Cage for NASA Super Touring class

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240sxTTE
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Cage for NASA Super Touring class

Post by 240sxTTE »

Just completed the cage. The car will be raced in NASA's new Super Touring ST2 class (2600 lbs, 300 whp).

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Post by wcbjr »

Beefy.

Automatic?
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Post by 240sxTTE »

wcbjr wrote:Beefy.

Automatic?
One of the many things I need to do is convert it to a 5-speed. I have a manual 240 that I'll be removing all of the goodies. Basically I'm doing a chassis swap and building a turbo motor. The other car is an SE with full power and a sunroof. I'll be selling the other chassis, which is a California car - spotless underbody. Here's a few photos of the other car.

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pandas14
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Post by pandas14 »

Very nice cage.

Why did you not do a bar between the rear strut towers?

Also, what made you choose nascar style door bars over say a X bar?

Also how did you weld around the full circumfrence of the bars on the hoop with such tight clearances to the roof?

Just curious. I love studying cages.

Nice work.
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Post by 240sxTTE »

pandas14 wrote:Very nice cage.

Why did you not do a bar between the rear strut towers? - Depending on the class I run, it costs a point to have the rear shock towers tied into the cage or it costs a point for a rear stru bar. Sometimes points are tight and I wanted the option of removing the strut bar.

Also, what made you choose nascar style door bars over say a X bar? X bars are better for chassis stiffness. Nascar bars are better for driver protection and they protect the door sill and frame from damage since they stick out so far. In the event of an accident with X bars, the door and sill can be crushed all the way up to the bars. The other bonus with Nascar bars is the doors are allowed to be gutted and the window removed for further weight savings.

Also how did you weld around the full circumfrence of the bars on the hoop with such tight clearances to the roof? - the guy that did the cage is a magician. I'm not sure how he did it but he has made a respecful living from just building cages for 20 years.

Just curious. I love studying cages.

Nice work.
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Post by mach5camaroSS »

If you dont mind, what was the final cost on the cage like that?

Also, is there a cross bar for the cage under the dash? and how did putting the dash in go, do you have pic of where the bars go through the dash?
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Post by 240sxTTE »

mach5camaroSS wrote:If you dont mind, what was the final cost on the cage like that?

Also, is there a cross bar for the cage under the dash? and how did putting the dash in go, do you have pic of where the bars go through the dash?
$2000 including a window net and modifying the bride seat brackets to be lower and closer to the tunnel.

There is a nice stock horizontal bar under the dash. I had him weld the A pillar bars to the stock dash bar. It didn't make sense to add another horizonal bar for space reasons and considering that the stock bar is already tied into the chassis in multiple places. The dash required a lot of trimming but the fabricator is really good and I think it came out great. We did the dash so that it is removable. Sorry no photos of the stock dash bar.
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Post by Justin L »

That looks great man. He did a very good job. I agree with the nascar style.
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Post by EviltoM »

I love looking at cages, im thinking about making my own this summer some time.
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Post by pandas14 »

Actually there is a lot of debate on whether Nascar style is stronger/safer than a gusseted X brace. With a properly designed cage, I do not believe they are safer. But protecting the rocker panels is a plus (low impact crashes anyways).
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Post by 240luvr »

You gettin' rid of the rims on your manual hatch?
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Post by 240sxTTE »

pandas14 wrote:Actually there is a lot of debate on whether Nascar style is stronger/safer than a gusseted X brace. With a properly designed cage, I do not believe they are safer. But protecting the rocker panels is a plus (low impact crashes anyways).
The nascar bars are safer than a pyramid gussetted X bar alone. This is why the European GT cars are using special composites in the door to absorb energy. They still want to use the X bar for stiffness. I have seen studies where a pyramid gussetted X bar and nascar bars performed very similar as far a horizontal movement during a crash. The X bar performed slightly better than the Nascar bars (0.79" horizontal movement versus 1.10") The difference is the distance from the driver; X bar is just about touching the seat and my nascar bars are 6-7" away.

I know there has been much debate and I think the best solution is good cage design and always keep the cage as far away from the driver as possible.
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Post by SleepyS-14 »

Very good quality work. Hats off the the cage builder and welder

-I just finished my cage on wed. night too
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Post by MattPowers »

pandas14 wrote:Actually there is a lot of debate on whether Nascar style is stronger/safer than a gusseted X brace. With a properly designed cage, I do not believe they are safer.protecting the rocker panels is a plus (low impact crashes anyways).
scott you know you love the extra room availible from nascar style. thats what i would do if i didnt already have door bars.
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Post by 240sxTTE »

240luvr wrote:You gettin' rid of the rims on your manual hatch?
Everything is negotiable. The rims are Rays Engineering Volk EVO II from Japan. One piece forged - very light.

17x8 front
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Post by pandas14 »

Mattycakes: Except when you get hit hard enough since the bars are longer than the distance from the hoop to the a pillar bar they will crush it as far as they stick out before they try and pull the hoop and a pill ar bar together or stretch the door bar tubing. And the extra weight. If I wasn't building a drift car I'd do a type of pyramid/ x bar hybrid. :3some:
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Post by veilside180sx »

Personally I prefer a X with a crash attenuator. (best of both worlds)
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Post by Nismo_Freak »

Nascar bars hold up to multiple impacts better. The initial impact is hardly ever the killing blow in racing, it's the secondary impacts that hurt / kill people.
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