Its not for a Ford but my 205 track car!

Its only a cheapo car (well it was anyway ) so i'm not fussed on 'blinging' it out etc so bearing that in mind I have 3 options..

1. OMP 10 point bolt in cage for about £300



My thoughts, Good: FIA approved and relatively easy to fit.
Bad: Not very substantial, goes infront of dash instead of behind and it doesnt fit flush against the shell by the pillars.

Option 2: Safety Devices Challenge spec bolt in £600-£650





Good: Perfect cage although still bolt in, easy to fit, can remove and sell seperately at a later date etc.

Bad: Still bolt in and doesn't triangulate to suspension or have double door bars that are shown in the pic.

Option 3: Safety Devices challenge spec weld in £600

As above but weld in, so harder to fit for a novice like me but I think the ends are supplied finished

Any thoughts? Don't want to skimp on safety but dont want to go OTT for a track car and cheaper is better Car will be run on slicks though!

 

 

For what you are doing with, just go for the first one i reckon Phil.

Although obviously like everyone else i prefer the others of course.

 

Also waiting to head from Custom Cages about their weld in one for £515, with a diagram of it!

 

Agree with chip. For what you're doing first one will be fine. If it's only going to be used on track then chances are if you ever do roll you wont hit anything and the first cage will be substantial enough to protect you.

Sparco do a more comprehensive cage for about 300 quid so might be worth looking at.

2nd one looks nicer but would be over kill.

If you know someone who's good with a welder you could easily cut off the tabs for the rear cross brace and then weld in a proper cross brace. That would make it much stronger and wouldnt cost much. That's what i'd do.

 

my 6 point bolt in from caged, got it fitted last night after it had been welded properly and powder coated - pics of that to follow

bit more pricey tho at £1200 but its the fooking bollocks

 

1200 quid

Thats seems very pricey for what it is TBH

Or does it include fitting?

 

yep all inc fitting VAT, they welded in some nut plate for where the harness go, and i also get em to weld a bar direct between the rear turrets.

all their stuff it MSA approved, and quality is second to none.

 

interesting.. my 14 point SD bolt in for my mk2 didn't cost me as much as that including buying the cage, vat and fitting. and that also included a brace bar between the turrets and some adjustment to make it proper turret mount.

 

Custom cages will do this one:

for £515 inc VAT so i'm tempted to go for that!!

 

looks like a pretty serious bit of kit Mr Sherwin, go for that one if its that cheap

 

Its 100% weld in and comes with finished ends too as well as FIA approval

 

how well can you weld?

personally i wouldnt trust myself with a cage!

 

fookinhell, that looks proppa

ps, i didnt pay for mine

but its still a very fooking good job, and they must be doing something right as they just chopped the roof off an unregistered matt black £50k V8 landrover and fitted a cage, for a very well known motoring tv program thats on at 8pm sundays

 

Phil

For the money that Custom Cage looks fucking awesome

I would deffo go for that mate

I have an FIA 6 point weld-in, approved Rally cage in mine.

Hurry up and get it sorted as that will be 4 205's from here to do battle on the track

 

Markb_s1 - Do you have any more pics of your car?

Sorry to go off topic btw.

 

tiff, i thought yours was a bolt in, but you welded it in anyhow?

still, does the job

ps you were flying on sat

 

I can only think of a couple of people I'd trust to weld in a cage for me too.
Not sure what they're like generally but a friend of mine had a custom cage put in his mk2 race car and it didn't fit properly at all. Having paid extra to have the ends finished properly so it should have just been a case of welding it in, they all had to be redone so they fitted properly.

sunny - here's some more pics mate..
https://passionford.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=126711
really should update that thread but i never get round to it!

 

Phil,

It's only a track car, so don't go crazy with it.

10 point trinagulated cages may look good, but that's a load more weight to be carrying around.

If the cage is there for safety first and foremost, then a 6 point will do just fine. They were good enough for our old rally 205 to be flying along at 80mph on gravel.

I know they also work, as I've stuck one on its roof before!

 

Here are the customcages diagram for the 205, I have asked them about fitting costs at custom cages as the person who was going to do it says it is a bit more work than they thought



Rich, I see your thought about weight and it is something I have been considering as at the moment the car weighs nothing and I have put a lot of effort into weight reduction

The problem is SD only make the challenge spec cages now and the OMP bolt in ones are a crap fit (and I suspect a minor roll into gravel with that cage would require a new shell!) I can't find much about Sparco cages but they have long waiting times as well to get them from Italy

Do you think the car will bend like a spoon running it on slicks without a cage?

