My TTD build thread

[sm76]

lol the weld's still smoking in that last pic

Actually I was welding on the other side of that bar and the smoke is the oil on the inside of the bar leaking out a small section I missed at that joint. Got it now though.


I got the top part painted and the cage put back in place. Now, I'm going to start working on connecting the cage to the base plates and installing the rest of the cage.

 

[benjpi]

Nice work! Didn't take you long to get from CAD to cutting did it?

What are you using to bend the tubes? We're debating now whether to attempt our own cage build or hire a pro. Any advice?

 

[silver slotege]

without a helmet, I'd strongly suggest against one... everything in the cockpit is soft to keep your melon in 1 piece. Get in a wreck on the street and smash your head on a roll cage, and it'll probably be a different story. Even with padding, I couldn't in good faith recommend it on the street.

Just lookin out for ya

Yeah, I'd hate to go through all the work of building a cage only to dent it with my fat head!
haha, I wouldnt build one, but I want to!

 

[sm76]

Nice work! Didn't take you long to get from CAD to cutting did it?

What are you using to bend the tubes? We're debating now whether to attempt our own cage build or hire a pro. Any advice?

I have this tubing bender: http://www.careybender.com/ Its not the greatest thing in the world, but it works well for the price. I have the 1.5 and 1.75 inch mandrels.

How much fabrication experience do you have? If one of you is a good welder (by far the most important part), the bending and notching can be learned pretty easily through trial and error. There should be plenty of good pictures of E30 cages you can copy so design isn't as big of a deal for you either. I am putting about $350 in materials into my roll cage. So you can assume that as a price comparison. A good cage is usually between $2000 to $3000.

 

[sm76]

I finished the dash bar and the braces for it tonight. I also added in the diagonal and finished up some of the welding I had left on the hoop supports. I also tied the main hoop and the front tubes to the roof support structure of the unibody with some stitch welds.

 

[low_psi]

Looking good! When's the first event?

 

[sm76]

Looking good! When's the first event?

Saturday!

 

[low_psi]

Oh geez!! I just noticed in your first post it says the 12th. Other than the cage/interior, is the car ready to go?

 

[sm76]

I have to finish the roll cage, put the dash in, attach a steering wheel, make a windshield and side windows and change the brakes. I have a feeling I may be taking Thrusday and Friday off.

 

[Tom03es]

^^Yeah.....

Awesome work.

What are you using to make a windshield and side windows? Lexan? Friend of mine turned a Saturn into a monster track car and put Lexan windows in. He made them easily removeable with some socket head cap screws. Check it out here:
http://www.evilplastic.com/92mod3.htm#lexan

 

[aMaff]

That's some serious work man. Impressive. I can't wait to see it finished

 

[sm76]

Thanks for the compliments guys.

I will be using Lexan for all of the windows. I'll probably only have time to make the windshield before this weekend so luckily I didn't remove the rear window and I just have to pray it doesn't rain! Thanks for the link. That's a cool Saturn. (never thought I'd type that)

 

[iracemine]

how are you making the roundings at the end of the pipes??

 

[sm76]

how are you making the roundings at the end of the pipes??

I have a tubing notcher from Harbor Freight. It costs about $50 and uses hole saws. I have it set up on a small drill press.

 

[sm76]

Door bars are in:

 

[aMaff]

Wow, I'd say that looks pretty stout (thumb)

 

[ForceFed]

Wow....That car will never see the street again..LOL!

And man..I totally forgot about the speaker deal.
I am still in next time you can drop them in C-bus..just let me know...I will PP you some cash next time I get over to PP for something.

/threadjack

 

[khaosman]

Hot

 

[sm76]

Good news: car's up and running. Not as good news: Just a little too late to make it to MidOhio. I was all set to leave this morning and on the way to the gas station I noticed my clutch pedal was clicking and one of my rear calipers was stuck on. I went home and installed the missing nut on my clutch pedal mount (right behind the dash bar so it was a major pain to get to especially being wedged between the dash, seat and door bars) and cleaned the slides and backed the piston off on the caliper. Unfortunately by the time I got everything finished I would have only made it for one 20 minute session.
It was rainy and I probably wouldn't have learned much about the car today (and driving there with no windows would have sucked), so the only reason I am sad about not making it is the season points. I will probably go to one of the Summit Point weekends to make up for it.

Car definitely got attention while driving around town to test it!

Lots of pictures here: http://www.breesmotorsports.com/08Season.html

 

[silver slotege]

Loving it. Very nice, very nice.