Will I need a cage?

[Adam95GT]

Yea im gonna make one pass after my HCI and see what it runs... then save up the $250-$350 for a 4 point bar.... Then have a friend weld it in place and bolt it down... Id rather pay the $250 - $300 to save my life... plus i like the looks of a true bar over a style bar anyday...

 

[stprorolla49]

Helmets, rollcages, and firesuits (oh my!).

But seriously, getusummm has a valid point. We all spend so much time working to make our cars fast and it is much more rare to concern ourselves with making it safe at the track.

I was at New England Dragway a few years ago during a Nostalgia event (my dad has a 60's dragster) and a guy was running a ProStreet first gen. Camaro. The car was done up right. Big block, supercharger, full cage, 4-link narrowed rear, tubbed inner fenders and big meaty slicks. The guy started to make his run and started to loose control about 1/3 way down. He must've had too much pride/ego to take his foot out of it and by 1/2 track he was skidding the rest of the way on his roof. When he got out of the car (unharmed I might add), he took off his helmet, spiked it on the track, and then threw his neck brace at the car (thought that was a little unsportsmanlike). All of the safety features in the car saved his ass. The only thing that was hurt was his wallet.

I'll take a hurt wallet over a visit to intensive care any day.

I agree! Not only is my life more important that my car any day, but a trip to intensive care is just as bad on the wallet. Last summer, some dude at Etown flipped over his big block tubbed '72 Vega, and when he got out of the car, he smiled, and waved to the crowd. When he returned to the pits, i went and talked to him, and he said he just control at about 1000ft, and when he got out of it the car got sideways, but he thanked god he was still alive, and the Ed Quay 14pt cage which saved his life.

 

[gcomfx.com]

I actually hope I'll need one on the bottle. Not sure if I'll make it or not. But we have a great cage builder in this area (actually built my engine) and he said he would make me a custom cage that would allow me to still use the back seat.

Brakes and harnesses are on my to do list this fall. If the car is faster than I think, then it'll get moved up to this spring as well.

 

[trav_19]

I think some of you guys are taking this the wrong way. Trust me, i am all for them doing a thorough tech inspection, especially on my car because ive really got nothing to hide, and especially on a car like my dads Nova since its a mid 9 second car. I just dont like people who nitpick about stupid **** like machine screws vs. carriage bolts. I appreciate that there are people there loking out for our own good, i was simply saying that if 95strokerPSU wanted to find a track where they might not care or notice about not having a cage, just to see where the car is at for the day, then Etown is probably where you'll get away with it. I hope no one too this the wrong way. Be safe

lol i would be concerned with machine screws holding a seat in a 9 sec. car

 

[getusummm]

I am with Tav on this one. I mean you say nit picky, but come on a machine screw vs a carriage bolt is a HUGE difference. You HAVE to look at all the little things that make up the entire system.
On a side note, dont forget that a roll bar or cage not only protects you, but ALSO stiffens up the car and can make it hook much better and drive straighter. So it does have performance advantages also.

 

[stprorolla49]

lol i would be concerned with machine screws holding a seat in a 9 sec. car

I wouldn't...they were like 5/16" machine screws, and there were 12 of them holding the bracket to the back of the seat. Trust me, my dad is a surgeon, if he didnt think it was safe, he wouldnt do it haha. Also that was in the Chevelle, not the Nova. The chevelle ran consistent 10.90's with a best of 10.68

 

[trav_19]

wow is all i gotta say i dont care how big they are they work on the same principle no matter the size they use a hole to thread in with slightly oversized threads i have seen these things rip out a lot and a lot easier then you would imagine... where a bolt goes thru and has a nut on the other side to preventing it from pulling out ...

i had large machine screws holding down crome style bars on the bed of my old truck and they always seemed to loosen up and then one day it stripped the front hole out and this bar swung out and way waving across the side walk ...i noticed people moving out of the way really fast and then i noticed it....all the screws were close to coming out and it was just from washing and ocasionally sliding something over them to put something in my bed.....now think of a mid 1o second car hitting a concrete barriar ...thats a lot of g's my guess would be that seat would come out

