Thanks Ted. I'm reading thru the FIA specs and it is more complete then the NASA ones. However these specs are designed for, it seems, for normal production cars and don't really apply well to our sevens type vehicles. Looks like there are at least three problems just to start. We have no body shell, just panels attached to tubing. The "A-pillar" is laughable on our cars. Limiting door bars to half the height of the door seems bad for us. There is no leg protection specified. No rear protection either. ( this is like the Monty Python thing were there is actually always one more item on the list, but I'm to tired to keep typing it all out.)
This is basically serious. It makes it hard for us to comply. It doesn't really provide for our safety either.
I think we need to sanction our own cage rules, and then get those other folks to accept them. We should treat our cars more like formula cars, but our formula would allow two seats and take into account various things that make our cars locosts. This would include both sevens, locosts (book) and variants including types like the Midlana and our 750 type car etc.
So a rather broad formula for small tube frame cars, not everything under the sun - but enough to include the big majority of the folks that are locost and seven inspired.
What seems to be needed is a rear hoop that is horizontal for the main hoop braces to connect to, essentially a heavy duty upper frame rail and members ( frame rails ) that extend to the footwell. Also allowing the door braces to be any height, like what practical use is a door rail 8 inches off the ground?
We would need to write up a good description and provide a little math. Worst case we have to force Andrew to go back and get a master's degree. We can rationalize that by saying it was for his own good.