Mikelly Posted July 3, 2005 Share Posted July 3, 2005 See pics Here: http://photos.yahoo.com/dat74z Check in the New Zcar Project PIcs Folder. Total cost was $2441. It was pricey because of the plate gussets, door bars, sinking the tubing into the rockers, and pulling the cage in tight to the chassis. They did excellent work on this cage and I'm truly impressed with how it turned out. Let me know what you all think! Also gonna post some pics of my new truck and some pics from VIR fathers day carniage in the same link... Different folders... Check it out! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted July 3, 2005 Share Posted July 3, 2005 Nice gusseting work! This looks like a full on race car now, no?!? The NASCAR style door area looks like it'll actually work, but hopefully you'll never need it! Good luck in getting the plastic interior pieces back in.... j/k Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zfan Posted July 3, 2005 Share Posted July 3, 2005 Very nice detailed work. What power plant do you have in mind for this project? LS1? Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted July 3, 2005 Author Share Posted July 3, 2005 Yea, Davy it is moving into the "Real Race Car" realm! I'm making a 100% track car out of it. I've got the Vette for street duty. MIke, I was gonna have a second LS1 to put in it, but I blew it up two weeks ago at VIR! The 383 Stroker will have to do for now! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoknR6 Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 you people make me so insecure about my Z. It looks sweet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted July 4, 2005 Author Share Posted July 4, 2005 The owner of the shop that did the cage commented on just how dangerous these cars are in a side impact situation... He really wanted to focus on making this car as safe as possible. Mitch (Owner, from Newzeland) told me his goal was to get the car as safe from all angles as he possibly could. I've started prep work on the cage tubing and will have it all painted shortly... I may have the car in for paint as soon as next week. Gotta let the guy up the street know that it is back from cage install... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunlover Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 Wow.. that's going to be like a tank in a crash! Really nice work there.. Out of curiosity, any guess on how much weight it's added? Not that it'll mater much with evrything else striped out and a 383 under foot.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted July 4, 2005 Author Share Posted July 4, 2005 The fabricator told me that they figure 1.5 inch .120 wall tubing to weigh about 1.25 pounds per foot. They used about 65 ft. of tubing. I painted the cage metalic "aluminum" today and it looks pretty sharp. While I was waiting on the cage to dry, I went ahead and started tearing down the Vette. Got the headers and exhaust, wheels, bunch of sensors and lines disconnected, oil cooler disconnected and drained, and the alternator and serpantine belt off and out of the way. The coil packs are off as well... I also found a rod end a about a quarter of a piston. The Spark plug on cylinder #2 didnt fare so well either... More pics to come this week! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katman Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 The owner of the shop that did the cage commented on just how dangerous these cars are in a side impact situation... He really wanted to focus on making this car as safe as possible. Mitch (Owner' date=' from Newzeland) told me his goal was to get the car as safe from all angles as he possibly could. Mike [/quote'] Then he would want the horizontal bar that connects the two A-pillar downtubes to be as low as possible, like just above the tranny tunnel. Also, he'd want to take a tube forward to the firewall where the bend is that transitions from floor to firewall, approximately at the dead pedal location. In a side impact the NASCAR style door bars are great, but the floorboard and rocker box that the forward downtubes (fwd end of the door bars) is attached to will sometimes fold up and encroach on your feet if the impact is forward of your thigh. The added tie to the firewall will help spread the lateral loads forward where they want to go, reacted by engine weight. Perhaps all this is already done, hard to tell from some of the pics. Nice tie in to the rockers though. Unfortunatley the main hoop has a total of bends exceeding 180 degrees, disallowing this cage from SCCA competition (like what class would an LS1 powered 240Z run, anyway- it's too f$#@* fast, yee hah!), but it looks pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted July 5, 2005 Author Share Posted July 5, 2005 Actually Katman, This cage was built to pass ITS and Vintage specs. The Guys at Piper Motorsports are not only fabircators, but do inspections. There is additional work underside that was already done, and I'm already planning some other engine bay bracing to tie into the firewall. These guys do Zero Drag or NHRA work... Only SCCA and NASA, as well as IRL, and Cart. They are FIA certified. I drove the cage to another shop who also does cage work and spoke with the fabricator there who confirmed their work is SCCA legal. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katman Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 Ah, if they can also sign off the SCCA logbook then you're in good shape- because the main hoop is still illegal. Total number of bends not to exceed 180 degrees. That's funny thing about SCCA, a perfectly safe cage like this one could get dinged on some rule technicality. I got on a better monitor and can see from one of the pictures the tube running from the A-pillar downtubes to the firewall. Good. Are those plates with the lightening holes along the A-pillar tied to the A-pillars? I want a ride when it's finished! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted July 5, 2005 Author Share Posted July 5, 2005 You are SOOOO right about the SCCA rules... Mitch was telling me some of the horror stories... Those Gusset plates with the holes are indeed welded to the insides of the A-Pillar and Roof. This thing is gonna ROCK! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katman Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 Those Gusset plates with the holes are indeed welded to the insides of the A-Pillar and Roof.QUOTE] Bwah! That isn't ITS legal either. Go figure. That is a great mod to increase strength in several directions and SCCA doesn't allow it in ITS or showroom stock. Would be okay for Prod or vintage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted July 5, 2005 Author Share Posted July 5, 2005 Spoke at length with Mitch about this and other issues this afternoon for about half an hour... 30 minutes creativity with a wiz wheel and we're ITS legal. He said not to sweat it, as he would be able to modify the configuration to cover any class I'd be interested in... But then again, My main goal was safety first for a high HP track day car! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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