We were careful to research the SCORE rules for roll cage requirements before beginning construction of ours.  Those rules gave us the basic building blocks upon which to design our own but really just layout the minimum requirements for safety. 

A modern 5/1600 car's roll cage is a multi-purpose structure; it protects the occupants, ties the front and rear suspensions together and also serves as the central structure upon which everything is mounted.  While the primary function of the roll cage is to protect the occupants, a close second is supporting the front and rear suspension systems.  Additionally, it must support the mounting of the seats, fuel cell, lights, bumpers, etc..  There are actually a lot of things the roll cage must do beyond what the SCORE rule book intends.  Utilizing everything we had learned from examining other 5/1600 cars, we designed our own - there is no "standard" design, no drawings available to build from.  We tried to take the best ideas we found and incorporate them into our design while discarding the things that didn't seem to work well.  We attempted to balance the competing issues of strength and weight; we knew that a very robust cage structure would require less maintenance between races but that it would be heavy.  A lighter weight cage might make us a bit faster but could require repairs between races.  We didn't want to be "chasing cracks" all the time but we also didn't want to build a "tank".......  We think the balance we struck was a good compromise.

Ready to go back on the pan

Body back on the pan, ready to start the build up!

We started with the SCORE required cage elements

Then began "filling in the blanks" (fitting a door bar)

Front beam support and beginnings of bumper support

Welding in the fuel cell tray

Mocking up the seat tabs

Seat mounts finished, door bars almost done