So, like everything in my car, my roll cage has seen better days. This coming year I'm hoping to switch from autocross to hill climbs. as such my cage will go from being used for chassis stiffening to possibly keeping me from dying.
The cage is solid and meets the specs but it has not aged well.
I managed to get by this year by just covering everything with roll bar padding but in the coming year the tech inspector will probably actually look at it. So I'm looking to strip and repaint, then cover with an SFI self adhesive pad.
So I'm looking for tips. how would you strip a cage in place? Roll or spray paint?
throw your ideas and advice at me.
Sand it down by hand wrapping half sheets of 120 grit paper around the pipe and stroking it. Paint comes off easy. Then paint it with brush on rustoleom. Finish isn't that great as it will have a textured effect, but it sands off easily allowing you to add welds any time you need. You can also top coat at any time to freshen it up.
Before putting a bunch of work in I'd make 100% sure it's legal- I don't know your local hillclimb rules, but that looks like a standard parts catalog drag cage, and NHRA rules are very different from most of the road racing/rally sanctioning bodies.
I don't think the rules say anything about paint. Repainting the cage would be pretty far down on my race prep list. Make sure the cage is up to spec.
Hill climbing is on the opposite end of the risk spectrum from autocross. No runoff, lots of trees and guardrails. I would want a fully prepped car that meets or exceeds road racing requirements.
It's more than adequate for the class I plan to run which simply requires a roll bar for all open topped cars.
Good- then I'd say do the sandpaper thing in the tighter areas. I like a wire wheel on a drill or grinder where you have access, it's a lot faster than sanding by hand. I really like rustoleum appliance epoxy for this sort of thing, it's tough and adheres well.
Emory cloth is your friend. 3' strips of 60 grit with more of a "shoe shine action" will work pretty quick. Then 120 grit for a better surface, then Ospho rust converter (because you'll never get all the rust off by hand) then just paint it with a high quality bristle brush.
Most people try to brush with foam or chip brushes, but they don't flow as nicely as a soft fine bristle brush.
Edit: Emory cloth is more expensive than standard abrasive sheets, but for ease of use and hard to reach areas it's worth every penny IMO.
I prefer Rustoleum Hammer finish paint myself. You put in on heavy to get the "hammer" effect and if you get some runs you can just sand them down and paint over them and you'll won't be able to tell where the repair was done. It covers up flaws as well, say you don't sand off all of the old paint? The hammer finish will hide those quite well.
I painted my road race car on the inside by spraying it on. But at the time all the windows were out and the only "stock" interior part was the dash, which I masked off.
In reply to jimbbski :
The hammer finish stuff is nice, but I could see a tech inspector taking issue with how it hides imperfections- hard to see the quality of welds, etc.
Also, aside from the impossible task of sufficiently masking the interior in a manner that doesn't get ripped/removed accidentally while getting into/out of position, spraying paint inside a car quickly overwhelms you with fumes.
Chemical spill goggles and a respirator reduces this effect, but makes your impromptu cage painting yoga positions a lot harder to transition in/out of.
I'll give a third thumbs up for Rustoleum brushed on. We did this on our Chumpcar roll cage and it laid down perfectly and held up very well.
Life would be so much easier if it could be removed from an open top car.
That said, if you brush on Rustoleum, thin it down with the required additive for better flow characteristics, better visually. If it could be removed, have you priced powder coating?
Dan
we brushed on Rustoleum professional from the gallon cans with cheap brushes on the rally car. Still holding up fine after a few years. Also did the same on our chumpcar about 5 years ago now and that's holding up well as well. Just look out for drips and runs if you care about how it looks!
