I don't know if this is the best place to post this but here goes. What is the best method of installing a roll cage in a '86 T/A? Nothing major, just like a 5point system or whatever. What do I need and how I go about starting it? Thanks!

 

well, to keep this "aftermarket product review" i highly recomend Jegster roll cages from Jegs. i got my 8-point for around $160. roll cages should be welded in and will require stripping the entire interior of the vehicle. most are also cut oversized to allow trimming to fit to your preference. i am at work right now but when i get home i have lots of pics of when i installed my roll cage so i will post some up as soon as i find the floppy that they're on. good luck.

Rich

 

Another praise for the Jeg's roll bar. I bought their 8 point kit, my dad helped me install it. It came out nice, I too have some pics on a disk.

 

Only $160? Righton Thought it'd be something huge, how much they charge to install? Thats what I was going to do, get some pipes and do my own. But with that price, why not go all the way

 

I have no idea what people charge in your area, but the avg. shop in this area gets $500 & up for a "pro" installation. My kit set me back $159.99 + a whole $8 for shipping. I think they goofed though - in the ad, it says: "$75.00 truck freight."

 

here are some misc pics durring my 8-point install.

 

here is the drivers door bar. for the door bars we actually cut holes in the floor and welded them right to the Jegster frame connectors and then used some scrap sheet metal to patch the holes back up

 

here is the hoop. we cut about 2-3" out of it to make the door bars a little closer to the seats. plenty of room with the seats in now and even with the thick padding i can close my doors. doing it this way allowed me to keep my arm rests without having to try and make some crazy bends to clear them.

 

here is a shot of the drivers door bar from the side. notice how the hoop runs right along with the door jam. from the side you cant even tell it has an 8-point roll bar in it when the doors are closed.

 

I have the 8pt kit from S&W Racecars. I paid $140.00 for the kit and $450.00 for installation.

Jay

 

I installed the swracecars setup. Pics are on my page at www.koolmeister.com

Miles

 

I was planning on doing it myself. Buddies to help of course but was just curious as to how much they actually charge and jebus chrIst, lol

So the entire interior has to come out? If you don't have frame connectors, where you weld the driver/passenger side bars to? If there is anything else I need to know than please, don't hesitate to tell me, lol

Oh, what about the dash? Anything with that? Console? Rear Seats? Take any of those out?

 

I left the dash & sterring column, but gutted everything else. Then I borrowed 1 ratty seat from a local junk yard so I could sit in it w/ the bars in the car and actually install the cage to fit around me. I'm 5'9 - so anyone bigger might not fit as good in my car w/ the bars welded in where they are. Though... I've had a few 6' + tall friends sit in the car and they raved about the "cool" factor. As far as SFC's.... if you are going through the trouble of a roll bar, it would be a great time to install the SFC's. SFC's made my car much more solid feeling, the roll combined w/ the SFC's makes it feel like it is a full chasis car.

 

How much they go for? Without the SFC's, where would I weld the bars to? I'm about 6'0 even so...whatever measurments you have, I could take and alter them slightly. I want to do this myself, be a good experience.

With everything you take out, I just noticed on Jay's car, that it doesn't look half bad without the rear seats. There really isn't any room back there for anyone right now, with the cage I don't know. Might leave them out. What about the carpet? That a pain to get out and put back in?

 

Actually, I deleted the back seats in my car. They will fit, but it would be humorous watching anyone other than a small child try to wriggle their way into the back seat. The carpet wasn't bad comming out... getting it back in was fun. Measure 2-3 times, cut once. A few of my friends install carpet for a living and I borrowed a few of their razor sharp knifes, it made trimming the rugs to clear the bar much easier.

Without SFC's - I'd assume that you would weld the 1/8" plates they give you in the kit to the sheet metal floors and weld the bars to that. FYI - the sheet metal in the floor boards is kinda thin. Price on SFC's? I never bought a set, built my own w/ about $25 worth of box tubing. Took about 4-6 hours start to finish.

 

Built your own eh? Too bad you live in Florida, lol

Yea I was thinking of just leaving my rear seats out. Give the car a sorta "racey" look, Can you re-use the carpet? Or do you have to buy a new one? You remove the console? Is it all glued down or bolted somewhere (carpet)?

Where did you weld in your SFC's? You have any pics of them? So the floor is kinda weak to work with the rollcage? You don't recommend me doing the 1/8 plate thing, just use the sfc's? If I can make em, than I'll use the SFC way, if not that...might have to wait a long time to install the cage.

 

check out Stephen 87 Iroc's page. he's got pics of his install and he didn't weld the door bars to his frame connectors, he just welded the 6"x6" pads to the floor pan where it goes up towards the fire wall and then welded the bars to those.

 

Thank ya kindly!

 

I'm not saying that the plates they give you are bad, I just feel much better knowing the main hoop and door bars are tied into my SFC's. My SFC's run down the length of the rocker panel. The rear ties into the LCA mount, the front has a brace that ties into the rails that run next to the tranny tunnel. No pics, too dark under the car and my digital camera is a cheapie - no flash.

I reused my carpets because they were still in very good shape. If they had been worn - I would have bought a new set. The console is bolted down in a few spots, fairly easily removed. The rugs came up w/ no trouble.

 

Righton mate! I'm liking this! I can picture the cage in my car, lol!!!

Fast3rdGen - The site doesn't really have any installing pics of the cage. I emailed him, but got an email back saying that it didn't go through so...yea!

86Iroc - Does the 1/8 plate provide any strength? So your saying that you got some box tubing, welded it to the frame rails in the front, and welded the tubing to the what?

 

hmmmmm he has changed his site since i last went there. he used to have about 10 pics or so of his roll bar. about the email thing, his email rejects hotmail, yahoo ect, it will only let like isp emails enter to cut down on spam. like i have msn and if i use my msn addy he will get it, but not my hotmail.

 

Ah ok than

Well, just like to thank you guys for the help here.

86Iroc - You have those measurments handy there? I wouldn't mind copyim' down.

 

I'd have to go out and measure the aspects of the car you want. What exactly would you like measurements for? Your best bet is to sit in the seat where you are comfortable and put the main hoop in. I too cut about 2" out of the main hoop so it would fit better. The Jeg's instructions called for hacking up the plastic door sills if I had left it the std. width.

 

Oh ok than, just thought the rest of the cage had to be done by you. Righton man

Process for this should start this weekend or during the course of next week, keep ya posted

 

You can use the 6" by 6" plates AND tie the cage to the sfc's.Here's a (unfinished) cage I fabricated for a friend.He welded it in.