Mk1 Golf Multi-point step-by-step Weld-in Rollcage installation ** PIC HEAVY! **

Like most things everything starts with an idea, so I got on the dog 'n' bone to cockney Chris Eyre and got the ball rolling. The conversation went something like this:

"I'm thinking about getting a weld-in roll cage put in the Golf, but can't decide whether to get it done or do it myself."

"Well, I'd be up for helping out if you decide to put it in."

"Ok, I'll let you know if I go ahead."

.....

"Got time over Easter?"

"Yep, up for it!"

.....

You've probably heard stories of cages never being easy to get in, even 6-point ones? People whingeing that they don't fit, they need persuasion, tight on the bodywork, profiling of tube ends not lining up, etc?

All very well, but let's face it, the internet's full of caging pictures, seen it 100 times, and with a reference Mk1 available with one already in, it felt like it wasn't going to be as hard as it could be. Rumours of ratchet strapping tubes to get them in the right places... pah, set of trailer straps here, bring it on!

'How hard can this be?'

A: One big Chinese puzzle!

So if you were thinking of installing a multipoint roll cage in a domestic garage, here's a thread not showing the before and after, but the all-important how-it-was-done. Even if you've no plans to ever install one of these, hopefully this thread should be an interesting journey through shell porn!

Give the pics a minute to load, as there's loads of them! Enjoy.

---------------


Pick up day

Good Friday, Daventry. CC still open for business!



One big bag of tubes:



.. and what was an empty estate car!



^^ Note missing tube size data. Red rag / bull

Out of the packet:




The Weigh In

- the bit you never see:

Component	Diameter	Thickness	Six point	Six point & forward stays	Multi point
Main hoop	45.2mm	2.5mm	8.0kg	8.0kg	8.0kg
A pillars	45.2mm	2.5mm	10.0kg	10.0kg	10.0kg
Rear stays upper	45.2mm	2.5mm	4.9kg	4.9kg	4.9kg
Rear stays lower	44.5mm	1.63mm			2.2kg
Rear diagonal main	45.2mm	2.5mm	3.5kg	3.5kg	3.5kg
Rear strut brace	45.2mm	2.5mm			2.6kg
Screen bar	45.2mm	2.5mm	2.6kg	2.6kg	2.6kg
Roof diagonal	44.5mm	1.63mm			1.8kg
Door bars main	45.0mm	2.0mm	5.4kg	5.4kg	5.4kg
Door bar upper	44.5mm	1.63mm			1.6kg
Door bar lower	44.5mm	1.63mm			2.1kg
Dash bar	44.5mm	1.63mm			2.2kg
Front triangulation upper	40.0mm	1.5mm		2.0kg	2.0kg
Front triangulation lower	40.0mm	1.5mm		1.5kg	1.5kg
Main hoop horiz	44.5mm	1.63mm			2.2kg
Main hoop diag	44.5mm	1.63mm			2.4kg
Foot plates	n/a	2.8/2.9mm	1.8kg	1.8kg	1.8kg
TOTAL			36.2kg	39.7kg	56.8kg

Fascinating to see where the thicker tube was, and cutting through the blizzard of info, the main 6-point cage remains the heaviest section. Makes sense really? Multipoints are only derived from 6-points and the original six points still have to withstand the big impacts. So in reality, the main 40kgs of weight was going in anyway. Excluding the weight of the weld itself... Yep, we thought about this! (but didn't weigh the welding wire before + after!)

But also from this, we see the tube thicknesses vary, which of course has implications for welding settings. More later on....


Getting heads around the process

The CC-supplied diagram, now annotated! Click for bigger picture:




(one of the diagonal tubes is pointing the wrong way!)


Rather brief fitting instructions:





- as the thread will show, these are seriously brief! Not a single mention of how to do some of the harder parts!


A good rake of the CC fitting videos:

http://www.customcages.co.uk/roll-cages/weld-in-fitting-guide


Seems simple, so as above, how hard can it be? And the plan was to document it too!

