UPDATE!!

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April, 11 2014: Pulled my car into the driveway to start the tear down. I will be using a KP GT1 kit for the build.


I started on the prototype 50mm aluminum overfenders a month prior. I will be styling the body lines similar to those of the FC because they are both aggressive, yet stylish. Expect to see more progress on the aluminum wide body towards the end of the build.


I picked up some doors from a friend and proceeded to completely gut them.


Even went as far as removing the brace behind the skin.


S13 convertible doors are 100lbs each before gutting. After gutting coupe doors, they’re only 20lbs each.


Some people may not fully understand just how heavy the vert doors are. I saved 160lbs of weight by swapping to the gutted doors.




Next step was to pull the fully built KA24DE-T featuring an awesome KAMAK Dynamics TD06-20g at 15psi.




After a while, I started getting lazy, so I needed some motivation. I got an insider tip from Cosmis Racings that a new wheel was coming soon, so I waited and purchased one of the first sets of the 18x11’s in black chrome. Needless to say that shiny wheels make me happy, so back to work I went.


Looks like my prototype fenders fit on point with the new wheels just as I planned.


I ordered over 120ft of DOM tubing to build the cage and front end with.


I removed the sound deadening using dry ice and isopropyl alcohol.




Main hoop time. This is my first time building a cage so I’m learning as I go. The hoop is made of 1.75”x.120” DOM, The set back harness bar and diagonal brace are made of 1.5”x.120 and .095” DOM tube all TIG welded together.






I began laying out the dash brace. I won’t be running forward-down tubes off the main hoop/halo, so I tied directly into the A-pillar area/bulkhead for strength.




Since I won’t be running forward bars off the hoop, it is very important that I make the main hoop is rigid as possible. I incorporated a To-and-Thru support box design to brace the main hoop in more than one structural plane of the chassis.




More weight reduction! Since there won't be any rear passengers, I removed the rear seat brace/seat belt assembly and also removed the boxed strut brace because it’s ugly and heavy.






Next is the intricate door bars. Here I used regular mild steel ERW tube to practice the upper door bar, good thing I did because I had to revise the design before I made the final DOM version.


Triangles! Since I won’t be utilizing forward down tubes, I need to make the door bars as strong as possible to successfully join the front of the chassis to the rear of the chassis. I’m trying to compensate for the lack of a roof by doing this.






Here you can see the additional tubular braces that I added to the front and rear of the door bars to tie the entire structure together.


Welding outdoors sucks because slight breezes can cause these crazy looking colors after welding.


Driver side door bar is a mirror image.


Just a rad picture.


Close up of the tube merge.


Now that the door bars are pretty much done I can move onto the fun part. The front end.


With the help of my friend, Zach, we pulled off the upper cowl panel to better route and access the upper frame tubes into the dash bar.




Fully welded and completed driver side door bars.


It’s nice to look at it every now and then. My vision is finally becoming a reality.


Turns out that my friend needed a clean front clip for his s13 hatch so why not give him mine. He came down to help with the removal. I’m always trying to produce quality work so even when it comes to stuff I remove and cut out it isn't half assed.




We spent a couple hours removing the entire front clip by cutting all the spot welds and placing two specific cuts to the upper rails. It all came of in one clean undamaged piece.




This is the car’s current state as of today August 1, 2014.


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Originally Posted by OBEEWON Dudes voice makes my arm feel punchy.

Originally Posted by Literally anyone Literally anything

Simplicity is the key to brilliance

UPDATE!!

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August 2, 2014 - After removing the front clip, I went ahead and removed all of the lines and parts from the engine bay along with the wheels and coilovers.


I wasn’t done removing the rest of the front clip. I spent about half an hour cutting out all the spot welds in tight locations that I wouldn't be able to remove easily after the next step.




Now it was time to make a jig that would support the strut tower tops in the exact OEM locations as I build the tubular structure around them. The OEM tops will be thrown away after they have served their purpose. I will be using custom made tops once I design them in Solidworks.






I continued to cut spot welds and placed two specific cuts to remove the rest of the front clip.


Now we get to the fun part, the new front end. I spent about an hour taking all the measurements I needed to make a prototype upper strut support for the passenger side.






