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Cage Thread

Melv

Melv

PCGB Member
Member
Paul,
What make is that cage in your car ? - looks really good. I have a very basic bolt in Matter cage, which is effectively just a loop with bracing back to the rear seat belt mounts - no diagonals or harness bar. Yours looks a bit more substantial but not too invasive - I'd like something similar.

thanks,

Jamie

Thanks Jamie. It's a genuine Matter bolt-in half cage painted in Rubystone Red L82N to match the body. For my own satisfaction I wanted a Matter cage and Schroth harnesses as one time these were the OEM suppliers to Porsche. The cage itself is fully welded so must have been awkward to install. The seats had to come out to enable it to go in, of course, and this was an ideal opportunity to get the captive thread plates welded in and to sort the harness anchor bolts too. The left hand seat is awkward because this is where the ECU sits. I bought the cage from Colin at Ninemeister. I may be wrong but I think it was from a Maritime Blue 964 RS lightweight they were breaking last November that was front-ended. It has the larger diameter steel tubes and the cross bars are perfect for the harnesses. I should be able to find a way of mounting a video camera too on one of the bars.

If you draw a blank sourcing the same: I should be at a number of shows and trackdays this year for you to take a look.

Cheers!


 
Thanks Mel, I realise I was a bit off topic !!!!

Paul,
That's interesting, my Matter cage mounts differently to yours, it bolts directly to the lower seat belt anchor points on the sill, so it is a totally non-invasive installation, just four bolts in and out, no plate welding required. Obviously Matter did a number of different cage designs, yours being a slightly more heavy duty version than mine. I think mine is also smaller diameter tube. I do remember 9m parting out that crashed RS last year, but didn't realise it had such a good cage.

I still have the 4 page German TUV certification that came with my cage, and I'm pretty sure that it is not a FIA approved cage, whereas I bet yours is. Mine, I imagine, is the very basic after market model, designed for road, and ocassional track use, as opposed to an OEM Porsche supplied one. It is nice in that it gives me full access to the rear seat area, but is clearly no use for harness mounting !

Jamie
 
Jamie,

I was looking for several months for the perfect cage for my purposes and then I was very fortunate that Colin had one at 9M. If you haven't already - I suggest you have good contact with independents doing major refurbs or repairs as they may just be removing what you want. Matter cages are becoming rare as they have ceased trading.

As far as design goes: IMHO avoid anything in aluminium (good for the first bounce on your head only!) and any that are adjustable (potential for chassis twist).

Did you already have tapped holes in the rear seat bowls of your car? This is unusual on the RS. I believe that some of the earlier cars may have the seat bowl parts from the C2. Not deficient in anyway - they just had the threaded inserts for the rear seat belts.

I wanted Marc to install the cage as that was his specialisation for Porsche OPC before Ninemeister. He takes hours to ensure that the chassis is not stressed and also that the chassis is not twisted by the installation. The positioning and mounting of the anchor bolts for the cage is just right and even the bolts are Porsche OEM.

Cheers,
 
Paul,
As far as I can tell, my car had the tapped holes in the seat bowls - no sign of cutting welding etc ........... That said, picturing it in my mind, I'm wondering whether the cage is actually bolted to the points that the rear seat backs would normally attach (in a C2 or C4) ie a couple of inches higher up than the seatbelt mounting point. I'll have a good look at the weekend.

I'm tempted to see if I can get my cage reinforced with a diagonal and harness bar like yours - I'll just have to check whether the tube is heavy duty enough to take the extra load from the harnesses.

Jamie
 
Gents

I read this with interest.........

I have just had a Heigo rear cage delivered to fit to my RHD RS Touring (I know, ladies car, etc, etc). It is the bolt in one with a X bar across the middle. It is also alloy (light but not strong?).

It is meant to bolt to the lower front seat belt mounts (no problem) and then to th tunnel in the middle in the back (rear seat belt clip nounts) and at the top at the back by each rear side window (rear seat belt top mounts). Problem is there do not appear to be any rear seatbelt mounts under the trim. This surprises me as I thought my RST had more in common with the C2. It does however have the cut off switch in the boot, which I think is unusual for an RST, so it may be closer to an RSL - who knows.

Not sure I want to start welding in any mounting plates and mucking up the interior trim. Can anyone recommend anyone to do this?

