Local Rollcage Suppliers/Fitters

Hi All

Time to book in for a weld-in cage. Anybody know of a decent company that could supply and fit locally? Custom Cages is too expensive, I was going to look at Tornado Motorsport up Nottingham way but there must be a load of local firms around this motorsport-industry area.

Any info appreciated.

 

Sent enquires to RNJ Motorsport at Silverstone. Also tried Ian Carvell at RetroGti.co.uk but it appears his email inbox is full, probably off racing.

Had a chat with Dave at Tornado Motorsport, interestingly he said he did a bolt-in cage in a Mk2 recently that was tied into the front struts, pics inbound.

 

Liking this, weld-in option not that much more expensive.

 

Hmm..what is a rough price for this ?

 

I'd recommend RNJ motorsport. Bit biased as Rob is my uncle but he knows his stuff and does a lot of work for the VWDRC

Heres a mk1 he did a while back

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.118286518237553.14745.104989282900610&type=3

 

I need to confirm but in a conversation earlier in the year, 1200 was mentioned for a weld-in option. I'll be booking, will let you know for bolt-in and weld-in.

 

cool cheers mate

 

That looks nice too, more than enough for the likes of me. I remember seeing his business cards in GSF a long time ago and wondering if he did watercooled stuff.

Thanks for the link, hope I can get in touch.

 

What's your budget? I know a guy near me.

 

1200 ish, supplied and fitted, welded-in. Thanks, who would that be..? I've got to trailer the car stripped and roof/screenless anyway so I guess immediately local isn't essential, just want to avoid epic trips.

Thanks.

 

I visited the Kit Car show at Stoneleigh today and noticed a firm from Daventry present, Pro Performance or something like that. I have no idea with their workmanship is like.

 

I know a guy near Bracknell. He did Michael Thurston's Cage, and a few of the other Golf GTI racers (Check Michael's Build thread for pics of Dean's welding and cage building skills).

http://www.clubgti.com/forum/showthread.php?t=211600

If that's not too far, drop me a PM and I'll pass on his number. It's about 90 mins from Northampton at trailer speeds.

He can do different specs of cage to suit your budget and how you want to use the car - To make and fit a basic 6 point weld in, with single door bars, is from about 900 I think, but depends on metal prices and so on, so it could move around. He could probably turn it around inside a couple of weeks, depending on his workload at the time.

Bolt in is more work to make up the extra plates, bolt holes, etc. Extra braces, double door bars, etc, are all available at a price.

Ian Carvell did the cage in my Scirocco, for a very good price. It was a Custom Cages CL4 Kit. As you say, he might be busy with Jags and so on.

 

Thanks Simon. Had a quick search, can't find anything on them at the mo. Any more you remember?

 

I've read that before, lovely job on that cage. PM sent, thank you.

I've had a lecture from my brother Duncan who races a 1.8t Mk1, he advised I should go for the most substantial cage I can afford, what with old shells running nearly twice the power etc, even though I'm only playing.

Thinking:

Rear X
Rear Stays
Rear Strutbrace
X Doorbars
Main hoop lower lateral bar
Tied in to front struts
Bolt-on traditional front strutbrace

Undecided on the main hoop arrangement for diagonals and harness bars, the passenger seat sits a fair bit lower than the driver's. Also any overhead bars or X in the roof.

Cheers for your inputs.

 

Note that cage is a regulation-stipulated 6-point bolt in.

+ under dash cross bar
+ lower rear stays (back of door bar to rear turret).

Read up on vw_singh's install here. There aren't many more bars you can throw at it. Note the different bar thicknesses.

The -labour involved in cage fitting is well justified and it needs determination to fit one.

 

Mmmm, does under-dash bar interfere with the heater? Will scan some threads, and those you suggest.

My car is never going to race, the most it will do (but probably not) is hillclimb or sprint but mostly trackdays. Of course it makes sense to specify a cage that complies to regs.

 

Definitely on a Mk1, check, but I think you'll get away with it.

It's more just to point out that the cage is limited by regs on disallowing front stays and no more than 6 attachments to the car, so you can look beyond that spec

 

Your brother makes a good point. However, any properly made cage is better than nothing. I'd say door bars are a must, double are better but I feel a lot safe with one than none. Weld-in is cheaper normally, so I guess that the guy you asked is more used to building bolt in cages, and that's become his standard way of doing it - weld in also adds more stiffness to the chassis, especially if you multipoint it to the shell. Adding a strut brace between the rear turrets should be fairly cheap and easy, and it can also be designed as a harness bar. You might struggle to get all of that for your budget, but obviously the more you strip the shell out, the easier it is for the fitter.

If you talk to the fitter, they'll tell you which options are much easier to do the first time, Vs which ones can be added once the car is built up. I'd think that bracing to the front struts would be pretty difficult to add, for example once the car is built, but things like a B pillar brace at low level, rear strut brace, turning a rear diagonal into a X, or bracing to some points of the shell could be done quite easily (remove the seats and anything delicate, mostly - others would need windows out - still not a massive task for side windows)

The bolt in design makes the race series cages a bit more expensive to build, but it's a good point that you should stop and consider in case you're ever thinking of racing it.

It's probably a good idea to draw what you want - or find the diagram in the blue book or from any cage supplier, that's closest and sketch around it if you want more. That way you should at least get a consistent spec for a quote, if you're asking a few suppliers.

Beware of headroom issues. Check if you've got room for roof bars before you add them, allowing room for a helmet and cage padding. I couldn't have them in the Rocco, but the golf has a higher roof line. Depends how tall you are as well.

Having driven the car before and after the cage install, I'd definitely recommend it from a handling and confidence perspective.

 

Unless I get my hands on it when your not looking...............

 

Ha, to be fair mate, half the fun I've had in that car is sat in with you driving it, giggling like a girl (wishing it had a rollcage)