Hey guys,
I am in the market for an 8 point roll cage and was wondering what is the best one to get? Mild steel is fine, no need for chrome moly. I was looking at competition engineering, but I don't think they offer the door bars that clear the factory door handles. I saw a kit on Spohn.net that is exactly what I want, I just wanted to check with some other ( hopefully knowlegable) people before I made a purchase.

Thanks for any help you can give,
Mike

 

You can install the Comp Eng bar kit so that the factory arm rests/handles do clear the side bars. It just takes a bit of time to get it cut and adjusted to do it. I used that kit and still have both arm rests (unmodified) installed. If you need a shop to install it for you, I can give you a couple places to contact both of which are excellent race fab shops to deal with.

 

Well me and my father are going to do it. He is pretty skilled at welding so he is going to teach me in the process. I just wanted to see if there was a right or wrong one to buy.

 

as far as 8pt. cages go, they are all about the same. there is really no difference until your talking about 10pts. we usd the jegs kit in both our cars, they worked well. wish we had known about the armrests before we put the cage in though, my dad's interferes with the armrest, it could have been easily fixed with a little more grinding and positioning, but i was already fully welded in the car when we went to close the door

 

I've installed 1 S&W cage and 1 Jegs which is currently in my own car. Both were well made units and easy to install-my car took 5 hrs from the time I hit the trigger on the chop saw till we walked away from the 3rd coat of paint on it. We made sure to leave the 3rd gen door panels on and had the seats there for reference when doing the door bars. Almost caught up with me when I decided to install the entire 4th gen interior, but it had the same clearance as the 3rd gen for the door bars...whew!! Either one of the kits you choose should be an easy install since their made by good companies, my descion came down to price with shipping and I saved at that time with Jegs. I do know S&W usually has some great deals going on it the winter, might be worth checking them out as well.

 

I put a jegs kit in mine. Although I don't have any door panels to worry about I like the fact that the full cage still allows me to remove the T-tops. The halo bar is bent just the right way so that the latch will clear. The downside is that I can't see anyone using this full cage and expect to keep a full interior. I cut and modified my dash to fit around the A-piller bars.

Are you considering a full "cage" or an 8 point roll bar? There's a big difference between a cage and a bar.

 

Stephen, install a 4th gen interior lol!! I get to cheat with the front down bars since the 4th gen dash is already "notched out" for the factory HVAC ducting in the A-pillar. So once the down bars are in place it should fill the void with little modification after they're in place!! I've seen a ton of thrid gen dashes cut to peices in order to fill this order so I know what you mean. I'm sure your gonna order the new interior yet this afternoon right? :lala:

 

I know firebird dashes are better suited for roll cages. My A-piller bar didn't come anywhere near the speaker holes in the dash since that's the best place they could have gone through.

My dash pad (which was in original mint condition) has now been chopped shorter to fit between the 2 a-piller bars. The dash pad is held up with some 3/8" brake tubing welded to the dash bar. The only reason I still used the dash pad is that I didn't want to try and fabricate a complete aluminum dash. An aluminum front plate will be fabricated and attached to the dash pad just as a place to mount guages and switches.

My car has interior. It's called steel and aluminum. Once I finish my winter projects I'll take and post some new pictures on my web site. The 6 point bar is out and a full cage in installed. I suppose it's considered a 10 point. I put in some sill bars but never installed any front bars coming off the a-piller bars and going through the firewall. I X-braced the door bars.

Other winter projects currently in progress is a complete rewire inside the car. Under the dash was a real mess. Everything is now being mounted on an aluminum plate attached to the passenger side door bars. Once that's done I need to finish the rear window conversion. I've hacked out the back glass seal lip and plan on installing a sheet of Lexan for a rear window. Personally I should have just left it alone. It's become a bigger job than I really wanted to do but now that it's all hacked up, I need to finish it. The rear glass and deck lid are at least 50 pounds if not more.

 

Thanks for all the input guys.

I am just going with an 8 point. I think I am going to order it from Spohn. He seems to have the best deal going. He also offers the door bars that clear the factory handles so I shouldn't have to worry about that.

Thanks again.