My 89 Fastback Build Up

[Swerv13]

In this photo, i have removed most of the interior, next is the dash and carpeting.
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843605-R1-00-0A_001.jpg
Believe me, the dash was fun to remove. ahhh yes.
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843605-R1-01-1A_002.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843605-R1-02-2A_003.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843605-R1-03-3A_004.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843605-R1-04-4A_005.jpg

and now to remove this black tar looking stuff which is sound deadening material. or as i like to refer to it....Dead Weight.
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843605-R1-05-5A_006.jpg

Im going to use Dry Ice to remove this tar crap. it freezes it and makes it extremly easy to remove. great stuff!
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843605-R1-17-17A_018.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843605-R1-20-20A_021.jpg

and now to grind out the chassis seam sealer! this stuff is a messy pain! after i grinded top surface i used an acedline torch and scrapers to get the rest out of the crack. this way i can stitch weld the seams!
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843605-R1-21-21A_022.jpg

Ugh, that took a long time! ok now for something easy! stiffer engine and transmission mounts from MEGAN RACING JAPAN!
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843605-R1-12-12A_013-1.jpg
here are the stock mounts....
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843605-R1-13-13A_014.jpg

and here are the MEGAN RACING mounts!
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843605-R1-14-14A_015.jpg

OK OK back to business! time to bend some Tubing for the Roll Cage! Im using 1.5" X .120" DOM Tubing. incase you dont know 1.5" is the outside diameter and .120" is the wall thickness.
drawing blueprints with measurments taken from the car, and using the bending die to find the tangent lines.
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843605-R1-24-24A_025.jpg

Time to start bending!!! (the dumbass next to the tubing bender isnt me, haha)
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843605-R1-06-6A_007.jpg

The Main Hoop is easy to bend! But the A Pillar down bars are the hardest! They are a compound bend! ahhh!
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843605-R1-23-23A_024.jpg
Okay, now its time to make the mounting plates for the main hoop. it needs to be mounted on a flat surface, so here we go!
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843606-R1-02-2A_003.jpg

and now to make the mounting plate to fit this spot perfectly!
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843606-R1-01-1A_002.jpg

does it fit? OH YES!
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843606-R1-03-3A_004.jpg

OK now to Do fitment of the main parts of the rollcage, and after some fine tuning, metal grinding and some positioning, im going to tack weld them in place. when i am happy with it, i will fully weld it all together!
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843605-R1-08-8A_009.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843606-R1-14-14A_015.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843606-R1-12-12A_013.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843606-R1-09-9A_010.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843606-R1-08-8A_009.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843606-R1-05-5A_006.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843606-R1-04-4A_005.jpg

ok now for the rear down bars, im taking them to the rear strut towers. and im going to use an exsisting hole to run them thru the chassis bracing. something like this...
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843606-R1-07-7A_008.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/843606-R1-06-6A_007.jpg


About to weld in the rear strut tower bar, i was planning to position the battery to this tube but im not sure about that. would the weight of the extension relocation kit cancel out the advantage of moving weight back? would i be better off with a small battery in the engine bay? OPINIONS please.
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/144503-R1-18-6A_019.jpg

Almost done with the cage here......see some of the seam welding on the rear wheelwell?
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/144503-R1-19-5A_020.jpg

OK look at the roof area....now some people (mostly drag setups) do a halo design, but i chose to make mine full A pillar tubes back to the main hoop. the compound bend makes it more complicated than a halo bend, i like this much better tho. OPINIONS PLEASE?
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/144503-R1-20-4A_021.jpg

HAHA I found thos Foam Squares in the sides of the chassis, now they are more usefull. Fuzzy dice hanging like testicals. my best fab job ever.
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/144503-R1-21-3A_022.jpg

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/144503-R1-24-0A_025.jpg

And doing some fitment decisions for the sideimpact Xbars with the stock seat.....
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/sweetcaged.jpg

And then this happend....
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/04-19-07_1804.jpg :sadwavey:

[timlush]

Is there anything MR doesn't make?

[Swerv13]

MR doesnt make a force field to shield from dumb 18yo boys driving large trucks into small sport cars.

[WagDatto]

I understand testing the durability of the cage, and effectiveness of the welds, but did you have to crash into it to really test it? C'mon, now, man! Haha, that sucks, any structural damage? Good luck!

[Swerv13]

it doesnt look like it in the last pic, but the strut tower was pushed onto the engine. :doh:

[boozels]

AHHH
That sucks

[JesusFreakDrifter]

hahahaha, sports car? you kill me, sorry about the accident though, however you are a great cage builder

[Silvia_S13]

thats an ugly cage =x

ur harness bar is straight and in a whack/low location. and ur box mount is weird lol, i dont like it when people mount there main hoop on the rear seats, its to far back.

[meme]

did you weld around the entire bar on the main hoop? some cages are really tight and always wondered how they weld the tubes near the roof.

[Swerv13]

My harness bar is in the correct location according to the IMPACT harness specs while also giving room to lower the seat in the future and keep the right angles. I will always mount my main hoop exactly where it is on this car. And yes the welds went all the way around the tubing, even near the roof. :whip:

[meme]

how much room is between the roof bar and the roof? got any pics? love the work!.

[an_orange_s2k]

that sucks hope u gave it to the kid

[Swerv13]

no other pix besides whats posted. when i welded the roof area joints i couldnt see what i was doing with the welding mask on so i used the super dark goggles i stole from the plasma cutter area to get me head closer to the roof. I dont recomend that, but it worked. the gun tip hardly fit, i had to clean it up good before hitting these areas to compensate for the somewhat weird angles i was doing.

[nixad]

you should have threw on some fender braces too

[meme]

i tried one and totally forgot about welding the roof joints. hahaa so i had to start all over. in the end i gave up casue i waited so long to start the new cage and got lazy. anyways great work.

[BustedS13]

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/144503-R1-21-3A_022.jpg

the land of race car ya-ya's
the land where you can't change lanes

[Swerv13]

hahaha i was wondering if someone would notice those. i found the foam pieces in the chassis right behind the door jam.

[PoorMans180SX]

So It's totaled then?

That sucks.

[Swerv13]

yeah it did suck, but now im happy with this car....

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/l_9a6568dfbd6cac7deb5158b2205084d8.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/0319081255.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/l_4dd6daf30dd7d7e0be59d8642ba26d35.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/l_169149edf608d05f9e54272d608f253d.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/l_ba130868578764bb8987147830ea4f1a.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/enginehoistKA24e.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/KA24de.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/s13enginebay.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/engineinside.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/infinity42q/testdriveafterengineswap.jpg

[blackcoupe]

the pictures look like they were taken in 1989 hahaha.

[Swerv13]

haha i wish i was doing this at that age! cell phone camera!

[chibo]

did you weld around the entire bar on the main hoop? some cages are really tight and always wondered how they weld the tubes near the roof.
Cut holes in the floor and drop the cage down so they can get to the top.

[Swerv13]

thats what my chassis fabrication instructor told me todo. woulda been easier, but i didnt. haha maybe next time!