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Where to get a good tubing bender for rollcage material?

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Old Feb 9, 2005 | 10:54 AM
  #1  
1983Fbody's Avatar
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From: Newberry, Mi
Car: transam, el camino
Engine: 415
Transmission: T56
I meant to say tubing notcher : doh : (I found the pipe bending info I was looking for through search)

Anyway, I'm looking to get something that will cut notches in rollcage material and was wondering what you guys were using?

Last edited by 1983Fbody; Feb 9, 2005 at 11:14 AM.
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Old Feb 9, 2005 | 01:03 PM
  #2  
coulterz28's Avatar
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From: Bowling Green, Ky
Car: 91 Z28
Engine: Ls1
Transmission: Ati Powerglide
Axle/Gears: 9" 3.50 gear
I have a bender from http://www.jd2.com. They also sell a notcher that is similar to the one I use. I'm sure their are other alternatives out there but this has worked well for me.
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Old Feb 9, 2005 | 02:37 PM
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Xceleratemaro's Avatar
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From: greenvill sc
if you have a drill press you can use a hole saw... i bought my cage from s and w race cars...it came pre notch and ready to be welded in..
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Old Feb 9, 2005 | 04:21 PM
  #4  
V12Camaro's Avatar
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From: Near Saint Louis
Car: '89 RS
Engine: 355
Transmission: five speed
Originally posted by Xceleratemaro
if you have a drill press you can use a hole saw... i bought my cage from s and w race cars...it came pre notch and ready to be welded in..
Got pics of your cage? how did it go in? How's the fit? Since my car is down for awhile, I'm gonna go ahead and cage it, and I'm looking for the best kit.
Thanks,
Jeff
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Old Feb 9, 2005 | 08:13 PM
  #5  
AlkyIROC's Avatar
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From: 51°N 114°W, 3500'
Car: 87 IROC L98
Engine: 588 Alcohol BBC
Transmission: Powerglide
Axle/Gears: Ford 9"/31 spline spool/4.86
I notched all my tubes with a 4" disk grinder. Took longer than normal but it still worked.

As for a bender, the JD2 is what you need. That's a proper tubing bender. Don't use the cheap "bow and arrow" style pipe benders. They're not designed to bend tubing and it won't give you the proper type of mandrel bends. If you buy the dies you can easily make a tubing bender using this info.

http://www.blindchickenracing.com/to...bingbender.htm
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Old Feb 9, 2005 | 10:28 PM
  #6  
SB406's Avatar
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From: Western NY
Car: 71
Engine: 406
Transmission: Auto
Axle/Gears: 3.42 8.5" 10b
If you're good enough with a torch, you can fishmouth the bars that way to get it close, then finish it off with a grinder like suggested above. Just take your time and chalk it out before you cut.
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Old Feb 10, 2005 | 01:32 AM
  #7  
Motor City Mike's Avatar
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From: Detroit, MI, USA
Car: '82 Trans Am
Engine: Blown 540 BBC
Transmission: TH475
Axle/Gears: Dana 60, 4.10 w/spool
I personally am not too impressed with any of the tubing notcher that use the hole saws. As long as you're not going into production making roll cages, just fishmouth the ends of the tubing roughly using an angle grinder and/or a bench grinder. Then use a drum sander (either 1 1/2" or 1 3/4", about 80 grit) in a drill (or drill press) to final finish it. Much better results than any "joint jigger".

As far as a tubing bender, I custom built my cage using the Pro Tools tubing bender, which is very similar to the JD2 bender, with excellent results. DO NOT use a "pipe" bender, as it will kink/distort the tubing.
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Old Feb 10, 2005 | 08:12 AM
  #8  
Xceleratemaro's Avatar
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From: greenvill sc
i dont have any pics right now..i will get some today or tomarrow...
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