For those that care....
 

Just a quick question for all.
Many people on here know of my car's build. We have hit a snag with the roll cage.
The only way for the roll cage to work, and be legal for 8.50 or 150mph traps is to butchur the interior.
The car will have enough power to render a 6 point bar useless and a waste of space. I already have the plates inside, the harness is here, the seat is here, the steering wheel is in...I just have to make pipes to connect the dots ;).
If I leave it a street car, I'll never get to track it. The officials will get one wiff of it at the track, and home I go.
If I set it up for drag racing, it could compete in the street tire categories, but then my "street car" has little to no interior.
What would you do if you had my car?
(damm near mint condition blue 1993)
CVD, Hughes, Reid...what would u guys do?
Thanks all.

Re: For those that care....
 

Define "butcher the interior".

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Just get creative. You should be able to route the piping in such a way to be legal and still keep most of the interior in tact. There are alot of street cars with more cage than they would ever need and keep the factory interior.

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I'd go the street-car route if those are the only 2 choices. You have John's car to compete at the track....have some fun with yours for more than 10 seconds at a time. IMO, most of the fun about having a nice car is being able to drive it on a regular basis.

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I agree with with vicious, I'm assuming i'm going to have to do the same for my "street car". It would be more fun to have it as a street car than a gutted track car IMO.

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The roof line is way to short. Picture 2g, only more bubble. I would have to cut my dash, pull my headliner, and remove my a-pillars. I could maybe keep chunks of the a-pillars, but that is about it. The bars would have to run through the dash, otherwise the bends are to tight. I am to damm tall (yeah my whopping 5'-9") to fit in the car with the fixed back seat and the helmet on w/o having my head rest against the roof. With the factory liner removed, I clear.

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Lower the seat or get a shorter one. The big question here is "Are looking to remove the cage later or leave it permanately?" If nothing is in the way through the underside of the ends of the dash, remove the windshield and use a hole saw to drill holes big enough to slide the pipe through the dash.

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How often do you plan on racing it? Also if you do gut it and it becomes a full race car do you plan on touring several race tracks around the surrounding states and race for money? That becomes very expensive unless you have an extremely good sponsor. If you're just gonna goto 4 or 5 races a year at a local track or two, I say forget gutting the interior and keep it a street car. You'd ruin the car otherwise. I don't know what year yours is, but my GSX is a '99. I would never give up the stock inside appearance just to run a little faster and have to put a cage in it. I have absolutely no desire to run better than 11.50, EVER! Running like 11.0 doesn't do me any bit of good than running a 12.0 except for stupid bragging rights. A cage to me just ruins the car if driven on the street frequently. Also, If you just plan on bracket racing, I think the answer is a no brainer. My vote is to keep it a street car.

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I'm with S2k, street it.

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Street it. I don't see the point of butchering a "near mint" car, no matter what your end goals may be.

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The car is a 1993. If it was only being setup for 11's or 10's, I'd toss in a 6 point roll bar and call it good. The problem is the car is expected to break the 135mph trap rule on roll bars. I do plan on making money on the car. All things consitered, it is cheaper to make money at the track, vs. the street.
I honestly think I am paying someone to come out and pull the glass. I'll run the bars through the dash straight down, and just delete my a-pillars and headliner.
Mike-I have a momo speed seat (smaller than factory) with custom mounts. The seat is damm near on the floor and not helping, its that damm sloping small roof line that is screwing me. I fit perfect, but with my helmet I have all sorts of hitting going on.
Thanks all for the input, keep it coming.
I just want to beable to track this thing legally. I already have 60' of 1-5/8" chrome moly here, the swingouts show up tommorrow, the seat is here and mounted, steering wheel is in, harness showed up today. The plates are in as well.

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Can you lean the seat back a little to get the clearance? Just take your time and do the cage correctly. I've seen installations where the role cage adds to the appearance of an interior if done well. The a-pillar trims can't be so big they can't be put back in if the bars are run correctly. Check the rules that apply for your class/times/speeds and see what modifications they allow to be done to the cage with respect to the roof bars, door bars, dash bars, etc.

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The seat is already leaned back. It is a fixed back seat, and the rear sits 1-1/4" lower than the front. The problem is the front bars would have to be run where the a pillar trim pieces are forced to go. We already figured out the rest of the bars to run non-interference without having to chop door covers, rear panels, etc. Carpet would even go back in. Its just those damm front bars. I already had the chassis inspector work with me on the "d" bar placement, to avoid chopping a hole in the floor.
We are going to just stay in it, I am hell bent on keeping the interior on this car, and tracking the car.

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Set it up legal for 10s and be done with it on the track. Have more left in it for the street and avoid a messy interior. If you have it running real good, after a few 10 second passes rip out a monster and be sent home. No shame in that.

Otherwise how bad would it be for an all aluminum dash?

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I wouldnt do anything drastic until you've exhausted all other options. One of those options being going to tracks where they are a little looser on the rules. You might not be able to take home any prizes with an illegal car, but you can at least lay down some fast times and break some records at some tracks without them giving a shit about a cage.

If you gut the hell out of it....well, its still not too late to get a DSM instead, because even gutted you wont make up the weight even with the extra power you're making with the stealth.

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Figured out a way to not have to cut into the dash, and I should beable to keep the a-pillar, but that headliner is probably going to go.

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Just paint the ceiling beige (or whatever color your interior is, and call it good.

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STREET IT. I thought Johns car was for the track and yours was for the street, whats the question . you can always run faster then the rule book. Just don't let it catch you.

