For history, I had semi-made a decision to cage the car when I lived back east - I even stopped by Phoenix Performance, got a tour of the shop, saw some sick T1 and T2 cars, and almost plopped down the coin, when my life changed and I moved out west. So seeing a good (strong emphasis) cage designer nearby was nice - and I mailed Alan and asked him some questions.
Well, we're all busy, and so was Alan. He said he was pretty booked for the rest of the year, and since I wasn't in a rush, I let it drop.
Fast forward to a couple of months ago - I drop Alan a line again, and he accomodates my every wish and desire. Any question I ask, he has an answer backed by both experience and intelligence. I decide to take the plunge and get a nice four-point installed in my car.
The end result? Frankly, beyond words. The fabrication is amazing. It's what I would do if I had both skill and time. The main hoop fits perfectly - the sail panels are trapped behind it (literally, they're crammed back in), and the top is actually welded to the roof. All the welds look beautiful. What I actually find even more impressive is that this is a full-interior (minus rear seat) street car. The cage looks like it was put there from the factory. The holes in the carpet are just the right size to fit the tubing. The headliner looks like it's intact - you can't tell that the cage splits it in two. It's amazing.
At the same time, Alan installed a Kirkey seat for me. you all have seen the other photos of his Kirkey install - let me tell you, those photos don't do it justice. The simple elegance of it hides the amount of time and effort it takes to fabricate the plates. Alan literally will spend a few hours making sure that the plate is as large as possible, constrained by the two horizontal seat rails.
I know I sound like I'm gushing, but that's because I am.
The original cage work was finished last month, and some odds-and-ends were finished last Friday. The end result is a truly transformed car.
When someone thinks about putting a cage in, they're generally thinking about safety, driving comfort (strapped into a race seat), and chassis stiffness as a final bonus. The end result, which was a surprise to me, is that chassis stiffness is amazingly improved. I haven't taken the car to the track yet (for shame, Dan!), but driving around town I've noticed a few things:
1) All squeaks and rattles from the chassis are gone. Literally.
2) The rear suspension works significantly better.
I expected to notice a difference at the track. I did not expect the difference to be so huge that just turning around a street corner would be shockingly better.
I can't say enough about how impressed I am with Alan's work, and how well I was treated. It's weird to feel honored to be a customer
Pics will follow next week - I'm running out of town now, so I wanted to get this testimonial posted first. And next week will also come a writeup of the install / minimal testing of the StopTech brakes as well
Final comment - I made the decision this year to keep the Camaro (and dump money into it) instead of switching to an Elise or C{5,6} Z06. I was nervous that I was throwing good money after mediocre money. After the results of this work, though, I can most assuredly say I made the right choice.
Scramble time!
