I was out of town for the weekend, so was not able to chime in until now. One
of the main issues with the cage rule is that the old wording said
"recommended" design. This has now become the mandatory design.
In my TR3, I have the rear hoop as far back as it can go, without it going into
the wheel wells. Here, I am still sitting under it (I am 6'3"). So the
mandatory diagonal (from top corner to opposite bottom corner) would have to go
thru my head. I have added additional bars to compensate for that. I also did
not go full width of the cockpit, since I mount it to the frame on the
passenger side, making for a stronger cage. My rear hoop is within the 50%
width spec for as it is installed, but not for the full cockpit width. So it
is not possible for me to meet their rear hoop required design with the
diagonal and sure I can go full width of the cockpit but it will not be as
strong as what I have. I will be one of those looking for an exemption, or
looking for steel fenders to convert it to a "Vintage" car. Joe(B)
-- greg <gtlund@cyberspeedway.net> wrote:
I just got through reading the fast track section on Production Car
cages. This change was made to put the cage rules in the same section of
the GCR as the rest of the classes. The rules were listed in the PCS
section. All the other cage rules were listed in the GCR.
The design of the cage has not changed except that you are permitted
removable bracing now. You are still permitted low front hoops. The main
hoop has to be full width only to the top of the passenger door, then it
can angle up to 50% width. The helmet has to be under a line drawn from
the main hoop to the front hoop. The helmet has to be 2" under a level
line from the top of the main hoop. This has been the recommended design
now for 10 years. If one of these cages is built right they look much
like a roll bar with two forward braces.
These new low front hoop cages look better than the old 70's cages
poking up in the air. If you are tall you just have to fold yourself up
a little like a formula car driver to get a low cage. Steve Sargis is
tall and he barely peeks over the dash in the Spitfire. Joe Huffaker is
another tall guy in a short little British roadster that sits low in the
car.
Also, when I looked at an SCCA vintage GCR last year they were only
requiring roll bars built to the roll bar specs of the car's period.
Cages were not required.
We are doing this for fun and nobody should be injured pursuing
their hobby. We are smarter about safety than we were 40 years ago and
the Vintage cars are all going faster than they were 40 years ago. I was
at the Brian Redman event at Elkhart Lake crewing for a friend of mine
standing out at the pit wall when a McClaren-Elva went past at what had
to be 50 mph more than what it did in 1966.(I think they had maybe 450hp
in '66- now they can have a Nascar small block making 800hp) Let's build
and maintain safe cars. When that 3000 lb Camaro is bearing down on you
you want a good cage or roll bar. We are not racing for a big purse.
If you have any questions on cages or roll bars I will be glad to
assist. I keep current on the GCR and PCS.
Greg Lund
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