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3 Spec3's, 3 Cages, All different


VaTechM3

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So I figured I'd try to chronical the caging process of three spec3's all at once. Joey Gill, Mike D'Abreu, and I are all in the process of getting cages installed in our cars at various points in time and in various completedness and designs. I thought it would be interesting for some of you guys to follow along the build process as we move all of our cars towards race ready completion.

 

Mike is going for a full cage and is hoping the have the car ready by the end of February, but because of previous travel plans, might not be on grib as comp school and a few other minor things need to be finished. Hopefully we can get him out for the March event.

 

Joey is going for a rear half cage and can possibly make the February event if all the work is completed. Joey is contemplating running some TT events this season but is in the process of moving to California His car will be going with him to hopefully promote the series out West.

 

My car was not dropped off at the shop yet as I want to continue to work on it while the other two cars are getting worked on. I am going in for a half cage, but the design will differ slightly from Joey's as I'm thinking more long term and will have the front cage completed probably before Joey as I'm working for a 2011 race start. My car will be going in to get half caged once the other two are completed and Eric has time to get the car completed before the March event as I plan to run as full a season of TT as possible this year before going wheel to wheel.

 

All of our cars will have the sunroofs removed and replaced per the rules and a few other minor modifications along the way.

 

All three of the cars will be caged by Eric Langbein in Annapolis Maryland. He built the cages for Max Fisher's Cmod E46 (thread can be found here...http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1157374&page=3)) and Brandon Hey's specE30. He has also built many cages for Rally cars and does a lot of custom fabrication for just about anything you can imagine and focuses on formula based cars. He showed us some of his projects he is working on and his craftsmanship is fantastic. Eric has come highly recommended from my mechanic Jeff Smith at Delta V Motorsports in Richmond so we will be in great hands and we are all very excited to move our cars closer to completion.

 

Here are some picutures that I took while we were at his shop on Saturday.

 

IMG_0942.jpg

 

IMG_0945.jpg

Joey's car getting unloaded.

 

IMG_0949.jpg

Joey's Car in Eric's Shop

 

IMG_0948.jpg

Mike's Car in Eric's Shop

 

IMG_0946.jpg

Eric showing off some of his handiwork.

 

IMG_0950.jpg

Eric and Joey looking at options for his rear cage.

 

IMG_0947.jpg

Drag Bike Eric is working on.

 

More pictures to come as we get them from Eric. Work should begin shortly hopefully!

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Excellent Andrew! Very interesting thread. I'm hoping to put mine in for a full cage in Feb, so I have been looking at some details when it comes to the cage design. There's a lot of info out there, but I guess some are too complicated for a Spec3 cage. We are only allowed so much (which is good costwise). But still, there's some decisions to be made. Interested to see the updates.

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Awesome work guys.

Whats the price range for a half cage ?

 

Did joey ever have a g35? , i think i met him long ago when we were novice. I had a crx back then.

same Joey ?

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Did joey ever have a g35? , i think i met his long ago when we were novice. I had a crx back then. same Joey ?
yep, he did have a g35 before he switched to an E36.
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Awesome work guys.

Whats the price range for a half cage ?

 

Did joey ever have a g35? , i think i met his long ago when we were novice. I had a crx back then.

same Joey ?

 

 

The rear cages are about $1000 and a full cage is somewhere like $3500? We're getting a discount since all three of us are in at one time, but that should give you an idea.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Got some pictures today from Mike, so I figured I'd post them up. I don't think I'm able to write any descriptions or anything under them, but i'm sure someone can figure out what the are!

 

MikeE36005.jpg

Front of Rear Hoop Attachment

 

MikeE36004.jpg

Front of Rear Hoop Attachment

 

MikeE36003.jpg

Rear Hoop Installed

 

MikeE36002.jpg

Roll Over Protection

 

MikeE36001.jpg

Front Hoop Installation

 

 

I'll keep this updated as we get more pictures/word from Eric.

 

I do have a question for the powers that be regarding the cage build. I was talking with Eric about some of the roll over bar locations to maximize head room. I'm 6'4" and have sat in cars with roll over bars in the above locations and have banged my head on those bars while riding, getting into, and out of the car. I also have to sit with my head somewhat cocked at an angle so I can find adequate head room. To work around this, Eric was suggesting running bars in a different location that will open up more head room over the driver's seat, but he wasn't sure if adding to support bars to connect them is legal.