----------------


Reality Check

What is really difficult to show in a build thread is how much thought went into installing this cage. With 700's worth of pre-profiled tube lying on the ground, and no intention of messing it up, even with the instructions given, it's difficult to know where to start. It is obvious the instructions are generic, and CC have no commercial interest in nannying through every step. Throughout the entire project - definitely a project! - at every stage, you have to ask 'is the next move the correct move?' 'What's the penalty for getting this wrong, what can't you change afterwards?'

The answer lies in lightly tacking tubes, with the full intention of making progress and then later untacking some tubes to move to the next step.

The start with any roll cage is the back section, but - you've guessed it - it doesn't mean weld the back in and then do the front, as will be revealed below! The logic holds throughout that the back structure has to fix down onto the rear wheel arches, as there is no scope to adjust gaps here, and this is a critical piece of the structure. The distance to the roll hoop is therefore fixed and then the position of the hoop is also fixed. The front in comparison has some flexibilty about exactly where the front feet sit, and any remaining slack can be taken up with the front stays onto the front turrets.

--------------------------

Metal Preparation

So, let's get started? Not yet!. First up, to make life easier later on, prepping jobs:

- Removing swarf from end of tubes:




- tube sanding & weld-thru painting. 240 grit, water, washing up liquid and a hose





+ removal of CC component identifier stickers, which will only be a pain later on:





- marker pen only used where needed for ID purposes now & tubes interimly painted where access will be an issue:




Shell Prep

April 24, National 16v Rolling Road Day - departing the rollers:



April 25, the patient is stripped of all unnecessary items, and prepares to enter the operating theatre:



Where more items were removed, including front wings, pedal box, heater soon to move also:




- Interior light bracket out. The A-tube will sit right up against the side of the roof, so there's no room for it:





- Remove tin roof supports out, unnecessary weight!



- Dremel / flexible discs are just awesome:



- leaving the sound deadening glue to remove carefully with a razor blade scraper, knotted wheel to take the rust off OEM unpainted bits (!) and thinners to finish:



Bin!





Main hoop footplates

Translation: main hoop mounting plates can be placed in, but rear stay footplates require more thought - see later.

Main hoop feet loosely in place, pre-profiled to suit the VW metalwork - marker pen time:





The knottled wire brush whips the paint off:









- Further close inspection of the CC website Mk1 pics revealed removal of tin behind the main hoop feet:



- belt sander used to take the heads done of the sighted spot welds, easiest way as it's thin tin:





Bin!



This enables better access to the rear side of the main hoop footplates, rather than just welding into the now-gone thin tin.


End of day 1 and it still looks very much like a stripped car without much visible signs of a cage!



It's all been about preparation so far.

 

You Tube

Translation: Main hoop is tight. Reach for ratchet in attempt to manipulate. Conclude it’s just plain damn tight, deliberately! Tin metalwork clearance reqd:



- but in retrospect, a few early efforts ratcheting of the main hoop meant that unassisted, it went in easier... later on...

Translation: position back stays, leave diagonal for much later.

Once the main hoop was in, the first job was to check rear stays for distance fitment to rear turrets. Uber critical as if this isn't right, longer tube would have to be bought. Lower rear stays also fitted as these again confirm position. Fix in with tank tape, and stare, check photos, stare, check photos, and stare again until very happy with how it's positioned.

With the position of the hoop making good sense, time to press on...


Rear Foot Stay plates



Sand down areas for rear stays to be welded in:



Trouble is, the plates we've got for the rear stays are flat. So it's down to the installer to shape them!



Time for some homework:



Reference pics carefully studied on the operating theatre laptop!



Cardboard templates made with small adjustments, and then traced over:



Only the finest fabrication tools available were employed:





Sorted:





Add some aerospace heat protection for the rear dampers:



Break out the welder:



Add encouragement:






Mocking up



Tank tape aplenty



The odd cable tie...



Bit of a gap to the footplate - bit more profiling required ^^


One or two tacks in for rear stays and hoop:



... deliberately put in accessible places to a Dremel

Door/A-pillar tubes in... just guaging how it's going, nothing committed to:



Main doorbars are test fitted at this stage too (not shown), just checking lengths from main hoop to A-bars, continuity to lower rear stays, judging height positions to reference photos, checking profiling etc.



