I reckon it looks bloody good

Is it gonna be road legal?

Yep, will be road legal

It really does look the business and I dare say this could be the best handling coupé once it is finished with some serious power to boot

Having seen the amount of work going into the front part of the rollcage.
I was thinking about cutting the front legs off the front half of rollcage to save removing the dash.
Then fitting the front part down in through the dash,then fit some joining collars like the rear cage to front cage ones, to re fit front legs.
After which a few bolts and welds to secure.

I will be having a professional welder helping.Not that he knows it yet

Great thread Alexis by the way.

Holy thread resurrection Batman!

As the thread has been resurrected I may as well ask a question - is it possible to refit the rear seats with the cage in place? I am tempted to fit one for hill climbing but want to stay in the ckass which requires a full interior to be fitted, although it doesn't have to be usable.

THIS imo is what this club is about!

I've begbie a shout mate because I can't remember if he still has his fitted either that or look through the pictures on here there must me one some where.


As for cutting the front legs and welding them back on this could be a good idea but may have trouble with clearance when it comes to welding them back on depending where you cut.

Either way should be good to see it done so all the best mate

I would say yes,but be prepaired to butcher the seats extremely.

Got to agree with Joe on this. It could be possible, but you would have to cut up the seats quite a bit, as the rear part of the cage mounts on the rear wheel arches, which is what the seat / rear trim covers.

Joe, whilst the idea sounds feasible, I think you would lose some of the integrity / strength in the front legs and god forbid if you were in an accident, what would happen to the front legs?

Yes its crossed my mind about an accident. But as the cage is joined in the middle by an over tube i was hoping that a similar join or a stronger one would be ok.

I will chew it over with Joe at some point.

I guess if the cut is braced and sleeved then it should be as strong or even stronger in that area than before due to the extra material. She what the welder has to say

What Cage are you going for? An OMP off the shelf item or full custom?

I have an OMP cage,the same as begbie.
Just given it 2 coats of red oxide.

I will do some trial runs with varous lenths of wood to try and work out where the cut should be.

Not sure,but i am thinking about trying to find a way of cutting just one leg off.

Hopefully i will have a play about with it next week.

I wouldn't cut anything. You want to keep as much strength in the cage as possible.

I'll be buying a cage for mine after Xmas, and wouldn't consider cutting any of it. You only have to search for cage related disasters from poor fitting etc to know not to touch them!

I understand your concerns Tom. I have the same concerns. Thats why i will be consulting with a proffessional welder.

What's your thoughts on the cage being in two halves?

I suppose theres not a lot that can be done with that. Im pretty sure the cage complies (ied) with motorsport regs if installed and inspected so should be ok.

Like I say Ive not ordered mine yet so cant comment much further until I get it.

I would just whip the dash out, fit the cage and then refit as in this thread.

Get some pics up - always interested to see a project!

Thanks for the replies, I thought that would be the case. If I go ahead I will try to get some cheap seats which won't matter if they are hacked about - that has to be allowed in the regs but what I can 't do is not have the interior in place.

Andy have a good look at Begbie's photo's. You will so what is stripped out and what wont go back in.
B pillar covers/grab handles is something that may not go back in.

But i imagine that you can cut about all the stuff to make it look as though the interior is in there.

Heres a thought..
What if you cut down all four legs just alittle bit to avoid rubbing against A pillars and roof. Take out the complete dashboard and cut like on Begbies car, get your welder to mod the center pillars to clear the doors, get a upolstery shop tu mod rear seat (you can have zippers on outside of bars)
Lay down new sound deadening, get your upolstery guy to lay seem around edges where the pillars are etc. With a bit imagination and fiddeling about you can do this. May the force be with you

Merry christmas!

@AndyPS

I have several interiors, and several rear cards - some are shabby, but would be good for experimenting.

You can have some for free if you can collect

Thanks Nigel, when I get to cage stage I'll get in touch.

I am just starting to get ready the area's for welding the mounting brackets in place.The white mastic is stubborn stuff!

The angled pieces of metal on the bracket really are poorly attached by just using a tiny spot weld on the corners.

I gave it a tap and it started to bend. So i think the next job is to strenthen the bracket before i weld it to the coupe.

A drill mounted wire wheel is what you need, I've been removing that from my car today!

Its all off now. Cage is in but not welded in yet.

I have a few bits to do to get it to sit right in the morning.

I will post a few pics at some point.

Pics pics pics :-)

I managed to get the cage totally ready for welding yesterday.

There was a fair bit of cutting invovled. But i am reasonably happy with the result and i think i can glue some bits back in later.
This pic looks as though i took to much out(nearside) i did this to allow the driverside cage leg to get around the corner of the dash. So there we are,allredy for welding. It has taken me about 3 days to get this stage. Its a job i did with mixed feelings really. With cutting the dash out and removing the interior know that there is no going back to my nice comfy coupe. But i get great enjoyment on track and i am really looking forward to getting the coupe to its next stage of development.
Harness fitting is the next job.

I cant see what your thinking of cutting but my professional advice is do not cut anything. Especially a front leg or any part of the main structure. (Hoop.front legs.rear legs.screen tube)

If you change the design of any type of homologated cage then its homologation will be void. And more importantly without professional advice on fittings the cage will likely not be safe in a crash.

I run a motorsport fabrication company specialising in custom rollcages. If u want some advice mail me info@nicksonmotorsport.co.uk

I am likely to be making a cage for my 20vt soon as I am turning into track car. I will post pics up of the process on this forum. For anyone interested in buying a cage I could fabricate more than one.

Have a look at my website www.nicksonmotorsport.co.uk

hope me posting this is ok with mods. Im happy to do a group buy through forum if required. I am a 20vt owner and not just looking to sell. I just thought I would offer professional advice on cage fitting etc as its my buisness.

Nick