I’m posting here because I’m pretty sure this is where the answers will be. I am looking for recommendations for shops in the Mid-Atlantic area (MD, DC, VA) to fabricate and install a roll cage in a B13. After much reading I think I’ve come to the conclusion that this along with my suspension will probably be the most expensive portion of a PTE Sentra build, so I would rather tackle these first.

Also, if anyone posting wouldn’t mind saying how much their cage was, that would be great to help get a smaller ball park figure for my budget.

Thanks.

I don't have any experience with anyone in this area but thought I would get your thread started with my roll cage experience to date.

I ordered a steel u-weld cage from Mazworx and with the intention of welding it in myself with the help of a friend and a MIG welder. Without doing enough research, I decided to upgrade to the chromoly cage not knowing the I would need to TIG welder and experience to work with that material.

I know some of the folks at Kearney Racing and checked with them but they do not work with chromoly. I then check with AR Fabrications who quoted me ~$800 to get the cage installed. They also said it might be roughly $600 to install the same cage made of steel. These prices were on top of the ~$500 I already spend on the u-weld cage itself.

My car is rather rusty and the frame rails have seen some jack abuse so I could not justify paying the price to weld a cage into the car. I still have my chromoly cage if you are interested in purchasing it. You can also check out the following link to see if Mazworx still has steel u-weld cages available.

http://www.sr20-forum.com/mazworx/25184-u-weld-roll-bars-b13-b14.html

Piper motorsports...........HAND DOWN!! (its just difficult to get an appointment)

If you want, I can show you the work they did on my roll bar in the B14...........

Shoot me a call if you need more info.

I have a few recommendations from where we got our race car done as well.........If you still have my number, go ahead and drop me a line!! If not, pm me, and I will try and get you going in the right direction

Roll bar came out to be $1000.

I proper cage, figure anywhere from 1500 to 2000. But, that is something I WOULD NOT SKIMP ON and I would rather pay a little extra for the piece of mind.......

Someone actually brought up a good point to be at Summit not too long ago.........

Your not going to be saying, while your bouncing off burms, flipping through the air, looking head-on at concrete barriers saying "Man, I am soooo glad I saved that 300 bucks on this cage......."

Just some food for thought :)

Piper Motorsports is the best. I had mine done there and it was done RIGHT. Email/PM me for pictures.

Amazing. You would make the 3rd B13 person to say that they would be running with NASA-MA next year. I stil think you should build a Honda. The SER's are pretty outclassed for the most part against the built Hondas. We drive two tracks... VIR and Summit Point. VIR is wide open and we hang in there pretty well but the SER's get massacred at the twisty Summit Point track.

Piper Motorsports is the best. I had mine done there and it was done RIGHT. Email/PM me for pictures.

Amazing. You would make the 3rd B13 person to say that they would be running with NASA-MA next year. I stil think you should build a Honda. The SER's are pretty outclassed for the most part against the built Hondas. We drive two tracks... VIR and Summit Point. VIR is wide open and we hang in there pretty well but the SER's get massacred at the twisty Summit Point track.

^You can PM the answer, but what are the rules behind the engine mods? Why the SE-R's getting massacred?

^^ I am going to guess simply: suspension.

Upper and Lower A-arms/independent suspension and simply loads more time in development............

^You can PM the answer, but what are the rules behind the engine mods? Why the SE-R's getting massacred?

It's about 90% double-wishbone vs mac-strut suspension at Summit. The Hondas and Sentras are modded and driven to the point that the differences in the cars become apparent. They have more front grip and better tire wear and that seems to make a good bit of difference. None of the Sentras can hang with the Hondas in turns 3, 6, 7, 8 and 9. That gives them an advantage because we end up too far away to attack in T10 and T1.

We technically have about a 10 HP advantage in the rules but all of that won't be flushed out until we start dynoing everyone regularly so IMHO it's not an "engine issue".

Oh, Funny story....

I think that I got the fastest service at Piper Motorsports EVER. I took my car there and it didn't have anything on it but wheels and a stripped chassis. My donor car looked like CRAP so it was by far the UGLIEST thing in the shop. My car was only there for about 10 days and I honestly believe that he rolled it out of there quickly because it didn't fit in with the Corvettes, BMW's and GT3's that he was working on at the time.

