Installing a Safety Devices Roll Cage
Gib, Carrera 3.0 Registry member number 14 from the United States, describes his Platinum Metallic Carrera 3 as a 'work in progress' and a fun car. He currently uses it as a track car and one of the most important mods he's made is to fit a Safety Devices Cage. Here, Gib guides us through the installation job, using the steps below.
1. Remove threshold trim pieces, then peal back carpeting to get to bare channels at base of A and B pillars, plus rear fender well area. The full cage requires 4 plates to be welded in, and holes drilled for the rear feet, which bolt through the rear fender well (no welded plate needed).
2. Install cage by bolting pieces together inside of the car (including bolt in harness bar) without using the plates so that holes in feet flanges can be located. Fit will be tight, so this step is critical to get proper location of feet plates for complete system. Don't need to install all bolts tightly, but enough to make sure cage fits properly.
3. Mark location of holes in cage feet on channels, plus rear fender well bolt holes with a heavy marker.
4. Drill out holes large enough to fit the feet plates with the back-welded nuts, and drill holes for the rear fender well bolts.
5. Reinstall cage with plates in place (but not welded), to confirm fit of complete system, and then mark edges of plates on channel
for proper location prior to welding.
Note: Some reshaping of the plates will be necessary to get them to fit tightly on the channels for a good welding surface AND
line up with the holes (use a hammer on anvil or vise to reshape edges of plates).
6. Weld the plates in place, making sure they are properly located, lining up with the holes and edges previously marked.
7. Paint plates with primer and good paint to keep rust away
8. Install cage for final time (phew!) bolting together all pieces. It helps to get all bolts started loosely on all pieces before
tightening them.
9. Trim and reinstall carpet and trim pieces to snugly fit around new cage feet.
10. Install high impact foam pieces around driver and passenger head areas to protect from head injury in case of impact.
As you can see from the photos, Gib has also installed a Sparko race seat and removed the passenger seat.
In addition to the cabin mods, the car has 22/28 T bars, revalved shocks, and an engine rebuilt 9000 miles ago with a B&B 2-in-1-out back-dated exhaust (Gib estimates the engine is now producing about 220 bhp). Gib says the the car is really fun to drive on track, which is how he plans to use it for a while, before fully restoring it back to original specification.
Gib will be keeping us informed as he continues to work on his Carrera in the months ahead.