Pics: New CrMo-rollcage for my 240z

[Guest Crispy Chicken]

We figured: Why add strength that far in front of the suspension? There won't

be anything there except a intercooler and a radiator, and they won't add any

forces that need triangulation.

 

That's why

 

I think the main goal would be to stiffen/strengthen the struts. Not so much the intercooler and radiator. jmmortensen has some experience with this. Maybe its not such a bad idea. By the way I love your videos!!!!!! Keep them coming!!!

 

Derek

 

 

jmmortensen http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=109864&page=3

 

Gotta disagree that bracing forward of the strut is useless. The engine compartment is 4 frame rails, uppers and lowers. In the back it connects around the A pillar, and down to the lowers, and uses the cowl torque box on top. In the front it has the rad core support to keep all 4 frame members in line. IMO the core support is a weak spot, as evidenced by repeatedly tearing up radiators in my own car. If the front frame rails are bending enough to cause the tanks on a brass radiator to leak, then that bending would also probably be causing changes in the camber, allowing the frame rails to flex into a parallelogram shape under cornering loads. Also the front swaybar tends to rip apart the frame rail, certainly you could see the benefit of reinforcing this area, even though it is forward of the strut tower.

[bjhines]

Here is what I did... more to reinforce the sway bar bracketry than anything else...

 

 

 

[JMortensen]

OK Crispy, but look where I have the braces on my car:

 

 

 

 

There is a very good reason to run the braces to the frame rail where mull and I did. The sway bar mounts right there, and it tends to tear up the frame rails.

 

So what I did to strengthen the end of the box and tie the upper and lower frame rails together was to put an X in the radiator core support. I did this with very lightweight .5 x .5 x .063 square tube. I hope that is enough to keep the frame rails from leaning over on each other. But regardless, Mull has this right as far as I'm concerned.

[mull]

Crispy Chicken: That's what I was trying to say... thanks : ) Videos will keep comin' !

 

bjhines: I sent some of your pics to my welder and told him I wanted something similar

but he didn't want to start cutting the fenders/wheel wells. He had some comments on

your welds there, but I don't think that's wnat put him off. I think your solution look

great nontheless : )

 

jmortensen: I hadn't seen those pics, thanks!

 

 

...and since everyone enjoy pictures, here are some more:

(please excuse the tubing for looking a bit sad [it spent a couple of nights outside])

 

 

 

 

[bjhines]

hehe... everybody is gonna critique my welds... messy I know... but this is a learning experience.. It is easy to weld 2 similar .125" pieces together... It is a whole different animal welding to all those different thicknesses...

 

Of course.. A TIG would make things much nicer all around.. I am stuck with a cheap MIG unit...

[LS1 240Z]

well i dont want to hear you guys comming back and whining when you dont have room in your engine compartments

[Guest Crispy Chicken]

So what I did to strengthen the end of the box and tie the upper and lower frame rails together was to put an X in the radiator core support. I did this with very lightweight .5 x .5 x .063 square tube. I hope that is enough to keep the frame rails from leaning over on each other. .

 

 

That was my point. I should have been more specific. I was never disagreeing with mull's design and agreeing with LS1 240Z's picture. I only was throwing the idea of extra bracing in front of the struts or not. As many people think it is 100% useless. It seems like you have had experience with this.

 

I know I should use more meaningful specifics and not wondering generalities. When talking about topics such as this.

 

Derek

[Careless]

if i were to build a cage into a project car of my own, what type of tube should i be looking to buy, and where can i get a manual of scca specs and stuff since we're on the topic of welding and tubing.

 

Mull:

I was wondering whether or not you're going to paint the entire top of the car black to accent the CF roof that you "might" be plopping ontop, or are you going to leave it as is and have a different colour for the rest of the car?

 

One more thing:

 

im somewhat concerned for your safety of both the passenger and the driver with that dash bar, mull.

I'm sure it will stiffen the car a lot, but it looks to me as though if someone were to hit the car on either side really hard, it my separate itself and bust through the dash and cause some very horrible injury to anyone sitting in the car.

 

if you think about it, the bars are already on their way into that direction, so i think a crushing motion on either side would:

 

A: break the persons legs

B: impale them with a dash bar.

 

It just concerns me because is sorta don't wanna wish that on anyone. looks damn good though. love the door supports and the rear subframe supports, but from what I can tell , the subframe front supports are gonna be just behind the seats, near the corner of the floor-pan and where the trunk-area wall is. are you strengthening that aswell.

 

I drew this conclusion from the 240sx s14 subframe which has similar mounting points.

[JMortensen]

if i were to build a cage into a project car of my own, what type of tube should i be looking to buy, and where can i get a manual of scca specs and stuff since we're on the topic of welding and tubing.

You can download the entire SCCA rulebook online at http://www.scca.com. It is somewhat vague though. It will tell you what tubing to use and has some vague guidelines for the structure of the cage, but that's it. I guess the idea is that if it isn't in the rulebook it isn't legal, so if you have something you want to do with the cage check and see if it is listed first.