[PonyBoy1574]

I am thinking about making my own roll cage and I was wondering what point I should secure the cage to the car. I was thinking about something like the kenny brown roll cage where I have a bar that will follow the frame to the left of the driver seat, over the top, down the right side of the passenger, with two bars extending forward, about an inch or two off the floor and then two angled pieces that go back, the mounting for the middle will go straight onto the floor, the front will go to the rear most point of the wheel well ??? (by the dead pedal??? and the rear goes to the forward most point of the wheel well???? Do I have that right? Now when I am welding it in place (MIG) what should I do to make sure I don't fry any of my electronics or is that something I even need to worry about??? With the bars the run back where do I need to cut molding out so that it can run to the rear wheel well? Thanks in advance.

Michael Pikula

[Jim B]

Why do you want to build one yourself? Do you have the equiptment? Or are you going to buy a kit and weld/install it yourself? I know of a road race prep shop in Wauconda, IL that could bend the tubing or do a full custon cage. He has raced Fox Mustangs in the past but now races Miatas and works on GT 1 type cars for a living.

[PonyBoy1574]

I have access to welding equipment, I have access to bending, I have an imagination and technical knowledge, and most importantly I am a very broke college kid that has access to lots of free steel in his welding class..... So I figure it is a project for me to play with should I choose to accept it.

[Jim B]

Since you have access to all of the equiptment you will need then what you should do is look at as many different cars with roll cages in them as you can. If you do a search on-line you can find many personal web sites of racers that will should you what they did. RRAX-Mustnag, Coener Carvers, Corral.Net, are three that can help you. There are a number of books on metal fabricating and roll cage building available as well as one magazine called Circle Track that has very good tech. articles, another is Grass Roots Motorsports.

[TobyBall]

Best I can add is three key recommendations:

1. Do some research in person, best to visit with some of the American Iron racers if possible, if not, find some SCCA guys running Mustangs at a track near you. They are all great folks who will be glad to talk to you and show you their setups. If you visit them in the pits during a race weekend or even an open track, be considerate of their time constraints. Take pictures and notes, even your young memory will fade or blur.

2. After some research, decide if you are building it for street or race. If race, make sure you get a copy of and understand the requirements of each sanctioning body your car may subject to. Drag racing (NHRA and IHRA) and road racing (NASA, SCCA, FIA, etc) will all have different details you MUST pay attention to. Contact the head local tech inspector for each group you are even considering running with in the future.

3. Place function over fashion and get some expert input... then plan, measure, and review twice, and cut, weld, and bolt only once. Perhaps you can trade some labor for some guidance from a local pro racecar fabricator in your area. Don't forget to leave enough room for thick padding of almost all hard surfaces, yet not so much room that a foot or arm can get wedged. Also allow for5/6 point harnesses for both driver and passenger seats, and you may want a video camera mount and allowances for a fuel cell and fire suppression system.

If you want to do a write up on this project, I can help get it published.

Cheers,
Toby