Hi GRM community,
I have a question on A-pillar gusseting for a 95 miata. I'm having a cage built for my car and was considering adding dimpled gusset plates to the A-pillars, similar to what you see on rally cars. Since the miata is a convertible, I know the structure of the car does not rely on the windshield. Will there be any structural improvement by adding the gussets? For what it's worth, the car is used only for time trial purposes and the windshield has already been removed.
Thanks,
Derek
I would do it. It will only increase the overall stiffness of the Body/Cage.
You will also pick up a lot of stiffness by adding the door bar stiffness to the cowl of the car (if you anchor it correctly). Anchor at the base of the windshield frame basically along your dash bar and just remove the rest of the winshield frame if legal.
If you're building to race in a particular class, check the legality. That's not always allowed.
In reply to Keith: The class I currently race in allows it. I'm going to start competing in NASA Northeast TT and from what I understand, you can add gusseting outside of the cage with a penalty point.
In reply to nocones: Unfortunately the class my car is built for does not allow you to remove the windshield frame. Some day down the road I might make it into an open race car.
