Roll Cage questions

[clubsport]

Ha-ha!...I thought you may have some jobs to be getting on with as you have been here more during the day thn normal.
From experience of both types, if I were to do such a conversion, I really would not totally strip the interior out,,,great on track.....but from kent to Oulton, without earplugs or noise cancelling headphones, you will be glad to arrive and quite possibly shattered!

 

[BlueNGT]

ORIGINAL: Laurence Gibbs

Colins chaps I am sure would do a fine Job But he gets booked up months in advance and I get the impression that whilst the quote i have so far is about par for the course (still a bit rich for me) Colins might make my eyes water[] never the less i may at least give him the benifit of the doubt with a quote. The other prob agin is the distance it's a 4/5 hour drive and i'd have to go twice probably with two cars one to get me there the other to get me back. I know 300-400 quid to some of you is small change but it ain't for me!

9M are a couple of minutes walk from the Train Station (Warrington Bank Quay) - sure they would drop you at the station no worries...one drive up there, drop the car off & train back...train back up to pick the car up and drive it home[&:]

 

[Laurence Gibbs]

you obviously don't travel by train to often[] I dread to think what a ticket from Folkestone to warrington would work out to and what day of the week i'd get back on!

 

[clubsport]

Maybe worth factoring in Bluedog and associates tranportation services into the overall cost.......I have seen a few RS cars with cages that look nothing like the original factory cage....each to their own, but in a classic type car I prefer things to be in keeping and look right, otherwise it really catches your eye....whoever you use I really wouldn't neccesarily go for the cheapest option,,,,this is definitely one of those occasions that when you are already spending out, a little extra may well make all the difference!

 

[Laurence Gibbs]

actually the rail option is not as bad as i thought.Advance ticket from £17 !!! result ! Lets see if Colin's team come up trumps with the quote. With regard to the cage being "authentic" modern thinking goes against the door bars being as high so i'm told and many a cup car has had their door bars either cross braced or altered. Not sure which way to jump in that regard.

 

[clubsport]

Laurence, one other thing to consider is Fia certification etc.....As far as I am aware factory cups and clubbies can turn up and compete in Porsche open, Gt revival etc...with standard cage........if you do have something built, keeping it close to fatory spec may help it's future value....competition eligibility always helps......no point spending out on a cage that may look ok but is in fact no more than a collection of metal tubes arranged artisticly inside your car!
I am sure 9M would be up on competition eligible requirements etc....

 

[Jamie Summers]

Laurence,
Seriously consider the Mel / trailer option. He traillered my RS from London to 9m for a very reasonable sum when you take into consideration the petrol / time / rail ticket costs. He tends to do the trip quite often, but obviously he needs to be collecting a car from 9m or nearby for the return journey to make it viable.

Jamie

 

[oldtimer]

Hi Laurence. I had a Heigo full steel cage for 964RS fitted by Tech9 , who are the 'other' independent Porsche specialist deaing with track /race oriented cars in the NW. As someone else has posted , Heigo are the standard now after Matter ( and Safety Devices ) went out of business. Although the cage kit is a standard, individual cars vary by several mm , so ther is always a certain amount of tailoring needed. The all in price at the time (early 2004) was about £1000. You can see it at Oulton next week or at Spa next month []

And as you now know the train is not too expensive , I have to travel regularly between Warrington, Kensington , and Tenterden (down in Kent) where my old mum lives , so I know a bit about it !

 

[ChrisW]

ORIGINAL: BlueNGT

ORIGINAL: carreraboy

The 9M Fencemeister, would be No 1 Choice surely.

Des is right - 9M have all the measurements etc from the guy who used to work for Matter. I have seen one of their 9M Clubsports Mid Build and the cage is exactly the same as that in a Factory Clubsport but stronger as the they use the latest metals etc.

Gotta be worth a trip to get the job done right!?

I would second that. Your cage will became a part of the car's heritiage --- why risk making a mess of it ?

 

[carreraboy]

ORIGINAL: oldtimer

Hi Laurence. I had a Heigo full steel cage for 964RS fitted by Tech9 , who are the 'other' independent Porsche specialist deaing with track /race oriented cars in the NW. As someone else has posted , Heigo are the standard now after Matter ( and Safety Devices ) went out of business. Although the cage kit is a standard, individual cars vary by several mm , so ther is always a certain amount of tailoring needed. The all in price at the time (early 2004) was about £1000. You can see it at Oulton next week or at Spa next month []

And as you now know the train is not too expensive , I have to travel regularly between Warrington, Kensington , and Tenterden (down in Kent) where my old mum lives , so I know a bit about it !

So there is someone Older than you!!!

