Ah ok. Seems right to me. The weld looked a bit bubbly (not that I could do better, but compared to the rest of your work lol) that I figured you'd gone the easy route hahaha
My TTD build thread
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Ah ok. Seems right to me. The weld looked a bit bubbly (not that I could do better, but compared to the rest of your work lol) that I figured you'd gone the easy route hahaha
hey did you know mazdaspeed pays out for NASA!?!?!?
http://www.mazdaspeeddevelopment.com/pdfs/contingency/contingency.pdf
http://www.mazdaspeeddevelopment.com/pdfs/contingency/contingency.pdf
Side net is required for race groups, but not TT or HPDE.
I used a window net installation kit to install mine. It has a rod at the top which fits into a fitting welded to the cage near the main hoop and a seat belt type release at the front. I have a rod through the bottom that is attached to the middle door bar with steel wire rope at the front and rear. I have it out of the car now, but I can take a picture when I get it back in if you're interested.
Kind of like this, but with wire rope holding the bottom down because my door bars are much lower than this.
Arm restraints properly adjusted shouldn't constrain you from reaching anything inside the cabin. What they are designed to do is keep your arms from flailing OUTSIDE the cabin / windows in a roll over.
er... why? Seems like even more reason to use them...
That said, I wouldn't ever do any real track work (like, anything more than parade laps...) with a car without rollover protection, but that's just me...
With an OEM seat, belt and airbag you don't want to add anything else to the equation. The factory system allows your body to move around which might sound bad, but it allows your body to slide into a position that keeps the roof from crushing you.
Arm restraints aren't going to save you if all the OEM systems can't save you.
Arm restraints aren't going to save you if all the OEM systems can't save you.
The OEM system does not have any provision for keeping flailing arms inside the vehicle in a convertible, or with the top down. I fail to see how adding something like that would hurt, or would cause anything in the OEM system to fail to do its job.
We can talk about this real quick then no-one will notice I don't have pictures available today. Hoosier A6's ordered today though. Beaverrun in a little over a week.
I've used arm restraints in a convertible (with roll cage, harness and seat) and it really wasn't that bad. You just set them so they don't allow your arms out which does allow a lot of movement. About 160 degrees turning of the wheel without removing my hands wasn't a problem.
What safety equipment will you have? I think you said you were preparin for road racing, so I guess I just assumed a cage.
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- MSP 1145
i bought your autopower cage a few years back.. i keep hearing people say there's issues with bolt in cages.. like unsafe and stuff.. is there an actual issue?? or could you technically weld the cage in and it'll be better??
just asking cuz you're a racers.. sooo yeah.
thanks
just asking cuz you're a racers.. sooo yeah.
thanks
The problem with some bolt in roll bars and cages is the size of the plate that bolts to the floor. The problem is usually when the car cartwheels like over the front bumper and lands on the roof and the roll bar can punch through the floor plan. If you wanted to make it safer, the thing to do would be make the bottom plates larger or ideally weld it so it is on the floor and the verticle part of the rocker next to the plate. The more planes connected, the stronger it will be. If you make a bigger plate from 1/8 inch steel you can weld or bolt it to the existing plates at the bottom of the roll bar and it should fit in fine still.
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- MSP 1145
awesome. thanks!
me... yeah I have a roll bar (mscc's roll cage's roll bar). So its also "scca approved". and yeah mine is welded in and every time the 4 point touches the floor it has a pretty big plate that has 90degree bends in it. so like it welded to the floor and then the sides too. and in the back the plates kinda wraps around the shock towers.
but anyway, I did order up some sparco arm restraints (and a equipment bag (both were cheep as heck)). and all the miata guys (I will be qualifying and racing next too) say that arm restraints arnt that bad. my concern is if I panic and I cant grab the fire extinguisher without hitting the harness latch. and yeah no more high-speed auto cross for me. Im going W2W with my club and if the funding gods will allow it..... I hope to follow them to a race at road America this year!
dont forget snell SA2010 is this winter$$$$$$
but anyway, I did order up some sparco arm restraints (and a equipment bag (both were cheep as heck)). and all the miata guys (I will be qualifying and racing next too) say that arm restraints arnt that bad. my concern is if I panic and I cant grab the fire extinguisher without hitting the harness latch. and yeah no more high-speed auto cross for me. Im going W2W with my club and if the funding gods will allow it..... I hope to follow them to a race at road America this year!
dont forget snell SA2010 is this winter$$$$$$
If you can't reach the Big Red Handle with the arm restraints on... you're doing it wrong.
That roll bar sounds like a great start. I really question going road racing without door bars though. I've never heard of that being allowed. Even if it is not required by your organization, you should seriously consider finishing that cage. Wheel to wheel is so much tighter than HPDE that it is much more likely that you will get spun and T-boned, or spun off track sideways causing a roll. Even in TT with open passing I feel much better with the full cage. I know its more investment, but a cage is just such a basic safety feature and really more important in my mind than a lot of the other required equipment you have mentioned.
Agreed, on all of this. I'm building my car for Prepared class (SCCA) autocrossing, which requires at least a roll bar. For now, I don't have the time or budget to go Time Trial or Hill Climbing, but I will in the future. That said, the roll bar we're building is being designed to basically weld right up to a 'front half' cage, so when the time comes, all that's needed is to scrape away some paint and weld the front half of the cage in, with NASCAR bars on both sides. I say that to say this: the 1st thing I'm going to do to it before I consider tracking it competitively, is weld a cage in it.
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