 

I tried to edit the pictures to hopefully show what I'm trying to describe and would like to know if anyone has any definite answers if these are OK. If it isn't we'll have to look into something to get the seat lower, or cut some leg off my me haha.

 

elmoreedit.jpg

 

elmoreedit2.jpg

 

Thanks!

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More pictures that were sent from Eric to Mike. His cage is coming along nicely and looks to be about finished. Eric is looking to the end of this week or next week to be completley finished with the cage.

 

makeaandawning001.jpg

Tie In Points for Rear Cage

 

makeaandawning002.jpg

Back Seat Caged

 

makeaandawning004.jpg

Rear Hoop Attachment Welds

 

makeaandawning006.jpg

Rear Hoop and Supports

 

makeaandawning007.jpg

Rear hoop Attachment welds.

 

makeaandawning009.jpg

From Dash Bar

 

Looks like everything is coming along nicely! Mike should be ready to roll in a few weeks it looks like!

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Appears to be great metal work.

 

Whomever has their cage being built next, might want to consider a rear bulkhead attachment point higher up where the sheet metal is much stronger and transfers loads throughout the car a bit better.

 

Just an idea.

 

Regardless, the bar fitment looks impressive.

 

Looking forward to seeing you guys on track soon.

jon

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Jon,

 

Any idea about those bars that I marked in red?

 

I'll pass that suggestion along to Eric and see what he thinks.

 

Thanks! See you in March for sure!...just TT'ing though

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That is a possibility it being a sedan. On my coupe, the B pillars are much further back as the door is a lot larger, but it could also be because of the seat placement in the car. It might not look as far back with a seat in there as my seat goes past the B-Pillar in the back seat direction.

 

As you can see in my sig, my Kirk roll bar is backwards of the B-pillar as well. You can see it through the window.

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I noticed the main hoop doesn't line up with the "B" pillar. Is that because it's a four door, and the front hoops are designed for a two door?

 

 

If you were to line up the main hoop with the B-Pillar the driver would have insufficient room for his seat.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Another update!

 

Mike's car is nearing completion with a few minor tasks to be completed then Joey's car is going under the knife!

 

March4002.jpg

 

Here is a picture of the seat back brace for the drivers seat. Fully adjustable to fit different mounting locations if it moves.

 

In the back ground, you can see the passenger side door bars as well.

 

Sunroof and some window nets are to be installed and Mike should be ready to roll. Hopefully he can make comp school in March!

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  • 4 months later...

I did some work on my car on Saturday with the help of a friend of mine who is running in SpecE30. We got the harness bar, belts, seats, dashboard, and sunroof removed in preparations for dropping the car off next Saturday.

 

I still need to clean some stuff up inside the car and skin the sunroof panel so it can get welded in, but other than that, it should be good to go!!! Pics will follow as I get them

 

It looks like I'll be moving my racing schedule up with hopes of making the last race in October to get my feet wet

 

Jon, Could you post a picture of your rear attachment points so I can discuss with Eric next weekend?

 

See you guys on grid in just a couple of months!

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Appears to be great metal work.

Whomever has their cage being built next, might want to consider a rear bulkhead attachment point higher up where the sheet metal is much stronger and transfers loads throughout the car a bit better.

 

...

jon

 

If you are referring to this, I have a pic.

 

004.jpg

005.jpg

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If you are referring to this, I have a pic.

 

Bingo, thanks for posting for me. The backing plate is attached to the bulkhead, a far thicker piece of metal than the fender tub. Another key piece is that the bulkhead is actually a structural piece to the unibody, so a better spot to be tied into for rigidity reasons as well.

 

J

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Exactly what I was looking for! Thanks for posting! I'm going to send these over to Eric today so he can get an idea of what I'm talking about

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  • 2 weeks later...

So I got the car up to Eric Langbein to start work on the cage. Trip was largely uneventful aside from a few slow downs going through DC and Annapolis. Aside from that, the weather was awesome and a great day to tow the car up there.

 

I want to thank the Hey's for helping out huge by offering to tow the car on their trailer with their truck as I followed behind in the M3.

 

Dropped the car off, and unfortunately due to some personal issues, Eric was unable to meet us, but I talked on the phone with him for about an hour on Saturday to go over a few things. The car should be in very capable hands and I'm not in the least bit concerned about the outcome.

 

Ordering all the interior safety equipment today and having that shipped up to him for installation and will hopefully be getting the car back in early September to finish up the remaining loose ends before the October race weekend!

 

Pics will be uploaded as I get them and I have a few travel photots I'll uploaded when I get them off my phone.

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