To put a roll cage into my daily driver?
Situation is this - I have a friend who does paint/body/fab work and is in need of a car, I happen to have a parts car (decent body, bad engine/clutch) he is interested in taking in exchange for a respray, cage and some other misc. fab work I'd planned on doing down the line. For me it would work out nicely because I'd be hard pressed to find someone to just do the work for what the parts car is worth and I'd be helping a friend into an e30 .
I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons of doing it now rather than waiting to turn it into a track toy in a couple years, but this opportunity is pretty hard to pass up, and worst case scenario is I'm unhappy with it as a dd, store it or sell it to someone as a spec e30 car. It would seem that having a cage in a daily makes sense, better side impact, foot well protection etc. I've also heard that it is dangerous so I'm not really sure who to believe on the issue. I'd retain the 3 point belts to use daily and only use a harness at the track.
This is the basic design I'm considering (Thanks to Beertech!)

The paint is kind of a no brainer and since I'll be replacing the front windshield (cracked) and removing the rear glass to take care of the headliner, it would be a great time to stick in a cage, delete the sunroof and some other little things.
I'm not worried about people talking crap about my slow car having a cage in it etc. However if it is a safety issue for myself or a passenger in my car not wearing a helmet then it might be better to wait.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Comments?
Situation is this - I have a friend who does paint/body/fab work and is in need of a car, I happen to have a parts car (decent body, bad engine/clutch) he is interested in taking in exchange for a respray, cage and some other misc. fab work I'd planned on doing down the line. For me it would work out nicely because I'd be hard pressed to find someone to just do the work for what the parts car is worth and I'd be helping a friend into an e30 .
I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons of doing it now rather than waiting to turn it into a track toy in a couple years, but this opportunity is pretty hard to pass up, and worst case scenario is I'm unhappy with it as a dd, store it or sell it to someone as a spec e30 car. It would seem that having a cage in a daily makes sense, better side impact, foot well protection etc. I've also heard that it is dangerous so I'm not really sure who to believe on the issue. I'd retain the 3 point belts to use daily and only use a harness at the track.
This is the basic design I'm considering (Thanks to Beertech!)

The paint is kind of a no brainer and since I'll be replacing the front windshield (cracked) and removing the rear glass to take care of the headliner, it would be a great time to stick in a cage, delete the sunroof and some other little things.
I'm not worried about people talking crap about my slow car having a cage in it etc. However if it is a safety issue for myself or a passenger in my car not wearing a helmet then it might be better to wait.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Comments?
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