Wolfe Race Craft pre-notched 10 point cage 1991 Mustang install and review
08-06-2012, 06:31 PM
#1
Wolfe Race Craft pre-notched 10 point cage 1991 Mustang install and review With the increased popularity of the Mustang LS swaps, and most of them being drag cars, I thought I would share my impression of this cage install. I am pretty optimistic about my Mustang L33 Coupe build and I hope to have it in the mid 9's if not the low 9's on the stock block. I did a lot of research about various cage options out there and heard a lot of reviews about the Wolfe cages and how well they fit.
I ordered their 10 point mild steel (I didn't want to have to TIG the entire cage as it is very time consuming for me) and then got the pre-notched option. Total shipped to my door was under $900 which is not terrible for a cage that is supposed to be "hold and weld" cage with everything pre-notched in all the right places.
First let me start by saying that this is not something that just anyone should attempt. Please get a lot of hood time behind the welding hood before even thinking about this. I consider myself to be a decent welder, although I am still learning every time I weld. Some of the crazy out of position welds you will be forced to do will try your patience or just plain make you screw up the cage install if you are not careful. You got one shot at this and if it is not right, your cage will not certify. You are not allowed to grind the welds, so if you are going to do it, do it right the first time!
So after three weeks I got the cage, another week of getting the car 100% stripped down and it was ready to begin the install. Weather did not cooperate all the time and it has turned into a multi-week project as I do not have a nice work space and I am at the mercy of mother nature half the time (lot of rain here in Georgia lately!).
The first step for me was to do a dry run with the cage. I set everything up with the dash removed and it was readily evident that there was pretty much one position for the main hoop. You might be able to rock it forward or back a tad, but the front down bars were PRECISELY bent to fit around the heater area of the dash. There just was not a ton of room up there. The rear down bars seemed off, but I figured I would wait till the front part was done. More on this later. I decided to shave about 1/4 inch off the bottom of the main hoop as it was a little too tight to the roof.
I chose to drill holes in the floor to aid in welding the tops of everything. Your options are to weld 100% of the tubes all the way around or use gussets on either side and get 75% of the way around each tube. This was a little difficult, but since I did a dry run before I started welding I was able to pull everything out and drill some holes where the tubes would mount. I offset the holes a little so that when the cage was back in place the cage would sit 1/4" off the hole and stay up on its own.
Not sure what to say about the Wolfe notching option. Most were decent, but some just do not seem like they are anywhere close. The door bars fit perfect as do the front down bars and the halo/windshield bar. The rear down bars just were not even close to me. I would have had to move them 4 inches back further which would have been THROUGH the rear window. But a little cutting and notching of my own with a grinder (friend has my tubing notcher) and they fit.
So at this point everything has been test fit and the entire top side of the cage has been welded. The 6x6" plates have been reinstalled back under all cage to floor contact points and I have begun to weld those to the floor. The harness bar had to be notched quite a bit further to allow it to come up on the cage. Per the NHRA rulebook, the harness bar has to be within 4" of the shoulder with the driver in the car.
The main hoop down support bars just do not seem to have the right angles notched into them...again will have to do something to make them work or make new ones. One thing I will say is that it is MUCH easier to beat or hammer (I used a combination of an air hammer and a BFH) the floor pans UP to the plates rather than hammering the plates to contour the floor pans. The floor pans in the Mustang are much thinner than the 1/8" thick steel plates that you have to weld to them. Most areas formed upward quite easily.
On the front plates I am using 2 of the supplied 3"x6" plates on each forward down bar. One will be welded to the floor, the other to the rocker area. The main hoop got a 6x6" plate on each side and the rear down bars will also get 2 of the 3x6" plates (probably tigged together on a bench since the area is flat). The main hoop supports I am unsure. I still have 4 of the plates, but I have not determined where exactly I am going to place them yet as they do not seem to fit anywhere with the notches as they currently are on the tubes.
Overall I am pretty darn pleased for an "off the shelf" non-custom cage. Just the time saved with all the bends has been huge. If I had a CNC bender, it might not be worth the expense, but for the money it is a great time saver! The notching option I am kinda pleased with. The front down bars, window bars and the door bars (which I will not be using the notches since I am doing swing out bars) were all very good and fit pretty decent. I am sure each car is different, so there is bound to be some variance. I have not ordered any other pre-fab cages to be able to really compare to, but this one was pretty decent and fit well overall. The bends were all very tight to the body.
More as I finish up. So far I am 90% done and just have to do a little more beating on the floors to be able to finish welding the plates in. As I finished with each weld, I let them cool and then coated them with clear engine paint spray. I have been told that the tech guys do NOT want the welds painted over before being inspected.
