Vega roll cage kit

[overkillrc]

another way to weld the top of the cage i like to do on stock floored cars is i will figure out where i'm gonna land the points on the floor. then where the tube would mount to the floor i will hole saw a hole big enough for the tube to go through (as long as there isn't something in the way underneath) then get your floor plates fit and lightly tached in place, build your cage get it welded as much as you can, now break the tachs on your floor plates pull them out and drop the whole cage through the holes in the floor weld up what you need to then lift the cage back up slid the floor plates back into place and weld them and the cage in works great

here is a pic of a 4th gen camaro i built where the cage is droped down about 6" so i could weld the top

[LL8 Vega GT]

nice! You have lots of good tricks, I never would have thought of that!

[LL8 Vega GT]

I have installed the main hoop, rear braces and halo.

I have to say I agree with Justin on the Halo. I will try a single tube to follow the side window and A-pillar like I had before when I do it next time. The downside to the halo I see is that when working on the a-pillar tube, it is difficult to keep the tube nice and tight to the pillar and still have it intersect the halo in a location where it is weldable due to body constraints. To me it seems that coming into the bend of the tube creates some difficulty I will need to see if i can borrow a tube bender to put a few more slight bends in the tube to keep it clean, its almost impossible with the 1 bend that the tube comes with. Justin, on your a-pillar tubes on the vega, did you put a bend up at the top of the tube to angle it into the halo?

As i have looked at the situation, i realize that for best visibility out the front windshield would be to run the tube slightly rearward of the a-pillar, my seat is set back pretty far since the engine will be moved back a few inches. If i set the a-pillar tube back slightly the actual a-pillar will be what is blocking the front view rather than the 1=5/8 tube in my view to some extent.

[overkillrc]

I have installed the main hoop, rear braces and halo.

I have to say I agree with Justin on the Halo. I will try a single tube to follow the side window and A-pillar like I had before when I do it next time. The downside to the halo I see is that when working on the a-pillar tube, it is difficult to keep the tube nice and tight to the pillar and still have it intersect the halo in a location where it is weldable due to body constraints. To me it seems that coming into the bend of the tube creates some difficulty I will need to see if i can borrow a tube bender to put a few more slight bends in the tube to keep it clean, its almost impossible with the 1 bend that the tube comes with. Justin, on your a-pillar tubes on the vega, did you put a bend up at the top of the tube to angle it into the halo?

As i have looked at the situation, i realize that for best visibility out the front windshield would be to run the tube slightly rearward of the a-pillar, my seat is set back pretty far since the engine will be moved back a few inches. If i set the a-pillar tube back slightly the actual a-pillar will be what is blocking the front view rather than the 1=5/8 tube in my view to some extent.

yes i added a bend toward the top and increased the bend that the tube had. that tucked the a-pilar tube quite nice. i also bent a new halo to tuck it up into the roof better.

[LL8 Vega GT]

Yep, i had to whittle a few spots out of the interior of the roof to get it to fit up just right, otherwise it would hang down really far.... not an easy task, i need to find a tube bender in the future, but i want to buy a good one and its not in the budget right now.....

[overkillrc]

Yep, i had to whittle a few spots out of the interior of the roof to get it to fit up just right, otherwise it would hang down really far.... not an easy task, i need to find a tube bender in the future, but i want to buy a good one and its not in the budget right now.....

look at a pro-tools bender thats what i have model 105HD but the regular 105 would work fine. they are reasonable on price and a great company to work with.

[LL8 Vega GT]

Justin, that looks like a nice bender for the money! I also looked at your FB and saw your really nice work. Do you mig weld the MS cages? I do not have one so i have to use my tig, i had to purchase all the stubby cups etc to get in the tight places but I think I have the tough stuff done now.

what do you use to notch tubes? I was at the IMIS show in indy this week and saw some really nice equipment from mittler bros..... i was drooling! peel open your wallet!

