FIA approved roll cage for 914

[mightyVee]

Any members with experience of the role cage marketplace, especially bolt in versions. In particular those who manufacturer, their prices, location, etc., plus personal comments based on usage, etc.? My thanks in advance. David White

[defianty]

I fitted a Safety Devices cage into '23e Heure' 's 914 a few months ago.

http://www.safetydevices.com/motorsport ... /418/1246/

All fitted in well but obviously needed support plates to be welded into place so it could 'bolt in'. Which I guess is the same for any bolt in cage. Quality looked excellent and it was very well packaged. In fact too well, as it took an age to unwrap it all!

I believe a couple of other 914 owners on here also have Safety Devices cages.

I do believe delivery took quite a few weeks longer than promised, I imagine they're made to order.

[23e Heure]

As Stephen said: When I ordered mine I was told “up to 4 weeks lead time.”
Actually took >3 months.

All to say: be ready to be patient!

The SD one is a good fit though, worth the wait.

[camperco]

Any idea what it weighed?


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[23e Heure]

We didn’t weigh it, and of course it is quite hefty.

Wayne fitted a similar SD cage. He’s more likely to have weighed his, and may chip in here.

For me I fitted the cage for 2 reasons: first for safety (obviously), and second to add torsional strength / stiffness to the targa chassis.

I’m not so focussed on weight with my car: I’m sticking with steel bonnet and boot too. Better fit, and I figure a tiny bit more (crumple zone) safety.

That said, I’ll only bother to fit the door bars that come with the SD cage if/when I do a serious event.

I will be driving the car often without a helmet. This is a known and much discussed risk.
I’ll invest in the top quality roll cage padding available, and am researching options on best midway “hardness” option (most of the usual FIA stuff is apparently too hard: designed only for when you have a helmet on...)

[mightyVee]

Thanks for your guidance, gentlemen, it is much appreciated. I checked Safety Devices, but couldn't get a firm price. Certainly they are just what I have in mind. Does it clear the flip top roof? It looks very tight.

[defianty]

Does it clear the flip top roof? It looks very tight.

It does and but is very tight. It's designed to fit in the car with all the interior in place but is very snug along the rear targa pad and also the lower dash pad. The pictures on the Safety Devices website actually show it fitted with the rear targa pad removed. It also makes the dash vents on 72-76 cars almost inoperable. It's also a bit tight for space around the front targa latches and I had to remove the plastic lever on both sides to make it work, these still function though. Unlike some cages there's still room to leave the sun visors in place.

Also worth mentioning that the removable door bars will not fit in place without removing the door pocket armrest on either door.

[mightyVee]

Thanks, Stephen — invaluable information. I have fond memories of Rochford; my grandfather had a farm in a village very close to the River Crouch.
We used to swim in the river, but that was a long...long.... time ago.

David

[mightyVee]

James, you might find just what you need to cover your cage in a plumbing
equipment store. If you find anything like those available here, you'll see a good
variety of materials and bore sizes.

David

[KS]

[rhd racer]

Hi

Yes as James said I have an SD cage in mine. I fitted it 16 years ago now! I didn't weigh it, because it would have been a purely academic exercise as I needed one to compete, so would have to drive around or mitigate the weight impact elsewhere anyway. Fitting was straight forward. The door bars are adjustable to allow you to set at a level which gives you the right access. on the advice of a scrutineer some 10 years ago, I welded the brackets for the door bars to the cage (only a spot on each) because in the event of a big accident cages can spring and release the tension on the normally taught door bar and drop it to the floor, rendering it useless.

I would also add that you will gain in overall chassis stiffness what you lose in weight, so it is a 6 of one half dozen of the other type thing. My full FIA Boxster cage was 38kg, so a rough guess on the much simpler 914 cage is 20kg or so.

Access for the roof is tight, but it is a small price to pay in the scheme of things.

