Landracing Forum
East Coast Timing Association => ECTA Rules Questions => Topic started by: yarp on April 06, 2015, 07:26:14 PM
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"1/8 inch think support pads on the top or bottom of the floor or sill in a sandwich construction "
I was going to bend a plate to follow the contour of the heavier frameish part of my chassis to spread the loading and tuck the cage nicely, but this seems to encourage me to just head strait for the flat part floor where is easy to sandwich plates. Does it have the be sandwiched with bolts and welded?
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Bolted through. wouldn't hurt to tack weld the underside plate for ease of attachment.
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Lets think about this. Will a sandwich construction thru the floor rip out easier than a welded support plate on the frame?
DW
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Ahhh . . . somebody's reading the rule book again.
And the way it reads, it seems to steer you toward that end.
It may be legal, but it's not the best way.
When I encountered this dilemma myself - and never having had a cage built before - I contemplated the same thing.
But the best advice I wound up getting was "build the car around the cage".
We welded a frame along the rocker panels on the inside, distributing the load across a much stronger part of the car than a floor pan, and welded the cage to that.
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Dw, as you know, they have been known to "punch out" through the floor with a hard top down landing. Yarp, Get the bars onto or as close as possible to the rocker if it is a unibody car. Weld is good but the sheet metal can and has torn around the weld. Think of it this way, your life depends on it.
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"1/8 inch think support pads on the top or bottom of the floor or sill in a sandwich construction "
I was going to bend a plate to follow the contour of the heavier frameish part of my chassis to spread the loading and tuck the cage nicely, but this seems to encourage me to just head strait for the flat part floor where is easy to sandwich plates. Does it have the be sandwiched with bolts and welded?
Hate to chime in on this. I know this question was posted in the ECTA Rules Question.
Don't have an ECTA Rule Book laying around, so I am not sure if they have the same requirements as the SCTA Rule Book spells out.
Just in case you are intending to run at an SCTA sanctioned event, you may want to keep the following in mind:
RB 2015,P.34, 3.B says: On unitized construction and monocque cars, the roll cage structure and braces shall have 1/4-inch thick support pads on the top and bottom of the floor (or sill), in a sandwich construction and shall be of sufficient area to support an impact load equal to the weight of the car. For cars weighing ....
I believe you are building a unibody car, correct?
Of course, this is just my two cents and I am sure Joe Timney would know for sure. Or you can always contact Steve Davies at the SCTA, to get his guidence.
Mike
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1/8 thick formed plates welded to the rocker panels will pass tech. Add bracing from the roll bar near the seat belt cross bar joint to 1/8 plates skip welded to the floor where the floor goes up to the drive shaft tunnel on both sides. You can send pictures of what you want to do and I'll get you a blessing from Keith and/or Brian.