Topic: Painting spreader plates and roll cage (AFTER passing tech)

Howdy, first race this year, build is going well!   I should preface this with saying with as much honesty as can be conveyed on a forum that we genuinely do care about the tech/safety of the car - our goal is to get through tech clean on our very first pass knowing that if we set that goal that we at most should only have some minor tweaks to work out - have read the rules over and over and over (and will do again).

We won't be painting any of our new metal or welds our first time through, but as someone who has done a lot of body repair I don't love the idea of leaving bare metal long term.   What do you guys/gals do about your roll cages and spreader plates?   I would like to paint ours after our first race is over, but also don't want to cause issues at our 2nd race.  I've seen videos and builds of cars where they have painted the cage, but also can't tell if that's something that gives the tech crew consternation.  I suppose if it does cause angst that I could just spray it with some sort of clear coat to keep it from rusting, maybe that's the ticket.

Thanks friends!

2021 Gingerman-I:  IOE (Strickland Propane)
2021 Gingerman-II:  20 seconds of footage on the wrap-up!
95 Chevy S-10

Re: Painting spreader plates and roll cage (AFTER passing tech)

Cages get painted all the time. As long as you pass with no problems the first time there is not a big risk of problems later on. I've painted all my cages for the same rust reasons.

A painted cage shouldn't raise eyebrows at tech unless there are glaring problems with the cage itself. Meaning if the fit to the car is bad, bars aren't in the right place, bends look suspect, then sure, the inspector will wonder if you're hiding something with paint. But if the cage is well built and just has a normal coat of paint, it shouldn't raise any issues.

20+ Time Loser FutilityMotorsport
Abandoned E36 Build
2008 Saab 9-5Aero Wagon
Retired - 1989 Dodge Daytona Shelby 2011-2015 "Lifetime Award for Lack of Achievement" IOE, 3X I got screwed, Organizer's Choice

Re: Painting spreader plates and roll cage (AFTER passing tech)

Awesome, thanks!   Our cage is from rollcagecomponents (they did awesome) so the quality should pass just fine.  I'll leave it unpainted for round 1 and then paint her after that.

2021 Gingerman-I:  IOE (Strickland Propane)
2021 Gingerman-II:  20 seconds of footage on the wrap-up!
95 Chevy S-10

Re: Painting spreader plates and roll cage (AFTER passing tech)

That_Noise_Is_Normal wrote:

I'll leave it unpainted for round 1...

If you like, sure, but there is no reason to leave a cage unpainted before it goes through tech. Doing so just means you'll need to remove and reinstall the padding, the belts, the seat, and quite possibly a lot of other stuff when you do decide to paint it. It's so much easier to paint the cage before assembling the rest of the interior in and around it.

If you're worried about tech's opinion, they don't appreciate needlessly rubbing surface rust onto their hands, arms, shirts, and so forth from inspecting bare metal any more than the rest of us do, and as you've no doubt noticed from doing body repair it takes no time at all for that to be the case. Beyond that, as TheEngineer noted, a paint job on a bad cage won't fool them, nor will a paint job on a good cage raise their suspicions.

1982 MG Metro 1300: IOE 2015 Pacific Northworst GP, Longest Distance 2010 Cd'L Box Wine Country Classic
1980 KV Mini 1: Worst of Show and Fright Pig Supremo 2009 Concours d'Lemons
1978 H Special: Second-Round Elimination 2010 Lemons Pinewood Derby at Sears Pointless
1967 SAAB 96: IOE 2012 Pacific Northworst GP, Organizer's Choice 2022 Hell on Wheels California Rally

Re: Painting spreader plates and roll cage (AFTER passing tech)

Ours was painted prior to inspection here and in the other "cheap" racing league. As mentioned there's padding, interior parts, gauges and all that would need to be removed. I have seen nothing in the rules about not painting them, I'd be really hard to hide crappy welds with a can of spray paint.

"get up and get your grandma outta here"

Re: Painting spreader plates and roll cage (AFTER passing tech)

Thanks guys "Paint on a good cage won't raise suspicions" makes sense to me.  I appreciate the responses to what might be dumb questions.  We really wanted to attend a race in the Spring so we could figure some of these things out but obviously that wasn't possible, so that's for picking up the slack for some newbies.  Can't wait to race our very slow car and have a great time doing it :-)

2021 Gingerman-I:  IOE (Strickland Propane)
2021 Gingerman-II:  20 seconds of footage on the wrap-up!
95 Chevy S-10

Re: Painting spreader plates and roll cage (AFTER passing tech)

Use clear coat paint......

2020 I.O.E. CT #36 The Rootes Of All Evil,1958 Sunbeam Rapier Convertible (YES 1958!!) & 2019 Judges Choice NJMP
2016 Thompson Speedway #36 Sabrina Duncan's Revenge, IOE Trophy, 5th Place 'C' Class 1977 Ford Pinto
2009 Stafford Motor Speedway #16 Team Teflon, 11th Place (overall) 1997 Saturn SL2

8 (edited by duthehustle93 2021-08-20 11:11 AM)

Re: Painting spreader plates and roll cage (AFTER passing tech)

I would highly suggest painting ASAP. The first night you leave it outside it's going to rust and then if you want the paint to adhere properly you're going to be spending an entire day scotch brighting off the flash rust.

Full Ass Racing
#455 Piñata Miata - 1990 Miata
#735 BMDollhÜr 7Turdy5i - 1990 735i

9 (edited by chaase 2021-08-20 01:08 PM)

Re: Painting spreader plates and roll cage (AFTER passing tech)

If the cage is done right from the start, painting won't draw any suspicion. We've painted them from the start, after a race or two. It's just the amount of work you want to do. A POR, Paint Over Rust, system can be used if necessary. We did that on our very first build.

1992 Saturn SL2 (retired) - Elmo's Revenge -  Class B winner, Heroic Fix winner x2
1969 Rover P6B 3500S(sold) - Super G-Rover - I.O.E Winner, Class C Winner
1996 Saturn SW2 - Elmo's Revenge (reborn!), Saturn SL1  Dazzleshipm Class C x2 and IOE winner
1974 AMC Javelin - Oscar's Trash heap - IOE,”Organizer's Choice" and "I got Screwed" award winner