Welding pipe and welding chrome molybdenum (chrome moly or chromoly) are two essentials in making a roll cage in a race car. Frank Wigg at Race FX in West Auckland (known now as ‘Wigg Motorsport’) likes working with chromoly and says that it is not that hard to weld.
An experienced welder in the motorsport world, Frank estimates that he has made more than 100 roll cages. He recalls a stint when the Series 9 BMW E30 came out and a group of cars were put in to have roll cages installed with racing deadlines in mind. He worked through creating nine roll cages straight and says that his arm nearly dropped off.
Here, Frank discusses the characteristics requirements of chromoly welding and the things to watch for when making a roll cage:
“What I am working on at the moment is a basic cage for a Subaru. The car is to be used for circuit, club stuff, and drifting. Depending on what the car is used for is how we design and weld the roll cage.”
Roll cage replaces removed strength
“There is the safety demand from MotorSport New Zealand and from the handling point of view; a race car has a lot cut out of the body to reduce the weight, so the strength is replaced with the roll cage.”
