Help with custom roll cage needed

[SpeedWorks]

Ok, so here is the dilemma i'm currently faced with. I want a custom roll cage for my build and I know how I want it but I don't have a tubing bender or the skill to use one if I did. The guy I had planned on using to get the cage made up is in high demand down here and has a long wait time and even though my project isn't very far along nor will it be finished anytime soon, i'd still love to try to get the cage going so I can try to start finishing up the interior pretty soon.

I have all the tubing to make my cage but I need some help.

Anyone in the Miami, South Florida area that can help me with getting the tubing bent? I have someone that can do the welding of the tubes once bent and I also have all the mounting plates cut and drill as well.

If you have the skill and the tools to bend the tubing and a miata at hand but you aren't located near me, I can ship you the tubing and mounting plates and maybe you can bend up the tubing for me and ship it back.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

[blenderblast]

Is it DOM piping?

[SpeedWorks]

Is it DOM piping?

It is DOM piping. what I have is 1-3/4" OD, .134 wall piping. I purchased it from chassis engineering and they advised that would be the best from what they sell as that is what they make most of their cages with. I also know that many, if not most, of the Miata roll bars are 1-3/4" OD, but have a slightly thinner wall thickness.

Blenderblast, can you offer up some help?

If I can't find anyone to help, I may try to bend the piping myself with a cheap Harbor Freight bender and just fill the piping with sand and heat the piping as well as I bend.

Any other suggestions?

[RetroModern]

FWIW, the one thing I've learned about fabrication is that without the proper tools, there's a high probability that you will not get the proper results. Also when you heat metal and bend it, you also change the characteristics of the metal. For something as important as a rollbar, i would not chance it. you do not want an undetected heat stress to suddenly becomes a break in the event of a rollover. however, its your car, your life and your money. I just wanted to give you another perspective, is all.

[SpeedWorks]

thank you for your perspective. all of what you mentioned is information i've already gone through and i know the consequences. i'm really trying to find someone that ca do this the right way so that i don't have to half a$$ it and try it myself.

I haven't given up on finding someone to help with this project.

i'll keep you all posted.

thanks
alex

[SpeedWorks]

my search for someone to help with bending the tubing is still on. I haven't been able to truly find anyone to help with this project, so if anyone has any ideas or any contacts, please let me know.

thanks

[— freedomgli —]

You can't just send a bunch of straight tubes off to someone with a mandrel tube bender and ask them to make certain bends for your roll cage because each tube in a custom roll cage is custom fit to your car as it is being built. Even really good fabricators might make 2 or 3 attempts to get the perfect bend on a single section of tubing for the optimal fitment. That's a lot of wasted material, but such is life when you want a custom cage that fits right.

As you said, you have no business designing and installing a roll cage on your own. Therefore, you are in no position to send raw materials to a subcontractor with a tube bender to help you with just that one part of the project. A real fabricator is not just someone who can weld a joint together or bend a single tube. A real fabricator is someone who will take your car and the raw materials and bend, cut, notch and shape them into a roll cage and then weld it all in place.

Your piecemeal effort to save a buck is going to cost you in the long run. If you were truly intent on going down this path the least you could have done is ordered a kit from http://www.miatacage.com. Therefore, you should either get with your "guy" who is in high-demand and get on his calendar to have him make you a cage using your raw materials or you should ditch your plan and choose a different path.

[zoominmx5]

American Muffler in Lauderdale Lakes can bend your tubing.

http://americanmufflerinc.com/

[wannafbody]

Just get a prefab cage form Broke Dicks Racing, they are pretty cheap.

[SpeedWorks]

You can't just send a bunch of straight tubes off to someone with a mandrel tube bender and ask them to make certain bends for your roll cage because each tube in a custom roll cage is custom fit to your car as it is being built. Even really good fabricators might make 2 or 3 attempts to get the perfect bend on a single section of tubing for the optimal fitment. That's a lot of wasted material, but such is life when you want a custom cage that fits right.

