Pete. (l33t FS) said:In reply to APEowner :
I haven't seen a ruleset yet (granted, my head has been deep in SCCA-land) where they did not specifically say that things may not be attached to the roll cage via drilling the tubes.
Working around the negatives: Every rule set I have looked at lately specifically said you cannot drill cage tubes, period.
I certainly could be missing it but the only reference I can find to holes in cages in the SCCA and NASA rule books are the requirement for some 3/16 " holes for inspection. Interior panels and fire walls are frequently riveted directly to the chassis and roll cage tubes in formula cars and stock cars.
FAE analysis shows that a row of 1/8" diameter holes has a negligible effect on total displacement when forces are applied that cause permanent deflection (a crash) and that stress and strain exceed any reasonable safety factor in the weld area long before they're anything but noise around the holes.
