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I spend varying amounts of time on the shell. I barely touched it over summer, but lately I have put quite a few full days in.
The car will be road legal yes. You can buy a cage from custom cages, but the cage I have made is fully legal to MSA and FIA standards.
As for top mounts I am using these some that are designed for a mk2 escort with a big 20mm aurora bearing in them. They will be bolted on top of the turrets like a modern wrc car for ease of adjustability.
Back on this project now as the other car is off the road for the winter. Started moving forwards through the shell as the rear end is more or less complete now from a roll cage point of view.
First job was to cap off the holes in the sills where the main hoop drops down through the floor.
This was the gap to fill:
Cut and shaped some infill pieces:
This was welded into the sill and a 3mm spreader plate added to the other side.
3mm spreader plate on top of the in fill piece to get the required 120 cm2 of plate.
Welded into position:
Repeated on the opposite side, now doesn't look like 2 halves of the car:
The next job I moved onto was to jig up the steering rack position so the larger tunnel could go in and also to raise the steering mount:
Sits on the centre of the cross bar for the top mount pick ups.
Jigged up all 4 holes on the bulkhead as 2 are for RHD and 2 for LHD.
So with that point tied into the jig the tunnel and mount were cut out. The tunnel is higher than standard to take into account the raised engine and drivetrain. Its also widened out at the mouth on the right hand side right up to the chassis rail so it can give the exhaust a much easier path.
Tunnel folded up to suit:
Tried a seat in, all looks good!
Next job was to remove the firewall as it wasn't worth welding all the holes and sorting it for left hand drive.
New firewall cut to fit and sprayed with weld through primer to protect the closed edges.
And welded into place:
Rain tray was chopped out as it was just excess weight.
Final job was to make a new steering bracket. Decided to make a new one rather than adapt the original to fit. Started off with some curved tube bolted up to the jig and then built it back to the firewall.
All welded up on the jig:
Quick coat of paint before it was sealed up with a backing plate which would sit through the firewall.
Welded into place raised up 50mm then the jig removed:
Bars added down from the A pillars to tie the bracket into the cage and to stop anything from coming back through the bulkhead:
That brings it up to date so far. I am moving onto the front section of the cage next which starts with some more billet top mounts to raise them up same as the rear ones. Then the cage will be tied down into the front subframe points. Its finally starting to look a little more complete now it doesn't have so many large holes in the floor pan or bulkhead!
Not worked on the shell a great deal over summer as the weather has been far too nice and shell fabrication is horrible in hot weather! Will get back onto it full tilt over the winter months as the other car will be off the road so cant take up any time!
I have managed to get a little done on it. The rear tunnel had to go in before the cage tubing could be welded into place. This is again raised as per the rear floor to allow everything to run higher in the shell. Looks far better with the tunnel in as it links the 2 halves together visually. Then I completed the rear pick ups with the outer bosses. These will have a cradle going to the bottom of the rear diff to stop it twisting and I will also mount the rear anti roll bar on them that's why they are pushed back from the inner pick ups.
Going to complete the welding on the rear end and work forwards to complete the front tunnel and then extend the cage up to the front turrets and subframe pick ups. Should have more regular updates from now on!
Been cracking on with the work on the rear diff pick ups. First job was to machine up some bosses. Decided to go up from the factory M10 bolts to use M12 x 1.5 fine pitch for a little more strength. Drilled out so there will be a male piece to slot inside so its not relying totally on the bolt like a factory sub frame. Machined to be a sweat fit into the tubing then they got tig'd in place.
Next job was to get the welder out again and weld some more metal to the jig to position the 4 diff pick ups centrally across the car and spaced to where I wanted the diff inline with the arch tubs. There is some play left with the diff brackets so I can fine tune that later on.
Then it was time to tie the 4 bosses into the cage, so more cutting and notching!
So that's the rear diff pick ups more or less done. Debating joining the front bosses into the rear ones to stop any fore and aft movement in the rear section. 2 outer bosses left to go in at the rear to take the anti roll bar. That will see the rear section finished off and I will move onto the the bigger gearbox tunnel.
Quickly looking thru this thread - just amazing... It surely will be one of the forum's classic threads of reference for years to come. Equally impressed by the speed at which the project is progressing... I seem to only find time once a quarter to look at the bleeding forum these days - never mind do any actual project work... and I would never have the skills to take on this kind of fabrication. Brilliant !
Its 1mm steel so probably about the same as the original shell. I want to retain a steel floor because its not an all out space frame build where I would have used alloy or carbon panels. I wont be adding any ribs the floor will be strengthened buy the tubing being welded through it.
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