Rollcage for an E30

[MFree]

Hi all you Zoners

Does anyone know where i can pick up a full (or at least the back half) rollcage for my 3.2 E30 M3 project? Preferably Im after the one which doesnt require the dash to be carved up each side, but will consider anything... some of you must have fitted them and have experience and costs of different ones?

Any information would be much appreciated

Cheers

///MFree

[ouch]

PLANING ON ROLLONG IT THEN

[Pal318is]

[mancs_joker]

when i first joined the zone people was helpful and friendly! now it seems that we have muppets joining and trying to spoil things! pretty sad really

[Dan318-is]

no idea about fitting dude but getting one fabricated especially would hopefully mea the dash wouldnt need curving

also use welded rollcage not bolted ones, there stronger iv been told

[Geeman]

I have an OMP cage in mine, no dash work involved.

It was about Ԛ£350 delivered from Need For Speed. You can also just have the rear cage separately too for less...

HTH

Giles.

[Rearwheel_nick]

ask moffatt about it. he's sorting me a lovely weld in cage at some point, not sure where it comes from.

[Dee]

Nick

When johns gets his new unit up and running he is going to by a pipe bender and make his own cages

[karlp]

The OMP 6 point bolt in cage is easy to do.

Many places to get them - Need for Speed, Demon Tweeks.

Karl

[tomstickland]

Quite often you need to weld in the plates to bolt it too to do the job properly though.
Off the shelf a 6 point roll cage is around Ԛ£400-Ԛ£500 for the front and rear parts.
On my previous car I bought the whole lot including door bars etc for Ԛ£150, though I did have to cut it out of the donor car.

[Rearwheel_nick]

aight i know darryl his new unit is just down the road from me the tube bender hes after is a proper full on thing aswell. mandrel bends here we come

[Dee]

aight i know darryl his new unit is just down the road from me the tube bender hes after is a proper full on thing aswell. mandrel bends here we come

Rock on JOHN @ WWW.ZOOMMOTORSPORT.CO.UK

[MFree]

Cheers guys!

Im bowled over by the info!

Yeah with the solid suspension and extra torque/BHP i think i will end up pulling my shell apart without one dont y'all?

But then again, i cant see how a bolt in cage helps in that sense much, I can see how a bolt in cage will provide protection in a rollover situation, but in terms of providing chassis strengthening/shell-rigidity without it being welded surely the shell can just twist and flex outside of the cage no?

Im asking now as my car is minus its interior still but maybe not for very much longer so now is the time if im to do a weld in one, but i just dont think i can afford to do that (surely the labour costs put the whole weld in jobbie up near Ԛ£1000?) for 5-6 weeks or so!

And i want my car before then for sure!!!

Hmmm.....

[Rearwheel_nick]

seriously mate just give john a call tomorow and ask him about prices and what options you have at the current stage. i mean i know it'd be nice to do it whilst the interiors out but nothing stopping the interior coming back out even though it is a major ass pain.

[karlp]

A proper weld in cage requires alot of the interior out and a weld in usually involves cutting the dash (after removing it as the cage goes through the front bulhead.

Also a weld in will involve the rear passenger area having cross braces AND going through the rear bulkhead to attach to the rear struts in the boot area.

Maybe there are some out there that are different.

Karl

[Rearwheel_nick]

well yeh it doesnt have to do all that, you could have a weld in one thats just a few bars just wouldnt be one of the off the shelf ones and not one that would be fia approved or whatever.

[tomstickland]

A cage can be fitted in a long weekend including welding. Seam welding is the next step after that and there all the expense is in the preparation. This is why the best way to do it is a bare shell strip and then shot blasting.

[MFree]

Thats the thing guys, when i saw the car before Jhn went away for a week the interior was bare, no dash nothing, so naturally there isnt gonna be a better time than this to do it... I guess it just depends whether

a) I can sell my M535i to raise the cash for it and not hold the rebuild up any further
b) Ben, Johns mechanic, hasnt put most of the interior back while he's been away (coz i know they had just gotten the carpet before he left a week ago!)

My M535i is Metallic black with factory dark window tints and full factory de-chrome all round so it looks WELL sly indeed, very good nic for a 1986 car, 99k miles, full leather, manual, new brakes and control arm bushes - and a spare motor, diff, rad, 16" minilite wheels and loads of other stuff (a whole spare car basically if needed) CD player - all im asking is Ԛ£1100 for it as its already cost me Ԛ£1600 in the 3 months Ive had it but ive really enjoyed those months, its a super car for the money you just cant beat it, great on the motorway, i mean for a grand its a whole lotta car!! Will send photos on request...

I dunno... I hope someone comes along who will appreciate it, i just cant afford to run it AND the M3, gotta use this old Renaut 5 as a runabout (sacrifice...) and save the M3 for weekends!

Any takers?

///MFree

[Rearwheel_nick]

i wouldnt have thought ben would have put the interior back in...cos ben sucks tell him that for me.

what is this car going to be used for, fun road car or occasional track toy? a rollcage would be a great addition either way but like you say cost becomes afactor. and also if its more of a fun road car with full interior a chuffing rollcage might be a bit of a compromise. if you have a dash dodger cage your probably going to lose the use of the glovebox and maybe have to relocate the headlight switch...food for thought?

[Geeman]

True... I had to modify my headlight switch as the original one wouldn't work with the cage in... also I took my glovebox out as the interior is stripped, so I would imagine you'd lose the use of that too...

[karlp]

True... I had to modify my headlight switch as the original one wouldn't work with the cage in... also I took my glovebox out as the interior is stripped, so I would imagine you'd lose the use of that too...

I think this may be a bit of suck it and see.

I have had two cars with OMP bolt in cage. With one the light switch had to be moved with the other it was only the end knob that needed modifying.

Karl

[MFree]

I wouldnt have thought ben would have put the interior back in...cos ben sucks tell him that for me.

what the hell's all that about?

Im not going to tell him anything of the sort.

Im sure if John has asked him to get on with the interior then thats what he's doing, as John's standards of work are second to none and Ben works for him - you do the maths!

I really hope that was a joke... or you should think twice before bothering in future as comments like that are not appreciated. Why would you say that???

///MFree

[Rearwheel_nick]

cos bens my mate and if you say to him nick says you suck he'll know who said it.

was a joke mate not actually saying he sucks

[OllieB]

God, everyone is so twitchy at the mo. Everyone assumes they are being keyboard abused when anyone tries to make a joke! THERE IS A CLIMATE OF FEAR ON THIS FORUM!!

[MFree]

No wuzzers Nick, I was hoping it was, didnt seem like a dig it just caught me at a bad moment... ;)

The OMP cage is by far the cheapest, about Ԛ£350 all in for front and rear sections plus the door bars.

but as i said before, this wont do much to brace the shell, i will need a weld in one for that, but there's always the reassurance of knowing if I rol the car it might just save my neck! Its irrelevant for now anyway because Im absolutely potless now and cant afford to spend anymore on the car until i know whats what no its nearing completion

Hey ho...

MFree