Blackbird Fabworx 12-point custom-ness
 

Just got my car back from it's most recent "Race Prep" so I thought I'd share :)

The details:
-Ties into the chassis in 12 points
-Full door bars that extend to the front firewall main gusset
-Rear legs tie in practically on top of the rear shock mounts
-Forward post location and mounting points designed with upgrading to a full cage down the road in mind
-Only 71 lbs
-Custom seat mount for lowness and dead-on centering - cut/welded transmission tunnel, integrated harness mounts. I now have a mile of headroom.

Bottom line, Moti at Blackbird Fabworx is an artist and tailors things exactly to the needs of each person, and I could not be happier with the results.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1318979921

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1318979921

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1318979921

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1318979921

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1318979921

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1318979921

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1318979921

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1318979921

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1318979921

-Ryan

It looks very nice. Is there any reason you did not go with a full cage?

I think it is still his daily based on his sig

That's a great idea. My biggest worry is a roll over though, not getting tagged in the door.

Thats fucking awesome, I really want something like that. So I can still DD my car, life would be so boring without it haha

I thought he's mentioned something else. That's one hell of a DD. Seems like a custom welded in cage could easily be modified to be a full cage later on, I'm sure that's in the back of his head.

I am pretty sure according to ThePass signature his 99 miata is the DD and this cage like thing is in his 1990 which is not his DD.

It's not my "daily" - I have another miata for to/from work and getting groceries but, that said, this is still very much a street car.
I don't trailer this thing to events. I drive it 200 miles to some tracks, drive to every autox, drive up to LA for miata meets, etc.
So, a cage is not a smart idea. As extreme as the car might be, I can still drive it around on the street with 100% confidence in my safety - something nobody driving around with a full cage can say. That is the main reason for the choice to not have the bar by my head.
This was designed to provide the most chassis rigidity and racetrack safety possible while still being safe to drive on the road.

Exactly, upgrading to a full cage later on was in the forefront of our minds. The positioning and design of the forward rocker panel post is the exact same as it would be for a full cage so that when I do take this car off the street permanently, I can take it back and have the upper forward bit added very effortlessly and then its a full 14-point cage (will add gussets along A-pillar)

-Ryan

Looks very nice! Great idea to make a "half-cage" like that to stiffen up the chassi and improve safety. Once this has spread a bit (on MT.net for example), I am sure others will follow this route for their street cars.

Very nice looking installation!

I've been pondering the safety concern of roll structure near the head for a while - I opted to go with a different design in my car. It's nearly a full cage, without door bars. I also drive the car to some events and on the street from time to time. I think that a round roll bar near the head is not that different than the metal frame of the soft top.

A friend of mine was just t-boned at an intersection in her stock '99 and received a pretty severe laceration in her head from the soft top frame. Lots of blood, and a mild concussion. She's going to be fine - the car not so much.

The point being, we're all doing this sport with the goal of being as safe as possible, and all we can do is minimize certain types of risk, but always with the challenge of increasing others.

FWIW, here's my cage design:

trailering the car=For wussies. hahaha jk. Looks great Ryan.

I'm pretty sure I can't read correctly. You are right.

I like the gussets on the main up the go to the door sill. If you are gusseting the A pillar bars dont you have to worry about cracking the windshield? I thought about doing that but people said no because it cracks the windshield, I would have to put a lexan one in. Looks really cool, I like the way it looks through the back window.

Thanks CoralDoc.

I'm going to have to agree to disagree with you on that ;)
The soft top frame is quite flexible if you really put force on it (like the forces of an accident) - it will give some if you hit it with your head. I'd suggest that that would be like being hit in the head with a metal ruler...
The cage bar is like being hit in the head with a baseball bat. The only thing that will flex is your skull. Major concussion possibilities at the very least.

Moti at Blackbird was actually just telling me that they recently released "soft tissue" SFI rated roll bar padding - different from the normal stuff that's intended to be hit by a helmet. I would say at a minimum wrap that bar by your head with some of that stuff.

-Ryan

Haven't heard of this before, is the risk from doing the welding near the window during the fab process, or is it while driving? While driving, seeing as how the roll cage would be more rigid than the chassis, I would imagine that A-pillar gussets could only help the windshield frame to flex around less, so I'd think it would be the opposite.
-Ryan

Got a link to the soft tissue stuff?

Would like the same. I remember seeing something about dual-density foam awhile ago (softer on the outerlayer with the harder denser stuff on the inside), but haven't seen it very often. Not sure if its because of price or what.

That's really nice.

Would you be able to post a couple more close ups of what he did to modify your driver floor pan? Are the stock seat bosses still there? Thanks.

Here you go, dual-durometer SFI rated roll bar padding. Shit aint cheap, but you can get away with using 2 units (6" total). Great for street AND track driven cars with cages.

http://www.ogracing.com/catalog/2-Ca...LL-BAR-PADDING

I would imagine they were talking about while driving. I pulled my windshield out before doing my cage, so that eliminates that. I need to do some more asking around and ask why they say this. I wonder if doing the window frame is really worth it, especially with a bolted down hardtop? I agree with the cage making the chassis alot more rigid and therefore eliminating twist that would crack it. I wanted to do the front hoop as well as the A pillar bars to the window frame. Good thing this turd still has the window out and has yet to be painted...

-Ryan