View Full Version : To cage or not to cage?
Rick Draper
02-02-08, 04:59 PM
What are peoples opinions of caging novas? I am tempted to loose my leather and alcantara interior and roof lining and fit a full weld in cage. I know i would feel safer in it but i am a bit undecided.
Do people think i will feel the benifit of the cage?
Keep your interior and fit a bolt in cage IMO
As for the benefits, you might not see much difference, but if it was ever involved in a crash, it may come in handy....
craig green
02-02-08, 05:04 PM
Do it Rick. Its not like you have a 1.2.
Could still mix the trimmed & caged disciplines as you have suggested wrapping a cage in leather in the past. Maybe flock it before its bolted in?
So long as you fit some hardcore buckets & harnesses along with door cards to match it, youre onto a winner.
The shell will be stiffer for it aswell obnviously.
Course you'll notice a difference, the car will be a lot sturdier and feel more responsive ... 500 bhp + in a Nova, a cage is a nessesaty (sp) if you ask me.
Just don't spend ages f*cking on fitting some super trick lightweight cage, get one fired in, get the engine back together and use the thing !!!
Rick Draper
02-02-08, 05:10 PM
Course you'll notice a difference, the car will be a lot sturdier and feel more responsive ... 500 bhp + in a Nova, a cage is a nessesaty (sp) if you ask me.
Just don't spend ages f*cking on fitting some super trick lightweight cage, get one fired in, get the engine back together and use the thing !!!
Would you go for a bolt in and keep the interior or a custom cages cage and loose the interior?
craig green
02-02-08, 05:11 PM
Bolt in IMO.
If you some buckets/harnesses that look cool against the re-trimmed door cards etc, then id fit a full proper cage.
You could still weld it in and fit the trim and carpet around the legs couldn't you?
there ar not many bolt-in cages that are realy safe if you have a crash! face it! the nova is a very small car, and there isn't mutch metal around you to reduce the inpact before it hits the passenger area! i self had a major crash at the circuit of "zolder" in belgium and hit an concret wall with aprox 80mph! the custom made weld-in roll cage saved my life! during impact it's very importante the cage absorbes the impact energy. this means that it should be welded in to the car at as many places as posible! it's also very important to conent the cage to al the suspension mounting points. this means that you have to throug the firewall to the front suspension and then back again to the bottom of the A-pillar
Would you go for a bolt in and keep the interior or a custom cages cage and loose the interior?
Personly i'd bin the interior and fit a couple of buckets & harnesses, don't think i could be ****d with a full weld-in cage, think i'd settle for a 6 point bolt-in, but weld the footplates in then tag it to the A and B pillars, could always triangulate it to the front strut tops as well if you wanted.
If your wanting to keep the interior then a basic 6 point bolt in cage would be better than nothing.
peester
02-02-08, 05:18 PM
its a beast... cage it.. but keep interior too
Rick Draper
02-02-08, 06:45 PM
Could fit a fabricage and keep the interior and just have to do a bit of trimming to the door pockets.
krobinson
02-02-08, 06:56 PM
All depends what your going to use the car for. I like having a full interior so mine will have that.
I dont think having a full cage is good with a normal interior. People done die in crash's because of the actual crash, its because their bodys/head hits off something or gets trapped. You'll move around too much in standard seats and end up wacking your head on the cage.
I'd go for either full interior, or bare inside with cage and buckets.
Keith
I'm assuming your Nova will be used as a second car so strip it with buckets fo the very good point that KRobinson made above about the buckets and harnesses. You won't miss the interior!
BRoadGhost
02-02-08, 11:27 PM
You could spend best part of another 6 months making the transition doing it properly.
If you're having such thoughts then chances are you'll add another 6 months to the above moving driving position, steering wheel location, then it'll be floor mounted pedals, internal gearlinkage, carbon this & that.
I cannot wait to sense the difference a 12 point cage grants ~ will let you know soon.
Philsutton
02-02-08, 11:58 PM
cage it an loose the interior, with all that power the last thing your going to care about while wheel spinning across three lanes of traffic is how the seats all match your dash and feel soft on the back of your hand.
Ive never been one for interiors anyway, Ive even stripped out the diesel lol
Fcuk the rear seats off, there dead weight.
Un-used rear seats + roll cage = even more weight.
As for a "leather clad" roll cage? WTF? lol lol That is possible one of the more silly things Ive heard......
Rick Draper
03-02-08, 12:37 AM
Fcuk the rear seats off, there dead weight.
Un-used rear seats + roll cage = even more weight.
As for a "leather clad" roll cage? WTF? lol lol That is possible one of the more silly things Ive heard......
Tell Ferrari that....
i dont know youre nova, but i like it trackstyle.
my interiourplan... 2 bucket seats, a rollcage. and a steering wheel lol
Tell Ferrari that....
lol ive never rated Ferrari's anyway :thumb:
Stop fannying about and just do it. I dont even see why you needed to ask really lol a Nova (not exactly a strong car to start with) that is FWD with 500bhp? IMO a roll cage would be mandatory from the outset lol
Let it fall to bits :thumb:
IMO it depends on what you are planning to do with it.
