is being zip welded up now with braced corners and filled holes (as mentioned in one of my old "GM chevy power books). I may be wrong, but I feel that it might help stiffen the frame once installed. (kind of like a cable bridge). I think one of the downfalls of the earlier style frame is the absence of braces in the rear kickups. With the frame totally apart, I could grab the last crossmember back and flex the whole rear frame up and down from the kickups back. That was scary! The way I see it, (and please correct me if I am wrong) is that I will have to set the body on the frame. Measure for the main loop, then lift body back up (a little?) cut the holes through the body, drop the loop down through and then weld my plates and loop together. This would have to be done with the rear and foreward bars as well. If you have any pictures or advice, feel free to send them to me at: teamfrr@aol.com

Thanks!!
64Mike

 

[henny496]

cage

Hello Mike
I will send you some pics and then I would like to see a pic of your cage set up. I was not aware that the stock frame could move like that on the back??
The big problem in the mid years is that the front bar for the windshield dash area is kind of in the way for entry/exit
If the bar goes in front of the dash it is easier to put in the car, but apparently hard to get in and out of the car for the driver
I originally had my front bars like this, but was told about the difficulty of getting in and out. I was also worried for insurance and from the local policeabout being restricted in getting in and out
I changed the cage so the bars went through the dash. It is easy to get in and out now, just like a regular vette(swing out side bars as well) but it made the welding and installation process a nightmare
If it was not for the insurance and police thing, I never would reccomend the 2nd way....it really made things much harder
If your tubes go through the floor in front of the dash, so you have to step around them to get out(knees in chest), you can drill holes in the floor with a hole saw and lift the body up a bit to weld the bars right onto the frame. The bars to the front can be put in easy and it depends on the style/length of bars you have going into the trunk for welding access
I will send you some pics, since I don't know how to post them on here
take care
Tom

 

[henny496]

roll bar

Hello
I also forgot to mention that you want the roll bar on an angle back. Mine is at 15 degrees back..the max that the IHRA/NHRA will allow is 20 degrees
The cross bar behind the seat was also bent with a 3 inch bend to it. If you run the roll bar straight up, you will run out of room with the steering wheel real fast......especially with the stock seats
take care
Tom

 

[carrollm]

Thanks for all your help Tom. I have a good idea how to do this now. I will post my progress when I start the adventure.

64mike