Welcome we are glad to have you!!

Thanks for sharing your project as well

Need to add your location (in your profile settings) so everyone can see where your from?

Thanks again

Brian

 

So with the welding all done we could split the body from the pan..

My wife Adele having a sit in the 'office' ;D (and that's SIT )

We then had new floorpan halves welded in, IRS conversion and -6 fuel lines fitted too..

The body was then media blasted and we could refit the body and pan for the rollcage to be fitted..

On the rear we have 6" wide Erco StarCuts (a huge thanks to Mike and Susy Herbert for sorting these out for us!) with Ron and Jacks lightweight chevy brakes..

At the front we also have Ron and Jacks front strange brakes ;D

OK so now the real stuff begins! The cage! We are building the car to be as safe as we can so its an 8 Point cage with funny car drivers surround and the seats actually built into the cage..

Its tied into the heater channels and the pan but in a way so the body can still be removed

Detail of how the cage is tied in to the channels and pan, its done like this on the B posts too

Above the parcel tray

Below it, tieing in the frame horns

This picture from our friends V8 racecar is what I mean with the seats..

We had to be measured up on sunday for the correct fitment of the funny car cage and seats so as you can see thay are not built yet!

So there we are, I'm sure of missed something but I'll post again!

Thanks for reading
Steve

 

how long has it taken you to get to this point. Everything looks killer. I like the fuel lines and you are going to love those brakes.

 

Hi Lance, yeah those brakes are awesome! Thanks for all your help with them too!

Its been 11 months since the car was first wheeled in to the restoration shop, October 29th 2007 to be exact! Although the car actually come off the road in Sept 2006 and we spent all that time saving money, planning the build of the car and stripping the car and underseal off ready!

We are aiming for the debut at the Volksworld Show in March '08 and then the first race meet soon after that. The aim is to run in the 11's and still be street legal. The car is almost overkill for the engine but our theory is build the car once and if we decide to go faster we already have the car capable of doing so!

 

not a problem.
SOunds like you have the right idea. I have seen it more than once where the car is torn down and done all over again. I don't have that kind of money and I like to do it right the first time as well. It may sting but in the end you can always add more power.
Congrats on build , keep us updated.

 

I was looking at the way you are connecting the rear frame horns to the cage...

I did something similar on my old white racecar, but wouldn't do it that way again. If you weld the ends to the frame horns like it looks liek you are doing (looksa coped in and tacked in place from the pics) You will have to stab the axles into the trans while in the car, which is royal pain in the backside...

The rear downbars are in place and done, so I wouldn't change those. If it were me, I might add a flange very close to the frame horns so it's removeable and the trans w/axles can be installed and removed as a unit. Or I might replace the tubes with new ones that still bolt under the package tray, but bolt to the engine cradle mount (instead of weld to the frame horns). my 2cents... err 'pence'

 

Thats a very good point. My car has been converted to IRS so it should be no problems fitting the axles, but yeah your right if it was a swing axle it would be a problem. To be honest I hadn't even thought of that, good idea about the cradle points too.

Steve

2 pence it is too :grinwink:

 

I can't believe I didn't notice the trailing arms... :nerd: Looks great!

 

Update! The roll cage is now basically complete , the funny car cage is modelled on SFI 25.4 spec so with a couple more tubes the car could be tech'd to 7.50! As it stands the car will be tagged to 8.50. The tubular frame for the seats is under construction at the moment!

 

any idea on what it will weigh once it is done?

 

Your making serious progress!!

Going to be bitchin, you getting excited yet?

 

Update! The roll cage is now basically complete , the funny car cage is modelled on SFI 25.4 spec so with a couple more tubes the car could be tech'd to 7.50! As it stands the car will be tagged to 8.50. The tubular frame for the seats is under construction at the moment!

may as well add the bars now! gonna be alot easier now than later!!!!

 

Your making serious progress!!

Going to be bitchin, you getting excited yet? :happy:

Hi Its Adele, Steve's Wife. Yeah we are getting very excited I just want it to be done now so i can get out racing!

any idea on what it will weigh once it is done?

I think it will weigh close to 1600 - 1700lbs, we have taken off weight via the fenders, hood, valance, rear bodwork and quite a few lightweight components. However it will probably cancel out the weight of the cage, we were going to go chromoly which would of saved 40lbs but decided not to due to cost. It was the one thing we can save ($$) on without compromising anything!

may as well add the bars now! gonna be alot easier now than later!!!!

Its additional cost to add the bars, there needs to be extra bars along the floorpan and sides too. The only thing with this is

A - Were not going to run quicker than 8.50
B - If we could afford to go quicker that 8.50, we could afford to add the bars then :agree:
C - I have a back disease and it much better the less tubes there are for me to manouever in and out of the car :happy:

 

Very Impressive!

