It's possible buy a pre-made, 4 pt cage (bolt or weld-in) for these cars, but they're really only for safety and offer no improvement in stiffness to the chassis. Plus they leave the cell completely exposed in the trunk and make it very difficult to make any real improvements to the rear suspension. Hence i decided to spend the money for a proper 8pt cage. This cage ties into the front spring perches, allows the seat to be lower in the car (Safely), protects the cell in the case of a rear end hit, and ties in to the panhard setup. Truly the right way to design something like this and in the long run this chassis will need no further improvement to make the car faster.
Here's a pic of the drivers side. The x-bars are a nice compromise for entry/egress and safety.
I still haven't welded the rear skins on because i have some more work to do around the wheel wells and windows. Plus I have some straightening to do on the skins themselves
Here's the rear of the car, i plan to run without bumpers so the square stock is effectively the new bumper. The cell was raised a few inches for ground clearance (if a tire goes flat). It's also well protected.
The roof had to come off to properly weld all the joints, so i went ahead and painted the roof and cage while i had access. hence I taped the cage to keep the paint safe while i keep working.
It's a bit cold out for metalwork, so for now i'm working on rebuilding the rear end, steering column and steering box. It's amazing how simple these parts are to tear apart and rebuild! and they're pretty stout pieces, esp. the rear end.
I'm planning on a drivers school in Sept. to get my SCCA license. I won't be driving this car but rather the school's cars (probably prepped miata's). It was them or monopost cars, but i figured the miata's would be closer to this, so better for gaining experience.
Cheers!
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