• Registered: 2017-02-07
  • Posts: 3

Topic: Roll cage

Looking at buying a used roll cage and making mods to comply with Lemons. The question would be - can we cut and reweld to size it for our car? And if yes are there certain locations that should not be cut?

  • From: Shippensburg, PA
  • Registered: 2010-11-18
  • Posts: 1,963

Re: Roll cage

The main hoop MUST be one continuous bar.

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  • From: Seacoast NH
  • Registered: 2013-01-01
  • Posts: 472

Re: Roll cage

Is this cage from the same type of car you plan on installing it in?  If the answer is anything but "hell yeah".  Don't do it.

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  • Registered: 2015-05-13
  • Posts: 122

Re: Roll cage

We did this successfully once a few years ago. Removed it from the donor by cutting around the spreader plates leaving the spreaders on the bottom of the cage tubing. Cut the halo and door bars as close to the rear main hoop as possible but without touching (not even nicking) that main rear hoop. Didn't try to clean up the remnants on the main hoop, just leave them.

When installing it in destination vehicle used the spreader plates to create top of boxes to land on new spreader plates. Boxes made it possible to "right size" for the destination chassis. Also important for landing halo and side door bars in different spots on the rear main hoop other than where they were cut from. Notched the halo and side bars to appropriately intersect the rear main hoop.

Similar vehicles help but careful measurement of both should drive your decision of whether it is worth doing. We only lost about two inches in the length of the door bars or as measured along the side of the halo.

  • From: South Jersey
  • Registered: 2013-12-01
  • Posts: 588

Re: Roll cage

Not sure how much you are paying for the used roll cage, but a new pre-bent one designed for your car is about $650 shipped from Roll Cage Components.  Still requires trimming and welding of course.

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  • Registered: 2018-02-19
  • Posts: 47

Re: Roll cage

racinrob wrote:

The main hoop MUST be one continuous bar.


Not just the main hoop, every bar. You can't section bars. that is redonkulusly sketchy!

  • From: NH
  • Registered: 2010-01-20
  • Posts: 3,299

Re: Roll cage

While it may technically be possible you're creating way more work for yourself than simply getting a pre-bent kit.

Challenges you face.
You cannot grind into any bar, if you cut one you need to leave the stub (at least a little of it) rather than trying to grind it back flush.
You cannot section any bars. Meaning you can't cut one in half, and then try to weld it back together, insert or not.
You'll have to start with a larger cage than the end result because the above means most bars are getting shorter.
Your end cage will have a lot of shape and fit compromises and won't fit your car nicely.



Cages are safety, and safety is not the place to cheap out. I'm not saying you need to go spend thousands and thousands of dollars, but it's much better to order a kit meant for your car than it is to try and cut up and modify an old cage.

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  • From: Pearland, TX
  • Registered: 2016-11-14
  • Posts: 192

Re: Roll cage

I am going to have to agree with getting a brand new cage.  If you get a kit, there will still be some cut to fit areas but it will be worth it in the long run.

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  • From: Rockville, MD
  • Registered: 2010-12-15
  • Posts: 1,154

Re: Roll cage

I've managed to salvage a couple cages, but all those were for one-off type of deals. The one in the truck was beefy but gnarly and cramped, and I got lucky with dimensions (main hoop from a Sentra fits a 720 perfectly). For the other one we had to cut the roof off and now I'm not allowed to cut any more roofs off.

... On the other hand, the Upside Down Camaro had a cage from our first racecar, the Stanza. Fits great.

TL;DR: if the cage fits as-is and you're doing a convertible with no windshield frame, go for it, otherwise I wouldn't bother, it'll be ugly and stabby and cramped.

K Car Stalker