Certification for Roll Cages and Seatbelts/Harnesses

[malc]

Just wondering if anyone knows about the grey area which is certification for roll cages and harnesses in road going cars.

I tried to get a wof on my 86 which has got a half cage and racing harness, but I cant get one untill I give certification papers for the parts in question.

It seems to be quite hard to find out info about this stuff and I havnt had much luck, other than I hear that if you are a member of a car club you can get a pass for the cage and other mods just as long as you do a bit of participation.
This sounds like an easy enough solution.

But does anyone have info about making it all legal

[mike simmonds]

u dont need a cert for a half cage

[MattrickMotorsport]

u dont need a cert for a half cage

Yes you do
Just like most other mods

[wde_bdy]

To get a motorsport authority card you need a homologated cage, run two events a year and be a member of a Motorsport NZ affiliated club.
Your biggest issue will be getting homologation, it will depend on the quality of the cage, the materials, the welding, the design, head clearance etc. Find your local club and talk to their scrutineer to see if your cage is up to spec.
A few things to remember, unless your cage is homologated you can't enter in any Motorsport NZ events. Also a cage is part of a whole safety package, so needs to work with harnesses and seats. Replacing your seat belts with harnesses is VERY hard to get legal without a motorsport authority and for road speeds is probably more dangerous.

Callum

[fangsport]

if you have an illegal (i.e. not homolgated ) cage in your car, not only are you a poser, but potentially a very dead one. if a cage isn't properly installed, it can actually cause more injuries to the occupants in a roll than without one and the complications of cutting the cage out to save your bacon could be another deciding factor.

if it is a legal cage , it will have history and Leon (who posts on here) may have a copy of it papers, but as stated by others, you will need to compete in MSNZ santioned events to validate the accompanying authority card.

[Leon]

I had this hell big post all about cages, harness' and stuff... but it's all vanished (or I am too stoopid to find it).

Yeah ... what they've said so far is right.

You need a cage built to certain specs before you can get it homologated, and therefore use it in MSNZ events, and therefore an authority card.

If it's a bolt together cage that came in from Japan, then you might as well chuck it away.

You can get a half cage put into most cars for less than $500 if you shop around. A half cage is good for basically any event except if you need a navigator.

Harness on the road are a total pain in the arse, to say the very least.

small nutshell (assuming your roll hoop is able to get homologated)
Join MSNZ car club $30 to $70
Roll Cage Homologation $67.50
Logbook $36
Authority Card Application / Inspection $50
Clubsport licence $55
Spending every penny for the rest of your life, feeding the drug that is motor racing ... priceless.

[malc]

Thanks guys,

probably should have stated in the original post that when I got the car it already had the stuff in it.

The cage is homologated and when I got the car it came with a previous owners log book including all the approved homologation application forms. And it seems that he took part in a number of events from mid last year up until 2004.
The cage is pretty nicely done, and there is no prob with head clearance or anything like that because its far enough behind the driver.
I see what you mean by the harness being a bit of a pain during evryday use ,It also has a racing seat so I am thinking that fitting a normal belt around that could also be a problem.

I am going put it away in the garage and start a big ol rebuild soon anyway which suits me fine seeing that I cant get a wof without a lot of mucking about, so it will give me plenty of time to sort it out.

Spending every penny for the rest of your life, feeding the drug that is motor racing ... priceless.

Its funny caus its true!

Thanks for all the help and info guys

[Boost_4_Life]

Hey Leon on the log book note, ive got an event coming up that i need to get one for ( Levin rally sprint ). How do they work? Do you simply enter all the events you do into it, and do the scrutineers use it for checking off your car?

[Leon]

B4L
You fill in
http://www.motorsport.org.nz/Pdf/T001.pdf
and send it in with $36, and get issued a logbook.

Then at each event you go to, the scrutineer will write in it ... it means you have a concrete record of the cars competition history, and any recorded faults to be sorted out.