Much staring going on at the position of the rear stays, where they line up with the main hoop, and where the A-tubes take off on the other side. Idea is to line them up, but at this stage, with the cage in loosely, just checking they can be made to line up and that there are no errors in the prepared tube bends, waiting to make it difficult down the line.



With the main hoop effectively dictating the position of the A-bar / front cage feet, positions are marked for the sill L-brackets and paint cleaned, same as for the main hoop earlier (no pics).

Another day largely gone, and in amongst the work, there's been scrutiny of the main hoop position, in and out of the car several times, getting happy that it's being put where it's supposed to be, cross-checking to the laptop pics.

No scope to rush it and get it wrong - so many thoughts about what needed doing, and in which order. Thought-provoking work as the plan formed for the next day's steps:

 

Bulkhead surgery

With the main 6-point structure mocked, best to keep on exploring the unknowns and get the front turret stays mocked in too.

Please look away if you are squeamish!




Front stays intrude into the fusebox area, so the fusebox frame needed shifting - spot weld drill, remote drill shaft and patience needed:





Time for some fairly invasive surgery.



Custom Cages videos/pics had been studied carefully on this one, and it was apparent a technique was to cut three sides and peel back a door.




Scuttle sectioned - just couldn't be folded:



The top turret bar will sit naturally in the channel just above it ^^ and this also gets the bar away from the bonnet hinge. This means the bulkhead holes are cut at that height:



Hole in inner wing explained below!




Careful studying of the pictures which came with the cage kit.....



.. showed that a 'door' would be required through the inner wings to weld all around the turret forward stays later on:



- the part nearest the turrent is double skinned, so rather than disturb that, the cut line was around it. Every step, trying to think about the best way...

This level of surgery just gave a glimmer of an insight into the way the pros work, as part of their day job: click.


Whilst in the scuttle area, out with the plastic freezer scraper and heat gun to remove the sound deadening tar - doesn't need to be there, so out:



- and completely rust free underneath


Dash bar

The heater box was out next, time to trial fit the dash bar.

Again, prev cages studied and clearancing the underside of the steering column and dash brackets was seen:






It's important to get this up as high as possible, as it will potentially seriously interfere with either aftermarket pedal boxes or electric PAS systems:




It's right up against the back of the scuttle, interference fit!



So in order to get it home, out comes the ratchet. The whole structure holds it, because a) of the profiling on the dash bar and b) the A-tubes are tight on the bodyshell, and c) the main hoop is pushing against the profiled ends of the A-tubes!



- and a few wallops with blocks of wood from below has it in mocked place. It isn't staying for long though!




Screenrail bar

Trial fitting showed this was tight. So tight it was pushing on the A-bars and pushing thedoor seal lip out. Only one solution - take a little off it:



And ratchet it up into place:



... past the tin on the underside of the roof! Unbelievably tight!







Quick thing to watch: there is a small raised piece of metal in the underside screenrail tin which will touch the roofskin and dent it. Very hard to spot, needs a mirror. File it down from inside and put a load spreader eg plastic / card to prevent the roof getting damaged.



Just got away with it!


Door bars

Translation: loosely fitted, ie position checked.

Front footplates are tacked in loosely by now (they just fall off the sills, so need anchoring) as are the main hoop feet:



Trial fitting main door bars for line up:





Marker penned:




With the main hoop, dash bar and screenrail bars trial fitted, it all becomes apparent how far removed from an ordinary bolt in cage this is: these tubes are deliberately designed to stress the bodyshell outwards on the A and B pilars, and the top of the doors, achieving the tightest fit possible.

At this point, the screen rail tube is in for good, as is the main hoop, and A-pillar sections, but the rest of it will shortly be removed again.

So at this point, we have a loosely tacked in rear cage section. The rest is just taped in, and the front turret stays have been roughly fitted.


Four point cage

Time for some commitment to the welding task (after checking nothing had been overlooked!).

Before welding, checking by eye and measurement that the cafe is symmetrical. Note marker pen being used to mark tube positions, which by now have been in and out of the car several times, enough to be familiar and happy with the positions they 'drop' into when placed in the car:

Process instructions 6 & 7 have been reversed in this thread, makes no difference.

Translation: "Fitted" again = in place, position verified. Not welded.


