Cage, Seat, Harness, Safety

[LotusGTR]

Nick, those pictures are of my car when it was in there getting the cage/seat/harnesses done a few months ago. The door skins remained untouched, this is how I wanted it as well. If you want more pictures let me know.

I chose the Cobra Evolution GT seat as well due to it fitting me better, the sides actually come up higher than the side intrusion bar.

Hi Ben. Sorry for posting pics of your car!! We've actually spoken a while ago. You car was 'maybe' up for sale when I bought mine (06) and we had a quick chat about it. I think I'm right for photos as I've got a fair idea of what goes where now and the kind of fit / finish to expect. Like you I'd not want the interior too chopped around.

[LotusGTR]

Awesome replies guys. Really helpful. I don't want to splash the quote I've got all over the forum but if you feel like you can meaningfully comment on it, can you let me know, and I'll PM it to you. It's the fixing of the seat that seems much more complex than I thought it might be. There is up to $544 of 'extras' to fit the seat. I've requested that the seat is adjustable back and forward so part of this is new runners but.............

Thanks again guys. Great support.

[LotusGTR]

Righto, some more questions:

Bolt in or weld in?

Will a paint finish be durable enough (it's cheaper than powdercoating)?

How necessary are the front intrusion bars?

[Sydneykid]

Righto, some more questions:

Bolt in or weld in?

Will a paint finish be durable enough (it's cheaper than powdercoating)?

How necessary are the front intrusion bars?

Simple questions, very hard to answer.

The difficult question is always knowing when to stop, when is there enough protection for the type of event you are running in? The obvious answer for some is the best cage money can buy, you only have one life after all, so a full on V8SuperCar style cage is the go. But do you need that level of protection in your events? The next question is how long are you going to keep the car and do you want to sell it with or without "motorsport" heritage? Lastly the budgt has to be considered, maybe not lastly, perhaps it should be first. A weld in cage will cost a whole heap more than a bolt in plus it's not that easy to remove if obvious "motorsport" heritage lowers the car's selling price too much. Plus a bolt in cage can always be sold, they go very quickly. On the other hand if you are looking to improve the performane of the car with a roll cage adding to its rigidity, then a weld in is the go. Powder coating a weld in is rather difficult. so that question only applies if you choose a bolt in. Powder coating is great, but the truth is you will be padding most of the areas that get scratched in normal use.

The reality is you need to ask yourself the questions, with true answers the path will be obvious.

Cheers

Gary

[Roy]

Bolt in cage, for street cars or any registered car for that fact i dont see the point of a weld in cage.

Seats are hard to install, the floorpan is pretty shitty, and one thing i will say about Meridian is that they can do a better job with installing seats. From the cars i have seen the seating position is usually pretty high, and you can get it lower...but ts a bastard of a job in a Skylien with rails

[LotusGTR]

Bolt in cage, for street cars or any registered car for that fact i dont see the point of a weld in cage.

Seats are hard to install, the floorpan is pretty shitty, and one thing i will say about Meridian is that they can do a better job with installing seats. From the cars i have seen the seating position is usually pretty high, and you can get it lower...but ts a bastard of a job in a Skylien with rails

Well in my case both bolt and weld in the actual cages are fully welded and fed in through the doors (must triple check this). Bolt in is $300 more than weld in. Bolt in means you can easily remove the cage if you no longer track the car, you want to sell it without too many cues you tracked it and you can on-sell the cage (i.e. it has some residual value). So the questions are how long are you keepng the car, will you always track it, how do you feel about selling the car with a cage.

I'm lead to beleive there is no safety difference with either method for the type of cage I'm looking at.

[Sydneykid]

ts a bastard of a job in a Skylien with rails

Ain't that the truth, it took me 2 whole days fit the OMP side mount when I did it originally 3 years ago and I'm still not happy, could be lower.

Cheers

Gary

[Z1LLA]

Hi Ben. Sorry for posting pics of your car!! We've actually spoken a while ago. You car was 'maybe' up for sale when I bought mine (06) and we had a quick chat about it. I think I'm right for photos as I've got a fair idea of what goes where now and the kind of fit / finish to expect. Like you I'd not want the interior too chopped around.

No worries mate, I would have posted some pics up of my cage anyway, it looks pretty similar to BBGTRs I think.

I've sent you an email anyway regarding your other question via PM.

The interior was not altered except for the obvious mounting points and where the front intrusion bars bolt into the floor (the carpet had to be cut a little).

I would go bolt-in and powdercoated finish. They mounted my seat really well, as low as it would go.

Interested to see the quote as well.

[SABBAi]

Another thought to consider, is that a bolt in cage is easily fitted to another vehicle, if the unmentionable happens....