Also, I hear what you say about 'chassis twist' - is this a bit ott or is it really a problem. Given that the cage is 'adjustable' this could be a problem?

Have a just bought a crap cage and should I just sell it on on ebay?

I have a few weeks before the next track day so any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks

David

PS - I never see you lot at the track, which track days do you go for (Porsche Club or some other?)
 
David,

I respectfully suggest that you sell the cage. An alloy cage will be structrally very strong on the initial impact, in much the same way as glass-fibre, but after that it will be buckled and have no safety effect whatsoever. Okay if you have a major shunt or the car flips but what if the car rolls - and rolls more than once? With roll cages it is not the first roll that is the problem - it is the second, third, fourth etc, that is where a roll cage worth its salt comes into its own - it needs to use a material with good strength once it has been bent. Aluminium loses practically all its strength once it has yielded, whereas steel retains good strength. I'm not aware of aluminium roll cages used in motorsport.

If the bars are adjustable when do you tighten them up and will they work loose and need adjustment later? The 911 chassis is sensitive to and responds well to geometry changes, wheel alignment and changes to corner weighting. It therefore must be so that if there is any undue tension in the chassis that the balance and handling of the car will be affected. A fixed roll-cage will have none of these issue once it is in place.

I am lead to believe that the RS lightweight and Touring have no captive nuts or threaded inserts in the rear of the cabin unless the chassis was made using some C2 seat bowls. There will certainly be no upper mounting for rear seat belts in your car.

In my opinion: I prefer that the front of the cage is not bolted to the seat belt anchor points and does not share any of the anchor points. If the cage takes a massive shunt there is a tiny possibility that it could shear the bolts and then you will have no restraint within the car. If the cage is mounted at a separate mounting point then at least the lap section of the harness will restrain you. The cage I have is anchored by 3 large bolts in each plate near the 'B'-pillar.

If you are in the North then Marc Clowes at Ninemeister is your man to install your cage.

The battery cut-off was not a standard feature on the RS Touring. Maybe it was added as an option - take nothing for granted on the Touring specification!

Cheers,
 
Bugger!

I will give it some more thought and perhaps get one welded / bolted in properly.

I thinks there may be a Heigo roll cage for sale on eBay soon!

David
 
Hi,
In my opnion the only way to get rigidity and safety into a 911 is to fit a weld in cage. The best i have seen to date are done by Tony at GTR Motorsport. They cost around £2000 painted an fitted.
I have just had one fitted to my 3.2 Carrera track dy shed.
Please in the attached pictures to see what I mean. Please note the careful, cutting of the dashtop to fit the new cage.
Kind regards Ian

E3E7EAC7CA734EFDA86B460EB02EE216.jpg
 
Ian

Thanks for all of these pictures. The cage looks like a really nice job.

I am probably going to get him to do mine. Did you take out all of the trim, or did he? Did it all go back in okay?

Also, I have been on his website, but there is no phone number. Do you have one?

Thanks

David
 
Hi DavidM777,
The price of around £2000 includes complete removal of the interior prior to cage manufacture and fitting. The cage is partly painted, in a colour of your choice, outside the car is the welded in and then painted once again. The interior trim like the dash top, knee pads and the carpet is trimmed to fit the new cage. the triming also includes cutting of the a and b piller vinyl pieces that go up to the roof lining.
The attention to detail is fantastic.
I am fitting a 3.2 Carrera club sport carpet set. I willa dd a picture when is is completed later this week.
Call Tony on 07980 874690 and please mention where you get my name from.
Tony can also do the same style of cage for a car with a sunroof! I have replaced my sunroof roof with a plain new roof as this saves16Kgs
Kind regards Ian
 
Hi Ian
Yes - tried to call Tony yesterday and didn't reach him.
Hope to get the car to him in the next couple of weeks.
David
 
David,

Did you get your new cage fitted?

Are you going to any of the fun at Croft, Donington or Silverstone?
 
Hi

I dropped the car off with GTR earlier this week - hope to get it back next week in time for Brands next Wed and then will be at Donnington, Silverstone and as many others as I can fit in!

Looking forward to it!

David

PS - Anyone want my tin foil Heigo half cage?
PPS - I will post some pictures when it is done!
 
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