I ordered their 10 point mild steel (I didn't want to have to TIG the entire cage as it is very time consuming for me) and then got the pre-notched option. Total shipped to my door was under $900 which is not terrible for a cage that is supposed to be "hold and weld" cage with everything pre-notched in all the right places.
First let me start by saying that this is not something that just anyone should attempt. Please get a lot of hood time behind the welding hood before even thinking about this. I consider myself to be a decent welder, although I am still learning every time I weld. Some of the crazy out of position welds you will be forced to do will try your patience or just plain make you screw up the cage install if you are not careful. You got one shot at this and if it is not right, your cage will not certify. You are not allowed to grind the welds, so if you are going to do it, do it right the first time!
So after three weeks I got the cage, another week of getting the car 100% stripped down and it was ready to begin the install. Weather did not cooperate all the time and it has turned into a multi-week project as I do not have a nice work space and I am at the mercy of mother nature half the time (lot of rain here in Georgia lately!).
The first step for me was to do a dry run with the cage. I set everything up with the dash removed and it was readily evident that there was pretty much one position for the main hoop. You might be able to rock it forward or back a tad, but the front down bars were PRECISELY bent to fit around the heater area of the dash. There just was not a ton of room up there. The rear down bars seemed off, but I figured I would wait till the front part was done. More on this later. I decided to shave about 1/4 inch off the bottom of the main hoop as it was a little too tight to the roof.
I chose to drill holes in the floor to aid in welding the tops of everything. Your options are to weld 100% of the tubes all the way around or use gussets on either side and get 75% of the way around each tube. This was a little difficult, but since I did a dry run before I started welding I was able to pull everything out and drill some holes where the tubes would mount. I offset the holes a little so that when the cage was back in place the cage would sit 1/4" off the hole and stay up on its own.
Not sure what to say about the Wolfe notching option. Most were decent, but some just do not seem like they are anywhere close. The door bars fit perfect as do the front down bars and the halo/windshield bar. The rear down bars just were not even close to me. I would have had to move them 4 inches back further which would have been THROUGH the rear window. But a little cutting and notching of my own with a grinder (friend has my tubing notcher) and they fit.
So at this point everything has been test fit and the entire top side of the cage has been welded. The 6x6" plates have been reinstalled back under all cage to floor contact points and I have begun to weld those to the floor. The harness bar had to be notched quite a bit further to allow it to come up on the cage. Per the NHRA rulebook, the harness bar has to be within 4" of the shoulder with the driver in the car.
The main hoop down support bars just do not seem to have the right angles notched into them...again will have to do something to make them work or make new ones. One thing I will say is that it is MUCH easier to beat or hammer (I used a combination of an air hammer and a BFH) the floor pans UP to the plates rather than hammering the plates to contour the floor pans. The floor pans in the Mustang are much thinner than the 1/8" thick steel plates that you have to weld to them. Most areas formed upward quite easily.
On the front plates I am using 2 of the supplied 3"x6" plates on each forward down bar. One will be welded to the floor, the other to the rocker area. The main hoop got a 6x6" plate on each side and the rear down bars will also get 2 of the 3x6" plates (probably tigged together on a bench since the area is flat). The main hoop supports I am unsure. I still have 4 of the plates, but I have not determined where exactly I am going to place them yet as they do not seem to fit anywhere with the notches as they currently are on the tubes.
Overall I am pretty darn pleased for an "off the shelf" non-custom cage. Just the time saved with all the bends has been huge. If I had a CNC bender, it might not be worth the expense, but for the money it is a great time saver! The notching option I am kinda pleased with. The front down bars, window bars and the door bars (which I will not be using the notches since I am doing swing out bars) were all very good and fit pretty decent. I am sure each car is different, so there is bound to be some variance. I have not ordered any other pre-fab cages to be able to really compare to, but this one was pretty decent and fit well overall. The bends were all very tight to the body.
More as I finish up. So far I am 90% done and just have to do a little more beating on the floors to be able to finish welding the plates in. As I finished with each weld, I let them cool and then coated them with clear engine paint spray. I have been told that the tech guys do NOT want the welds painted over before being inspected.
Last edited by Sarg; 08-06-2012 at 06:39 PM.
Trending Topics
08-10-2012, 02:10 PM
#11
Well, I talked to the local inspector and he said it was fine to paint. He also gave me a couple pointers on other things I need to get taken care of and some minor modifications I need to make to the cage before I finish everything up. Really nice guy to talk to.
