Going out on a limb here, but I suspect the tech inspectors at the drag strip see more injuries from failed out dated seat belts or improperly installed roll cages, then they see from actual properly built roll cage failures. A roll cage with the main points welded directly to the sheet metal floor pan without the 6" square 1/8" plate between the cage tubing and the floor pan would be a big red flag. Tubing with joints that are only 60% welded and have gaping holes the rest of the way around are another big red flag. Most of us have seen the video of the 55 (or 56) Chevy doing the roll over past the guardrail where the driver is flipped out of the still rolling car. No one really wants to see that happen in real life, so the rules are written to prevent that from happening again, not many come out of those type of crashes as well as that lucky guy did. The reality is, most racers are more concerned about going faster then they are about being safe. Most of the comments on this post are concerning what is required by the rules to go "this fast" and keep the tech guy happy, not about what needs to be done to keep the driver safe at that speed.
I wouldn't say no way.. There's what I do> Put you back brace in place and trace it on the main hoop it with soapstone or whatever. Remove back bar, and build up a little nub of weld on the main hoop at 12 o'clock , right above your marking . Now, put your brace back in. Shoot out about a half in. of wire from the nozzle. Get you head up there as far as you can. When the wire hits the nub, your arc will start. Drop down a tad and bring you bead down to where can see what you're doing . Same thing on the other side. If you've got a spare nozzle , you can squash it down in a vise to give yourself a bit more room. A clamp on bucket light helps a bit too , for us old fogies. It may not look perfect up there when you're done , but I've checked out the welds with mirror, but you should end up with a 360 deg. weld ;-)
I thought of this rollbar debate when I seen this truck, can't say as I've ever seen the curved bar to main hoop before.
My reading of the rules does not require the rear bars to exit the cab. But maybe someone will show me where it says it has to. (I mean for a roll bar, not a cage)
My friend that owns the Bizio truck had to go with a funny car cage to keep from cutting the truck cab for rear bars.
I’m certainly not an authority on this subject. But if the bar had to be braced rearward, I would think the same plate mount system as on the floor to subframe would work and allow bars to pass through the rear of the cab.
Model A coupes have the sme problems with getting the correct angle on the rear bars without sticking out like the old 70's bolt in 4x4 bars with KC lights. My chassis builder friend worked hard to get these as low as he could while still being legal.
I'd assume if that rule does exist, then it's class specific and laid out in SFI Spec. For your typical roll bar or rollcage, I'm thinking as long as the bend is done by being drawn over a die and not crunched or kinked, then you're all good.
Best recent post by “borntoloze” - “carry on”.!!! Squirrel - how goes the “Ceep”???? Get or try 15 lbs boost yet?
Maybe it’s changed or more thorough at other tracks than the ones I’ve been at but tech doesn’t seem to spend much time on a cage in a 10.0 car, everything gets a quick look with the most attention given to the bars around the driver and window net installation. Nothing really sends you home but fix it before you come back is what I’ve seen. I’ve seen a few swing out bar ideas not go over well but have seen some shit aloud on the track that shouldn’t have been.
Exactly. I really wanted to put a cage in my '56, but I didn't want to put the rear down bars through or above the rear window, and there's no way to have a legal cage without those bars unless a funny car enclosure gets installed, which now puts it into SFI territory and is way too much work and effort for a truck that may never see single digit ET's. I'll pass.
The last car I had to run through tech was my last Foxbody Mustang. It had a 6-point mild steel bar in it. The tech inspector barely looked at the roll bar, and if I remember he basically reached his arm up and felt the weld at the main hoop and rear down bars on the drivers side. He was more concerned with the battery box hold-down bolts and that I didn't have a "push/pull" sticker that told what the battery disconnect did.
As long as you roll bar engineers realize what yall did to an otherwise great focused Squirrel build thread...
Please accept this "roll bar engineers" apology I will do everything in my power to reverse the unfathomable pain I have clearly caused you starting with removing any input I have had on this sad and pathetic topic that I alone brought to this thread I pray you will find it in your heart to, given enough time ... forgive me Once my posts have been eliminated from this thread, I fully intend to spend a week, naked and in total darkness, reflecting on my stupidity and how I can make the world a better place Edit: my posts have been removed. I hope others follow my lead and remove any and all mention of muffler bends, etc. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to disrobe and head to the cellar for my week of personal reflection and growth
I do not under stand , Yes there Is rules, Recommendations , ext ! There Is No guarantees even Over built more then Certain rules , Thousands of people get on a commercial plane every day No parachute, If on a Water craft Need Life preserver! Ride a Motorcycle some wear Helmets, Now there is Air Bag suits for Motorcycles, Horse ? Bull Riding, Running with the bulls . Life is full of Dangers , even walking Watch Ferrari : Race to Immortality , documentary theres a part around 1950 Race maybe 24 hours at Le Mans ? Or another famous Race Track, car coming into pits , clip wall Car came apart threw pit lane & spectator crowd Like 180 People Injured 90 or 100 something killed . Study , watch History of Coney Island NY 1920 - 40s Many injured and killed , Close 20 year ago Eric tire when Square, Scotty Australian pro mod driver , car crashed @ bottom end jumped wall , are born Clipped Concrete telephone pole over 100-200 feet side of track Cut car in half Final Round , Word Champion Run Won , 2010 ,Friend of mine Neal Parker A/Fc driver . Back in 70s I was up in burn out to starting line , I was about 8 , match racing Funny Cars , Spark plug came threw body peg me in chest , To this day when @ track I stand on line Narrow track 40 foot wide after Tree Staging about 10 foot between fender's We get cars in 4:20-60 in 1/8 Fastest and record Is a Funny , 3:70ish & Small tire , 3:83 car was set up to click Off @ 3 sec into run , If Scared dont show or Do , I feel safe in my full race car , but it can happen , My street I will only run 1/8 its @ the three digits little over , Another friend of mine Would always say Jonny Rocca Happy Motoring
Sounds a little like our local track, I guarantee you won't get closer to a car going down track as a spectator. Right on the other side of that fence is the racing surface, not a shoulder, some cars are so close it'll suck the beer cups right onto the track from the vacuum. They run top fuelers here and everything, Shirley Muldoney held the record forever with a 3.50 then Todd Paton came in with a 3.306-second pass, and also the speed record at 233.00 mph, both set during Nitro Night of Fire.
Wonder what will happen to sport of drag racing if bunch of people get killed standing next to a fueler. How is the squirrel’s build coming? Hope everyone can understand my sentence structure & wording
I'm going to go racing again when there's a chance, the drag strips around here mostly shut down for the summer rains. Still other things to tinker with on Cheep, though. and there's a LeMons Rally coming up soon, in the PNW, and I have to go on it just because. Corvette? Cheep? Which would be worse?
That photo reminds me of Jake and Elwood playing a bar in Kokomo... Benaraby Dragway in Central Queensland gets you almost that close: Cheers, Harv
Thank you Squirrel, for returning your thread to what it's supposed to be. This my dick is bigger then yours argument gets old. I enjoy reading all the tech in your threads but the bickering gets old real quick.
The Jalopy Journal