[overkillrc]

Justin, that looks like a nice bender for the money! I also looked at your FB and saw your really nice work. Do you mig weld the MS cages? I do not have one so i have to use my tig, i had to purchase all the stubby cups etc to get in the tight places but I think I have the tough stuff done now.

what do you use to notch tubes? I was at the IMIS show in indy this week and saw some really nice equipment from mittler bros..... i was drooling! peel open your wallet!

I pretty much tig everything. i have 2 mig welders one is small and use it mostly for body work (floor plates, replacing sheetmetal) the other it a bigger one that i mostly use for building jigs and whatnot. i use a gas lense on my tig about 95% of the time gives you better gas coverage. i built my own tubing notcher that uses hole saws i have been using my belt sander for it alot lately i almost never use my notcher for building control arms and the like. i would love to have a mittler bros notcher or a baileigh endmill notcher the baileigh is nice since you don't have to have a bunch of different endmills just a 1/2" but it's also like $8000

here is the notcher i built

[LL8 Vega GT]

That is an awesome tube notcher, should have plenty of HP to cut a notch at decent speed! I love the custom construction on the unit, I like to see people make their own stuff.

Here is a question for you, I know you drop down the cage to finish weld the top hoop and rear braces etc., but when you put the front posts in I assume you had to be able to finish weld in place. Did you make a new tube from scratch, or did you start with the provided jegs tube and make some extra bends? I totally see why you do not like the halo style, every way I try and make it it fit tight creates a situation where i cannot weld the tube all the way around :/

Speaking of tools, I am not sure if you have seen these little HEM saws, but they are very small and I am a believer.

I saw these at the show, I cut a solid 1.5" mild steel bar in about 15 seconds with little pressure on it. The blade had over 200 cuts on it. The blades retail for $17.99 They are very precise, he put some pretty decent notches on .083 wall tube by cutting 2 offset angles on it, i was impressed. It is variable speed and it will cut up to 4" diameter at 90 degrees.
I think the saw retails for about $1200, at the show $1000. Kind of expensive but very impressive for a small compact unit and a nice finish. Sure beats a chop saw and a cut off wheel on grinder throwing dust all over the shop which is how i roll!

http://www.hemsaw.com/Femi/femi-NG120.htm

[overkillrc]

That is an awesome tube notcher, should have plenty of HP to cut a notch at decent speed! I love the custom construction on the unit, I like to see people make their own stuff.

Here is a question for you, I know you drop down the cage to finish weld the top hoop and rear braces etc., but when you put the front posts in I assume you had to be able to finish weld in place. Did you make a new tube from scratch, or did you start with the provided jegs tube and make some extra bends? I totally see why you do not like the halo style, every way I try and make it it fit tight creates a situation where i cannot weld the tube all the way around :/

Speaking of tools, I am not sure if you have seen these little HEM saws, but they are very small and I am a believer.

I saw these at the show, I cut a solid 1.5" mild steel bar in about 15 seconds with little pressure on it. The blade had over 200 cuts on it. The blades retail for $17.99 They are very precise, he put some pretty decent notches on .083 wall tube by cutting 2 offset angles on it, i was impressed. It is variable speed and it will cut up to 4" diameter at 90 degrees.
I think the saw retails for about $1200, at the show $1000. Kind of expensive but very impressive for a small compact unit and a nice finish. Sure beats a chop saw and a cut off wheel on grinder throwing dust all over the shop which is how i roll!

http://www.hemsaw.com/Femi/femi-NG120.htm

actully i welded the rear braces after the fact the A-pilar bars and halo were welded as much as i could then the cage was dropped down for final welding. yes i used the supplied a-pilar bars but i added the bends toward the top and added some bend to the other bends.

isn't that HEM saw just basically a band saw? i have a nice bandsaw (both vertical and horizontal) a chop saw and grinder all of which get alot of use.

[overkillrc]

That is an awesome tube notcher, should have plenty of HP to cut a notch at decent speed! I love the custom construction on the unit, I like to see people make their own stuff.

Here is a question for you, I know you drop down the cage to finish weld the top hoop and rear braces etc., but when you put the front posts in I assume you had to be able to finish weld in place. Did you make a new tube from scratch, or did you start with the provided jegs tube and make some extra bends? I totally see why you do not like the halo style, every way I try and make it it fit tight creates a situation where i cannot weld the tube all the way around :/

Speaking of tools, I am not sure if you have seen these little HEM saws, but they are very small and I am a believer.

