Stock Car Rollcage Build - Caged Beast

With the roof set aside again, the hoop was cut to its proper height. A left-side door bar was tack welded to the rear hoop. After determining the accuracy of its placement, the hoop with its door bar was removed from the car. At this point the entire 'cage was built outside the car. Given CSC's fit, everything can be measured, leveled, and squared. Still, I recommend tack welding and trial fitting the 'cage before final welding.

During the trial fit, the seat mountings were dummied up and Patrick tried out the position. Once satisfied, the brackets for the Richardson seat were tacked in along with the safety harness brackets. The seat will be mounted to eight tabs welded to the seat frame. I have seen poorly mounted seats move in a crash. I should say here, all the seat brackets are mounted to the 'cage, none to the car sheetmetal. This way if the 'cage moves in a crash, the seat will move with it.

Take your time with the harness brackets to get them right. Shoulder belts should run over a bar so they lay over the drivers' shoulders not pulling down less than a 45 degree angle. Lap belts should lie across the driver's pelvis. They should pull back at about a 45 degree angle. The crotch belt, properly installed, is not there to raise the driver's voice. It is used to keep the lap belts from riding up under impact, thus keeping the driver from sliding down

It was at this time I was glad we had ordered a box full of brackets, tabs, and other assorted small pieces from A&A. The 'cage kit comes with a number of corner gussets, but I always find I need more. A&A's selection of tabs made easy work of mounting the seat, instruments, doors, and a host of other things.

In choosing a seat it is imperative the lap belts enter through the seat rather than over the top. Belts that come over the top can fold the seat in on impact and thus loosen the belts. Our Richardson seat is made of 0.125 inch-thick aluminum. Lighter seats are made, but this one is strong and reasonably priced.

Once we were sure everything fit, it was time for some serious welding. Gussets were placed in the corners of all door-bar joints as well as 'cage joints. They are cheap, light, and strong. Welding the 'cage as we did meant there was no overhead welding to be done. We rolled the 'cage like a beach ball until all welds were completed.

One variation I made from the CSC's 'cage kit was on the right front corner. Our rules do not allow us to extend 'cage bracing past the firewall or to the rear. After consulting with Smitty Smith, tech man at Auburndale, I found the firewall is ruled to be at the rear face of the block. Therefore, I placed a bar from the right front of the halo to go through the angled part of the floorboard to the frame just behind the block. This will add some strength and stiffness to a spaghetti-like frame since it extends 12 inches forward of the original.

Angling this right front upright let the right-side door bars fall short, so a vertical was placed to tie the bars together. However, this bar, according to the rules, cannot be welded to the frame. Use two pieces of tubing to tie the vertical to the right front bar.

By now you should have holes in the body floor where the 'cage will weld to the frame. We are going to tweak the chassis out of level across the front. Since we have no weight jack adjustments to change crossweight, we are going to start by putting in some crossweight when we weld it all together