I build roll cages

[Chilezen]

[Chilezen]

[Chilezen]

The biggest gain we've achieved with this design is the headroom. This particular cage doesn't go as high as our later versions, but what you can see is how the AP bar by the driver's head is pushed up into a pocket I cut out of the roof. It's fiberglass, so there's no strength lost by cutting into it. And surprisingly, I haven't seen others do this. It's ideal real estate to bend a bar up there, which is great because it can better protect the driver by being that far up.

The other great improvement about this design is how the Main Hoop is welded directly on top of the frame of the car. If you aren't familiar with Corvettes, they're kind of like trucks, where they have two large frame rails that run the length of the car. It's a fine design, it works. But most cage builders will weld the bars to the side of the frame, or worse, on top of the gas tank sheet metal. They do that because the frame is obscured by many other metal panels, so it's easier to just... not do it the right way. My boss was adamant about increasing passenger space and tying into the strongest parts of the car, so that's what we did.

This set of photos doesn't quite show those details, but I have plenty more to come.

[Chilezen]

This set of photos hopefully shows you more of what the previous set didn't.





There, in the bottom left, you can clearly see the cutout in the body where the Main Hoop terminates. It sits directly on top of the frame.

I could show you what other cages in this car look like, but I'm not here to disrespect other builder's designs.

[Chilezen]

[hasa]

Nice job as always. I'd reconsider the tube design behind driver seat if you want to wrap seat belts over it.

[Chilezen]

Nice job as always. I'd reconsider the tube design behind driver seat if you want to wrap seat belts over it.

Thanks. I know your concern, that the belts will slip on the bends. Some drivers use clamps on the sides of the belts, others use zip ties. We also offer a welded-on retaining rod by request. Of all the dozens and dozens of cars we've built, we haven't heard of an issue with belts slipping.
The tube design is necessary to achieve a seat position that is far enough back for tall drivers. The seats you see pictured aren't in their final position.

Local/regional rules dictate that this bar design is legal, and required; I know European countries have the harness bar way back in the rear down bars/kickers, but that's not legal here. So curving the driver's harness bar back is the only way.

[hasa]

I feel the pain with seat position. We have a trend here to install the main roll bar very far to towards tail of the car to allow more leg room. That way you could also perhaps use straight tubes which is structurally always superior to bent ones.

[Panici]

Man, that C5 cage looks great!

Love how far the door bars are kicked out to maximize the driver's space.

[Chilezen]

I feel the pain with seat position. We have a trend here to install the main roll bar very far to towards tail of the car to allow more leg room. That way you could also perhaps use straight tubes which is structurally always superior to bent ones.

Totally understand. The top priority in building a cage is first to locate the best possible mounting solution for the main hoop. In the Corevette's case, there's no way to push it back any further, given the significant compromises that would have to be made in cutting away the car. So a bent harness bar will have to do.

Man, that C5 cage looks great!

Love how far the door bars are kicked out to maximize the driver's space.

Thanks! They really are, it's funny how hollow the doors are without windows. This is one of those cars where you vastly notice the difference between getting in and out between the X-style and Nascar style bars.

[Chilezen]

I've been slackin'. I'm ready to post some more builds!

[Chilezen]

Personally, I'm not a fan of this type of door bars, but this is what the customer wanted, and we delivered. Making the large taco gussets for the doors was a chore, because our die/press isn't wide enough to make that as one piece, so it was built as two halves. In a production sense, incredibly time consuming to weld and blend the halves, four times.

Credit due to the welder who welded all of this. Wasn't me, I just design the cages now. This guy comes in any time we have an in-house build.

[Chilezen]

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[Digitalwave]

Nice work, nice photos too!