My KKC 10pt moly cage install in my 2G , thought I'd share

[NB4G63T]

Well thought I'd share my install with you fellas\gals as i don't post enough here and really should. I'm very impressed with the fit and finish the kit from Ken's Kustom Chassis has. It is by far one of the best prebent cages I've seen for a 2g. It fits so tight and gives you great head room as this was a big concern to me as this is still a summer DD(kinda,till I break it) and I didn't want to be whacking my head off the halo bar everytime I looked around. Just a relly nice design IMO. This is the first cage I've ever put in but not the first time I've done any fabricating, I'm a millwright\welder by trade so thats helped.

I've got the cage fully fit and tacked, well the ones that need to be, basically the 2 windshield\roof bars that connect to the main hoop above your head. All the pipes main hoop are plum and spaced to were they need to be to get the most visibility while driving. The upper windshield bar that completes the main halo was the hardest to fit IMO, keeping it centered and coping both ends of the pipe on a angle was very difficult, but I work slow, bit by bit and eventually just fell into place with some luck. I've got a 2011 NHRA rule book and have followed and rules thus far.

I asked Ken if he could change the kit so the rear strut towers had a bar connecting them and the rear down bars connect to that. The rear bar will be welded to 6x6 plates which are welded to the strut tower. I have the rear bar at this height as it gives me a mounting point for a chute later down the road. My plan is to keep the chute above the license plate so it's still street-able with the chute hanging off the back.

My plan now is to disassemble the cage and drill 4, 1 3\4" holes to drop the cage so you can weld the top joints. This really is the easiest rather then taking out the windshield. With all the top welding done lift the cage back up and slide the preboxed 6x6 plates under the points and weld them to the floor. Then I'm going from the underside and sealing the hole against the 6x6 plate with automotive seam sealer, this will keep out the elements.
I plan on having the rear down bars welded when the cage is dropped and when we lift the cage I'll just have to slide the rear strut tower bar into place and I should be golden.

I've taken some pics so here they are, let me know what you guys think so far.

~Shane

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This is my boxed 6x6 plates I fabbed up at work, there just sitting there and still need to be fit into place, there going to fit in tighter.

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Made card board temp plates of pipe copes that ken already done on some of the pipe ends. This help tremendously with transferring from one pipe to another.

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Couple more

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I'll be updating the thread with my progress and the finished product with my new ALL BLACK interior install, it was some hard to find all black dash, door parels, sills, ect.

Thanks

Shane

 

[talonsteve25]

Looks great so far! How much did it cost you id be very interested in the same cage.

 

[Bud92gsx]

Dude that is a sick freaking cage..Id be interested to know how much that cage weighs..And If your going to be able to put interior panals in or not..No big deal if you cant fit the panels who needs them anyway..

 

[NB4G63T]

Cage only weights 90lbs, all interior panels fit and it's the tightest around the roof area. I'll upload somemore pics today.

Thanks.

Well it's finally finished fitting to were I'm happy. Put my new Swede headliner in to do the final fit and re-angle the main hoop back more to pass NHRA rules while in my seat with my helmet on.

Got the the cage as tight as possible to the roof and door panels I can still open my sunroofs a bonus

Anyway took some more pics

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1

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couple more

D-Bar mounting point

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Sunroof switch

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[NB4G63T]

Getting welded today.
I'll post some more pics of welding.

 

[907gs-t]

Man I run those same speakers & I like how the cage is coming along.

 

[NB4G63T]

There so full of chromoly shavings right now I doubt there ever going to sound the same.

 

[NB4G63T]

Just backed it out of garage and about to put on trailer. She's been hibernating all winter.

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Cage welding underway.

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Couple more

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Holes I dropped cage down though

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Some pics as it sits now in my garage, have to start fitting the dash back in and the rest of the interior pieces

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[turboglenn]

Looks god so far! One thing i've always thought weird on cages is that NHRA says that every joint needs to be TIG welded except the plated to the chassis which can be MIG or arc i think. But in SCCA course racing you can MIG the entire thing as long as the shape, angles and amount of tubing and it's thicknes is correct.. now why I find that odd is that you take an 11.98 @ 125 MPH car, and he wrecks say 1/2 way down the track, he's maybe doin about 70 and in a straight line, so not much is gonna happen untill you get into top fuel or 8 seconds and below ET's

Now in road course racing, even an average car can usually hit 130MPH down the back straight (and more), but with the exception of the road course guy isn't going to stop at the end of the straight, he's gonne scrub off just enough speed to make the turn.

Now thinking about both those scenarios, which one do you think is likely to need more stringent cage construction guidelines?

