Roll cage

[mark 23]

Anybody have any tips or tricks for scratch building roll cages ? I have started building 1/25-1/24  Trans Am cars 1966-1971 And am having a hard time getting roll cages to look & fit right. So far I have done a 68 firebird, 68 camaro, 70 camaro & am starting on a 69 mustang. & they look pretty crappy. I tried adapting the plastic performance products stock car roll cage with not much success. I tried a total scratch build on the 70 Chaparral Camaro & it was slightly better, but still not great.

[NOBLNG]

Type this into google.

site:modelcarsmag.com roll cages

[mark 23]

Thank You Greg. Lots of info & much easier than trying to use the search engine on this site. 1 tip I like is to drill 4 holes in the floor  & leave the extra length  to go through the so you can place the body over the interior & mush it down to the correct height. Hopefully no more of the roll cage halfway down the drivers window.

Edited May 24, 2021 by mark 23

[Bills72sj]

I would also be interested in what you learn. I have a back burner project which will require a modern roll cage in a 69 Camaro. I do have a NASCAR kit as a donor.

[Ace-Garageguy]

2 hours ago, Bills72sj said:

I would also be interested in what you learn. I have a back burner project which will require a modern roll cage in a 69 Camaro. I do have a NASCAR kit as a donor.

Type this into google.

site:modelcarsmag.com roll cages

[NOBLNG]

??‍♂️

[R. Thorne]

Nice tip about pushing the body down to set the height of the cage.  No more tedious measuring.  Duhhh, why didn’t I think of that?  Thank you for sharing.

[swede70]

Greetings...

On the topic front stated I do the same thing, hence some parallels there, while I scratch build cages for like-themed models in 1:25th and 1:18th.  Happy to help (as in instruction and guidance), while some contributions to other threads would likely tap what I and others have related before without overdoing things.  There is no definitive approach, but rather just whatever assemblage of insights and techniques that deliver results in total.

Seen below would be a '69 Jo-Han Javelin RKE/JRT effort with a scratch built cage fashioned from plastic tube with a brass wire core, plus a pair of images from a 1:18th GMP '67 Penske Trans-Am Camaro project that needed help.  No holes were drilled into the interior base, with nothing strictly tugged, pulled or squashed.  PM me only if you'd wish to.  Thanks...

Mike K./Swede70 (a reference then to the late Swede Savage)

Edited May 24, 2021 by swede70