How difficult is it to fit a roll cage at home?

More of a general wonderment at the minute of how difficult it would be to fit a 110 pick roll cage at home?

Got a garage and spacious drive way plus a couple mates, all handy with spanners.

I know its a bit vauge but some of the quotes for fitting at very high!

Thanks.

I'm assuming (because i've never done it) that there would be some cutting and drilling and grinding and faffing about to be done, probably just down to how steady your hand is

Hahaha I gathered that bit! Read through the Safety Devices instructions online, seems easy enough but was looking for some hands on info from folk who have done it.

make sure it is welded to the chassis, and it actually rated as a safety device. alot of them are cosmetic add ons which give a sense of security.

the one I had on my 110 was bolted to the chassis the downbars from the window bit went down thru the front wings which were cut the mid body and back ones met the body and were joined to another bit on the other side of the panel these went down to the chassis and was bolted on. predates digital cameras so I have no pics.

the main cage was welded and apparently to arc spec, chap that did it was in Doncaster and used to advertise in lroi but I believe he had a motorbike accident a few years later and was paralysed. shame as the cage was half the price of safety devices and a lot better looking.

I think you can get flat pack cages from Whitbread 4x4 and fit them yourself

http://www.whitbread-offroad.co.uk/roll_cage_land_rover_110_5_door_station_wagon.php

exactly what mine looked like cagewise, also had a full length rack as part of the cage so the weight was on the chassis not the roof.

the cage got rid of all body rattle

Cant weld nor do I know anyone who can. Whitebread dont seem to do the one im after, but thank you.

The idea was to buy a Safety Devices bolt in one from one of their suppliers and ideally fit myself.

Most of the quotes where around £1500 - £2000 just for fitting!

This is the one I would be after -

Anyone?

We put topcats cage on .. and yes, it's a faff ... and takes longer than you plan for ... and that was a 90!!

Fairly obviously the harder bits are where you're joining the chassis and where you're going through bodywork. One tip, if you have the sort going through the curved part of the body and have to line up the outer plates to inner plates, is to mock it all up off the vehicle ... bolt it up loosely, make sure the plates and boltholes match reasonably, then tighten it all up and see if any mounting points 'move'. You'll find there's at least a couple that need a bit of fettling or extra grinding/drilling. Similarly, if you're welding rather than clamping, before you weld the chassis plates on, make sure it's bolted up loosely elsewhere 'cos If the welding warps the plates they're hard to line up again.

Couple of obvious things, a stepped hole cutter is a godsend, as is some kind of tapered tool to line bolt holes up.

When getting ready to drill the body I'd suggest setting the cage on top, marking and drilling just one hole for each plate, bolting these down, then drilling the rest with the cage sat firmly bolted down. Check you've set the cage down straight every time you can. When you have it set right, leave it set there and go have a cuppa before drilling the first holes then check it again after walking away and coming back a bit later ... seriously. You get tunnel vision and miss the obvious sometimes!!

Cheers does sound like faffing! Probably a long weekend job then, I just loath having to pay more for the cage to be fitted than the price of it! I don't mind faffing around to get it right, just wondering if there where any major issues people come across when trying to fit at home. Nice thing is the DCPU cages don't have any internal bracing as far as I tell which makes the job much easier, well I assume it will. I can get most the gear off mates, though will probably buy a nice cutter of some sort to cut the body. Seems sensible to start from the front and work backwards then, lining everything up.

I also want to get the whole thing Line-Ex'd before fitting, give it a nice long lasting finish.