As you said, you have no business designing and installing a roll cage on your own. Therefore, you are in no position to send raw materials to a subcontractor with a tube bender to help you with just that one part of the project. A real fabricator is not just someone who can weld a joint together or bend a single tube. A real fabricator is someone who will take your car and the raw materials and bend, cut, notch and shape them into a roll cage and then weld it all in place.

Your piecemeal effort to save a buck is going to cost you in the long run. If you were truly intent on going down this path the least you could have done is ordered a kit from http://www.miatacage.com. Therefore, you should either get with your "guy" who is in high-demand and get on his calendar to have him make you a cage using your raw materials or you should ditch your plan and choose a different path.

You installment to my thread added absolutely no help but thanks anyways. As for your statements, I think that you as mistaken as to what i'm trying to have done. If I can find someone local to bend certain sections of the cage for me, i'd be taking a miata to them to use for mockup. If I were to send the tubing to someone outside of my area, it would have to be someone with access to a miata for mockup. I know that you can't just tell someone to bend the tubing and have it work out like that. And by the way, I do understand what it takes to me a "fabricator" so you didn't have to spell it out for me. In regards to your statement if my way coming out more expensive in the long run, I do believe you are also mistaken about this as well. I know I can put together the cage that I want for a good price and still have it come out fairly priced in comparison to prefabricated cages on the market. I know about miatacage and I chose not to go with their cage as it isn't what I want for my project. I know the route I have to go for my project to get it done how I want it and i'll just stick to that.

American Muffler in Lauderdale Lakes can bend your tubing.

http://americanmufflerinc.com/

Are you sure they can bend the tubing I have? I have checked with other muffler shops, even some with mandrel benders, and I was told that the tubing I have has too thick of a wall for them to bend. If you know for sure that American Muffler can do it, then I may contact them about the bending work.

thanks

Just get a prefab cage form Broke Dicks Racing, they are pretty cheap.

thanks for the suggestion but I just looked at their page and they don't have anything that looks close to what i'm trying to achieve with my cage.

I know that many on here will disagree with my methods and what i'm trying to create, but from my experience you have to build your car for yourself and not for others. I'm just trying to find help for my project. I'd just like to make the point that my car will NOT be a full track car. Once my cage is done, i'm sure there will be many that disagree with my design but I know the intended purpose of the car and what I want out of it and will make my cage how I want it.

Thanks and if anyone else can offer up any assistance I would greatly appreciate it.

Alex

[etikoner]

Do u plan on driving with a helmet on the street ? Otherwise I don't know why you can just buy a hard dog bar and door bars and call it a day. There's a spec car in Curtis shop with a full cage welde in... Idk about you but I'd think that's a waste for a car that's not purely a track car.. Just my .02

[SpeedWorks]

Do u plan on driving with a helmet on the street ? Otherwise I don't know why you can just buy a hard dog bar and door bars and call it a day. There's a spec car in Curtis shop with a full cage welde in... Idk about you but I'd think that's a waste for a car that's not purely a track car.. Just my .02

I don't plan on driving the car with a helmet on the street at all. I see your point about the roll bar with door bars, but it's just something I want to add to my build. I have seen the spec car at Curtis' shop and I know how hard it is to get in and out of, that is why I didn't go out and buy a prefabricated cage for my car. I have a cage planned for the car that wouldn't really hurt the drive-ability of the car and still give me an amazing cage. This car will see weekend duty as a fast street car along with autox duty and some drag strip runs. Along with that, the car is being put together visually pleasing so that I can have it at shows as well, so some aspects of the build are in part for the show of the car, but will still be fully functional. I hope that explains it.

[wannafbody]

If you put a full cage in the car you'll need to wear a helmet, the top side bars will be awful close to your head.

[SpeedWorks]

If you put a full cage in the car you'll need to wear a helmet, the top side bars will be awful close to your head.

no helmet needed. wait and see the outcome

[— Phatmiata —]

V8Roadsters has the materials and pipe bender if you want to drive to Tampa? (they build stuff here in my area) Maybe call them up and ask them if they can make you a cage for your miata? Here is a cage made for a chump car by a local guy in my club with the help of V8 Roadsters team.

Brians Chump Car Miata1.jpgBrians Chump Car Miata2.jpgBrians Chump Car Miata3.jpg