Roll cages are awesome.

[i3igpete]

the main thing isn't so much the ability to weld, but knowing the order to weld the pipes, as well as having the tools to notch everything properly since prefab kits are usually cut with longer pieces than necessary. my cage guy also does scrutineering and he's seen the worst stuff from guys that didn't have the proper tools. Either that or welded in the wrong order and "painted themselves into a corner", so to speak, and couldn't complete the weld because the other pieces were already in place.

[J_Parker]

the main thing isn't so much the ability to weld, but knowing the order to weld the pipes, as well as having the tools to notch everything properly since prefab kits are usually cut with longer pieces than necessary. my cage guy also does scrutineering and he's seen the worst stuff from guys that didn't have the proper tools. Either that or welded in the wrong order and "painted themselves into a corner", so to speak, and couldn't complete the weld because the other pieces were already in place.

That I've seen so many times here in my town, the scary thing is that the trac officials actually let it slide... The worst one I had seen it on was IN A CIVIC, go figure. The top corner of the cage (A pillar) on the drivers side and all had about 1/4" of the material welded into place. I asked the guy who owned the car and he said that he forgot to finish the weld when he put the cage into the car... Needless to say I jusy shook my head and walked away.




Obviously someone "tried" to braze that... But good lord, it looks like they slapped bubblegum and waterweld on it

[terrets]

Oh my goodness ^....

When I welded for the first time, I did better than that..

[TajMan]

I'm more confident in the strength of my welds and less confident right now in cutting pipes with proper curves etc to meet up flush everywhere for a good weld surface *without the right tools of course* which I don't have right now.

I've just got 220V MIG and ARC welders, I'm no TIG specialist. thats like art

I've got my '77 Lancia Beta Scorpion I'm very slowly tearing into, to soda-blast and restore/mod. Hopefully with a 6G72TT engine.
I'm going to incorporate some manner of support bars / rollcage into the car. To what extent I'm not sure yet.

[92RT-TT]

I've done better welding and fabricating with my eyes shut and both hands tied behind my back then those rolecage pictures Pete posted lol.
I'll be having my dad build our MTC drag cars cage. He's been welding mig and tig for 30 years now so I'm pretty confident in his ability. 4 10k lb gvw trailers and countless other things fabricated without one failure have me feeling pretty good about his ability to weld and fabricate properly

[green-lantern]

I'd be willing to bet those all came out of Hondas or were being built for one.

[Erron Spalsbury]

Oh man Pete, those pics make me shudder.

The downside to getting a pre-fabbed cage is they are typically designed for a car that maintains its interior. That usually puts the main hoop a good 8-10 inches away from the b-pillar. That means you have a huge crumple zone before the cage even gets involved. (usually deeper than the edge of the seat, Yikes!)