Roll cage questions

[Tristan Smith]

The hatch was aproximately 100 lbs. heavier than the coupe, If I remember correctly from back in the day, when I built mine. You should be able to build a hatch easily to the minimum weight. Might even have better f/r weight distribution. The drawback is that that weight is high up, and I think the coupe has slightly better aero numbers.

[DavidM]

Dropped the car off at the shop yesterday and chatted with the guy who will be building the cage for a while. I also looked at a cage they had just finished. He was saying they typically put the top door bar about 1/2 to 2/3 up the door. I've seen other people's cars with the door bars at a similar height. The current cage has the top door bar at the very top of the door.

I kinda like having the door bar higher as there's no way something could hit the door without hitting the cage. It does mean that I have to crawl in and out the window. The front of cars are typically low to the ground, though, and in a T-bone lower door bars would work fine. It might make getting in and out a little easier.

Thoughts?

For the most part I was thinking the same thing as the cage builder. The door bars were the only piece that was a little different.

David

[Chip42]

noses on modern cars are a bit higher than on older sportscars. even miatas have a pretty high beak. top bar ~2/3 should be good, egress is important, too. If you have to add weight, a 3rd bar along the door bottom is a good addition. tie it to the other door bars with verticals for a really strong "door"