Thanks for the responses, Piper was actually at the head of the list based on other recommendations as well.
So I then assume $2-3K is reasonable? I refuse to skimp on anything that serious.

Piper motorsports...........HAND DOWN!! (its just difficult to get an appointment)
If you want, I can show you the work they did on my roll bar in the B14...........
I proper cage, figure anywhere from 1500 to 2000. But, that is something I WOULD NOT SKIMP ON and I would rather pay a little extra for the piece of mind.......


Ralli / Chris – Can you send me some pics of your B14 and the race car? (bn_samuels at yahoo dot com)

Piper Motorsports is the best. I had mine done there and it was done RIGHT. Email/PM me for pictures.
Amazing. You would make the 3rd B13 person to say that they would be running with NASA-MA next year. I stil think you should build a Honda. The SER's are pretty outclassed for the most part against the built Hondas. We drive two tracks... VIR and Summit Point. VIR is wide open and we hang in there pretty well but the SER's get massacred at the twisty Summit Point track.

Awdracer – I decided on the SE-R mainly because I have 3 of them and enough parts in my garage to probably build another from scratch. Switching to something else completely different would just not be the budget right now. If you don’t mind can you also email me some pics of your cage? (bn_samuels at yahoo dot com)

Ultimately this build will be for racing practice and development, and a second SE-R will be built for another series back home in Jamaica. I have a few ideas (mostly CAD drawings right now) of how that car will be setup which includes the complete removal of the Mac suspension, aero, and a built 10k rpm SR16VE.

Heres one of my competitors, hes already killing me weight wise with fiberglass doors, hood, trunk, roof and more imporatantly 20 years of experience :) Really nice guy though so I’m sure I’ll use his input as well.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/hazar_ser/tarmac1.jpg

Oh, Funny story....


Well my car is also pretty ugly right now, so it just might happen again :)

I have a friend who has build several cars using Kirk Racing Products (http://www.kirkracing.com) cages. They come as a you weld it kit. They have a basic package, and you decide what extra stuff you want to add (dash bar, nascar bars etc). He is in Chantilly and I would be more than glad to give you his information. I would start by contacting Kirk Racing, and tell them the series you are running with, and what features you like. You can then call my friends shop, and get a price on the install. I am sure that it will be based on how you bring it to him, but you can work that out with him. He has a couple of cars at his shop you can look at if you like.

Brad, a little recommendation as far as time is concerned;

The season is pretty much winding down so major players like Piper do not have as much as a busy schedule regarding cage duty until sometime early next year (Feb-March) or late this year when people begin the vehicles in for other race car fab work...........Just something to keep in mind.

Right now, people have pretty much exhausted the budget, so fab work might have slowed down some, which also means prices might have slumped slightly as well.

I will try and get some pics out to you before the week is out. I still want to bring the street B14 up there for you to checkout once I get these tie rods in and figure out a left front suspension noise.

The race car is at my bros house, so I can ask him to snap a few pics if you would like (note: the initial cage WAS NOT done at Piper..........The the update style NASCAR bars were done by a famous face from Summit Point who races ITA RX3s...........people will know who I am speaking of).

I possibly, however, have access to a few other race cars (1 or 2 Spec Miatas which were done by Piper, a 2nd Gen RX7, which was also done by Piper, and a few other chassis as well if you need pics)

Let me know.

I would read up on the rules as most sanctioning bodies require different things and some no longer allow CroMoly. We built one cage for a B13 (all DOM) and are in the process of building another. They are built according to FIA rules which all sanctioning bodies should be accepting even though ours was built for Rally competition. We could possibly provide a cage kit for a B13 in the upcoming weeks.

Typically, expect to pay 2500+ for a cage done by a builder. There are some cage builders that do excellent workmanship but have bad designs and some that over do the cage. Make sure you read and understand the rules yourself! Always stay in touch with your local scrutineer while in the process of building as he may have some suggestions.

And Yes Piper does the good work and are a reputable shop!

Brad, any update on this??

Pictures are going to be sent over today/this evening when I get back to upload them