wjk_glynn

Hi folks,

I have a 944S2 into which I'd like to add a welded roll bar, mount some seats, etc. The reason for only a roll bar is that the car has to remain somewhat streetable...

Is there a shop in the San Jose area that anyone can recommend to do the work?

A colleage (who races a E36) recommends http://www.tcdesignfab.com/ in Milpitas. They say they can do full custom work and seem to be reasonably priced.

But I was curious to know if there are other shops folks would recommend?

Thanks.

Karl.

PS: Ancillary question... Hanksville rollbars/cages seem to be the way to go for 944s. Any significant advantage of a full custom over Hanksville?

winders

Tony Colicchio at TC Design Motorsports is the person to see in the Bay Area...

Scott

IcemanG17

Tony does excellent work...... Blaine Fabrication in Santa Cruz is quite good as well.....

Tom W

Tony did my cage and many, many others.

24Chromium

+1

TC is the BEST!!!

wjk_glynn

Thanks everyone for such prompt and positive responses.

I'll work with Tony and the TC guys...

Karl.

mooty

u want a cage, get tony or JWE. i dont think jwe will work on 944
you want a bunch for tubings, find others.
i have seen most fabricators here, some BIG names in BIG races, making BIG **** cages.

Mahler9th

It may pay to consider where you may be headed down the road with your project.

I am not sure whether Tony or the folks at JWE have any experience or any recent experience with 944-family cages or bars. I ran a 951 for years, but it was a DE car for most of its life with a bolt-in bar, and in the couple of years I raced it I ran a bolt-in cage. i felt pretty comfortable with those choices back then (10-20 years ago).

I have several Bay Area friends and acquaintances that developed 944-family cars into race cars during the past 20+ years and various folks fabbed up those cages. And of course there is a healthy handful of (likely more recently built) 944-family race cars around the area-- see for example the Spec 944s that will be in action with the Porsche Racing Club at Sears Point in a couple of weeks. You might want to speak with some of them and check out their cages at the track. In fact I suspect that Tony will be at the same event as will the JWE team. I will likely be there as well.

All that said, my starting point for a 944-family car would be Tony, and a close second would be JWE. Those are area "defaults" for any race car and any Porsche race car, respectively. Tony in particular has quite a bit of experience in fabbing roll bars for street driven cars.

But I would also check out some of the existing designs/cages in area 944-family cars. Once you have some ideas about cages, then you can better plan for what is likely an interim step along the path, which is a bar.

Martin S.

In Paso Robles, we have a world class Swiss fabricator, and very successful US and European Club Racer, Urs Gretner: Lots of the Porsche Owners Club Racers wanting the best possible cage, have Urs build their cages. I had Urs modify my Heigo bolt in cage...welded in an under dash connector as well as raised the lateral bar where the seat belts are fastened. The work is over the top...down side, Urs is pretty busy so you need to get in line.

BTW my bolt in Heigo cage is no longer a bolt in...will have to plasma cut the connector bar if I ever need to remove the cage from the car.

Urs Gretener
805.239.2866
gretener@att.net
Paso Robles, CA (2 Hrs 15 minutes south of San Jose Airport)

wjk_glynn

If the end goal is a race car, then skipping the "interm" steps is more cost effective in the long run... but I'm still very much in the "streetable" mode at the moment. My primary aim is to make the car safer, hence a welded rollbar & seats & harness & Hans. This thread influenced my thinking: https://rennlist.com/forums/racing-a...fety-gear.html

I asked a similar question on the 944-spec.org site and got a similar pointer to Tony (TC Designs).

I think the roll bar height is the biggest question... whether it's 1) made to fit a sunroof-interior or 2) at the proper height for later extension to a full-cage...

Karl.

mooty

should you chose tony, jwe or urs. since it's custom cage. make sure you stuff the seat you want into the car BEFORE cage, sit in the seat with the right backet, ur suit, and all euipment in it. then have the fabricator measure your should ht. 50% of the bars out there, custom or not has harness bar at wrong spot relative to hans requirement.

rtc113

Tony put a half cage in my 951 two weeks ago and he did a similar job for another 951 that I had two years ago. He did a great job both times and gave me a great price.

wjk_glynn

Good advice.

Speaking of seats, I dropped by Wine Country Motorsports at Sears Point last weekend to take a look at some seats (my wife and I had spent the day at a few wineries in Sonoma... it's a tough life )

When I originally started looking at seats, I began with Recaros but found they rolled my shoulders. Sparcos were better... but then the WCM guys showed me the Cobra Imola Pro and I have to say I was impressed.

FIA, comfortable, kevlar construction, good height on the seat belt ports (most seats seem to be too short for me, and I'm not a big guy), nice covering... all for $700. They're on my short list.

Karl.

wjk_glynn

Good to hear. Any pics?

Karl.

winders

Karl,

I love the Cobra seat I put in my race. It's a Sebring Pro....but I like all of the Cobra seats I have looked at. If I built a new race car tomorrow, I would put a Cobra seat in it too.

Scott