Is it a
1. Mainly road car for going to shows/cruises with the occasional quarter mile session/ spin round silverstone at Trax etc
or
2. Mainly a competition based car with minimal road mileage and little need for comfort or refinement
If its 1 fit a cage and keep the interior. If its 2 strip it out and fit a cage.
Other points.
The point about safety is well made - you are likely to be doing some massive speeds esp at places like brunters - way beyond what a nova is designed for. Anything can happen and speeds over 150 it can turn really nasty. A cage is a must and will be a big help in actually holding everything together.
AFAIK It doesn't matter whether you have weld- in or bolt in so long as its done properly with comp ones to comp specs (rally novas are bolt in ones)
You know all this reallylol
vallanc3
03-02-08, 11:08 AM
do you use the rear seats? if not then fit a cage. could always keep the front seats for abit more comfort but use harness's. or just fit buckets
Rick Draper
03-02-08, 11:25 AM
Think i will ring Fabricage on monday morning and order a bolt in with a rear cross, front section and door bars. Then possibly sort out a pair of bucket seats and some carbon door cards, spray interior myself so i can ditch the back seats.
If i cage it then it will become more of the sort of car it should be, at the moment its not a road car and has not been one of those for years. Will be looking to arndale for some poly carb windows as well.
Think i will ring Fabricage on monday morning and order a bolt in with a rear cross, front section and door bars. Then possibly sort out a pair of bucket seats and some carbon door cards, spray interior myself so i can ditch the back seats.
If i cage it then it will become more of the sort of car it should be, at the moment its not a road car and has not been one of those for years. Will be looking to arndale for some poly carb windows as well.
Top Man :thumb:
craig green
03-02-08, 09:41 PM
Grey buckets with a grey dash!
Jordan-Nova-TD
03-02-08, 09:42 PM
Keep interior and fit a bolt in cage
Rick Draper
03-02-08, 09:57 PM
Well its now all sorted. Won a nice bolt in cage on ebay off colin smith. Its listed as a safety devices one but i think it might be a fabricage one.
there ar not many bolt-in cages that are realy safe if you have a crash! face it! the nova is a very small car, and there isn't mutch metal around you to reduce the inpact before it hits the passenger area! i self had a major crash at the circuit of "zolder" in belgium and hit an concret wall with aprox 80mph! the custom made weld-in roll cage saved my life! during impact it's very importante the cage absorbes the impact energy. this means that it should be welded in to the car at as many places as posible! it's also very important to conent the cage to al the suspension mounting points. this means that you have to throug the firewall to the front suspension and then back again to the bottom of the A-pillar
That sold it to me!
BRoadGhost
03-02-08, 11:16 PM
If stripping it properly then don't mess about ~ Get the most hardcore weld in cage possible & add to it!
mines stripped dude...it gets bloody cold... makes a hell of a racket but easy to clean! as for the cage...depends what its for....looks - bolt it... track days or safety- weld it
chrisj_88
05-02-08, 12:13 AM
ive got a bolt in cage and kept interior but im not sure...think it might look better stripped
Glad to see you are getting rid of the interior. One of my big pet hates are roll cages with interiors; you can't realistically fit people in the back with a roll cage.
Rick Draper
05-02-08, 10:51 AM
Glad to see you are getting rid of the interior. One of my big pet hates are roll cages with interiors; you can't realistically fit people in the back with a roll cage.
Its staying :cry: :cry: lol
makes a hell of a racket but easy to clean!
Hosepipe in the footwells lol:thumb:
RSTChris
05-02-08, 03:45 PM
Id say fit a cage, id be dead if i hadnt had mine:
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff181/RST-Chris/Photo-0033.jpg
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff181/RST-Chris/z1014.jpg
268 bhp 2.1 zetec turbo, it was only runnin standard management, the weekend after the crash it was going for its final management upgrade and live map, i wa sooo close to having it runnin 400 bhp
Lovely looking Fiesta before the accident, shame but at least you got out of it.
RSTChris
05-02-08, 04:41 PM
Cheers :)
I walked away with just 6 broken ribs and a cut 4head.
liking the fiesta mate, such a shame. a friend of mine was building a 2.1 zetec turbo white fiesta with modeo wheels. looked just like yours. don't suppose you bought any parts of him as he broke the car in the end and sold everything. he lives in blackpool called matt - streetdragster was his name on all the forums.
oh and back to the topic - cage is the future - i'm well happy with mine:thumb:
ste
RSTChris
07-02-08, 09:45 AM
Nah mate that car was a pure front garden home build, never been to blackpool for any bits :)
Novasport
08-02-08, 08:50 PM
I had this dilemma with the Sport as I wanted a cage but still wanted to keep it original.
After buying a 16 point cage & some OPC F2 seats I changed my mind when I got hold of a mint interior.
The 16 point got sold in favour of a new 6 point bolt in SD cage. I can keep the original interior and have the cage but back seat are useless due to the rear diagonal and harnesses but will never take passengers anyway
Full weld in cages are the way to go!
(nothing to do with me making and fitting them for a living of course lol )
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