Ras ... you're sorted then. All you need to do, when you are about to put the car on the road, is make sure you belong to a MSNZ car club, and hold a Clubsport (or above) licence (do that bit in advance). Then have the car inspected by a Technical Officer, who will complete http://www.motorsport.org.nz/Pdf/T002.pdf You then fire that completed form, and the vehicle logbook in to the office, and are issued an Authority Card to your Competition licence. This will probably show "Roll Protection" and "Full Harness Belts" on it, and possibly plastic glazing or a hydraulic handbrake depending on what's in your car.

The licence and card come up for renewal annually, and for renewal you need to have competed in a minimum of two events in the previous 12 months.

[ChaosAD]

You need a cage built to certain specs before you can get it homologated, and therefore use it in MSNZ events, and therefore an authority card.

bIf it's a bolt together cage that came in from Japan, then you might as well chuck it away.

You can get a half cage put into most cars for less than $500 if you shop around. A half cage is good for basically any event except if you need a navigator.

What about a custom made bolt-in cage with bits welded on the car to bolt it to?
And if you get it all homologated, can you still put it in another shell if you smash that one up?

[Leon]

Chaos ... depends what specs it was custom built to.

You can make a legal bolt in cage, without any worries ... but, if it's a cage that was built to Japanese specs rather than NZ (or FIA) specs ... well, lets put it this way, I can count on all the fingers on one thumb the number of compliant ones I have seen. None.

If it's built to the NZ rulebook then it's not a problem.

If in doubt, take it to a Technical Officer for inspection (Manual 32, page 14).

You can take a Homologated Structure out of one vehicle, and fit it to another, just so long as the structure meets current safety requirements. So if your cage met 1991 safety rules (but not todays rules, they have changed over the last decade), and hasn't changed, it is still valid if it remains in your car. But you can't put it into another car, not without bringing the structure up to 2004 rules.

Homologated structures remain valid until *any* alteration to them is made. At which stage they need re-homologating.

http://www.motorsport.org.nz/Pdf/T004b.pdf is the form for moving a homolgated structure from car A to car B.

[ChaosAD]

Would removing a bolt-in cage when the cars on the road and replacing the back seat, then just replacing the cage (in the same car) whenits being used for events be counted as an 'alteration' and require re-homoligation?

Cos that way the car is still a 5 seater when not used at events.

[Leon]

Would removing a bolt-in cage when the cars on the road and replacing the back seat, then just replacing the cage (in the same car) whenits being used for events be counted as an 'alteration' and require re-homoligation?

Cos that way the car is still a 5 seater when not used at events.

Nope ... only if you fitted the cage in another car, and then wanted to compete in that other car.

[GT4 20]

Leon
I'll be sending my homologation paperwork for my recently built cage to you in the next few days.







Gary

[malc]

Is that a jungle gym you have got in your car there??
hahaha

nice cage

[wde_bdy]

Gary

Just curious abot the additional bars from the A pillar, is this going to restrict access in and out of the car much? You must be a short bugger, no way I could get my fat ass through there.

Callum

[Leon]

needs more bars with your driving Gary

The door openings on those Rovers are pretty huge, so with a fairly set back seat, it should be pretty easy to get in and out.

Plus of course, if the car is on fire or something, that's a fair bit of extra motivation for speed.

Not that I'm saying anything about Rovers

[GT4 20]

Callum
As Leon says, the door openings are quite big so even my 6' 2" frame has no issues getting in and out

And Leon, the Lucas Price of Darkness wiring and ECU will be replaced with an aftermarket set-up so a fire is less likely Besides, the plumbed in extinguisher system will act as an extra 'insurance policy'
I'll tell you what though, putting a drawing together for the paperwork was an absolute bugger with all those bars
Gary

[MattrickMotorsport]

Mild or Moly??

[GT4 20]

Mild or Moly??

Couldn't justify the cost of moly.