 

[65 mat]

By stripping out the interior ( carpets ),how do you feel this will affect its future value/ saleability? Would this be in a similar vein to the 73'RS Tourings which have been converted to lightweight spec? I have often considered "stripping out" my lightweight but have always bottled it. Has anyone done this and what are peoples opinions ?

 

[Laurence Gibbs]

Any modifications tend to detract value, by how much is subject to opinion. My car has had a roll cage in the past and some parts have been re carpeted with the correct material. There are probably a few RS out there like that (some with owners knowledge others without). So I don't feel too precious about removing the carpet. I never bought the car as an investment it's an added bonus that's all. I don't think it detracts seriously value wise with my car but i would not want to do it to a very low miles garage queen as buyers for those might view it differently. At present i'm thinking the car will stay carpetted around the cage and the headlining will remain also but that's more to do with creature comfort than value. I had the choice of a car with a cage when i bought mine I would have bought it were it not that myself and x wife fell in love with the colour of the one i have.

 

[65 mat]

My car was already fitted with a full bolt in cage when I bought it. I have subsequently removed it in order to have it painted silver (powder coated).It was at this stage that I thought about ripping out all of the carpets and headlining etc and having a full welded-in cage fitted, just like the original Matter one which you displayed in those C4 Lightweight pics. It's one of those things which I keep talking myself out of ( and in to ! ).
Anyway...for the time being I have re-fitted the bolt in cage. The cost for the powder coating was only £140 so it has been far less costly than the full welded-in cage. Although it does look great, to be honest I am still craving that "clubsport" look.The car was bought to use and drive so originality is not a 100% issue. I am therefore extremely interested in whatever path you decide to go down and would certainly like to see some pics of the end result.
In the meantime I will attempt to post some pics of my newly painted cage.

Good luck!

 

[Laurence Gibbs]

It might not be immediately apparent from the pics but the cage is a bolt in design. The plates weld to the body but the cage then bolts to the plates. Obviously not as rigid as fully welded(the cage is welded to the plates) but a good halfway house. A lot of people don't realise that most (not all) Bolt in cages have to have plates welded in to bolt them to. I think possibly the Heigo and a few others are exceptions that bolt to seat belt mounting points and so don't need the plates.

 

[clubsport]

Laurence, the mounting plates idea is better than seat belt mount versions, most of those heigos, creak and rattle when driving the car, they are almost 50% effective and 50% for looks in their design as far as I can tell.

 

[ian cox]

Hi Laurence,
The only way for true shell rigidity is a weld in cage.
The best weld in cages are done by GTR Motorportt and Tony Littlejohn. He uses the correct 38mm cold drawn seamless tube used by Porsche.
He has the templates for 964 Cup and NGT, they are different, as well as the same for the 993 Cup and NGT.
Before welding the tubes he concaves the tubes so that they weld properly. Moreover he also welds all the way round the joint. On a factory Matter cage this is not done due to access problems up by the roof skin. The cage is then part sprayed to a colour of your choice and then fitted in the car. The cage is then complety repainted in the car and the job is done.
Before any work is started Tony completely strips out all the interior to gain maximum access. He also welds a bracket to the cage up by the original shoulder fixing for the road type seat belt so that it can be refitted. He also very neatly cuts the knee pads where the cage goes down by the door hinge post on its way to the floor. He also welds a small tube and uses a new engine cover release cable so that you can easily open the fuel flap. The cage also includes door bars.
Being an ex racer he uderstand what is needed in a cage.
Best of all he is based near Wokingham in Bershire.
For a complete interior strip out, made to measure cage, weld it in, paint it and then modify and refit your interior will cost around £2000.
I have just had one fiited to by 3.2 Carrera and the quality is amazing. If you want to meet up so that i can show you i will be delighted.

 

[Laurence Gibbs]

Thanks for all the replies chaps. Thought i would give a quick update. The car is going to Caged(www.therollcagepeople.co.uk) in Frome. After firing off several emails and phone calls to several companies they were the only ones to actually tender a quote! I suppose i could have spent more time chasing and phoning the others in the running but i want the thing done before Spa so Caged it is. I will post pics when it's all done and dusted, which won't be for a while yet.

 

[clubsport]

Nice one Laurence, glad you are getting it done after many lengthy discussions over the years at Kent club nights []


If it doesn't work out, I would definitely consider GTR, as Ian reccomended, I have seen a cage they built for a 2.7RS which was almost artistic engineering and understand they are trusted enough to fabricate one for a genuine 2.8 RSR in the near future[],

 

[ian cox]

I can concur with clubsport.
GTR will build a cage for a 2.8RSR in the near future. The owner is going t race a $1M car.