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You could always take it to the track once to see what it's got, get kicked out, and then keep it on the street. Mind you this opinion is coming from someone who will probably never have a car that fast.

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You can't gut it in the street tire categories either. You have to run close to full interior, in street tire. Also, it will need to run high 7s/very low 8s to compete against the Supras, Mustangs, small block Chevys, etc in the street tire class.

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Hoop is in and hidden, on to the rear bars.
I am going for a safe street car ;).

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http://www.lse-performance.com/galle...0004.sized.jpg
http://www.lse-performance.com/galle...0001.sized.jpg
http://www.lse-performance.com/galle...0003.sized.jpg

And that is why you custom make a roll cage to YOU and your vehicle.
Good luck buying a kit that fits this good.
We are calling it a night. Thanks for the votes all!

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I like street cars. I have built many, many, many 10 second cars without rollbars. Why would I do that you ask? I'll try to explain it best I can. This is gonna get lengthy so feel free to pass it up and dismiss it as jibberish.

Back home we have a huge street car scene. 4/5 years ago a large group of local cars got together and made a three hour drive to a relatively new track in San Antonio. All of the cars were NHRA legal with rollbars, etc., and were trailered. Except one. One looked like a bone stock '98 SS Camaro.
Out of the group, two of the other street cars ran faster than me. One was a super gutted 2,800lb '88 GT with a 608RWHP blown 306 that pulled a 1.48 60' and ran a 10.50 @ 138 with a five speed. BTW, I set the chassis up on that car and with an automatic it pulled LOW 1.3x sixty foots. Secondly, there was a 3,000lb '84 GT with a 351 crate motor, 300HP nitrous kit and a t-braked auto. He ran a 10.58. Both cars ran race fuel. Granted, those aren't the fastest street cars in the world, but these are cars that hit the street scene nearly every weekend and both now run deep into the nines.
I drove a '98 SS Camaro 200 miles to the track, swapped tires (26x10 Hoosier DOT's) and immediately got in line. With horrible track prep and straight off of the interstate I ran a 10.60 @ 128mph on the bottle. I ran two 11.60's @ 123 on the motor back to back. Then sprayed another 10.60 @ 128. Yes, the bottle mph is low. The 60' on motor was super weak, on the bottle it was in the high 1.5's, still spinning it's butt off. The programming in the PCM would not let the engine spin over 6,600. With the 26" tall tires, I was turning the bottle off and shutting down very early. I had to drive this thing home, ya know!
After swapping the stock SS wheels back onto the Camaro, I drove 200 miles back home and passed every single trailered car in the process. The A/C was blowing cold, stereo was blasting, all while enjoying the P/S, P/W, P/L and fully loaded leather interior. Street car!
Who do you think enjoyed their cars more? The gutted street cars that had to be trailered to the track, or the stock appearing street car...? Don't lose sight of your goals. If you want to build a compeditive race car, have the funds and desire, go for it! If you want something you can enjoy, build it that way. With either decision, hope it turns out well for you.

Re: For those that care....
 

Good point super, mine is just a street car with a cage.

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You can run at the track all you want. There's a big difference between being able to make enough power to run 8's and actually running them. Unless you're backhalfing the car and putting in a glide and a 9", I wouldn't worry about breaking into the 8's with that configuration anytime soon.

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Yup.
With this cage, I'll never get sent home, now its up to me to break shit and have to go home. I am putting it in for the MPH (150), not the et. There is a chance the stealth could eventually get to 150mph traps, but a 8.50? LOL, not at is 3500+lb race weight.

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I think the tracks are more leniant on MPH than ET. I don't think they'll jump out of the timing shack if you run 137 with a 6-point. :-)

I'm only adding one bar to make mine a six-point, and if things go well next spring, I'll be looking to do better than 135mph myself. I'll wait til they kick me out before I go putting in more stuff this time.

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I voted street car. I think you know how much I love to street thing. You can make money on the street and you can be unbeatable. Street racing is where it's at. Whatever you do, do not make it a "track only" car. Those are just jokes. (I'm not talking about Johns up coming project). I'm talking about Buschur's POS Conquest/Eclipses and other retarded Chevy/Mitsu/Dodge/whatever crap...
Tens are only useful on the street. Nines, more so.

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Word! ;)

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Couldn't agree more with the hybrid setups.

Conquest with 4g63, powerglide tranny, and ford 9" rear end. You might as well have a tube chassis fiberglass body and go faster.

But I have seen some pretty sick cages in "street" cars that wouldn't make it too ridiculous for a somewhat daily driver. And yeah, 10 second street car = cool as shit 10 second track car = I hope it broke down at the 1/8 mile mark.

Edit: Swanny, purely hypothetical here, but what would something like your cage cost??

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To do an 8point Chrome Moly roll cage, cetified to run an 8.50@150mph or slower costs $2900.00. That is NHRA certified and will be custom made for you and your car. Then you will need a 5point harness, helmet, fire jacket, fire pants, gloves, window net, etc.

~John

Re: For those that care....
 

As long as the 8.50 second car is street legal, I'd pick that anyday over just a normal street car. Then again, I've always been one of those guys that'd rather go fast than have looks/comfort. Must be a 1g DSM owner thing haha. Like they say, if you want to go fast cheaply, get a 1g. If you wanna get chicks and have more money to spend, get a 2g. I'm a broke ass so I'm stuck with the 1g thing for awhile.