Have you ever donged your head on a roll bar? I have a couple of times. Lucky I was wearing a helmet at the time and probably a good thing the bar was padded. I didn't roll the car so the bar didn't actually do anything but get in the way of my head.

Have you seen the photos of the Minis on this forum that have rolled without a cage? They stand up rather well.

I used to make roll cages. I know a bit about them. I wouldn't bother in a road car at all.

I think i will just get it on the road with the new discs and learn to drive, then if i really want to do hillclimbs i will get a cage

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77 mini sunshine: the slow build continues
http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=70699

iv never agreed with you on this morris nothing against you though just the way i see it the b pilar is that close to your head anyway your going to hit that.. why not put a cage in there? the uk saftey devices fia approved ones, seem to sit further back anyway so possibly wouldnt interfear with the driver if installed correctly, but im not sure, i want to put on in my car so il let you know.. if your going to hillclimb it, then you would be absolutely stupid not to run a cage, i shake my head whenever i see someone doing a hillclimb or sprint without one because, you never ever know what can happen, and believe me, i know.

on a lighter less argumentetive note, hillclimbs are good fun, no stress or pressure, not super fast so you dont get too out of control even if you loose your way, and lots of friendly people there to help you out.. i started in hillclimbs, im now in talks about fujitsu v8 supercars, so its a good platform to launch from or just have some fun on a weekend. as said above, get the thing to stop and turn safely, and get yourself a top helmet, and some nice driving gear which wont cost the earth, before the motor gets touched, we ran a bog stock 1275 in our old hillclimb thing, and it was slower then a wet week in a straight line but in the rain it was a weapon and beat commodore cup cars at the old morwell hillclimb track

most of all, do what you want to your car, i find sometimes you can get lost in a sea of advice and opinions and at the end of the day, if you want a cage in your car, do it, and just get the best one you can afford and go out and play

Thats is really good advice, i will defs get a cage for hillclimbs, but i will get the car on the road first, drive it a bit at khanas, make sure it turns alright, and then i will set it up for hillclimbs

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77 mini sunshine: the slow build continues
http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=70699

I do strongly agree with morris1100 123grosso (sorry meeni), As a young mini owner with no brain I fitted a roll cage to my daily drive for the race look, lucky I wasn't killed when a 80 series landcruiser wasn't watching me stop and heavily rear ended me. With no crash helmet and a low back seat I smashed my head against the rollcage as I was launched about the cabin in the accident.

Lucky I was young and had no brain.

On the track obviously a roll cage for sure!!

Good luck with everything 123grosso

i'll bite now...


I disagree.. with being on a student budget and funds being tight (I'm told), a roll cage is an optional extra, something that comes before many other things for safety.. I could think of ten dosen things to improve safety before going for a roll cage..

Think about it,, how many cars on the road have roll cages to make it safer for the driver? and there's plenty of mini's out there racing and hill climbing without roll cages and money being spent elsewhere to help improve safety.

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Gumby-1978 Minivan, British Racing Green - 1310, high lift, mild cam, enlarged porting and chamber shape with big valve head, supercharged build in ever slow progress!

This subject always seems to be a minefield .
Is it true that if you have a roll cage fitted , that it is illegal to have rear passengers in the car ?,
(someone correct me if i'm wrong please .) If so , personally , i wouldn't consider this to be a bad idea , as it would limit the amount of passengers , especially for young drivers, and yes i have a teenage daughter on green 'P "s .
Another issue i have is , would the cage have to be engineered for rego purposes ?

Personnally Matt , if i were you , i would restore your car to your desired spec , get your licence , and after you work out what you are going to do with this car, then decide as to whether you want a cage in it if you decide to do some form of motorsport,
and if you do , then i would fit a quality roll cage in the car , for your safety .

i agree theyre a hard thing to hit your head on but surely a high back seat would of helped? and things to make it safter like what? put airbags in it? put it in a giant ginuea pig ball? sure you can put 10 million dollars worth of brakes suspension and tyres into a mini but at the end of the day, things break, people make mistakes etc.. minis arent built for saftey i dont think anything in the 60's was, racing without a roll cage is about as brainless as youl be when your head is half way down the straight of the track your at after you tip the car over..

most modern cars (that are good) incorporate a "saftey cell" which is a more rigid structure in and around the passenger compartment, as well as side intrusion bars id say that, to the point of not coming in and ruining the cabin, cars these days do incorporate a less effective form of roll / impact protection.

In reality the likelihood of rolling your car is actually quite low vs having a regular accident. Unfortunately, you do not just 'dong' your head, you compress and crush your skull that causes severe bruising, swelling and bleeding on the brain - if you are lucky enough not to die, you may just end up a vegetable. Not to mention getting your arms jambed between the cage and body and smashed on the bar work.
Rollcages are just one feature that needs to be used with other items - a race seat, harness and helmet. These devices help to prevent you from moving excessively. If you are using a rollcage with a normal seat, seatbelt and no helmet, you are asking for trouble. Rollcage foam hardly provides any protection - I have seen split helmets after having hit a padded cage.

Think about accident prevention in the form of driving skill, road craft and a well maintained car. Then if in competition, get all the equipment - rollcage, helmet, neckbrace, race seat, suit etc.. and apply your aquired skill and hopefully you won't ever have to use your cage or 'dong' your head!

There is actually a bit more to driving than that and better ways to learn!

Yer, my final decision is to just to get the car on the road atm with the discs and when my budget lets me (have a job) i will look into what is necesary to turn it into a race car (or i might just get another mini) thanks guys for your responces. Lockie i can understand why you can be getting angry, cause you saved me heaps of money cause i told you i was on a tight budget, and then you see me willing to waste heaps of money on something stupid, thanks

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77 mini sunshine: the slow build continues
http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=70699

i think your list of things that will happen could be said on the other argument but i cant be bothered trying to change the mind of everyone..

what would you recommend he go and do as a learning to drive tool? i suggest an advanced driving course to learn the basics but i can assure you as a young guy you learn alot by experimenting at hillclimbs, i know i did..

I can take my dads toyota camary out for a hilclimb

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77 mini sunshine: the slow build continues
http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=70699

I would suggest motorkhanas as the first step to learning how to control a car. There is very little risk and everything you learn at low speed can be applied as speed increases.

He can start that right now using his parents (or other generous soul) standard car.

cheers
michael

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66 Mini Minor sponsored by http://www.lifeonthehedge.com.au/ The Dog Harness Specialists
It was a pleasure ausmini. I'll miss all you misfits and reprobates

Sounds like a sensible plan.

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