Chassis stiffness without roll cage

[toomanymodz]

Ok, I dropped off the car at the chassis shop. He's going to begin work tomorrow morning. Man, I'm still on the fence about the whole roll-cage thing. I suppose I should read up on the rules about them. I've been hearing things like 'once you put in a cage, you cannot use factory belts'. So I'll have to install harnesses. Then do I have to get rid of the factory seats? Can a roll bar be just welded to the body or must it go through and be welded to the frame. Probably the fastest I'll be going with the current combo is 10.30's on race gas. And the rules for NHRA and IHRA might be different as well.

I briefly looked under the car and it's going to be tough boxing in the frame without lifting up the body. If he's going to do that, I may as well order new body bushings. Decisions decisions. Any comments or ideas from those folks who have went down this path? thanks.

 

[BGNeXtreem]

Cage must be welded to the frame

 

[charlief1]

If your car will go 10's then you really need to think about putting some sort of safety equipment on it. You can do a full cage or a 6 point bar and both can have removable side bars which will help you get in and out of it. You can also keep the factory seat belts but add harnesses for safety if you go to the track. Since you're going to go this far you might as well replace the body bushings and not have to deal with it later whether you put a bar or cage in it.

 

[nickb]

I just spent alot of money making my car perfect....but at the end of the day I like going to the track and racing it. So it looks like its gonna get a cage this winter. Cant go tens on the street anyway. If your going to the track with it, just put the cage in. They look bad ass anyway.

 

[DR BOOST]

look in the cars for sale section for plowboy72's gn. it was previously owned by a friend of mine and both of us had our cars done by the same person. The chassis had parallel frame rails and another crossmember tieing in the control arm points. These mods alone made a huge difference in my car.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Here's a brief description of SOME of what you will need.
http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/nhra_legal_rules_regulations_time_brackets/
Spend the $, and get a rule book. DO NOT rely on the chassis guy to remember all the ins/outs. The BEST $ you will spend on the project. [I actually wore out my rb, while building the "yeller car".]
The "book" has many "little items", such as steel valve stems, SNELL sticker in the helmet, inspection sticker on the belts, yadda, yadda, hidden in the pages!