 

Well even though we are in So-Cal at the moment the work continues on the car! The seats and framework are now fitted and is looking amazing! :w00t:

 

Seats are going to look awesome!!

 

Good to see you and finally meet you Steve. keep up the good work looks really good.

 

Thanks guys! It was good to meet you too Lance!

Lance, you might be able to answer this then, would our car pass tech and is there anything we would need to do/run to meet the regs? One of our goals with the car is to ship it over and run 1 or 2 events in the US!

 

From NHRA Q & A section.

When do I need a roll bar or roll cage, and what should it look like?

A roll bar is required in any convertible running 13.49 seconds or quicker in the quarter mile, and in other cars beginning at 11.49. The roll bar is accepted in vehicles running as quick as 10.00 second e.t., provided the stock firewall and floorboard is intact, other than for installation of wheel tubs. The rollbar must be constructed of minimum 1 ¾ inch o.d. x .118 inch wall mild steel tubing, or 1 ¾ x .083 chrome moly tubing, and must conform to the following diagram:



If the floor and/or firewall has been modified, then a full roll cage is required beginning at a 10.99 e.t. A full roll cage is required in any vehicle running 9.99 seconds or quicker, and any vehicle running 135 mph or faster (regardless of e.t.). The roll cage must be constructed of minimum 1 5/8 o.d.x .118 mild steel tubing, or 1 5/8 x .083 chrome moly tubing, and must conform to the following diagram:

The roll cage of any vehicle running 9.99 or quicker, or 135 mph or faster, must also be certified by NHRA every 3 years, and have a serialized sticker affixed prior to participation.

How, where and when do I get a roll cage certified?
Contact your Division Office (click here for contact info) and tell them you need a chassis certified. They will direct you to the NHRA Chassis Inspector in your area. Chassis certifications are also performed at all National and Divisional events, for participants. Due to busy event schedules, certifications are not always available at events for non-participants. Contact the Division office (for Division events) or the National Technical Department in Glendora (for national events) ahead of time to see if arrangements can be made. Three year certification stickers (for vehicles running 7.50 seconds and slower) are $75. If you arrange for a chassis inspector to come to your location, you will be responsible for any travel expenses.

 

Since I am nto a chassis builder you may want to talk to RLR or JCL and send them pics and ask their opinions. I think you are better off than Richie Webbs setup though. I woul dbet he could have some added to his and pass tech.
Marty Staggs may even be able to amswer the question.
Good luck Steve, would llove to see the car run soon.

 

Well its time for another update! Work is progressing nicely and i'm super happy with the results!

Some clearer shots of the cage. To get the correct position for the funny car style cage (which is quite a bit further back in the car than stock seats) the shifter needed to be moved 5" backwards...

The driving position feels great, no stretching for the shifter or being too close up front.

The removable steering wheel is complete now, the wheel is fitted with a Mark Williams quick release adapter. The quick release is one of the nicest kits we've seen and although its got small splines there is a 'master' spline to ensure you are fitting the wheel in the correct position!

These are the mounts for the 5 point harness, the bottom mount is for the crotch strap, the other mounting points are on the cage and a threaded plate welded into the tunnel. You can also make out in the bottom picture a support mount off the tunnel for the seats.

Some more detail shots of the seats, very comfy they are too!

Another one of my ideas was to fit a vertical bar to the door exactly in place of where the stock quarter light would be, the idea being once the bar was chromed it would from the outside resemble a stock quarter light...

I'm pretty pleased with how they came out, they should look cool once they are chromed!

Everything is fully Tig welded..Nice!

And finally the all important chassis builders tag. We're incredibly proud of this

 

Very nice build, I love when they are outside of the box!

 

Another update! After last Sunday we dropped the A Arms off to get narrowed a total of 1" per side

As you can see the bearing carrier was cut out and repositioned the maximum of an inch further in giving us more clearence on the rear.

We arrived at the shop to find our 4cm wider rear wings had arrived from CSP you can tell here that they are wider but once everythings all button'd up and painted they should look good!

Chris also made a really cool bracket to house the staging brake right next to the shifter, loving this!

He had also fitted our custom Simpson Window net..

After that we got cracking and fitted the gearbox and engine, that was a cool sight to see (That's me in the blue hooded top!)

We then fitted up the A Arms and brakes and bolted a wheel and wing up for mock up! Really pleased with the results! So all in all we had a good day! The car is due back to us in less than 2 weeks from Chris', I can't wait!

 

Starting to take shape! Killer work on that cage.

 

Beautiful metal work. That is going to be a very nice ride. Thanks for keeping us updated.