DaveK

iTrader: (21)

For the shots inside the car, you are correct. The one shot of the wheel well also had some rubberized crap removed, but its not the 'tar paper' kind of stuff that's inside the car. According to Jason, the tar came off quite easily. Just coat the floor in dry ice, let it sit and just tap it off. Or if you live in a cold climate, just roll the car outside for a few hours and go to town.

No pic updates so I haven't posted in a while, but Todd informed me that the seam welding was completed this afternoon and that the cage is 75% done. I'm hoping to go down there next week to get the seat brackets fitted based on my dimensions, and then it should be ready for paint. I'll be sure to snap a bunch of pics.

Dave

St205gt4

Thanks mate. Will have to be dry ice for me I think. Doesn't often freeze here in Perth. Was 44 degrees C (111 F) here on Christmas day!

So apart from the floor and the wheel arches were else is there sound deadening? Is the black stuff on the bottom of the floorpan sound deadening as well?

Be interested in seeing how the CC cage goes in. Also interested in how long it has taken them to actually put the cage in. Local workshops are a bit loathe to give me an estimate on time as they haven't done a CC before.

By the way I was quoted 48kg (approx 105lbs) for shipping weight for the T45 cage for an Evo IX from CC.

DaveK

iTrader: (21)

Not sure what the black stuff on the bottom is. It was some sort of oily residue, with I think some sound deadening underneath it. I'm not sure if that's what Mitsu uses to rust-proof the underside or not. The car was a theft recovery, so its possible the guys were doing donuts in a junkyard prior to stripping it I guess...someone who bought one new could probably confirm if this is the normal undercoating.

I'll see if I can get a time estimate from Jason once its all done. One thing to mention on the CC is that they didn't bother to mention that there were optional upgrades to the cage. We asked for "the top of the line latest & greatest cage for an Evo" and they sent us the bare bones model. So then I had to shell out another $600+ for the HANS bars (for correct mounting of the harnesses when using a HANS device), jacking plates, and seat brackets and shipping. The shipping kills us, as I probably spent over $300 on shipping, and would've been ~$150 less if they had alerted us to all the optional pieces when we placed the first order.

Dave

St205gt4

$300 on shipping? You're lucky being close to the UK. Try $AUD900 on for size!

Thanks for the tip about the extra bits. Will make sure to mention that when ordering.

Evo_SpeedKing

iTrader: (24)

Dave, looks as if its coming together! well done, now you just need to stroke that motor and you're set! speaking of which, i know where you can get a great stroker kit and save on shipping!

LOL, but really, whats next?

St205gt4

Dave is it possible to use a normal harness with the CC cage if you have the HANS stuff on it? I wasn't planning on using HANS, but it might be in my best interests to have it installed just in case it becomes compulsary in tarmac rallying here in Oz.

DaveK

iTrader: (21)

I'm actually pretty close to making an announcement about engine choice. Just need to get my 323 GTX sold first.

I also bought a bunch of parts over the last few weeks, but I figured you guys would rather see pics of them on the car than on my living room floor.

Dave

DaveK

iTrader: (21)

Anything's possible, but based on my understanding of the HANS device, you need the harness to attach as close to the seatback as possible. I believe that the HANS weakpoint is during not straight ahead impacts (which is why you need to use seats with head restraints), and with long harness straps (and the stretch that goes with them) *could* allow a shoulder to loosen to the point where the HANS wouldn't operate properly.

Dave

RallyDSM

iTrader: (21)

Something we need to get an understanding of since HANS type devices are required by Rally America in 2008.

RallyDSM

WheelGap

iTrader: (4)

Did you guys see there's some new type of HANS which uses a "Y" shaped strap? Supposedly allows more left/right head movement, but still has the protection of a regular HANS. I think it comes out early '08.

There's mention of it on specialstage.com in one of the vendor forums.

Edit: Here's the URL: http://www.specialstage.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=30062

zbomb

iTrader: (48)

Hey man, I love pics of parts on living room floors almost as much as actually on the car. Great build, Can't wait to see upcoming progress.

RallyDSM

iTrader: (21)

Any new progress pics, Dave?

I'm starting mine TODAY. So... I guess I'll have to start taking pics myself and posting the buildup.

Have an 8 and a 9 that I am stripping to build the STage Car (the 9) and build my spares package. Will probably part out the rest. (so if you need anything )

Got a sweet deal on them too... the 8 has less than 10K miles and the 9 has less than 20K miles!

Anyway, some updated pics would be sweet!

RallyDSM

peter*g

iTrader: (55)

The HANS is a fantastic device, and a must-have for any serious racer. I have a number of friends who have crash tested the device (including one head-on impact to an unprotected K-wall at about 50-60mph) and all have walked away in far better condition than they could have otherwise.

If you're serious about setting up your cage/seat/harnesses for use of a HANS now or in the future, call up Joe Marko at HMS Motorsport (http://www.hmsmotorsport.com/store/nascar). He's a great resource for both the parts you'd need as well as the information you'd need to do it right. I have no affiliation with Joe, I have just been a customer for years.

To answer your question about harness straps spreading under impact, there is a trick many of us use to keep the harness belts together. You buy some bolt-on aluminum collars and you put them on either side of the harnesses where they wrap around the cage. This will keep them from moving further apart under load.

DaveK

iTrader: (21)

I think the orig. question related to whether or not you should add HANS bars to the roll cage. Even with the bits keeping the harnesses from spreading (which are a great idea BTW), if you have 4 feet of belts between the back of your seat and where they attach, under a large impact you may still run into issues with the HANS device slipping out from under the harness due to stretching of the harness.

I believe that the current crop of FIA cages is meant to be more disposable (read crushes easier) to keep the occupants from absorbing most of the impact. Because of this, you want to use the shortest harnesses. There's some interesting reading on www.specialstage.com about all of this in relation to rally type crashes.

Dave

peter*g

iTrader: (55)

I guess I didn't really follow this. I use more of a road racing style cage, with a main hoop/horizontal crossbar/diagonal bar behind the driver/co-driver, and the harnesses mount to the crossbar. In the Evo, our main hoop is welded into a strengthened corner of the tub at the floor in front of the rear seat, with bars running forward gusseted into the B-pillars and the bars running backward attached to a strengthened rear shock tower.

That said, we design the cage to use a lot of the factory crush zones to absorb energy (such as the factory doors and door bars) and so I don't know how that changes the overall safety design relative to what you guys are running. I've always wondered why the WRC cars run their harnesses so far back, and it sounds like it's a plan to allow more movement to help dissipate energy on impact.