"Full Cage" in the '80s meant a four-post structure roughly approximating the
A and B pillars of a passenger sedan. Usually they were, at minimum, a 6-point
structure including a couple of rearward (usually) supports. The newer portion
forward of the "A Pillars" made mine an 8-point structure, and was not
described to me as cage support so much as leg protection. The knee bar was,
earlier on, a recommendation. It apparently became a requirement along with
the forward supports.
The evolution of mine kinda tells the tale. It began in 1971 as an Autopower
competition rollbar -- a 4-point structure with two feet on the floor behind
the seat and two on the back inner fenders. Then in the '80s I added a Kirk
cage kit which made it a 6-point when two more feet were added in the front
part of the driver compartment. The cage kit was two bent bars extending
forward from the top of the rollbar, a crossbar mounted high in front, and a
double door bar on the driver side. There was no bar in the kit for the
passenger-side door so we put one in from straight bar stock.
When I added the forward extensions and knee bar -- Charlie Clark of KC
Raceware in Kansas City did that for me -- we also added a second door bar on
the passenger side which I believe at that time had become required. While my
driver-side door bars are fairly close together and joined with vertical
links, the passenger-side door bars are not joined in that manner and are
farther apart.
At that time too, Charlie told me my whole cage was over-spec -- bigger bars
than the rules required for my size car -- so he made the forward extensions
out of the smaller bars. The bigger bars was simply what Autopower and Kirk
provided, and more recently I'm glad they are over-spec -- my rationale there
is that the specs are predicated on me getting on my head or a similar-size
car (Sprites, etc.) trying to share my space, but now I find myself out there
with GT1 Camaros and the like going by me 60 mph faster than I can do so
having the over-spec cage makes me feel a little better about that.
Most recently we added a crossbar between the uprights of the original
Autopower rollbar. Its sole purpose is to be an anchor for the shoulder
harness straps so I'm no longer bolting them (at too much angle) to the
floor.
--Rocky Entriken
----- Original Message -----
From: Group44TR7@aol.com
To: rocky@spitfire4.com ; fot@autox.team.net
Cc: JWoesvra@aol.com
Sent: Friday, October 12, 2007 6:45 AM
Subject: Re: [Fot] SCCA Roll Cage Trivia - For The Chronologically Gifted
Joe, Rocky, ..
All of our ITA and ITS cars had full cages back in the late 1980s, so I
can't imagine that the production classes (other than perhaps showroom stock)
could have been running without full cages before 2000.
I am also wondering whether the full cage requirements were imposed at
different times on open cars vs coupes, sedans.
Cary
In a message dated 10/12/2007 2:12:17 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
rocky@spitfire4.com writes:
I think it was probably 2000. That year I went to get an annual and
flunked
and the front support was one of the reasons, so the tech inspector was
nice
enough to write nothing in my logbook. Since I was only planning to do a
couple of regionals after not racing in '99, I bagged that and went and
fixed the car instead. I have annuals in the book in 1999 and 2001 on
adjacent pages -- until this year 2000 is the only gap since 1995.
In '72 only the roll bar was required by GCR. My car's logbooks go back to
then, when logbooks were first required, and the pictures in that book
show
only a rollbar. Pictures in my second logbook, issued in '79, also show
only
the bar. I don't think I put in the cage until the early '80s, and even
then
it was not yet required.
--Rocky Entriken
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