Risking

Cages are the easy part

Kel's in so now we got a team! we nominate a lap time for each driver so it doesnt matter if the cars are all of a different pace. It works along the same lines as the eastern creek 6 hour. they calculate how many theoretical laps the team should be able to do. but if you drop under your nominated lap time that lap does not get added to the lap count. Pretty sure thats how they still work it.

Yep your on the money Duncan. I agree an hour should be no problem at all but if we can get enough entrants it brings the entry fee down and the potential for damage down as well. I know my car can do 6's for 20mins solid. Its consistant within 1/2 second depending on traffic and my concertration. So I figured if I knock it down a peg and run around in the 10's all day it should be perfectly healthy should any other cars have to drop out. So Pete, myself, jay and possibly Duncan are looking good.

I drop mine from 9000rpm and it hooks up and goes, When launching though we load the driveline up againist the brakes its stops the shock load going through the front diff and tearing the teeth off the pinion. Not overly great for the clutch and takes alot of practice when you dont have a handbrake but its the only way ive found to keep the front diff inside the sump and all the teeth on the shafts.

Late november from memory mate. Your one of the guys id let steer the GTR if yours was not in a good way so if your keen we can work around the car issue closer to the date. I know my GTR could do atleast half the race without a problem besides tires. As for times I think anything that can lap around the 10's for 20 mins solid is good enough. The key to these events is consistantcy. So no use showing up if you can spit out a 5 and then not maintain it for 20mins and behond. Cars require a AASA log book which is piss poor. and a cage.

A few of us tried to get a team put together last year for this event but after many broken cars and other hassles it didnt happen. Im planning to enter again this year now we have a GTR thats reliable and can go the distance. So who has a car thats prepared, racable and should go the distance?? I can get 6 cars with ease but would like to try and get a group of skylines together instead of a mixed bag to begin with. Im prepared to let my car do a triple session, if we cant get the drivers/cars. Myself and Jay will be driving the GTR and may open it up to someone else if need be. We're not really after ball tearing cars that can lap faster than anyone else. We'd like reliable consistant cars with drivers that can handle a 20min session and be consistant. Thats what it takes to win the event not outright pace..... Dont want to leave this till last minute like we did last year So if anyone is interested say so.

it looks like it retains the original Viper upper/lower control arm and the upright?? In the front there is absolutly no protection in a hit, but the steering rack appears to have been front mounted leaving it very exposed?? Very interesting to look at though. Yank built??

out of curiosity. Why did you elect not to have some form of diagonal in the main hoop plane??

X intrusions are prefered and have been for a very long time U shaped bars are typically used when the rest of cage is to be engineered anyways and or made from molly. Every cage builder is different, Peter at bonds does not like U shaped intrusions and will only do them upon request but others like mediteranian do them alot. Ive seen U bars passed without engineering but ive also seen X bars knocked back. There is two sets of requiremements to meet as well CAMS and FIA which do differ greatly. Cams dont require intersections to be gusseted but the FIA do. When you read the regs it requires gussets but when you talk to someone who knows the requirements (again I speak with peter alot) they will tell you CAMS dont require them. Same as the drop bars, FIA likes them to be a one peice bar without a joint at the intrusion bar, however in such a small car thats impossible due to the need to have a steering wheel...... So common sence prevails and they are made in two bits and will pass without an issue. Any diagonal member is meant to be straight but is aloud to follow to contours of the vehicles internal shape. So it does or doesnt have to be straight.................?

well today we go the drop bars in the front door openings done. These can be difficult to get knotched up but after doing alot of them they come out well. One thing we noticed with the S chassis is that the a pillars taper into the center of the car alot more than the R chassis. Making the drop bars a little more intrusive than a skyline but still livable and well worth the effort. We also got the cage set on its base plates very roughly and managed to get the rear legs and cross section made up and welded in. More on the base plates tomorrow when we box them in properly and set the cage in position.

if your going to use the tech edge to log then use the number 1 coil pack output or the tacho signal wire yes. As long as you configure the TE and you know what voltage=what boost pressure then you can log that sensor with ease. There are far better data loggin devices on the market than the tech edge though. Its main purpose is a lambda obviously but data is okay for simple things

if you bought the tech edge second hand throw the sensor in the bin and buy a new fresh one before using it to data log. I have found recently with data logs that a new sensor can read signifiacantly different than an older sensor and on a race engine running two sensors in each pipe we only get 6 months from them before they're not accurate. AFI who I buy from says its the heat that would be shortening the life span of the sensors which bosch confirms in most of their tech documents.

