That's reaaaaaallllllllyyyyyyyyyy clean

 

This one never left the south before I owned it so it has zero rust at all.
The guy drive it between Texas and Florida for most of its miles

 

I thought this was a cool picture from the racing last weekend

 

Great shot!! And the cage should help a lot with the body/frame twist. You should post some photos or a link to photos of your cage install - during and after. It's a major upgrade and a major expense. Are you retaining upholstery? A nicely done cage with full interior upholstery is a thing of beauty and difficult to pull off. Stock dash through speaker holes for the front uprights?

You should update your signature!

 

For now i just decided to go with a 8 point roll bar to keep me legal at my current time and a bit faster. I may have to convert to a full cage and window net of i reach 135mph.
But with the bar, i am going to retain everything except the spare tire mount in the rear. Once i get it back im going to put all of the seats, carpet and all trim back in and modify it as need to fit with the bars.

 

Sounds great!
Yeah 135 mph is pretty much 9's. I understand. Need different rear and trans to handle that kind of power. I'm in the same boat - to go much faster need major upgrades. I'll remain happy in high 10s as I'm sure you will. Make sure doorbar is above your elbow (mine isn't).

 

I stopped by the shop doing the roll bar and took some pictures. Its only tacked in right now, but i noticed that they did not weld the cage to the frame. Its plated to the body. He is working with a NHRA chassis certifier and they are saying that this is OK for a roll bar even though the rules state it must be welded to the frame. If it was a full cage tieing directly into the frame would be mandatory. The NHRA Chassis tech is going to come physically inspect it before the its fully welded just to make sure everything will be good to pass tech. I kinda like the idea of not having holes through the body if possible.

 

I'm wondering if you flip, if the weight of chassis would push the bars through the floor. Letting the roof collapse more. Wondering if that's the reasoning behind welding to the frame. But if those pieces are strong enough, that itll sit on the frame without bending, I dont see why it wont do its job.

looks great tho, will look even better when it's all put back in. And if not, well you lost some weight atleast lol.

wonder what's the weight gonna be at when all said and done.

 

The builders thinking was that being a SUV and if the body was to separate from the frame in a crash, the bar would do more harm than good because its mounted to the frame and my seat is mounted to the body. With the bar mounted to the body it will protect me better.

Im going to have to get it weighed again after the bar and interior is back in.
Before this it was around 3850lbs with me in it and a full tank of gas.

 

You get none of the chassis strengthening this way. Frankly I don't believe the line they have give you, but I have been wrong before. You said yourself. ........ "even though the rules state it must be welded to the frame.". Mine is welded to frame and also where it goes through floor plates. Everything is tied together and can't separate. Sounds like they are doing it this way because it is easier.