Roll cage recommendations.

[lhearold]

Getting ready to do the roll cage in my 69 Dart. Any recommendations on who to buy from and who to stay away from?

Thanks,

Larry

[Seho]

I was and still am pleased with the "Competition Engineering" 8-point (mild steel) one I bought thru a local speedshop.  Cheaper than going thru Summit.  Didn't have any problems installing it myself in a weekend.

[birdboy]

if your looking to keep it tucked in and hard to see find a chassie guy that can do it. if your going to do it then most of the kits are o.k. the chassie works one fit realy good in a rr.  use the mild steel one there stronger then moly cages. i know that comment will start something

[bigtimeauto]

S&W will take care of you with good prices and good fitment. 1-800-523-3353 Stokes at ext. 115 tell him i sent you.

http://www.swracecars.com/?gclid=CMDWuYLUlI0CFQcuHgodS1Bn0g

  use the mild steel one there stronger then moly cages. i know that comment will start something

Of course its stronger it weighs 2/3rds more! If its lighter it doesn't have to be as strong 

[birdboy]

2/3 more??? i weighed all the tubing that went into my 10pt in the duster and the differents was 12%. that's like 54%differents. even if i'm off a little because of the shitting scale it could be 13% different. 66% is crazy i could go out to the pole barn a weight two 6' piece but i'm to lazy right now.

[rharveysr]

The fitment was the reason that we have decided to bend our own. Already got the price per ft. on dom 1 5/8" .120 wall tubing and a real nice bender. I have seen off the shelf units and custom stuff...I like the custom stuff for what we are trying to do. Custom units cost more and take more labor to design/install them but they really are worth it.

Rick and Rickey Jr.

[sunsetdart]

I got mine from S&W racecars.........they put it in as well.it's a 14 point. I'm sure they have what you want in stock.

[Bakaruda]

I agree with the S&W.

[Womanator]

If it's a race car slower than 10 sec I'd put in a 7 point cage and not put the passenger side down bar in.Makes working on the car easier and is NHRA legal.

[Joe-Dokes]

I'm really glad sunsetdart posted pics.  Posting pics of legal cages can give those of us who are about to start the project some ideas about the best course of action.

I've noticed that in pictures of street cars with cages, those cages that hug the A-pillar and go through the dash both look a lot better.  Does anyone have pictures of a car with a stock dash with the bars fed through it?

Like you I plan on putting a cage in my '67 Dart.  I would suggest buying a copy of the NHRA rules and read them very carefully. 

For example.  Some people install a door bar that is held in place by hinges and a pin.  Is this NHRA legal?  Does the NHRA certify some kits or methods but not others?
                   Some people make the rear bar that runs across the back of the seats removable.  Is this NHRA legal, is there a specific technic to make it legal?
                   The main hoop bar above and behind the drivers head must be within 6" of the drivers head.  Where exactly does the NHRA make this measurement?
                   The door bar must run between the drivers elbow and shoulder, is this measurement made with the drivers arms on the stearing wheel or relaxed?  Relaxed would allow the bar to be lower and thus aide in entry and exit to the car.   
                   I notice that the S&W kits are almost all 1 3/4" Tubing it is my understanding that if you build a full cage you only need 1 5/8" so is the S&W kit overkill also what is minimum wall thickness for mild steel tubing?

Before I buy my kit or begin fabricating my cage I will know the answers to these questions, and the answers will inform how I buld the cage.

Regards

Joe Dokes

[rharveysr]

We have been going thru the rules over and over to make sure that we do build it correctly. There is no use for us to go thru all that work and expense and then it not pass tech. If you dont understand the rules...take a look at the NHRA website for the closest tech and make the call to him. Make it leagal and make it safe,,,,,This car is for my 17 year old son...I WILL build it safe..his life could depend on it...

Rick and Rickey Jr.

[bigtimeauto]

Roll bars are 1 3/4 cages come 1 5/8. Here copy pasted from the S&W site.

S&W 1-3/4"x.134" wall mild steel roll bars are precision bent for each particular body style and feature notched tube ends (where applicable) for ease of installation. Our roll bars are designed to increase chassis stiffness and protect the driver in the event of a crash. The kit includes a main hoop, rear braces, side bars, frame supports, seat crossmember and 6 steel mounting plates.


All S&W roll bars meet and exceed NHRA, IHRA & NMCA requirements.


10-Point Roll Cages 

S&W 10-point roll cages include all the components of an 8-point roll bar plus roof tubes and windshield crossmember or hoop and windshield post runners. Made of 1-5/8"x.134" wall mild steel tubing, S&W roll cages meet and exceed NHRA, IHRA & NMCA requirements, see tech tip at bottom of page. Our 10-point roll cages are designed to remain behind the firewall and require no modifications to the stock dashboard.

S & W 10 point roll cages feature notched tube ends, where applicable, for ease of installation.

For additional front frame support, we recommend the addition of part number 13-350 front subframe supports

[B1Valiant]

An NHRA rulebook is an invaluable resource when building a car. Also asking a lot of questions is a great idea as well. AS for the cage question. I bought an Alston Kit for the Valiant and was not real happy with it. Ended up making new bars or tweaks to every bar but the main hoop. The Barracuda is a Chassis Engineering tube kit..

[CA Duster 383]

A buddy I work with has a dealer discount with Chris Alston in Sacramento, CA
we called to get pricing for a 8 point roll bar w/swing out bars on both sides
(it will be street driven too) and their price was about twice what the S&W
Racecars web site shows plus the shipping brought it almost to the price of
just having a fabrication shop do the whole job from scratch.

I'll be calling S&W next week.

[acpat]

S&W make a awesome kit for the money.