So AutoPower bolt-in cages are out. What about their weld-in cages?

I've heard the weld-in cages are fine, but unless you're going to install it yourself, it probably won't be much cheaper than having a cage professionally done.

2K is steep, although that is Chicago.  Head down to dirt-track country (Indiana or Illinois), find a good ole boy, and make sure he can read- give him a copy of the LeMons rule book and if you feel comfortable with him, pull the trigger.  That's what we did, and our cage was only a hair over a grand.  We did fully strip the interior prior to cage install, which made his job much easier.

Give Ed a call, He did ours and team resignations cage a couple years ago, never had an issue with tech.  I think he also welded up a cage for another team.  Good price, although I don't even want to offer a estimate since its been a while.

Ed Hast (Victory Lane)

12956 S Ashland
Blue Island, Il 60406 
708-785-1414

He also is really bad about answering the phone, so leave a message or 2.

I talked to a guy down in Pontiac about doing a cage in a LeMon.  He guesstimated about $1500.  Further conversations revealed that he was assuming ERW, not DOM.  And you'd have to make sure to show him the rule book, including the how not to fail tech guide.

His stuff is solid, safe and professionally done.  But it's 99% dirt track cars and 1% drag racing cars.

Let me know if you want a name and number.

I heard good things about them.

Thanks for all the suggestions.  Will see what our guy comes back with (quote) and then see what some of these other guys want.

The back stay rule was mentioned to us also.  Our back stays are slightly on-top-of-behind the rear wheels in our E30.  They said it wouldn't fail, but made mention we could consider moving them forward.  I haven't measured angles, but we may get further from 45 degrees than desireable.  Nothing was said to us that it would be mandatory next year, but this is how new rules get started.

Just to clarifly slightly, the way that Jay was explaining it to teams last weekend was that it is likely that later this year (I took that to mean effective 2013 season, but that's my take on it) the rules will change to clarify that the backstays need to terminate before the rearward-most point of the rear tires. In other words, if you drew a vertical plane perpendicular with the ground that is a tangent to the rearmost point on your rear tires, the backstays need to terminate before that point. For teams that are running Mac strut rear suspensions, the strong suggestion was that the backstays terminate somewhere in the vicinity of the front or top of the bodywork that contains the Mac struts. He did also note that exceptions/waivers may be granted on a case-by-case basis. For example, the #7 Hooters T-Bird has backstays that terminate near or beyond a point that would violate the possible rule change, but there is so much steel behind them on that frame that it would be entitled to a waiver.

The basis for this proposed change is the concern that if the backstays are too far back, they could become part of the crush structure and thus cause the entire cage to be pushed forward in the case of a hard hit from the rear or a hard back-into armco/tire wall/concrete, etc.

One thing regarding backstays that was made ABUNDANTLY clear (as if it's not already clear enough in the ruleset):NO BENDS in the backstays. None. Zero. Don't even think about it. The 45 degree rule is more of a "get close to this" rather than a hard and fast rule, but any bend in those backstays should result in an immediate tech failure.

Since you are in Chicago another option is Lefthander Chassis.  They specialize in circle track stuff, but will bend a cage to your specs.  Best bet is to call them and ask.
https://www.lefthanderchassis.com/v2a/LHC_v2a.asp