Okay back onto the cage. Ive had a few other things to deal with but this has still be progressing. The intrusion bars were cut and knotched then the intersections welded and the ends firstly tacked to the legs and the main hoop. After the bars were tacked and welded in place the time has come to trim off the main hoop and front legs to the desired length. Seen in this photo is the area im talking about. The bases will latter on be boxed into the main sills of the car at the right heights. By cutting these off at the right height it allows the entire cage to be lowered and moved forwards and backwards far enough to fully weld the edges of the bars were they meet the legs and hoop. As you can see with the 180sx it was possible to get the legs right out of the door jam and welded them exactly that same as the other joints While the cage is mobile like this Ill be making the door opening drop bars which also need to be welded with the cage moved backwards. Tomorrow ill get into the drop bars and the base plates, the rear legs have also been dumby cut and knotched but more on those once the bases are made and they are ready to be crossed up and fitted properly.

No room in the middle. The car is not pysically wide enough The engine will sit roughly so the front two cylinders would be infront of the fire wall on a standard GTR.

It does doesnt it. Bugger. How did the whole sunroof enclosing??

There is no way in hell I can use the original drive shafts anyways, two reasons, an 800Hp RB26 is going to smash them to bits and the other is that the car is 100mm per side wider than factory so they are already way to short. A CV joint will not be used in this kinda of project. Im going with proper universal joints on custom made dog bone style drive shafts. Ill machine up my own half shafts for the diff center and the outers will have a half shaft bolted to the hub with the uni running off that. The diff will not be offset in the car ive decided. I want it centered and will work the rest of the drive line out around that. Atleast that way I can get 2 pairs of shafts made up and the spares will fit either side of the car and I dont have to worry bout broken shafts not fitting the other side of the car etc etc. Just jap sourced them for me but Im not sure if they can get more as I bought their entire stock. You could give them a call and ask.

his cage is sorted

Duncans hit the head with the LHD comments. It is a consideration atm. The diff does not have to be in the center no, but Id like it to be. So far it looks like the drive shafts will sit at a 22 degree angle which isnt tooooo bad. I may offset the diff slightly if I have to but will try and work around it.

Na same same, Just the way im thinking to get it all fitted in there.

apparently we would have run in a muslce car class which is for modified cars. Or so Im told.

yeah about that,,,,,, Its a little tight but very do able. Im working on it a little slower than normal with bostons car here as well but got a few things done last night. Ive now got the fuel system sorted as well. and a new dry sump tank. Im considereing making it left hand drive too, but not sure as yet, Short shafts are okay besides the uni joint angles.

I beleive Greg entered today or will be tomorrow. I was hoping to but havent touched the GTR and have to fix the exhaust and lack off boost issue. Plus couldnt afford the day off work but now Greg's going probably could have.

actually porsche brakes can be had very cheaply. Speciafically the cup car callipers. The cup guys tend to replace them oftern and due to the ever increasing demand for affordable motorsport components the callipers are fairly cheap brand new so 2nd hand ones are really well priced. For example if you pay more than $900 bucks for a second hand set of 997 cup car callipers you paid too much. Pads new are roughly a grand for the 997 cup car calliper and they are pagids. Not recommended for road going use though.

Tonight I got the drivers side intrusion bar cut and tacked into place and begun the rear legs. The Shock towers have now been paint stripped and the plates tack welded into position as well. Im trying something a little different with the rear legs on this car and I think it will be much easier and quicker to do than previous cages but give the exact same results if not better. Ill put up photos and a write up of the intrusion bar procedure tomorrow as im buggered now and not in the mood.

Thanks guys, We do take alot of pride in the job, this car in particular will obviously have some very critical eyes pass over it during the course of its life. Jay and I have done so many of these now, but its odd going back to a floor pan car when we've been playing space frames for a few months now. Glad people are learning what it takes to build one properly. The cost of doing such a cage can be very high particularly when its fully TIG welded. With some luck this log will open a few eyes to whats involved. You should be getting a good idea what your car is in for when you get it caged Ryan. Make sure you ask the cage builder all the right questions before leaving the car with them. Hahaha in one of those photos you can actually see my old man cruising around his back yard in the bobcat. We are using his garage for this project as Im outta space at my place currently with GTR's all over the place.