I saw these at the show, I cut a solid 1.5" mild steel bar in about 15 seconds with little pressure on it. The blade had over 200 cuts on it. The blades retail for $17.99 They are very precise, he put some pretty decent notches on .083 wall tube by cutting 2 offset angles on it, i was impressed. It is variable speed and it will cut up to 4" diameter at 90 degrees.
I think the saw retails for about $1200, at the show $1000. Kind of expensive but very impressive for a small compact unit and a nice finish. Sure beats a chop saw and a cut off wheel on grinder throwing dust all over the shop which is how i roll!

http://www.hemsaw.com/Femi/femi-NG120.htm

isn't that HEM saw just basically a band saw? i have a nice bandsaw (both vertical and horizontal) a chop saw and grinder all of which get alot of use.

actully i welded the rear braces after the fact the A-pilar bars and halo were welded as much as i could then the cage was dropped down for final welding. yes i used the supplied a-pilar bars but i added the bends toward the top and added some bend to the other bends. now the guy wants to add a funnycar cage..... tryed to get him to before i welded the cage in permanent.........oh well

[LL8 Vega GT]

Interesting, so when you dropped the cage down with the a-pillar tubes in I assume you did it in a similar fashion to the camaro that you posted, and when i looked at that pic i wondered how you addressed the front pillars because I assume you had to cut into the rocker sill of the car to get it to drop down like that ? the rear seems that it would be no problem to drop down, bit the front seems a bit more tricky.

*Edit: I looked at your pics again and realized that you did not weld into the rocker sill, now I see how you did it

Yes, the hem saw is a mini band saw. I guess I was impressed by the small compact size and ability to cut a solid 1.5" bar in 15 seconds with a blade with so many cuts on it, and the price of the blade. I have a full size vertical and have used many horizontals and none of them would cut that fast with that many cuts on the blade but maybe I was not using a good enough saw.

I use the chop saw a ton and hate it... to much dust

[overkillrc]

Interesting, so when you dropped the cage down with the a-pillar tubes in I assume you did it in a similar fashion to the camaro that you posted, and when i looked at that pic i wondered how you addressed the front pillars because I assume you had to cut into the rocker sill of the car to get it to drop down like that ? the rear seems that it would be no problem to drop down, bit the front seems a bit more tricky.

*Edit: I looked at your pics again and realized that you did not weld into the rocker sill, now I see how you did it

Yes, the hem saw is a mini band saw. I guess I was impressed by the small compact size and ability to cut a solid 1.5" bar in 15 seconds with a blade with so many cuts on it, and the price of the blade. I have a full size vertical and have used many horizontals and none of them would cut that fast with that many cuts on the blade but maybe I was not using a good enough saw.

I use the chop saw a ton and hate it... to much dust

yea neither the firebird or the vega wagon i'm currently working on were welded to plates on the floor. if i weld one to floor plates the tube still clears the rocker panels if you put them on top of the rocker panel there generally isn't enough room to weld the a-pilar bars, just to close to the kick panel.

yea the HEM saw looks like a nice deal i'm guessing it's just a high speed bandsaw but seems a bit spendy for basically a bandsaw.

and i'm with ya on the chop saw it sucks but what do ya do.

[LL8 Vega GT]

I have the 6x6 plates welded to the rockers, I am going to offset the tubes enough from the kick plate like you said fir welding clearancee, it creates a weird notch but its about my only option for my build.

I agree, the saw is overpriced, but you know in a couple years it will be like $300 when all is said and done, and then it will be worth it lol. It is a variable speed band saw which is nice for cutting various materials and I am sure contributes to the price. besides HEM is proud of their stuff anyway

[rocketride]

We use a DeWalt porta-band saw at work, mainly to cut stainless pipe and some aluminum tube. It's hand held and easy to operate.
http://www.google.com/search?q=porta+ba ... da4f416ce8

Jon