C6 Z06 Corvette 25.5 NHRA 7.50 Cage Blog
Car: 2006 Z06 Corvette
Cage: NHRA SFI 25.5
This is a perfect example of why buying an already-built racecar doesn't always work out to be cheaper. The customer purchased this well known car, that was built by a reputable shop from Georgia. It has a fully built Dart block and Brodix headed 427, Procharger F-1x blower, Powerglide trans and programmable power shifter. In current trim, it is capable of near 2000 hp on c16. Although it didn't have an NHRA cert (previous owner raced no prep and IHRA track down south), everything appeared to be well built. Once the car got up here and was in the certification process, it was noticed that a handful of tube joints were not fully welded. Upon further inspection, we found over 21 joints, some with less than 50% weld coverage. Unfortunately for the new owner, the cage had to be completely cut out and a new one built.
Section 1: diagnose bad cage
Once the car failed the certification process, it was time to inspect it further and see if the cage could be saved. Between the number of unwelded joints, the poorly notched tubing, and the lack of cleaned/prepping to the joint that needed to be welded, the call was made to just cut it out and start over. Some of the pictures below were taken once the cage was being cut out in order to better show the poor notching and lack of welding.
Section 2: remove floor and start building
Once the composite floor was removed and the cage was cut completely out of the car, it was time to design the new cage. On most of our SFI cages, we build the floor structure first.
Section 3: building the cage
With the floor bar structure together, the rest of the cage is built. High and tight is the key to a cage like this in such a small car. We offer to paint whole cages or just parts that can’t be painted after with 4 different color options of Steel-It.
Section 4: connecting chassis and cage
Corvettes are already a challenging car to put a cage in due to size, but the z06 and zr1 add an additional challenge because they have an aluminum chassis. This means welding a steel cage to it is not an option and any time you have to mechanically fasten a cage to a chassis, there is a risk of failure. Due to this, we wanted to take a different approach than commonly seen on these cars and went with multiple fasteners spread throughout the entire cage vs 6 main mounting points. Threaded inserts were installed along the frame rail in even spacing, then a 1/4" aluminum plate was laser cut and formed to fit where Chevy originally has the plate to retain the floor boards. Once welded to the frame rail, it provides the support for the composite floor board to adhere to well as an additional mounting point for the cage. The cage structure mechanically fastened in 28 individual spots throughout the car.
Section 5: interior finishing touches
With the cage and chute mount/push bar finished, it was time to tuck the electronics away and panel up some of the work. We mounted all the electronics back to the passenger floor board and made a quick dzus removable cover panel. We did the same thing for the cover over the chute mount as well as a panel over the fuel tank so it was easy to get access to the fuel pumps. The idea for the panel over the fuel pumps came from the customer running out of fuel on the dyno even with 3 pump. When we looked, the fuel feed line was kinked due to it’s routing. It was easier to cut a hole in the floor, fix the line, then make a nice access panel in case they ever needed to access it at the track than it was to drop the tank and deal with it.
Section 6: intercooler set up
