On Mon, 23 Feb 1998, R. John Lye wrote:
> At 11:46 AM 2/23/98 -0500, Kevin O'Driscoll wrote:
> >I have questions re. the use of non-original frame
> >bracings as integral parts of a rollcage and how they may effect the
> >ability to run in Street Prepared vs. Modified Solo II classes.
>
> I have not recieved my '98 Solo II rule book yet; however, my understanding
> is that Solo II cages are no longer tied to the road racing rulebook. You
> need to check Appendix C of the Solo II rulebook for specific guidelines.
> Unless
> its changed from last year, you are not required to even have a roll cage
> in Street Prepared or even Prepared cars, although its is strongly encouraged
> for open cars.
For Solo II, the roll bar is _recommended_ for street prepared and
_required_ for prepared or modified classes. The guidlines in appendix C
are just guidelines. I have not been very active on the National level,
but (frankly) there is a lot of room for interpretation with the current
Solo II specs and roll bars/cages. I am usually pretty surprised when I
look at the rollover protection of some Solo II cars...
Now, as for non-original mounting braces etc., for Street Prepared it's a
pretty safe bet that unless the braces are stock, that you cannot modify
them. You will note that the rollbar specs do not specify what type of mount
is required... but they do provide a guideline for the "pad" that the bar
sits on (something like "the foot will be at least xxx times the diameter
of the roll bar"). For prepared, you might get some crap if you made
forward braces that connect to the shock tower, for instance, but if you
did that, you're probably building the car to E-Prod specs anyway and if
you do that, you should stick to the E-prod rules as the common reference...
you can get a safety marshall to buy-in to your roll cage if you build
for the road racing spec... but your car will also be heavier as a
result. That's probably not an advantage in AP... after all, you'll be
competing with 1500 pound Lotuses and TVRs.
> I seem to recall that Street Prepared roll bars/cages
> must be bolt in (but that might only apply to stock class cars). If
> you have an open car without a cage or bar, you can only run lap belts,
> no shoulder harnesses at all.
Actually, the rules don't say that you can't use shoulder harnesses, but
most safety stewards will tell you that it is not a smart idea to wear
shoulder restraint in an open car with no rollbar. Hopefully, this is
very obvious...
Bolt in bars are okay, but there is a min. spec for the mounting bolts...
3/8" min. if I remember correctly... which means that in order to bolt in
a cage you need to knock out all of those 5/16" nuts that are welded to
the frame... at least that's what I'm doing right now... this comes from
the GCR.
FWIW, I'll probably put a bar in my car this year (DSP right now,
possibly AP just for laughs) in preparation for the "real race car" that
I'm working on... The Real Race Car(tm) will have a substantial cage, but
I'll be running that car in time trials etc. and there is an increased
risk of hitting either stationary or moving objects in that persuit -
much more so than Solo II, for sure.
All that being said, I'd get copies of the following books: GCR, Prod
Comp Rules, Solo II Rules Book. They are obviously the final say, but
also ask around (as you have done here). I'm usually amazed at the
variety of answers that I get when I ask these questions, and it is
pretty tough to figure out which answer most closely applies to you.
> good luck,
Ditto - Kevin.
>
> John Lye
> rjl6n@Virginia.edu
Hi John.
regards,
rml
P.s. Hardy P., please tell us more about your roll bar/cage problems. You
did hint at the Runoffs(tm) that your installtion might be "iffy" at best
for '98... what type of flak have you been getting (or do you anticipate).
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