 

is there such a thing as a light roll? personally i'd work on the thinking that if i roll my car even with a rollcage,

a) im lucky to be safe and alive
and

b) the car is fucked

The sparco cages do look good, but i havent looked at waiting lists. I know they make a 10 point and a 6 point bolt in cage for the 205 though.

 

a 6 point will be more than adequate for what you want it for.

i know that with mine they used about 14M of tube, and that stuff aint that light.

 

Yes you can have a light roll, I don't know how much track action/racing you watch (so appologies if I sound a bit condescending) but the way gravel traps work is by letting the car dig in and stopping it very quickly. Now imagine hitting one sideways at speed, you are almost certain to roll a lot of times, but also you can hit oil or hit a gravel trap sideways at lower speed in the rain/on cold slicks. Sometimes a car will roll onto its side at a very low speed in the gravel and hence a light roll with very little damage except a panel or two

If a cage is close to the shell it stops pillars being bent in under the cars weight in such a roll and retains its shape.

 

Phil..

This is VERY similar to the one in Tiffs car BUT.... the main hoop sits a lot tighter to the shell of the car and is a fucking tight fit.

The legs also went in front of the dash and with some "minor" adjustments to the car you can make a resonable job of it without removing the dash and still refitting the glove box and side cards etc.

Things you will need to know. The FUEL tank needs to come out when fitting it die to it loacating on the boot floor above the tank.
Its not a difficult job tho and if you can fit a cage you can remove it easily.. its GRP anyway so wont fall apart.

I really wouldn't bother with anything more substantial. the car simply doesn't need it- the benefits of going to the turrets at the front are going to be marginal and baring in mind the tight engine bay I'd preffer more space for the engine and anciliaries also the amount of effort required vs actual benefit and increase in weight..

hth

Jake

 

You didn't sound condescening at all. It's good for you to explain what you're talking about.

So are we talking about the car rolling onto it's side then? Because as soon as the car rolls and the corner where the pillars/roof meet touches the floor there is a hell of alot more than just panel damage.

I watch alot of track/racing action and i can honestly say that I don't remember seeing a car roll and there not being alot of damage to it. Obviously there probably has but I don't remember it. Probably because you always remember big crashes.

 

Shings


One like Tiffs is what I would like but they don't make them any more and good cages are hard to come by second hand Thanks for the fitting advise though The OMP does look a really crappy fit and the door bars don't seem up to much

89XR2

I've seen a 205 roll onto its side at Donny and be back out on track the next session

 

Buy the best one you can afford, after all if you roll it could save your life and/or a stint in hospital. A mate of mine rolled his car , spent 2 months in hospital and it cost him several grand.

 

On 2nd look I'm no expert but I'd agree it doesn't look the part.. but I suppose its better than nothing.. mounting it to the seat belt points is obviously strong enough like but I'd want it to be dirt cheap if it wasn;t quite what I wanted.

Jake

 

Had a custom cages weld in as you've shown in my 309 stage rally car and it allowed my nav and I to climb out through windscreen aperture dazed but unmarked after rolling 100mph up at Otterburn, shell was mullered but no deformation to cage or any cracking of paint etc at welds.

Also had a bolt in 6 pointer in an XR2 hillclimb and hit a tractor doing 75mph and had a fair old spell in hospital, because it wasn't triangulated the front of the car came back as far as the front legs, which was unfortunatly behind my feet/lower ankle area

Hence I like strong weld in cages now

 

very good point.. i would never buy a second hand cage unless i knew the exact history of it from day 1. i've seen pics of some horrendous bodges to cages that would certainly be more likely to kill you than save you!

 

I opted for a safety devices cage in my 5, i have a 6 point bolt in cage.
I was umming and ahhing till i saw these pics and it made my mind up, this was a crash at 120mph, as you can see the cage held its shape, and did its job in protecting the driver, i am told it was later removed and was put in another car ! No compromise when it comes to your life.

 

Oh and just a thought, not sure if its still the case but it was when i bought mine, if you tell them that you are racing, doesnt matter what, hill climb whatever and are prepared to put some stickers on the car they'll give a discount, it was 25% when i bought mine but may have changed now but still worth asking.

 

no1girlracer

Looks like Stanny's car that one ? Don't think he was doing 120mph but it was a heavy shunt yes.

Phil - IMHO most of the ones pictured above are WAY over the top for a little track car. I know you can't skimp on safety but a basic bolt in cage, and better seats and proper belts is all thats in order.

All new approved cages should have a 50mm main hoop and the rest should be between 32 or 38 mm. Thats more than enough for what you need.

 

Ah 120 was what i was told, it convinced me to buy a safety devices cage anyway. Its just a pain climbing in and out over the door bars !!

 

i like that bit, makes me feel important