white_2kgt Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 Say you have to cut one of your tubes in 1/2 to extend it or to replace a 'bent'/'crushed' section of tubing, is this legal? What is the proper method to do so? Can you just drop down to an OD the same size as the ID of your cage slip it inside then put the same OD tube on the outside and weld around it? I know it would seem to make more sense to just replace the entire tube but what if that isn't an option. Can a repair be made? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DriverGT5 Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 It depends on the tube. What tube is it and why can't you fix it properly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_2kgt Posted May 24, 2007 Author Share Posted May 24, 2007 It depends on the tube. What tube is it and why can't you fix it properly? b/c what I want to do would require rebuilding 80% of the cage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renntag Posted May 25, 2007 Share Posted May 25, 2007 .... What tube is it and why ....? Curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REDRAGN53 Posted May 25, 2007 Share Posted May 25, 2007 In my past life as a fabricator we did a few repairs of this nature...only as a last resort. Weld some form of bracing near where the bar will be cut that attaches to another part of the cage. This is to limit any distortion as the bars are cut out since the cage will likly have some tension...if it is not in the correct location some type of port-a-power device will need to be used to correctly locate the tube. As you suggested the new bar was sleeved but also holes (2 or 4) were drilled in the old and new sections inorder to fix the sleeve inside the tube. As I mentioned this is not a perfect fix ... I would make sure to check with the tech inspectors before starting any repair of this nature to hear their suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renntag Posted May 25, 2007 Share Posted May 25, 2007 Chad, do you have pictures that we can see? I am very curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DriverGT5 Posted May 25, 2007 Share Posted May 25, 2007 It depends on the tube. What tube is it and why can't you fix it properly? b/c what I want to do would require rebuilding 80% of the cage. My answer would then be that the cage is junk and you should rebuild it. Safety isn't something you should take chances on. If it was one bar that wasn't critical, I would be more open to the idea, but this sounds like a good bit of repair. Pictures would help. For example, if it's a super critical part like the main hoop, there is no gray area, it must be one solid piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renntag Posted May 25, 2007 Share Posted May 25, 2007 His car rolled in T7 at VIR north July 06. It was a shame because Chad's car was one of the nicest mustangs in the paddock. You might be right on the main hoop issue. Here is a pic from last year. Ouch. the pain. So does it take committee vote to earn a HPDE national championship? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falcon Posted May 25, 2007 Share Posted May 25, 2007 So does it take committee vote to earn a HPDE national championship? He actually placed second. He was nudged out in the last turn by a guy in an Escort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DriverGT5 Posted May 25, 2007 Share Posted May 25, 2007 Yeah, that cage is junk now. If you want to salvage the car you'll need to cut the roof off and redo the whole cage. Most people I have seen roll a car strip it and start from a new chassis. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_2kgt Posted May 25, 2007 Author Share Posted May 25, 2007 There is actually nothing wrong with the cage. I just wanted to 'extend' it to move the main hoop back further. What I wanted to do, and it sounds like it's a really bad idea, was to stretch the drivers side door bars (hence the 'repair' question), redo the halo and put in an X on the passengers side. I'll just stick w/ what I have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renntag Posted May 26, 2007 Share Posted May 26, 2007 That would definitely require a major rework of the cage. Its a shame to see that car coming apart after such a short life in competition. So how are you going to install the cage into the new chassis? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DriverGT5 Posted May 26, 2007 Share Posted May 26, 2007 That would definitely require a major rework of the cage. Its a shame to see that car coming apart after such a short life in competition. So how are you going to install the cage into the new chassis? The same way he got it out of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_2kgt Posted May 26, 2007 Author Share Posted May 26, 2007 That would definitely require a major rework of the cage. Its a shame to see that car coming apart after such a short life in competition. So how are you going to install the cage into the new chassis? The same way he got it out of course. yup, off w/ its head! (as soon as I get the subframe connectors installed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renntag Posted May 26, 2007 Share Posted May 26, 2007 i hope you photo document the entire process. I am really looking forward to seeing your car live again.....if perhaps partially in spirit. Best of luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_2kgt Posted May 26, 2007 Author Share Posted May 26, 2007 i hope you photo document the entire process. I am really looking forward to seeing your car live again.....if perhaps partially in spirit. Best of luck. everything will be right here, http://www.2kgt.com/item.php?cat=7 not much there yet, I've been working on the 02 GT that I bought so I can have something to HPDE this summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nape Posted May 26, 2007 Share Posted May 26, 2007 Why did you cut the tubes instead of cutting the floor plates right out of the floor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_2kgt Posted May 26, 2007 Author Share Posted May 26, 2007 Why did you cut the tubes instead of cutting the floor plates right out of the floor? b/c I'm going to mount them on a 'pedestal' mount in the new car, so I'm going to be cutting off more tube in the end anyhow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nape Posted May 26, 2007 Share Posted May 26, 2007 Gotcha, that makes sense. I was looking at it and saying "Man, I hope he has a plan. Otherwise, ." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renntag Posted May 26, 2007 Share Posted May 26, 2007 everything will be right here, Sweet. I will check back often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_2kgt Posted May 27, 2007 Author Share Posted May 27, 2007 Gotcha, that makes sense. I was looking at it and saying "Man, I hope he has a plan. Otherwise, ." lol, yea when I'm sitting around, I'm thinking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mystic_Cobra Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 What am I missing...if the cage is good (enough to reuse) why aren't you fixing the car? My floor was bent from the left front head light area to the gas tank. I didn't think twice about stripping my car and starting again. This makes me think my cage could still be reused. It might only be bent in the left front corner. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_2kgt Posted July 22, 2007 Author Share Posted July 22, 2007 I trashed mine b/c both rear 1/4's were trashed, the passenger side was trashed from the bottom of the rocker at the b-pillar all the way to the roof (from where he hit me), the roof was trashed, both doors trashed, and the driver's 1/4 trashed just behind the door, the back have of the 1/4 had already had repair work. Basically every strip of outside sheet metal was junk. Since I pretty much suck at body work it's cheaper for me to just pull all my stuff out and put it in a new shell. Since I'd have to pay someone to do all the sheet metal work. Basically the car crumpled all around the cage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mystic_Cobra Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 Roger. I was thinking, for the 3 grand (in labor) a new cage cost me, I could have put all new body panels on a car-doing the welding myself. I'm good enough at welding for body panels, but I'm not ready to do my own cage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon dawes Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 i hope you photo document the entire process. I am really looking forward to seeing your car live again.....if perhaps partially in spirit. Best of luck. everything will be right here, http://www.2kgt.com/item.php?cat=7 not much there yet, I've been working on the 02 GT that I bought so I can have something to HPDE this summer. . . . and how many HPDEs have you done this summer???? maybe if you stopped being the nice guy and just let everybody work on their cars in their driveways or in the street or wherever, you could actually work on YOUR car rather than helping everybody else so when are we going to do MY cage??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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