I laid out some of the cage today. I have opted to remove the dash completely. I think I am going to come up with a aluminum design of some sort, something that kind of resembles the original dash. I like the lines of the original, but with what a new dash pad costs and the time spent notching it for the cage, I think it will be more productive to spend the time coming up with a different design. Of course the Maverick logo will still be in the same place! I am going to use 1 5/8 chromoly, .083 wall. I will be able to run the bars back to the trunk, through existing holes in the package tray and on the outside of the trunk lid hinge supports. I want to keep the rear seat so I can take my daughters for rides to the local burger joint, and running them this way allows for that. Inside the trunk I will run kickers straight down to the top of the existing frame rail, just above the axle. I was also going to keep the original steering column, but flaming river makes a nice one that is preety simple. I want a little more than just the race car looking column. Their will be two pictures that follow this.
Your mock-up looks fine, Steve. I've had a roll cage custom bent for my Mav too. I thought I might mention some of the features that we incorporated into it (It's already in. Maybe later I can borrow a digital camera and send you pic if you're interested). I wanted my car to stay low profile (sleeper-like), so we tried to hide the bars, and did so quite effectively with just a couple of extra bends. For starters, we placed the hoop directly in line with the door/window pillar, and even tilted it back a bit to hide it behind the post. Also, we put a slight bend in the middle of the horizontal part of the hoop, allowing it to hug the headliner a bit more. Next, on the two bars going through the tray panel, we kept them in tight, close to the roof again, with a slight bend about 2 ft. from the hoop to take them down and through the tray panel. This way, the rear bars follow the profile of the roof, hiding behind its rear side panels. The whole thing is barely visible form outside the car. It looks like you are aiming to be NHRA legal, so you probably wouldn't want to imitate my front bars. They run horizontally from the hoop at about thigh height, before turning down to the floor under the dash. They are more for stiffness and side protection then for rollovers. I don't know if any of these ideas are of any interest to you, but I thought I would share them and let you decide. Good luck with your project. It looks great so far. Sincerely; John B.
roll cage ideas Hi John, thanks for all the ideas. Actually I am going for the roll cage in your face, blower through the hood, don't bother unless you want to lose look. . I may in fact try to hide it a little bit, but probably not muck, after all this work I want people to see it. My tubing should be in tomorrow, and I got my JD Squared tubing bender all set up, so I can't wait to start.
Steve, if you wan to make a couple bucks later on save your mock up template things. In a couple months my car should be at the track and running strong and will need a roll cage when I break into 11s. I've had a couple $500 quotes but maybe if I help you we could make one cheaper?
