77LS-Z Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 i decided to remove the piece of metal that makes the 90 degree box right behind the seats. i think it looks better that way, as i am going to sand blast the hole interior and remove all sound deadening and paint the whole floorpan front to back with bedliner spray, and will only have the door panels, and the panels that cover the sides infront of and behind the wheelwell. i will have a full cage built so im not worried about any strength that i have lost from removing this. i was wondering about putting my main hoop between the fender wells instead of infront like everyone else. should give more room for seats. also, ALL wires will be ran under the car, so that will allow the inside of thecar to stay slick with now exposed wires. please give your opinions and i will post more pictures as i progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nismopowered Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 So after you removed them that was whats left? Did you have to weld in any panels to cover holes? Would make a nice sub enclosure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77LS-Z Posted October 9, 2008 Author Share Posted October 9, 2008 yes, all i did was drill/grind out the spot welds, and remove the angle piece. that is what it looks like with it removed. i plan on doing a roll cage with the main hoop just inside the fenderwells. hopefully giving me more seat room and not having to bend a angle into the main hoop. allowing it to go straight up. only problem is i will have to have a bend in my door bars to meet wih the main hoop. actually there is verry little rust in this car. the floor pan/frame rail was bent up a lil on the driver side but a mini sledge fixed that. this car is extremely solid. for 600 bux. wow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMWHYR0HEN Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 Although you probably did loose some ridgidity in the chassis you'l gain some back when you add a roll cage. There's a reason why everyone runs the main hoop in front of the fenderwells where the rocker/floorpan junction is. Also, I wouldn't run the wiring outside. If you really want to hide it you can run it inside the rocker and inside the fenders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77LS-Z Posted October 9, 2008 Author Share Posted October 9, 2008 well i was going to run it inside a piece of tubing ran along side the rocker. the it would be out of the way. i could secure it up out of the way the whole way from front to back, there isnt that much wiring to be ran. the factory wires are plenty long enough. just cut them and re-route. the battery will be relocatied to the trunk. can someone tell my why it would be a bad decision to mount my main hoop inside the fender wells? i could make a large plate to weld it to, so as to better distribute the forces on the floor pan. any advice is welcomed please. i want to hear evreryones opinions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77LS-Z Posted October 9, 2008 Author Share Posted October 9, 2008 i hope everyone is understading what i mean by inside the fender wells. i mean between them, instead of infront of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77LS-Z Posted October 9, 2008 Author Share Posted October 9, 2008 if i do that, i will have a cross bar for seatbelts, them i will have a bar from each side go down at a angle from where the cross bar connects to the main hoop, to the top of the transmission tunnel. then i will have two bars go back to the rear most area of the trunk. i will probably have door bars also, connected to the front strut towers. not sure yet on that part of the design. i will run full lenght frame rails using 1x3 tubing. and will build boxs for the ladder bars to travle in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77LS-Z Posted October 9, 2008 Author Share Posted October 9, 2008 here are a couple drawings of my design. i drew these up real fast in paint so dont laugh. im not a pro. please give yall insight on which type of down bars going to trunk area would be better. the straight ones or the more triangulated ones? i figure this setup would dramaicly stiffen up the chassis. add in the frame rails that i will install. does anyone see a problem with my setup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77LS-Z Posted October 9, 2008 Author Share Posted October 9, 2008 the strut towers will be cut out and removed. as i will be running ladder bars, and custom mount/bar for coilovers, or airshocks under the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 Now it looks like a ZX inside, or a 2+2 S30 with the rear seat removed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 Many sanctioning bodies require a "main-diagonal" that runs from the drivers head to the bottom passenger corner. This must be welded to the main-hoop". If you want to reinforce the tunnel then you should run to the corners of the tunnel instead of the top of the tunnel. If you take a peek at the bottom of the car you will see that the top of the tunnel has virtually no strength. The bottom corners of the tunnel have a frame piece that the diff and the rear suspension bolt to. THAT<<< would be the ideal place to mount your tunnel diagonals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77LS-Z Posted October 9, 2008 Author Share Posted October 9, 2008 ok, thanks. so seeing from your picture, i guess there wouldnt be any problem with mounting the main hoop where i got it in the pic. is there any benifit to having it spread out like yours does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77LS-Z Posted October 9, 2008 Author Share Posted October 9, 2008 is the above drawing better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nismo280zEd Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 I would reconsider running wires outside the car, from my experience they like to stay dry inside the car. Also less chance something will cut through them or chaff them, etc. I would run through the rocker as sugested if you want a "clean" look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 Cutting the rear torque box out of the unibody is not the end of the world, since as others have said you can use the cage to make the car stiffer. That hoop as you've drawn it, I'm sorry to say, is a BAD idea. Your seat is going to be 1/2 way OUTSIDE the main hoop. If somehow the car flipped directly on its lid, you might be protected. If it hit the side on the way over or if you got T boned, the cage might as well not be there. You really want that hoop as close to the sides of the car as you can possibly get it. The halo should be tight against the roof as well. You want every part of the cage as far away from your body as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77LS-Z Posted October 9, 2008 Author Share Posted October 9, 2008 so should i have it open up like bjhines'. i will have door bars more then likely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 so should i have it open up like bjhines'. i will have door bars more then likely. bjhines's cage and Mikelly's cages are two examples of Z cages which are fine for track day use but not technically legal for most racing organizations. If you're racing, you should start with the rulebook for the organization you want to race with and follow the rules. Otherwise you might end up with something that is not acceptable when you go to tech the car. If you look at my cage I have the main hoop in front of the wheel wells and it attaches to the rockers, so there is literally probably 3/4" or 1" of tube that sticks out further than the rocker at the bottom. If you put it in the car as far back as possible, it's not going to be a problem for seat clearance. Is there some other reason why you want it to be inside the wheel wells? http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=102715 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77LS-Z Posted October 10, 2008 Author Share Posted October 10, 2008 im not going to be doing any sanctioned racing. this is going to be a street/strip drag car. all performance is going to be orientated towards straight line acceleration. only reason i designed it this way is mainly because i think it would be easier installation. less bends, and if i reinforce the floor area, should be just as strong. this car will never see a road course, and aside from some hp induced power slides, will never see any real cornering situations. if i build the hoop as shown, i will have two main bends. and i can build a sweeping (outwards) door bar on each side. if i put the main hoop as far out as everyone else, then the door bars will be straight, and this has been proven to be an inferior design comparted to outward curving bars. with the main hoop inset between the wells, and moved back as far as it can be on the first ledge there, i have room for a decent arch in the door bar without interfering with the seating. im in no way worried about tech inspections for road racing. and this cage should be more then enough for the 10 second passes it will be makin at the strip. sound ok? or am i being hard headed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 sound ok? or am i being hard headed? With those qualifications in mind, I'd recommend you don't do a rollcage. There is lots of discussion on this, but I think the problem is that there isn't enough room to get your head far away from the halo, so you'll end up being more at risk of a serious head injury from the cage than you would if you didn't have a cage. If you do still want to do one, I'd copy bjhines as close as possible. If you want to do a rollbar, I'd copy my rollbar as close as possible, and just stop at the 4 point with the diagonal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six_Shooter Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 Even in non sanctioned drag racing "events" or T&T days, the cage has to be up to cert, if you run the number. Both IHRA and NHRA are particular about the sportsman cage/bar. The main hoop needs to attach to the rocker box, or stiffening member in that area, outside of the driver's and passenger's seating area. The door bars need to pass the driver (and passenger bar, if equipped), between the shoulder and elbow when in a seated position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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