Fixing a rollcage that has been cut

I am wondering how one would fix a cage that has been cut so that it would be SCCA legal? Would butt welding it be ok? Or would you have to make some sort of collar to join the pieces?

Fix that abortion? Bend a new length of tubing and weld it in. ANY kind of splicing is normally frowned upon. It is a piece of personal safety equipment afterall.....

specific instance/example would be helpful here.

As long as its not on the main hoop you should be able to sleeve it like they do with bolt on cage kits.

<img src="" /> This is the cut out part, everything forward of the seat back.

<img src="" /> This is a before picture

Hmmmm.... Yours isn't held together with boogers.... And what's that thing around your shifter? I don't have one of those. Or those circle thingys on the center of the dash....

If the main hoop is intact, I'd strongly encourage you to go completely new from the B pillar forward.

It looks like you would have the joints at some pretty critical spots.

I'm not sure why you would ever want to splice, I think the answer would be to cut out the entire tubing where its been cut and weld in a fresh piece. the drag race sanctioning bodies are more lenient, I have seen spliced drag races cages on the door bars where they have had hinged bars welded solid and stuff, but I'm not sure that would pass in SCCA... haven't picked up the rulebook in a while but it seems to my memory that they specify seamless tubing, no?

sachilles wrote: It looks like you would have the joints at some pretty critical spots.

This is my concern. I have never owned a caged car and I am ignorant of the proper way to put it back to a full cage. Safety is the number 1 priority. If I can save some money and be safe I am all for that as well

pilotbraden wrote:

sachilles wrote: It looks like you would have the joints at some pretty critical spots.

This is my concern. I have never owned a caged car and I am ignorant of the proper way to put it back to a full cage. Safety is the number 1 priority. If I can save some money and be safe I am all for that as well

The original joints would be the safest spot to wild it back up. If it was cut in the middle, welding there would compromise the structural integrity in the case of a crash.

N Sperlo wrote:

pilotbraden wrote:

sachilles wrote: It looks like you would have the joints at some pretty critical spots.

This is my concern. I have never owned a caged car and I am ignorant of the proper way to put it back to a full cage. Safety is the number 1 priority. If I can save some money and be safe I am all for that as well

The original joints would be the safest spot to wild it back up. If it was cut in the middle, welding there would compromise the structural integrity in the case of a crash.

But it's not, it's cut in the A pillar as I see it. Looks to have been cut near the intersection with the door bars.

I do not have the car nearby and the only pictures are what I have posted. The cuts are all 1 1/2"- 3" from the joints.

In reply to sachilles:

Just putting my 2c in. I'm no expert, nor have I looked closely at the pictures, but I do know any repairs to a cage will effect the integrity. Best make sure their in a good spot weather you just Weld it back together or replace beams.

Great article here:

http://www.circletrack.com/safety/ctrp_0804_rolllcage_repair/

I see the cut being where I marked it red.

dinger wrote: Great article here: http://www.circletrack.com/safety/ctrp_0804_rolllcage_repair/

That's how I've done it in the past. You can buy slugs for that now

http://www.tmrcustoms.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=32&products_id=1771

IMO, build fresh from the main hoop forward.

sachilles wrote: I see the cut being where I marked it red.

You are correct. Thanks for all of your help.

pilotbraden wrote: <img src="" /> This is a before picture

FYI- Thats not the same car. I can take pictures of the cuts later. I did remove everything from the main bar forward.

Zomby Woof wrote:

dinger wrote: Great article here: http://www.circletrack.com/safety/ctrp_0804_rolllcage_repair/

That's how I've done it in the past. You can buy slugs for that now http://www.tmrcustoms.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=32&products_id=1771

Dinger and Zomby Woof, thank you for that info

In reply to logdog:

I thought that it looked a bit different.

Just to give you a laugh, I hosted that picture on my photobucket account. Somehow the settings changed and it sent the photo to my facebook account. Now my friends think I got a new race car for Christmas.

If it is going in the same car, and those are the only cuts, it could be done. You can add triangulate the front down bar cuts. But lining everything up would be very difficult and inserting a sleeve even more so. I have done it and its almost not worth the effort. And at every tech it will be scrutinized until you are sick of the process. If you did go ahead, for sure just weld the down bars and cut the door bars out and replace them. They are super easy.

In reply to bearmtnmartin:

It is going in the same car. I have 2 big pieces. The only missing metal is the kerf.