Deep breath, no going back now - dash bar stays in unwelded, and the main hoop horizontal cross brace is in also (not shown), to jig the cage outwards as far as poss.

The main hoop is now shown below, welded to the A-pillar tubes, and the screen rail is welded to the A-tubes also - as far as the welder will go from underneath:



^^ The roof diagonal, shown fitted above has been profiled (supplied unprofiled) and is fitted all part of this process. The profile sits over some welding on the driver's corner, at the the A-pillar / screenrail tubes intersection. So it's overlaid second in order to minimise buried unwelded tube at that intersection.


A quick glance at 3 days' work, which looks like it's staying there! Wrong! The Chinese puzzle continues!

 

Dropping the cage

All four footplate tube positions marked, and tacks removed:



+ the front ones:



+ the rear stays which are removed from the car entirely, and the (loose) lower rear stays:



+ dash bar removed.


This is where it all goes funky:














One 4-point cage:








Time to weld the remainder around the top!



And also weld the back edge sections of the main hoop and A-pillar footplates which will later become inaccessible:







Rule of thumb being used:

- nothing that doesn't need to be welded yet is welded. Only when the opportunity closes...

and

- don't weld 2 tubes only to find a third then can't be!

It was amazing how much thinking was needed, in amongst the fabrication, to make sure everything was done in the right order.


Before anything else was done, the welds on the upper section of the cage were etch-primed


Raising the cage

Translation: as said, but also whilst carefully getting the screen rail inside the upper screen tin:







Release the ratchets:





Then use the yet-to-be-fitted main hoop horizontal as a jig to get the tube back on the marks:



+ same with the dash bar!

A statement to rival to rival the sheer unhelpfulness trotted out by Haynes, aka "Refitting is the reverse of removal".

Translation: you're on your own now. Best of luck!

Notice not a single mention of the front turrnets, the dash bar or, as shown below, some of the techniques to weld in more difficult places.

 

Time to cover the car - the dust was starting to settle:




Front stays & fillets

With a solid 4-point structure, final checks could now be done on the rear stays and more work on the turret stays, since key parts of the cage were no longer subject to position change.

By now, the penny has dropped that there was more ratcheting of tubes ahead, in order to weld around the back of bars in difficult places. The slots through the bulkhead were widened:



And the same for the lower tubes ^^

The bonnet hinge is carefully canted towards the middle of the car and then bent back towards the wing, to get around the tube:






This takes a fair time to get right - they're going to be jacked in an inch or more, so they needed a clear run.




Belt sander ideal for clearancing - a nibbler can't get close:



The pros use plasma cutters!


Turrets cleaned up for welding:




3mm plates made and being welded onto the front turrets in readiness for the front stays:





Continuing the 'doing the difficult jobs first theme', some plates for the bulkhead were made, for the post-weld tidy up process:



Look odd? Chris checked his car which was done by Custom Cages, and these little fillets were evident.



A nibbler was a labour saver, as were tin snips:





Scuttle panel reprofiled in readiness also:



- one thing noticed was that when the cage was finished the tubes had moved outwards towards the wings further than expected, leaving small gaps. So final profiling best done last

 

Hidden tube - mid structure

The tubes visible are the easy bits. As a rule, these are done last. In fact anything which could compromise a decision is left, tempting as it may be to make easy-to-see progress.

Next, the rear stays are out again, having been checked for position. Time to weld the remaining hidden parts of the cage. Anything facing the A or B-pillars basically. After careful mock fitting, checking pictures for heights etc, a start on the main 2.0mm door bars.


The only way of getting behind these is via ratchets again, to access the hidden section of the door bars:







Main door bars had been lined up with the lower rear stays prior:




Ratchets released, rear stays back in, tacked for the last time!





