The Jegs kit includes the plates that need to be welded to the floor. My 12 point kit came with 8 plates. The main hoop and halo bar are prebent. All the other bars are plain straight bars.

Door bars, rear cross bar and rear support bars are all notched on one end. The second door bar for the X, the dash bar, the front support bars and the main hoop to driveshaft tunnel bars have no notches since these bars have no specific locations for mount points.

Another nice thing about the 12 point cage is the size of the bars. Main hoop, Halo, rear supports, A-piller and primary door bars are 1 5/8". All the rest are only 1 1/4" as per NHRA/IHRA rules. I did add a sill bar to my kit for a bit more strength. I also picked up a package of gussets and welded them to as many junctions as I could.

 

Yo B

The s/w lit you do have to fab a little to get it to work. Look like you will need to do a little bending if you want it to fit perfect. It does come bent, but a little more clears stuff better. The back tube you can put them where ever you want. Them tube look like they come with extra tubing. For the money you can't beat the price. Just a little more time and effort which you can handle.

 

Yeah I dont mind a little more time and effort. I just dont want to go thru the hassel of a full blown cage for nothing. I really think an 8pt will be just fine. I'll toss in a set of subframes for some added stiffness and call it a day.

Good idea with the gussets.... Even though im only going to use an 8pt I think I will do the same thing. Both Jegs and SW kits are just way too similar. I really think SW makes the kit for Jegs and then Jegs just resells them with their name. Both kits come with 6x6x1/8" plates, pre bent tubes, and prenotched on at least 1 end. And for $219.99 and a 40 min trip to pick it up from SW... I dont think it can be a bad choice.

Thanks for your help and input guys.

 

Brian, no cell phone. Company took it back to save costs. Home is 610-385-9015. Give me a yell when you comming for the rollbar. Got a frig full of beer. We can run over to Rapid to visit my car 5 minutes away). That where it has been living.

 

I would highly recomend the SW kit. The main hoop fits the roofline nicely. If you run an eight point, I would suggest that you have them bend the side bars, so that they fit nicely betwean the arm rest and the seat.
I run the rear bars so that they are right next to the shock mounts. I also bend the plates around the rear deck to add strength to that area. You will also want to bend the plates where the hoop meets the floor pan.
If you have access to a TIG welder, chrome-moly is the way to go. The kit weighs a bunch less.


Daren

 

Jim, I'll give you a call when I come up. I'm going to call them on monday anyway just to talk to them about exactly what I want. I might not get up there for a couple of weeks, planning a wedding is taking up ALOT of my time. But I have some time set aside in the near future for the car. I doubt I'll be ready for points, but as soon as the car is ready I'm racing it. I'll probably go down to the racer meeting anyway and just get myself familiar with things. Even if I already know I'm going to miss some of the first races.

Gump, I have been told that before. Actually there are a lot of shops out there that start with an SW hoop and then custom build the rest from that. Your also the 3rd person who has said to take the rear bars to that spot vs just going right to the rear deck. Obviously there will be some fab work involved but I can handle that... I just dont weld so good. Thats where the guy from my work comes in. He doesnt TIG though. Well, he does but neither of us have access to a TIG machine. I'll sacrifice the weight for the money at this point. The way I'm going this project will be under $450... anyway you look at it you just cant beat the price. S&W it is...

 

im a little late here,but you know my answer...............RHODES!!!!!!! gotta go chromoly Brian,save the weight,spend the few extra bucks.........


www.rhodescustomauto.com

 

I've looked at quite a few of the roll bar pictures posted here. I really don't understand why so many of them have the rear bars mounted to the top of the rear deck. In my opinion the roll bar is supposed to add strength to the chassis. There is no strength in adding a flat plate to a thin surface.
To get the most out of your rollbar install the rear bars next to the rear shock mounts and bend the plates around the deck.
I sent a Firebird off to the body shop yesterday to have the rear wheel wells stretched. Maybe I will post some rollbar pictures when I get it back.

Daren

 

Brian,

I've got the S+W in my car, me and a friend did the install ( well he did 90% of the work and all the welding, I handed him the tools) .

It was a major project ( no pun ) even though it was notched we still had grinding and renotching to do. And a pipe bender would be a good idea. We ran the rear bars straight back so you can't keep the back seat and I installed swing outs too.

I have pictures of the install and the finished car. You can look them over and we can discuss all the details over a few beers at hOOters some night!!!

John

 

Tubing bender! A pipe bender will pinch the tube and a pipe bend won't pass a tech inspection. Pipe benders are those styles that hold the pipe on both ends while the jack pushes the die in the center of the bend.

This is the type of bender that you need.
http://www.blindchickenracing.com/to...bingbender.htm

 

Thanks for the correction. (Now you know why I only handed him the tools! )

 

Brian,
I've got to agree with Dirk. Ronnie does really nice work. There's no doubt it's who's going to do mine. $1200 for an 8pt. chromemoly cage.
Rhodes finish, fit, and detail is excellent.

Frank

 

Frank, I talked to Ronnie today. I agree that he does good work. and for a price of 1200 I would actualy consider it.... but thats not the price I got from him this afternoon... Maybe next time you are over there you can put in a good word for me and get a little better price. PM me if you want some more on the details...

 

Typical price for an installed cage is $100-$150 per point and that's for a basic cage. The more interior they have to remove and install, the more the cost can go up. The kits themselves are cheap but the labour to install one is the expensive part.

Once you start getting into SFI certified cages (8.99 and quicker) you're basically looking at needing a full funny car cage. That could be in the $3000-$5000 range once it's finished. SFI sells the plans and specs for about $35