IMO, SCCA/Road racing should require all TIG and anything slower than say a 9.99 in the 1320 should be able to get by with nothing more than a mig'ed in hoop, but that's just my opinion and we all know the saying with those

By the way, I"m in no way saying you don't need a cage that's built perfectly, as 10.50's is still damn fast and i applaud our times especially with such a clean looking 2g, just voicing my thoughts on the sanctioning bodies and how and who makes up their guidelines and how they come to those conclusions

 

[dsmrollerz90]

Sits kind of low from the roof, dont you think?

 

[TSiAWD666]

Thanks for sharing this info on your cage! I didn't know anyone did pre-bent cages for us anymore.

Does the front section clear the stock dash or does the dash need to be cut?

Are the door bars (sorry, don't know the correct roll-cage term for those) removable? If so was that as originally designed from the vendor, or your little addition?

 

[NB4G63T]

Sits kind of low from the roof, dont you think?

Low from the roof. You can barely get your hand between the roof and cage.
If you think you can put one in tighter bud, by all means do it up, and post so pics. Doubt ill see that.

Thanks anyway though.

Thanks for sharing this info on your cage! I didn't know anyone did pre-bent cages for us anymore.

Does the front section clear the stock dash or does the dash need to be cut?

Are the door bars (sorry, don't know the correct roll-cage term for those) removable? If so was that as originally designed from the vendor, or your little addition?

You have to notch the dash on both sides for the vertical windshield bars, this is probably one of the hardest parts to one of these 10pt cages, no dash would be easy. I have a old cracked grey dash I'm going to use for fitting and then I have a mint black dash which I'm going to use with the final install. I plan on making all my mistakes on the gray dash(the guinea pig). I'll post some pics of my progress.

Yes door bars are removable, I purchase "swing out(which are still NHRA legal)" for both sides. This lets me pull the door bars while I drive it on the street so I don't have to climb over them every time I get in and out, I still DD this car.

I've just bought a FP HTA 35r and sold my 3065 so the car should go high nines and trap mid to high 140's so this is the reasoning for the 10pt cage.

Thanks

 

[NB4G63T]

Well I got the dash in. It's not as easy as I thought it would be, didn't think it was gonna be easy but didn't think it was gonna be this much of a PITA.
I ended up cutting the ends off of my old grey dash off so I could fit both sides without dragging the whole dash back and forth. This is basically giving me a temp plate to transfer my marks over to my black dash when I'm happy with the way the grey ones fit around the bars.
I left the mounting point under the dash speaker so I could still locate and fit the grey dash piece in the place were it needed to be. hopefully the pics will explain what I mean.

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After I was happy with how it fit I then transfered my marks over on to my black dash

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I used a jig saw to do the final cutting on my black dash, this worked good and I was careful to work slow, so not to over heat the dash pad.

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Well here's what it looks like in the car, there's was a lot of swearing and what not to get it to this point but it is possible. I used wire loom to fill in the void around the pipes were they go though the dash. And the pieces I cut out I just crazy glued them back into place and it really is not that noticeable and defiantly good enough for this cat. The glue I used is a special glue from my work that bonds anything(foam, rubber, fingers) instantly, this is all I could think to use and it worked out for me, biggest thing was to keep the cuts clean so the pieces will match back up good and not look cut, this would be hard to achieve if you had jagged cuts.

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Still has to be glued but you get the idea.

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Sorry for the blurry pics but it was late and thats how it looked out of my eyes.

 

[TSiAWD666]

Thanks again for sharing more of your progress!

 

[97gst_spyder]

I need to learn to weld!!! I would love something like this in my Spyder...

 

[NB4G63T]

Just find a friend that can tig weld

 

[ed1380]

amazing work cant wait to see how it looks in the end

 

[stukyl28]

Wanna put one I'm for me looks awesome!!!

 

[NB4G63T]

Thanks guys just finishing up installing the black interior, i'll get some pics with it all done if it would ever stop raining.

 

[97gst_spyder]

Just find a friend that can tig weld

You wanna be friends?

 

[NB4G63T]

You wanna be friends?

Sure but Florida is a little far for me.

Got the interior all back in and it looks great IMO. I'll post some pics over the weekend.

 

[gofer]

Pictures and a link to the place you bought the KKC roll cage from would be great Shane!

 

[snowborder714]

Here's Ken's website, Corey.
ken's kustom chassis

 

[NB4G63T]

Thanks Brian!
Been real busy with the car and work and haven't been able to update with finished pics but when I get all the dam bugs worked out of my new setup I'll post some better finished pics. Ken's kit is well worth the extra coin IMO, it's just a real nice piece.

 

[97gst_spyder]

How does the swing arm for the door work?