At this point, because of what we're about to do, the dor bar intersections are only taped. This is to check allignment



... profiling and height up from footplates, before the lower front end of the main door bars are tacked onto the A-tubes:



The tubes sit off centre on the reference photos, so we know this is expected:




Hidden tube - front structure

Next the turret stays need to be tacked onto the A-tube (just tube, not shell):





Dash bar out, main hoop brace is out and the ratchets are back in play once more:









Once ratcheted, the turret tubes move inwards very obviously - the hard work in clearancing the bulkhead for a clear run paying off:








Now there is access to the bottom of the main 2.0mm door bar - clearly important, and more important than the 1.6mm ones which form the other half of the criss cross:



Chocks in for safety - the tension will damage fingers if the ratchet coughed for any reason:



Just about to start welding around the back of the nearside cage foot, remembering for technique that the front stay is 1.5mm tube, whereas the main A-tube is 2.5mm and the door bar is 2.0mm:



Start welding at the furthest away point first, as there's no way of getting past once a hill of weld is made.



Driver's front turret stay:



Checking for complete welding with a mirror:





Once done, a good wire brushing for better painting:




Upper door bars next, 1.6mm wall. These were lined up so that both halves are straight with a straight edge in advance, otherwise it'll not look nice!






The door bars were deliberately not welded at the X-intersection until this process is complete.


So with all the difficult to access welding done, chocks out, ratchet straps off, and fingers safe - the tension pings it all back in to place, quite literally with a bang, as the tension unloads into the bodyshell:




Dash bar final assembly

Having welded the back of the upper door bars whilst ratcheted, the dash bar can't be put in position like it was in the mock ups. Needs a bit of clearancing as marked:



Dremel out, take a bit off the door bar leading profile:



Soon enough, it'll go past the door bar, and simultaneously jig the front A-tubes into their final position:



Checked for position, ready to weld:




Front stays - final welding

With the dash bar in, the front structure won't move again. Time now to weld the front stays to the turret plates previously welded in.

The windows cut into the inner wings now invaluable for 360 degree welding:

 

Now "refit and weld other tubes" !

The remaining tubes are relatively straightforward, because the hard work has been done, and all the tubes are accessible:

- upper & lower rear stays
- rear strut brace / harness bar
- rear diagonal
- main hoop horizontal + 2-piece diagonal


The main tricky remaining job is profiling the main hoop horizontal since it intersects with the upper door bars on one side and the lower rear stays on the other.

It started like this:



Which doesn't fit. Paper cut out time:







So:



More trimming:



Profiled to fit:







Slightly bigger gap required to get this bar upwards past the other:





Profiled and done!


Door bar centres welded:



Main hoop diagonal:






The upper rear stays needed to be welded to the rear turrets 360 degrees before the lower stays are put in position. The lower rear stay is welded as far as possible around the rear turret, but access through 360 is not possible. The same applied to the intersection with the main hoop: it is now impossible to ratchet it inwards with the torsional strength it now has.

The lower rear stays fit in conjunction with the rear strut brace / harness bar, which requires the rear diagonal to be profile checked first, as the diagonal won't go in, after the rear strut brace!

Main diagonal:





Both diagonals shown, opposing each other contrary to the CC instructions:

 

Almost there!

Last welding job:










Starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.



Dashbar stitched into the scuttle:



.. and the steering column mounts + dash brackets:



Fillets tacked in to bulkhead & painted:



Fire putty to fill any remaining gaps



Then sealed with grey stripe seam sealer:



Time to weld up & seal the access windows in the inner wings too:



This will be under the dashboard:



Make good the scuttle panel - spot welded, seam sealed & aluminium taped:






Finally all done!

 

Final job! Painting the Tomato!


First, the entire car interior needed a good clean. Something not mentioned througout the thread is the vacuum cleaner which has been roaming on several occasions, just to remove most of the grit from all the grinding and welding, to stop it being trodden into the floorpan.


So vaccum, sweep, thinners off all the tubes to make sure they're clean. All welds cleaned with wire brushes, sanded to make sure the painting process goes err smoothly.








Time for primer. Halfords primer is fantastic, comes out in a very fine mist and really helps the painter control the application. Unlike some rattle cans which will punish the slightest bit of excess spraying.








Temps were up, so it dried in no time. The entire tubes need another clean, due to the stray paint in the air, landing like dust on dried paint. Thinners can't be used so this was done by hand, sweeping each tube, and also with a light wallpaper-type brush. Time spent here because it improves the end result.

Once done, time for 2 coats of top coat and smiles all round:



















All back together, dash in, cut outs done to get round the cage:



Just some roll cage padding to go in, and it's ready for action!



