New 2010 PRO3 car getting built by PRO-TEK Automotive & FAB-TEK in PDX

M

Mike@PRO-TEK

New member
The Portland group will be adding a pro3 car this year, it is a 90' 2 door. We will be building the cage this week and post pictures in the coming days.

I found the rules regarding the cage but I would like some info on the cage entering the engine bay. If you have some input could you please pass it along.

Mike, Ted and Bob are very excited to be part of this great group, Mike has been around the PRO3 group for 4 years working with Bruce Feller and Mark Estes. Ted is coming from Spec-Miata he is a great driver and is very excited to be part of this group. Bob has been building cages and race cars for 25+ years and is great at setting up cars.

:smile:
www.pro-tekautomotive.com
www.fab-tek.com
 
Good luck with the build. You're joining a nice field. I think we're at 43 built PRO3 cars, with another 7 or 8 caged and under construction. Growth stats:

PRO-3 Growth:
2004 - 48 starts (ave 4 per race)
2005 - 81 starts (ave 6.75 per race)
2006 - 128 starts (ave 9.8 per race)
2007 - 143 starts (ave 11.9 per race)
2008 - 211 starts (ave 16.2 per race)
2009 - 243 starts (ave 17.5 per race)
 
Welcome to the fray!

I'm going off memory here, so use this only as a starting point then verify in the rules. Our cages are more dictated by the safety rules outlined by SCCA for IT class if I'm not mistaken. And we're limited to an 8-point contact. As a result, and based on the design of the car's tub, I don't know how you would extend the cage into the engine bay - nor would you need to. Most of the PRO3 cages connect at the following points to the chassis: rear shock towers; main hoop on the floor just aft of the seat; forward verticle supports on the floor below the dash; and then extending the cage forward to, and attached to, the back of the front wheel wells. Kind of difficult to describe...

The rules allow a shock tower brace up front - which is highly recommended too - as those shock towers will move (we've seen broken factory welds in some cases). A rear shock tower brace is also allowed, but not as critical.

Based on the various collisions we've witnessed with the e30 chassis under race conditions, including serious frontal impact at high speeds, the cage design described here has been extremely effective in protecting the driver.
 
Thanks Mike, That answers my question on the cage.. 8 points "that's the three down bars and the ankle/fender well bars"
I was hoping to take the bars out the fire wall and to the shock towers for a more stout front suspension but that would
be 10 points. I've seen cars out on the pad with this set up but can't remember what class it was.

Thanks and all the info you have is much appreciated.

Mike
Pro-Tek Automotive
503.653.9315
www.pro-tekautomotive.com
www.fab-tek.com
 
Hey Mr. Olsen,
What do you mean " various collisions we've witnessed"???
I think you've had had a front row seat for some of them haven't you?
"But officer (read Steward), I was just racing along, minding my own business and......"

I have to admit, the PRO3's are tough damned cars.
 
Day one on the PRO3 car:

~ Removed the dash
~ Cleaned up the wiring
~ Removed all the unneeded wire
~ Modified the doors for the door bars

Bob will be installing the new cage in the coming days
 
Lynn Rimmer said:
Hey Mr. Olsen,
What do you mean " various collisions we've witnessed"???
I think you've had had a front row seat for some of them haven't you?
"But officer (read Steward), I was just racing along, minding my own business and......"

I have to admit, the PRO3's are tough damned cars.
Click to expand...


I like to be close to the action!
 
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