Does anyone know what the actual requirments the engine cage on a baja has to meet in-order for it to get rego'd ok. I know it might differ from state to state but im just after a guide.

As far as i can tell it has to

- stop people from being able to reach in a touch moving parts (mesh)
- provide some dregree of protection from rear impact (bars)

I think i might also have to somehow shied the extractors since i doubt i can have them just hanging out the bottom.

im in OLD.

bar must extend to cover full width of rear of car (just like origional bumpers)

no moving parts can be accessable and u should really cover your exhaust yes.

having said this ive seen cars get thru roadworthies with pullly covers and nothing else.

what exhaust are u running?

4-1 extractors. I can probably make up a shield to cover most of it easy enough. Did you have to get your car engineered?

in QLD u need a DOT approval certificate not an engineers cert.

and yeah ive got one.

look here for a pic of my cage.

http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=45844 

its a pretty standard QLD design. an old custom offroad jobby i think

there is 2 ways to do things though. the legal way and........

Here in ACT you have to have an engineered cage to:

- cover all of the engine area to stop accidental access (eg someone stumbling and placing hands on the engine parts)
- cover all of the exhaust components, to stop possible burning and tripping

No requirement here for bars on the back, in fact on my buggy I have no bars (ie bumpers) on front or back. So my cage is just a lightweight one to inhibit access to the engine.

Originally I was allowed to have a pulley cover only but that all changed later through the rego process. Best bet is to talk to your rego authority and get the good word on what you will need.

Our "rego authoirty" up here isn't exactly a power-house of information im afraid. I just rang a workshop in Darwin with a good rep for VWs (info from Desert_bug) and got the no-bullsh!t explaination from someone who's built a few baja's up here.

As with alot of things up here that havn't been ruined by medeling southerners, its done on a common sense system. If you want to rego it, make sure it can't hurt anyone. That means covered moving parts and exhaust. Simple as that, no engineers, no fancy specs, just common sense.

I'll really going to miss the freedom we enjoy up here once the new national reg's come into play.

[ Edited on 23-11-2005 by droopz ]

no burny bits, no moving bits to rip off busy fingers. Buy yourself some fully sick mesh and weld up a frame for it to go on. Worked for me

Hi fellow vw lovers.....another qld cage Question.
In buggies and baja's you have to cover all the hot and moving parts....
So my question is how come on trikes getting around brisbane they only seem to run the pulley cover and nothing on the exhaust system...?
Just thinking out loud...

Terry S

because they bend the rules. and depending on who approves it u can sometimes get away with that.

personally id rather have everything coverent possible to cover my arse if some kid rips his hand off. no one has commom sense these days they just like to sue.

do it the real way man dont take shortcuts.

Yeah the cage is nearly done. 32mm black steel bar all bent up into a neat looking cage with mesh guarding the engine and zorst and a 2mm plate skid pan under it all.

any pics?

Ill try to get some thisarvo. Not sure how complete it will be....

pics?

Sorry dude. Forgot all about it. It wasnt finished anyway. Ill try to get some tonight. Its ended up being abit bigger (longer out the back) than I really wanted since it covers up the extractors that where there, but its should work out fine.

Its very similar to this one in size

Well here are some pics of the cage at the meoment. Like I said, the top of it goes out further than I really wanted. So im going to cut and shorten the top horizontal bar so its much closer to the top of the engine and then angle the vertical bars forward to meet it.

Anyway, here what it looks like ATM without the engine cover...

here

and here.

Well after a bit more dicussion and pointing and measuring, we've decided it just sticks out too far. Another member here (Secoh) also pointed out that the departure angle is wrong and that its gonna scrape a fair bit.

So tonight im cutting the extractors off so i can shorten the whole cage and bring it all back in towards the motor. Then ill eventually make up some side-mounted exhausts.

great idea.
cannons have headers that go around the side of the head, not under and you can bring the barwork right in tight so you have a great departure angle. my barwork could have been tighter still if i didnt have to clear the external oil filter.



do a search, theres been heaps of talk and pics on cannons, 4-1 exhausts and rear barwork..

yeah man that departure angle is terrible.

some people bag cannons but u can get such a better angle without anything hanging over the back.

Well the new and improved cage is mostly done. A few more tweaks here and there and i still need to add some mounts for lights and mudflaps and fit the mesh to cover the hot bits, skit plate etc... but its definatly better than the old setup. Sorry about the blurry pics.





I would have liked to go even tighter again, ut then the ends of the extractors would be exposed.

The best part is the whole setup comes off in 30secs and weights bugger all.