Before:



After:



Initial feedback on the difference it made in my build thread here



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Tool kit

- Marker pens
- 40mm hole cutter
- Rope
- Abrasive belts for belt sander

Welder:
- Argon gas bottle
- 1x 0.6mm tip + spares
- 1x 0.8mm tip + spares
- new shroud
- 0.6mm Mig wire
- 0.8mm Mig wire
- Autodim welding mask
- welding gloves / sleeves

- Small air angle grinder
- Angle grinder
- Ultra thin 115mm cutting discs
- 4x standard thickness 115mm grinding discs
- 1x special 115mm flexible grinding disc. Good for profiling tubes/shaping etc.
- Sanding flap wheel
- Knotted wheels
- Dremel + stock of special flexible cutting discs (quick release type).
- Trailer straps
- Tank tape for mock assembly of tubes, anything to hold it together for mocking jobs.
- Masking tape
- Odd bits of wood, anything for propping tube up
- Nibbler
- Tin snips
- Drill
- Belt sander + coarse belts, 40 grit, 60 grid etc.
- Dustsheets
- Bench / Workmate

- 3mm steel and ~ 1mm/1.5mm for the fillets.


------------

What was learned

So... a multi point cage fitted in a domestic garage. It's hard work, takes chunks of time, needs quite a few tools and a good general idea of light fabrication and material manipulation. But it's quite doable, taking things step by step. Custom Cages used to charge ~ 700 for the privilege and it seems this may have increased. For the work involved, they offer very good value if you put a price on a week off work and 12 hour days. For a journey though, this was interesting, hard graft, learnt a lot and the next one would be so much quicker, because a lot of this job was about the thinking and the fear of making mistakes, which could require new tube bought to remedy. The upshot is now the car is back on the road, there isn't a bar out of place that I'm unhappy with. That thinking slows progress, so as much of that thinking as possible is written in this thread, so you don't have to and the fitting instructions certainly don't tell you! You'd be surprised how long each step can take and where the hours go.

The other appeal of a multi point weld in cage is there aren't many Mk1s with these in, it's about as substantial a cage as it gets, and the shell in its own right it becomes valuable. With the ID on this cage and Chris Eyre's car, caged in 2000/01, there appear to have been 42 kits sold, in 10 years, worldwide. Five to six of them are in this forum, but the rest aren't even on the radar.

Hope that's been interesting. Threads like this take time to write, but are done to contribute to the immense wealth of information in Club GTI. This job needed 2 people confident they could start and complete the work in a timeframe. Estimated garage man hours: roughly 200, which includes 72 of the second person.

The car came off the road on April 25, the majority of work done in the following week, plus subsequent weekends. Not shown here is cutting the dash to fit around the tubes / removal of glovebox which the dashbar is in the way of. Also the heater vent to the dash has been lost due to the dashbar, work in progress. The car was back out for road test on May 22. If this becomes been a game changer for you, then that would be fantastic.


Credits

Chris Eyre - I would like to say a MASSIVE thank to you. Your dedication and hard work throughout the project was second to none. I really could not have got this done so quickly and thoroughly without your help. I can't say enough for how much this man put into this project right the way through.

My Wife - Thank you for putting up with my constant obsession and for giving me the time for completing this project. Also thank you very much for the meals and refreshments all the way through. You saved us a lot of time and effort.

 

I am hooked, great read

 

Stunning work & a good read.

 

Top work as said before G and likewise to Chris too!

Can this be made into a downloadable PDF file at some stage please?

 

Great piece of work ... congratulations !

 

Hats off Gurds (and Chris), my mate is fitting a CC cage to a Re***lt at the minute so I know what's involved! Mk1 + Gurds = evolution and I love this car.

 

I know what a pain it was just to fit my bolt in cage, But this is something else!
Awesome work both of you, Looks great too. Good job!

 

Thanks for taking the time to write that up.. Propper job, much respect :-)

 

Driven..... feels a different car for the better

 

Brilliant thread that! Amazing to do it in 7 days!! I take my hat off to you sirs

 

Brilliant write up. Amazing piece of documentation, surpassing the quality of all supplied information from cage manufacturers.

 

Sticky!!!