Dirt Track Hornet

Here’s a new one for us! We’re caging a Ford Escort ZX2 for a local Hornet/4cylinder dirt track team.
Progress so far:

It’s a little different than we’re used to. Instead of pages upon pages of the cage rules that we usually deal with (SCCA, NASA, SFI specs), we have an entire paragraph to adhere to! Now as long as we don’t get tripped up by the “no black iron pipe” clause, we’ll be ok

NASA Spec E30 Roll Cage

Our last cage project was a quick one. This BMW E30 came in completely stripped and ready for its conversion to NASA’s Spec E30 class. 8 Points, gusseted X bars and sill bars on both the driver and passenger side, dash bar and rear hoop brace diagonal.

NASA Spec E30 Roll Cage

More pictures of the build here: www.izzyscustomcages.com/BMWSpecE30.html

The car has a pretty interesting history already. What started out as a beater ended up catching fire and nearly burning down a gas station….

 

From there, it was not looking good…

but the team brought it back from the dead…

Look for it in 2010 at NASA Midwest events.

Next up… Short track 4 cyliner/Hornet Escort ZX2, then CHUMP Tarurus SHO cage build begins!

NASA GTS3 Porsche 911 Complete!

The NASA GTS3 Porsche 911 is finally finished!  The project consisted of building and installing a custom 8 point roll cage, gusseting at the B Pillar and windshield bar, gusseted X door bars, replacing the factory seat rails with a custom unit that allowed the seat to be moved inward 3″, dead pedal, right side net, kill switch wiring and painting of the cage and interior. Total time was 22 days from start to finish. More pics here: www.izzyscustomcages.com/PorscheCages.html

NASA GTS3 Porsche 911 Cage

NASA GTS3 Porsche 911 Progress

Progress continues on the Porsche 911 being built for competiton in NASA’s GTS3 class.

Now that the seat is finally in place, the owner wanted a dead pedal fabricated.

NASA GTS3 Porsche 911 Dead Pedal

And speaking of the seat, here’s the seat and mount finally complete: 

NASA GTS3 Porsche 911 Recaro Seat

NASA GTS3 Porsche 911 Seat MountWe went with double bend X bars for the doorbars as there wasn't enough room to fit a single bend bar like we usually try and use. The owner wanted to keep the door and door panel uncut.NASA GTS3 Porsche 911

Porsche 911 for NASA GTS3

Latest project is a 911 for NASA’s GTS3 class.

Honda Del Sol Harness Bar

We built a harness bar for a Honda Del Sol a couple of projects ago. Double shear rod end mounts on both ends plus 2 plane attachments up on the harness mount.

Del Sol Harness Bar

Del Sol Harness Bar

Del Sol Harness Bar

Del Sol Harness Bar

Sound mat and undercoating removal

The question about the best way to remove sound deadening material comes up quite frequently on several web forums I frequent. I thought I’d jot down some thoughts and what’s worked for me in the past.

Always wear protective clothing. Be sure to wear face & eye protection, ear plugs, long sleeved shirt, no open toes and gloves.

The best method is liquid nitrogen, but it’s a little more involved for the occasional build. First, you have to find a place that carries it (welding gas supply is your best bet). Second, you’ll need a wand to apply it which is a little more involved than most people want to get. The Liquid Nitrogen process has been known to take a 40 hour process and turn it into 4 hours with beer breaks. It will even freeze the seam sealer. Hit it with a chipping hammer and watch it shatter. KA-Pow… !

If you live in a warmer climate, dry ice is the next best thing. It is available several places -ice cream shops, grocery stores etc. You can get it for .17 to .25 per pound at ice companies. Look them up in the phonebook/online. The best trick I’ve come up with is to put it in plastic grocery bags, and crush it up a little so it conforms to the contour of the floor. Let it sit for about 10 minutes or until the underside is frosted over. Move the bags to the next area that you’ll want to clean and hit the frozen section with a hammer. I’ve had better success with a sharper edged hammer over a dead blow type hammer. Even better results with a welding/chipping hammer or an air chisel. Once the area is clear, move the bags again and do the next section. The bags will help keep the undercoating pieces out of the ice and makes cleanup easier. To do vertical sections takes a little creativity with duct tape, magnets or simply stacking the bags upon each other.

Cold climates have an advantage. The stuff sometimes just pops right off w/o much work.

Heat/Scraper. Depending on the chassis, one way will work better than another. Always try chisseling it out “cold” first. You’ll sometimes get lucky and have some bigger sections pop loose. Once you heat it, none of it will just pop off anymore.

What you can’t get off with the above methods will need to be wire wheeled. 4″-4.5″ grinder and a knotted wire wheel is the best and quickest. 1-1.5″ on a high speed drill or pnuematic die grinder will get the hard to reach stuff. A cup wheel is good to have as well for some corners. The wire wheel will take it down quick, but will leave some residue and will rarely take it all the way down to paint. 3M blackwheels or similar will clean it down to bare metal (for cage pad prep).

Once it’s all chipped/wheeled out, wipe down with mineral spirits to get the remaining residue off. You can go harsher (laquer thinner, aircraft stripper etc), but mineral spirits smells less, less caustic, and cheaper. If you want really clean, wipe down with Acetone or Alcohol.

How much weight can you pull out of a chassis? It really depends on the chassis. Miata’s, maybe 10-12 lbs overall. Higher end BMW’s and Porsches, at least 60lbs if you do the entire car. Remember to think about where the weight is. It’s down low next to the CG. Strip the drivers side front for sure, but think hard about removing it from the PS and rear. That’s good weight when you’re not allowed to ballast the car.

24 Hours of Lemons BMW cage build

Latest on the Barbie Must Win Euro Spec 635

For those that don’t know, the 24 Hours of LeMons is an endurance race for “$500″ cars (safety related stuff is not counted in the price of the car). Some of the local BMW club guys are putting together a car for the October race.

The cage is coming along. Seat brackets are currently being fabricated. Little bit of a challenge since there will be 5 people driving it ranging from about 5′9″ to 6′ Using some modified sliders from a domestic.

Once the seat is mocked up, Drivers side will get NASCAR style bars.

Unfortunately, the kickout midway up the A pillar kept the lateral bar about an 1.5″ out. Thought about gusseting to the A pillar (windshield is coming out anyway) but the team would probably get hit with some sort of crazy penalty and I don’t think it’s in their budget anyway.

Main hoop fit:

Here’s how the pans came in:

Just about finished (yes, that’s the sunroof cassete used for the floorpans):

The teams website:
Barbie Must Win

24 Hours of LeMons BMW

A European spec 6 series has come in for an 8 point roll cage as well as some floorpan work. Pictures soon on www.izzyscustomcages.com

Old IH Scout Frame repair

We had an old International Harvester Scout come in for a frame repair. It seems that the rear drivers side spring mount wasn’t welded on 3 sides from the factory.

International Harvester Scout frame repair

Spring Mount ripped from IH Scout frameFrame Rail Failure

A quick removal of the factory mount showed that it was actually in very good condition and was reused once an additional plate was welded to the IH frame.

Frame Rail Repair and Spring perch remountInternational Harvester Scout with spring mount failure

Next up… a 6 series BMW for a LeMons race.