My Rollcage Project

[vassil]

After being out of the DSM-scene for almost 3 years, I decided to get back into in. I bought a shell and I am in the process of piecing everything together. One of the items on the todo list was a 10pt 4130 chromoly rollcage, since I plan on the car being reasonably quick. I am posting this to get opinions and critisicms, so fire away.

The cage is not complete yet, it is mostly tacked together and everything is notched perfectly. I still have to weld in 6x6 plates everywhere, put two more supports on the rear strut tower brace and turn into some sort of a crazy contortionist to get everything tigged together ... but it's fun, keeps me out of trouble and gives me something to look forward to in the end.

Three years ago I built a tube chassis 1G DSM, that is still to be finished and I thought that a 10pt would be a walk in the park, but the way I am doing it ... is proving to be a royal pain in the ass. Everything gets in the way of welding. With the tube car, I could remove the body, flip it upside down and weld away. Not so much here

I want to follow the curves of the car, make it stealth, be legal and keep most amenities, like back seats, rear-view mirror, visors, etc., so I am paying for it.

Here are some pics ...

[Swifty1638]

Nice to see you back in it!

[awd-drifter]

very nice man! i remember seeing vids up on youtube of your talon/evo goin against each other a couple years back. good to see a dsmer back in the game

[123abc]

Looking good man! Good to see ya working on a dsm.

[LingLing]

Welcome back! The cage looks good!

[turbotalon1g]

hahaha, I was there to see your 10 sec runs then you get out of the game.

I can't wait to see what you are going to get up to this time. You guys are kinda crazy down there. Also Nice to see u doing in it old school, going fast with class.

[Ihearrtdsm]

looks good and welcome back!

[goodhart]

Wow, that is one nice looking cage! Can't wait to see the finished product

[sleepydsm]

I saw your red 1g with I believe a 3052 run 10s at rockfalls. You were very happy!

[1QUICK4]

Welcome back!

I'm still rocking your tranny out of your old red car, it's the best shifting DSM tranny I've ever owned.

[Kevin 1G Drummer]

What ever happened to that tube chassis Evo you and that other guy were building a few years ago? Ever get it finished?

[Matt D.]

Welcome back!! Any reason you put a cage in that car or just something to do?

[twack]

welcome back vassil. you ever plan to finish the rwd? whats the build on this new one?

-tims rwd evo is out on the east coast with a new owner

[vassil]

Thank you, guys. I am glad to be back to DSMs. Once you start it is almost impossible to give those things up. It's one of those messed up love-hate relationships. The red car sits in my garage and it will take entirely too much cash to finish soon. So, that project has been postponed to "someday soon". Yup, the red car at RF and the youtube vids with the EVO8 was me back in 2006. I wanted to lighten up the red car for 2006 and got carried away and cut apart a perfectly running DSM and then life happened, house, etc. Now its time to have a fun vehicle and go to the track for fun. I drive a Dodge Ram pickup and it's good for hauling stuff but the fun factor in it is ZERO. The talon is supposed to fix that problem. The rollcage is going in it because, I don't want to get kicked out from the track and because I have never done one and really wanted to make something as stealth as possible. As far as the Tim's old evo is concerned, it got sold back in 2007 when it was a rolling shell with a front/rear suspension, brakes and a rear diff. The guy who bought it is still working on it. Those cars looks simple and it seems that there is nothing in them but there is so much crap to be done its incredible and the costs keep on adding up. For example ... you can dish out 3500 bucks on a read diff housing alone.

[Pushit2.0]

I would have made the rear down bars straight and to the "frame" rails in the back. Also I have not seen 2 piece front down bars before. Good luck finishing up the cage and getting it certified.

~John

[Constant_Project21]

Looks good, and I think we all have have the moment in which we feel like we need to get out...then come crawling back to dsm's haha. I haven't seen these videos people were talking about, I'll have to track them down. Cage is good looking, like Aaron said, "fast with class." Haha.

[vassil]

I am glad that tranny is still working for ya. Sometimes I wish I would have kept it

[niterydr]

Welcome back. Your reasoning is why I miss and do not miss my old stealth. Great project to keep you out of trouble, but the definition of a money pit.

[C3L1CA]

Looks nice! Good luck on the new car

[vassil]

Finally got done welding the cage and went to Rockfalls on Saturday and got it certified. It is as tight as it can get to every single part of the interior. Tig welding the whole thing was an absolute bitch, but it is finally done and I am happy with how it turned out. Special thanks go out to Jake for hanging out with me and not sleeping for 30+ hours the Friday night/Saturday morning. He migged 8 of the 10 plates to the floor and was modulating the pedal while I was folded in 57 different positions trying to get everything welded up. He also primed and painted the cage, since I suck pretty badly in that area.

Here are some pictures ...