Vixen Roll Cage - worthwhile?

[Buster44]

Would fitting a rear roll cage be a worthwhile safety improvement or would it be OTT for road use?

Any advice gratefully received.

[heightswitch]

Have you seen your vixen with its headlining removed??

it is of no use to you whatsoever until you need it!!

Neil.

[P100]

Hi,
I was not going to fit a roll cage in my series 2 vixen until I removed the front and rear screens!
The lack of rigidity in the roof section was appalling, and so the decision to fit a cage was really to ensure that some protection would be afforded to my head.

I did consider making a steel strengthened hoop skinned in grp like some other grp bodied cars but when I measured it all up the reduction in headroom would be a problem.

So I purchased a cage from Dave Field of David Gerald which fitted well with only a couple of small mods.

Cheers Roy

[Buster44]

Thanks for the advice chaps.

Recently spoke to Caged who are near to me in Frome and will probably get them to fit a custom rear cage. Have recently fitted seats from an MX5 and being a bit long in the leg these are right back. Hopefully the cage won't intrude too much? How much room do the uprights take up?

[Jasper Gilder]

I fitted a full cage in my M - it's dead rigid, when we ran it up with no glass in the whole body shook, but the cage was solid. There's no scuttle shake and the car feels really stiff - more benefits that safety!

[Buster44]

Booked in with Caged to have a custom rear cage fitted in a few weeks time. It will have a removable diagonal, integral harness bar and be built to MSA blue book standards - well you never know!!! I have recently fitted some Mk1 MX5 seats and have requested that they fabricate a support bar for the rear seat mounts between the inner and outer chassis tubes just to beef it all up a bit.

Thanks for all the advice chaps, will post pics once done.

[Buster44]

Vixen going into Caged next week.

Just wondering whether its worth going for a full cage rather than just the rear?

Car at present is only going to be used on the road.

Any views gratefully received

[Electron]

Personally I think it's marginal getting the front done for a road car.

The drivers side leg of my full cage is not ideally positioned and gets in the way just a little ... ok for a sprint car but not good for long journeys.

If you do go for the front cage I'd also consider getting some roll cage foam and getting the cage trimmed with foam and a vinyl cover - had this on my Vixen and it helped soften the blow when passengers got in and out and kept things tidy :-)

[heightswitch]

Electron said:

Personally I think it's marginal getting the front done for a road car.

The drivers side leg of my full cage is not ideally positioned and gets in the way just a little ... ok for a sprint car but not good for long journeys.

If you do go for the front cage I'd also consider getting some roll cage foam and getting the cage trimmed with foam and a vinyl cover - had this on my Vixen and it helped soften the blow when passengers got in and out and kept things tidy :-)

If you are considering competition in the future then I would personally have the front cage fitted as well and then just remove it, That way your mounts on the top of the chassis rails are all their ready to just bolt the cage in or out If needed. if you go this route ask for a roll cage clamp at the hoop rather than a welded on half bracket. If you don't plan to play out with the big kids then As per earlier advice, Not needed.

Neil.

[ed_crouch]

Agree with the rear cage only argument. If you fit a front cage you'll have to carve the dash about.

Also agree that Vixen roofs are paper thin and absolutely NO protection in a roll. The drivers head is more solid than the roof.

Plus only fitting the rear cage will save dosh!

Ed.
P.S. Oh yeah, and the front cage legs obscure the edges of the screen...