476 replies to this topic

[Redslur]

You are a very talented person Andrew! Wish I had your skills! I love your disclosure on the leagality of the build too....

[Struggler]

You are a very talented person Andrew! Wish I had your skills! I love your disclosure on the leagality of the build too....

Ease up !!! I don't know about talent, I've stuffed a few things up in my time. More a commonsense approach after checking out how others have tackled the same problem.

As for the disclosure, I don't want to lead anyone astray. There is no way you can register a car that is capable of running tens. There are too many compomises to be made. What is safe when driving on the track by yourself is really not appropriate for road use with passengers.

Anyway I got the car in the door at the cage shop this afternoon (he must read the forum !!). I hung around for a while and discussed the layout and to be honest I'm glad I farmed the job out. I thought I knew a bit about roll cages, triangulation etc but as they say, "you don't know what you don't know". I'll post some more pics and a rundown when I get it back.

Meanwhile here is a better pic from the rear as it sits on the trailer, I love the look of the skinny tyres closer together than standard !!

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[Struggler]

Thanks Moot, its a Torana, its got a 4 link !! I will be fitting an aftermarket sway bar that came with the diff and I don't need a panhard rod due to the angle of the upper arms (UC and HQ share the same upper arm angle).

As for the legalities of 10 sec street cars I guess it can be done if you have the money and time...... but I'm low on both !!!

[Struggler]

i meant a straight four link,something that doesnt bind on big launches

Yeah, I know what you meant, I was just being smart. With the spring rate and sway bar I will be using then it should leave straight and binding won't be an issue.

[gtrboyy]

Rear drum brakes??? Where's the parachute lol.

Getting there Struggler,what times you think it should do,low 10's-130mph?

[Struggler]

Rear drum brakes??? Where's the parachute lol.

Getting there Struggler,what times you think it should do,low 10's-130mph?

For rear brakes I will probably use the Romac discs and caliper. The diff came with VN discs and EB calipers but they would have fouled on everything with the reduced overall length. Brakes are something I will sort out when I hang the shocks so everything fits and I can get the housing checked for straightness after I've welded on it. No parachute required, I doubt it will run 140 mph aspirated naturally.

I guess it will run a 10.9 straight up as is going by the 122MPH already achieved with the small Salisbury. From there I have a couple of cams to try (I am only using 248 at 050 now) as well as another 2 intakes and another pair of heads so thats a few years of playing around !! I guess I owe it to myself to also build some real pipes as the ones I am using really are junk. I hope it will eventually run low 10's with factory iron heads and a low budget solid cam combo. More than anything else I want to have some fun at Powercruise type events and blaze some tread with my kids squealing in the back.

[Struggler]

Well the car is back from the roll cage builder and has been inspected by an ANDRA official (rule book states the cage must be inspected in an unprepared and unpainted state) and passed with flying colours.

I have picked up some work while the garage had some space so have been a bit busy with that and the new puppy so haven't done much on the UC. I have had to move the brake pedal and accel. pedal about an inch toward the tunnel to get my right foot away from the cage and have started work on the shock mounts (that are suspended from the rear legs of the cage). I also have now accepted that the dash will not go back in and have been considering my options there. I hope to get some pics when and if the sun comes out in the next couple of days.

[Struggler]

Rod Kilby out at Hall, he does a lot of rally work and came highly recommended.

[Struggler]

Here is another quick update....

I had a mate come over last Sunday and we spent a couple of hours wrestling the tubs into position. Eventually we worked it out and welded them in. During the week as time has allowed I boxed up the area behind the tub and made some fill-in panels. I also made a cross bar for the shocks and mounted them in position. Since then I have just sealed the tub seams and welds with Sikaflex and primed and painted them inside and out. The interior I have left as standard in red oxide primer, the boot is matt black and under the guards is underbody sound deadener.

I now want to move on to the dash and interior before finishing off the boot floor and mounting the fuel cell.

Here are a few pics of where I'm up to.....

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Inside the drivers side tub.

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Drivers side tub from in the boot.

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Tubs from inside the car.

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Roll cage outrigger to chassis connector.

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Divers footwell with moved over pedals. Its quite comfy now, I can rest my foot beside the platform to operate the GO pedal.

[lxsstorana]

Nice work, very impressive.

Cheers Mick.

[Struggler]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

Nos, I have pulled the diff back out for the engineering shop to full weld the shock and caliper brackets on and restraighten the housing. When I get it back I'll get a pic for you with the shocks fitted. They are straight up and down and as close to the spring as I could get them. I used HQ shocks for their shorter extended length. The lower mount is in line with the centreline of the diff and the upper mount is off the horizontal bar on the rear legs of the cage.

Hope this helps, pics to follow !!

[Struggler]

Hi Callum, not too sure on when I'll get to the track but hope to have it ready for the Moruya burnfest.

Moot, what don't you like about the cage ? Platforms as opposed to boring holes in the floor ? Yes, I hope to be at Moruya at the end of next month !!

[Struggler]

I thought as much. I questioned them as well. I really wanted the cage out to the extremities as far as possible to maximize internal room so this ruled out putting the cage on flat parts of the floor. Cage fabricators reply was that it saves cutting a hole through the triangulated sill section (thereby weakening it) and allows for an easy straight cut on the tube. The triangle shaped sill area is where the strength is in the car so mounting the cage there gives the greatest benefit from a structural point of view. I also ran this by the ANDRA Steward who inspected it and he agreed with the fabricator. Once I sat down and thought about it it started to make sense.

I'm up for a beer or two but was kind of hoping you would have that blue beast there !!!!

On another note I might have to get your advice on modifying the back seat to accomodate the new panel work.

[Struggler]

Ill see you both at Moruya, im taking my new HB

Got a link ?? I didn't know you had an HB !!

[Struggler]

Heres another update, I have been busy with other stuff and it doesn't look like I have done much but I'm getting there...

The diff has had the caliper mounts and shock mounts welded on and the housing restraightened. I boxed up the trailing arms and pressed some new bushes in. I painted the whole lot gloss black and bolted it all back under the car. Discs are the Romac items and calipers are Pintara/Skyline (nice, compact and light). While it was apart I repacked the hub bearings and replaced the seals and O rings.

Moving inside I welded a couple of 50x50x3 angles to the cage to mount the dash off. I made a cardboard template and worked out what I wanted to do and cut some of the old dash away to fit it where I wanted it. I also moved the fuse box and headlight switch around a bit. I got a mate in the sign business to cut the dash out of 2mm aluminium sheet on his CNC cutting bench and after checking the dimensions I folded it up to suit. It worked out fairly well and I dropped it off at the powdercoaters today. I am still working on a dashpad to suit so it looks sort of standard. Whilst I was working around in the car I moved the shifter back and closer to the drivers seat. After splashing a bit of paint around the cage in the window areas I got the screens refitted a few days ago. Its starting to look like a car again !!!

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New blade type fuse box relocated to the drivers footwell.

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Angle mounts welded to roll cage.

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Shocks mounted. Konis are HQ items (as I had them) and are on full stiffness to compensate for being on the inside of the springs were they have less leverage than they would in the original location. You can also see the trailer tie downs where the lower trailing arms mount to the diff housing.

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Romac disc on the hub ready to go. You can also see the reduced diameter spring.

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A look from behind the rear wheel. You can see how far in the new rail is compared to the standard one. You can also see the new cross brace from the inner guard across to the new rail tying it all together. The rear of the tub butts up to this as well so if a tyre and/or a steel belt flys off it shouldn't damage anything.