Rollcage in a road car

[Baron von Teuchter]

I'm building a fast road car around a rs2000 grp4 shell that i bought 3 years ago before the prices went mad. I'll do a few trackdays in it maybe but i'm trying to keep it as light and simple as possible, not a fully trimmed road car at all. Think something like a cross between a tarmac rally car and a Lotus Elise. No stereo, no carpets, carbon fibre door cards, proper seats and harnesses. Just a light, fun, quick car for the wee highland backroads.

When i bought the shell the seller gave me a bolt in safety devices cage which is OK. I've test fitted it and it's fine but it's going to be tricky to fit once the shell is painted without marking the paint on the dash. I started thinking about a weld in cage - should add some strength to the shell (already got all the grp 4 strengthening pieces and it's turreted/firewalled etc but then I asked myself - why not just go without?

What do you all think? I'd fit proper padding of course. Would a proper weld-in roll-cage help or hurt resale value or desirability?

[para144]

A weld in cage wont generally need holes drilled in the floor at least, it could always be cut out again if that is what the next owner wants.
Personally I'd build it as I want it but if doing track days in a shell designed 50 years ago a cage is a good idea. It can affect insurance of course but join a MSUK affiliated motor club (as cheap as £5 a year) & insure it as a road rally car via a competition car insurer.

My best advice for building a 'competition style' car is to do it properley. I mean build it as if it needed pass inspection for a competition log-book, even if that is not the intended use. Most of the rules are safety related, so not a bad thing for track days & fast road.

The reason for this is that a heavily modded 'rally rep' cars are obviously not a normal road car but also often people build them to be unsuitable for competition use too.
I think its harder to sell an Escort that is not just a road car but also cant be a used as a rally car.

Being not one thing nor the other will probably appeal to less people if the car is to be sold on at some point.
Non-essential mods are a matter of personal taste

[Baron von Teuchter]

It's a good point and i had considered it. Easy enough to retrofit a bolt in cage though.

I'm 6'4" so it's kinda tight in there, i do worry about hitting my head on a cage without a helmet on (on road obviously)

[para144]

Don't use the FIA approved roll cage padding unless using a helmet, I am sure you could knock nails into wood with a length of that!