OlderThanMe Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 no... the main purpose of the cage is not to stiffen the car...hear my reasoning... it is a TT cage so...you have twin turbos at the back of the car and the pressurized air is pushed through the cage and up to the engine. thus a Twin Turbo cage...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Speed Raycer Posted May 5, 2006 Share Posted May 5, 2006 I don't know how far you've gotten with the hoop diagonal, but here's my 2 cents worth. Remove the lower bar that goes /---- In a side impact, it'll do nothing but bend upwards more. Replace that with an X diagonal (rather than the single / diagonal) and run a straight tube across that intersects with the X diagonals. Tie the doorbars into those same points and you'll have a pretty good design that will compensate some for the inboard hoop mounting points. And... (jumping on my soapbox) the primary purpose of a Rollbar or cage is to protect the driver while he's having too much fun. Chassis benifits should be secondary. [/soapbox] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted May 9, 2006 Author Share Posted May 9, 2006 ohh... I just realized what you are talking about with the lower /-- bar... That is actually a first attempt at the roof bar.. but I forgot I shoved it back there when I got into the car( it does look like it was bent to fit though it does not reach the corners)..... the lower bar is not part of the design at all..... I made a much prettier roof line bar and tossed that /--- into the scrap bin..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Speed Raycer Posted May 10, 2006 Share Posted May 10, 2006 Ahhh...gotcha. I've seen funkier things done in the search for stiff... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted June 12, 2006 Author Share Posted June 12, 2006 More progress on the cage this week... Chassis tie in plates... 1/8" custom formed for the rockers welded in... rear hoop tie in plates... rear strut tower boxes... punched and flanged... rear floor frame and fuel cell mount... subframe connectors... 1x3 run from TC buckets to rear diff member... they fit below floor... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_hunt Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 Looks pretty nice. You might want to tell whoever's welding to turn the wire feed speed down a little, you won't end up with that raised weld and you'll get better penetration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted June 12, 2006 Author Share Posted June 12, 2006 I am doing all the welding so far... I am no expert though... My job right now is to prepare the chassis with all of the mounting plates... I have a professional fabricator friend who is going to come over and make all the critical welds and fine fitment on the cage tubing... I am fitting all the tubes and just tacking them into place... My buddy knows how to knock it down and weld it in sections and push them back into place... He also knows how to get into corners and areas that I cannot reliably weld... The tricks I am still learning... are how to set up the machine and change my movement to properly weld different thickness sheets together... The picture of the rear hoop reinforcement plate is nasty... that is the result of a second pass that was not properly cleaned before it was made... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_hunt Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 The pieces seem to be bent very nicely. As a welder once said, what makes a good fitter is the one that has to weld it in the end. Fitment and having a clean freshly ground surfaces are the key. Grinding the 1/4 inch from the joint back down the tubes is like having extra amps on the machine, makes alot better weld IMO. Using a scotchbrite in a die grinder works pretty good for me anyway. Until I got my bender figured out I ended up throwing away alot of bent pipe, but it was still cheaper than buying a cage for the z. When I do the next one I have changes in mind that I will incorporate. It's amazing how much thought has to go into one of those. I think yours looks very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 I'm just figuring out this MIG welding stuff myself, but I say turn up the heat just a tad and move the torch faster. Move too slow and the weld builds up on itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted June 22, 2006 Author Share Posted June 22, 2006 More cage work accomplished this week.... I have boxed and reinforced the upper rear strut towers for the attachment of the rear supports and the longitudinal brace that extends through the door bars and firewall to the front strut tower. pic of the 14g plate that will attach to the rear upper tower.. it will allow tubing attachment to the top of the tower and the front of the tower. fitting the plate... welded in place... ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted June 26, 2006 Author Share Posted June 26, 2006 Here is a drawing of what will be used in the frame stiffening design... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ON3GO Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 what did you use to flare the holes? where can i get one? looks very very cool! very nice work too, i hope to be doing all that soon! mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted June 26, 2006 Author Share Posted June 26, 2006 front frame rail plans... The yellow area under the strut tower is only one thin layer thick... I will add a section there.... the green lines will have 14g steel added.. underside as well... from TC buckets to the sway bar attach points... the purple lines are traingle gussets for the TC bucket and the frame to tower... the red line is a tower to sway bar point stiffener... there are other connections to the towers not shown here.... the outside of the TC buckets will have a connector to the rocker tips as well.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 what weave pattern are you using while welding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 I had another idea. what if you made a brace that went from the rear of the strut tower to the rear quarter panel and C pillar to help stiffen things up? I think joining the quarter panel and strut tower would help significantly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted June 26, 2006 Author Share Posted June 26, 2006 I might be doing what you are saying.. draw me a picture and I will try to get one together for you.. There will be a firewall triangle brace.. removable of course... there is also a tube running from the back of the front tower through the firewall to the A-pillar bar and through the droor X-bar and through the hoop to the front of the rear tower... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 here is a pic. I was thinking just sealing up this gap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted June 26, 2006 Author Share Posted June 26, 2006 I am pretty much ignoring anything aft of the strut towers.... all bracing will be tied into the cage BETWEEN the strut towers... I realize that this is technically not aft of the towers... but i have several tubes tying the towers inot the cage already.... I did box the tops of the towers this was because I am using this area to tie into the main hoop and cage... the B-pillar area that holds the door striker will be gusseted to the main hoop... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 ok I saw that but I was just thinking about a little more reinforcement with the outer panel... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted June 26, 2006 Author Share Posted June 26, 2006 If I weld anything to the backside of the visible body work... it will crease there and look ugly.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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