Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

Bowtieman427 · Active Member

Roll Cage ?

Lost in the 60s · President

2k is pretty cheap life insurance... You spent 10 times that amount to go fast.

A chrome moly custom cage, made to fit your car is going to be much better than a "will fit" genaric. I'm assuming the price includes installation, which an aftermarket mild steel cage doesn't.

Derek69SS · Founding Member

I'm no structural engineer, but I've read stuff from people who are that TIG welded Chrome Moly isn't any stronger than mild steel because the joints are more brittle. To get the full strength of Chrome Moly, you'd have to heat-treat the whole thing after it's welded, which isn't practical unless you're building a tube chassis race car with no sheetmetal on it to warp.

2nd hand info here though, so you might want to look into it and ask some experts. :)

Tim H · Mega Poster

Derek69SS wrote:
I'm no structural engineer, but I've read stuff from people who are that TIG welded Chrome Moly isn't any stronger than mild steel because the joints are more brittle. To get the full strength of Chrome Moly, you'd have to heat-treat the whole thing after it's welded, which isn't practical unless you're building a tube chassis race car with no sheetmetal on it to warp.

2nd hand info here though, so you might want to look into it and ask some experts. :)

Derek is correct.

We weld pipe in oil refineries and powerhouses. We often weld disimular metals including chrome moly. Welding it to carbon steel can be done with the correct qualified weld procedure. To reduce the stress at the weld it would be Post Weld Heat Treated PWHT. The welds are wrapped and slowly brought up to a tempature held and then slowly cooled down. The metal can be brittle at the joints if not done properly.

The question I would ask is what is the wall thickness of the pipe and be less concerned about the metalurgy. What are you getting for added weight and strength. Are they are using Schedule 10, standard, XS, XXS something like Schedule 160. It's more about the structural design and schedule of the pipe.

You can bulid a bridge out of wood that will handle the same or more weight than steel if it's engineered correctly.

I'm suspect they know what they are doing, they have a heck of a liability.

-- Edited by Tim H on Saturday 9th of June 2012 07:31:09 AM

Clutch · Member

How many point cage?

Are you or them removing/re-installing the interior?

What are you doing with the side bars? Solid, removable, swivels?

Bowtieman427 · Active Member

-6-8 point will be good to 10s, He will paint it but will cost extra. I may opt to have him paint it to have it done. He even told me to get a new rear deck (carboard piece) if my present one is NOT in that good of shape as he will make sure the holes he cuts will be perfect.
-He will remove and put back the interior, I think he removes the rear window too to get the pipes tight in. I want access to the back seat.
-He will basically said he will do what I want, but I think to make it good to go form a tech the bars would be solid. He said he makes them solid in a way where it will be easy to access the car. There is a gentlamen from Redwing that has a '72 he did I called him and he is very happy with it and invited me to check out his car.

Scott Parkhurst · Super Poster

I've installed kits before and they're good. You still have to trim everything, but it gets you all the tubing you need and the bends are right. My pal Scott is fabricating his own cage now, and he's had to re-bend a few tubes, which is getting expensive. Any good welder/fabricator can get a basic cage in, but if you want it to fit nice and tight in your street car, 2 grand to get a 6 or 8 point cage in isn't bad.

Bowtieman427 · Active Member

spoke to Mike last night at MW Race Craft. check it out at

http://mwracecraft.com/index.php

He was very nice and right now the front runner for the job. Here are pics of some of his work:

https://s1088.photobucket.com/albums/i337/mwracecraft/

I would really like the do the Chevelle like the 1974 Charger. The only difference is I do not know if I could run a knee bar in the dash, but I sure like it a lot I really like the way the back half tunred out and the swing outs. He uses Mild steel not chrome alloy like Green light. I will chat with him some more about runnign tubes into engine compartment like the "Jeffs Camero" in photos. Per our discussion when he makes roll cages he has them certified inspected to 8.5sec , Roll bars do not need inspection just have to pass tech. I never plan on running that fast I do not even know how we could run that fast : )
Plan is to stay above 10.0, but I do like the safety factor vs minimum requirements.

Chris R · 2K+ Club

Bowtieman427 wrote:
spoke to Mike last night at MW Race Craft. check it out at

http://mwracecraft.com/index.php

He was very nice and right now the front runner for the job. Here are pics of some of his work:

https://s1088.photobucket.com/albums/i337/mwracecraft/
I would really like the do the Chevelle like the 1974 Charger. The only difference is I do not know if I could run a knee bar in the dash, but I sure like it a lot I really like the way the back half tunred out and the swing outs. He uses Mild steel not chrome alloy like Green light. I will chat with him some more about runnign tubes into engine compartment like the "Jeffs Camero" in photos. Per our discussion when he makes roll cages he has them certified inspected to 8.5sec , Roll bars do not need inspection just have to pass tech. I never plan on running that fast I do not even know how we could run that fast : )
Plan is to stay above 10.0, but I do like the safety factor vs minimum requirements.