 

[stprorolla49]

wow is all i gotta say i dont care how big they are they work on the same principle no matter the size they use a hole to thread in with slightly oversized threads i have seen these things rip out a lot and a lot easier then you would imagine... where a bolt goes thru and has a nut on the other side to preventing it from pulling out ...

i had large machine screws holding down crome style bars on the bed of my old truck and they always seemed to loosen up and then one day it stripped the front hole out and this bar swung out and way waving across the side walk ...i noticed people moving out of the way really fast and then i noticed it....all the screws were close to coming out and it was just from washing and ocasionally sliding something over them to put something in my bed.....now think of a mid 1o second car hitting a concrete barriar ...thats a lot of g's my guess would be that seat would come out

i agree with you, but disagree at the same time....the seat wouldnt fly out of the car because its held to the frame by (4) 3/4" grade 8 bolts with lock nuts on the other end...and the screws that are holding the bracket to the back of the seat are 5/16", and the back of the seat is also threaded for the screws, and they are putin with locktite....they arent coming out lol....

 

[trav_19]

oh ok i was under the assumption that he was only using those screws to hold the seat in and he just taped them into the bar and seat lol i guess its not all that bad lol

 

[stprorolla49]

oh ok i was under the assumption that he was only using those screws to hold the seat in and he just taped them into the bar and seat lol i guess its not all that bad lol

haha nah, that would suck...no this car is one of the nicest cars ive seen that ran that kinda times...i told him when he gets sick of it, instead of selling it, i want it..he was like we'll see, its a possibility

NHRA rules state you need to have the seat mounted to the rollbar if you run (i believe 10.99) or quicker, and those were the screws i was referring to...they are the ones that holda plate against the back of the seat frame with a bracket that comes off of that plate and bolts to the roll bar with the same hardened bolt that holds the shoulder part of his 5-pt harness

 

[legalize420]

I haven't taken my car to the track yet, and have no idea what it will run. Its a 5speed, has stock gears as of now, about 360-370 rwhp and stock weight. Would anyone want to take a guess at what I would run??

what tire? with a good 60' you could see low 12's mabye even a high 11. if you have street tires i would guess you would be running high 12's low 13's. the rule is 13.99 at my track. you will need a cage.

 

[Danman765432]

now my question is, where would you get a good NHRA legal roll cage for a 94-95 vert?

 

[trav_19]

so what year chevelle does he have?? my dad's got a 69 chevelle ss with the big block

 

[stprorolla49]

so what year chevelle does he have?? my dad's got a 69 chevelle ss with the big block

He's got a 66' Chevelle Malibu that he used to race. He started restoring it when i was 2 weeks old, and as soon as i could hold a wrench i was working on that car. Even though hes got the Nova also, the Chevelle is his pride and joy. It had a 502 bbc with a th400 fully built auto that ran mid-high 10's on 10" slicks. Then he got tired of slipping on hot days so he bought the nova as a roller, threw the 502 and trans in there, and put a 350 we built with a t-5 from a late model trans am into the chevelle. The car is so fun on the street, and looks awesome. Heres some pics...

View attachment 389920

My dad on the right and his medical school roommate on the left...
View attachment 389921

Back on topic, Dan, look at maximum motorsports as i believe the have an NHRA legal cage for 94-95 verts. Also check out autopower because they definately have them too. Im not sure if they have them, but check out wild rides out of farmingdale, nj because i know they have a 94-95 cage, i just dont know if it would fit in a vert. Good luck.

 

[getusummm]

There are quite a few places. Maximum motorsports, Wolfe, S&W race cars,Competition engineering, Summmit, and many more.

 

[trav_19]

nice chevelle

 

[Danman765432]

ok thanks guys