DO NOT be tempted to use pipe lagging, get FIA padding (or something that has had appropriate testing and designed to protect you without a helmet). Pipe lagging might keep you from splitting a nail, but the body moves a long way in an accident and hitting a steel roll cage with your noggin will be a one time thing. Proper padding feels hard, as if it would do nothing at all, but has been tested to limit the damage and absorb the impact of a direct hit.

Finally, seat mounting is super important. Mount low and as centrally as you can, keep as much space between you and the cage as possible. If you are going to ever wear a helmet in the car position the seat so you are clear with the helmet on - you would be amazed how much space they take up. You might want to get some nice high tensile cap bolts for the sections that bolt together - the bolts look really close when you are set in a seat looking at an M10 hex bolt! Race seats with head protection ears help as they limit where your head could go in an accident.

It is something that really needs carefully considering for a road car as James did. Sit in one if you can to help you decide. Happy for you to look at mine if you are passing,

Cheers
Wayne

[mightyVee]

So much sound advice. Thanks a lot, Wayne. I was going to Italy this weekend to a motorsport trade show, intent on looking to buy, seats especially.
Now I'll wait until the car arrives here (It was in LA but should be on the high seas by now) and pay special attention to space provided and.... make sure it will fit (whatever IT is that we are planning to coax into place). Until 10 years ago I lived in UK, but then moved to Slovenia, a lovely country that's not unlike Italy was 30/40 years back. In this part of the world it's hill climbs, a little bit of sprinting, and those utterly boring time/speed/distance rallies. The skill is all with the navigator, who ideally should hold a degree in Mathematics. They are not for me! The hill climbs are fantastic, staged from short @ 4kms to fantasy land @16 kms, mostly in the mountains. Lot of waiting around with this type of motorsport, though.

[rhd racer]

You are very welcome....obviously not local enough to pop in and look at the car over a brew then!

Sounds very similar to hill climbing here, plenty of waiting compensated by adrenalin! It sounds like yours are much longer though.....

You don't say if you will have a navigator on the long hills which sound more like special rally stages - if you do you will need to make similar considerations for them. This can make life difficult as getting two eared seats next two each other and clear of a cage is pretty challenging. And by cap heads earlier, I meant the domed head with an Allen fixing so there are no sharp edges.

One final point. Seat mounts are hugely different, despite looking the same. Material used aside, some will orientate a seat just a few degrees more upright than another clearing the cage, but in doing so reduce head height for a helmet. You might need to try a few different ones to get the seat exactly where you need it. It must be at least 1" clear of the cage behind your head ( the SD central mount comes down behind the seat). It sounds obvious but a seat touching the cage behind your head is the same whacking it with an iron bar, you need the seat to flex on impact and be free of any obstruction. I cannot stress enough how tight it is to get a full eared seat in a caged 914 if you are a 6 footer like I am.

Hope that helps, good luck with the project

Cheers
Wayne

[camperco]

If you have room then weld in proper seat tubes like these. They also brace the inners sills to the central tunnel. Avoid having bolts sticking out of the floor pans. That’s too seventies.


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[jwhillracer]

Just to add to the comments - definitely use a good quality roll cage padding, whether or not you will be driving with/without a helmet.
Check whether local regs require full FIA padding, otherwise something like this - https://www.demon-tweeks.com/uk/demon-t ... ng-284655/ It is bulky, for a reason, so check that it fits, and that you can get in and out, and drive the car safely with it installed.
Before you weld in seat mounting bars, double- and triple- check your height in the car with a helmet. When I occasionally compete in our roadgoing 914/6 I have to completely remove the standard seat cushion, and just sit on the bare seat bucket, to be able to fit in under the roof, without any additional roll-over bars. I'm 6ft 2in 1.88m tall.
I have a photo somewhere of competing in our old 914 with the roof off, and my orange helmet well above the roll bar. I certainly wouldn't get away with that now!

Cheers!
JW