My goal is to gain as much clearance as possible while maintaining better than OEM structural rigidity.


If you are familiar with the previous stages of my vert, then you know that I love to run it low. This factory upper frame rail has always been the limiting factor. But not anymore because I easily gained 1.5” of clearance above the tire!




Here you can see how it ties into the dash bar, vertical tube, and upper door bar.


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Originally Posted by Wanabe Yooooooooooooooooooo hot fire son

Originally Posted by eastcoaststeeze so killer dude, I love the door bars

Originally Posted by tx240ss STOP IT RIGHT NOW..... you are making my vert look like shit. can I buy your old roll bar?

Originally Posted by da_crew10 Props on the skills you've acquired .

Originally Posted by samuelmetalx digging this too much. proud to have your fab work on my car, my man

Originally Posted by om3ga Damn, very nice to see someone disassembling things legitimately. Awesome build.

Originally Posted by hellion240sx Wow. Congratulations on winning everything.

Originally Posted by LBCtoofortee Matt is amazing

Originally Posted by HighwaystarJC wow now thats some progression

Originally Posted by Banana_Cute Nicely done. But OCT 2014 For FD is right a round the corner. Good luck!

Originally Posted by killer240 That's some nice weld! This is gona be so Gangster, I can't wait to see the front tubed. I'm so jealous of your zeta 2. It's so clean.

Originally Posted by Maiku240sxS14 Wow...this is impressive! Nice work! Curious, you do all this at home? Bending the tubes and notching them?

UPDATE!!

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You can see the final DOM versions of the new outer strut supports. They are made of 1.5”x.120” DOM tube.




Next up was to make a wrap around type inner support, which is braced in numerous locations. You can see two of the three braces in this photo, the third brace for each side will be made later on for a specific reason.




Since the OEM upper frame rail was cut off at the firewall I decided to box it up with a ⅛” plate and add another brace to tie into the original structure. Just a close up of the 65 degree notch and the compound angle miter with no gaps on either end.


Trying to get as comfortable as possible.












So proud of these beads although I still have much to learn!






After some precise measurements and angle readings I went ahead and cut off the ugly factory rails. I will be replacing them with 2” x 4” x 3/16” steel rectangular tubing. Stay tuned this week for how I splice them into the remaining factory rails.


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Originally Posted by ka-titties i've been following your build on instagram. thanks for posting the link to this thread. now i can see full size pics.

Originally Posted by jsu1012 awesome. count me in on the metal overs when you start making them. take my moneys.

Originally Posted by 1on1 Any plans on making alu s14 fenders?

Originally Posted by Nezahualcoyotl WOW! awesome build do far. Wish I had your skills

Originally Posted by S13MATT Looking so sick bro, keep up the great work!

Originally Posted by Lil_D jeez matt youre too damn cool!!! looks great i need to take another trip down and see this beast

Originally Posted by KevinEdgar Good work man, I'm currently taking Arc welding and can't wait to get to TIG.

UPDATE!!

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So I recently decided the factory firewall looks ugly with all of the useless holes for the climate control system, and old brake and clutch pedal assemblies. That will be removed soon, for now I removed the steering column support and other small miscellaneous brackets that are spot welded to the upper cowl area.




Here you can see one of the three relief cuts that I made in order to insert the new frame rail in an inch. I then reshaped the old rail to match the new rails profile and tacked it in place.




I then triple checked all of my measurements and the angles on the new frame rails to ensure they are exactly in the same position as the old OEM rails. After it was all in spec I went ahead and welded them permanently in place, you can see a Rosette weld in the second picture along with the temporary Jig/brace to hold the width of the rails.




Next up I plotted and precisely drilled the holes for the temporary OEM crossmember. I was even able to drop in the OEM paired bolts through with no binding or any fitment issues.










Now I put my 3D design skills to work. I came up with 3 designs, from complex to simple, for the strut top plates. Each one was tested at the max load. They would take if the coil over was fully compressed (6" compression 10k springs = 3360 lbs of force). I over engineered these top plates to take over 10,000 lbs of force.








These top mount designs will incorporate a .75” offset to widen the front track and allow for more angle. I made an exact model of the PBM Pro camber/caster plate to make sure I won't have any interference with my design.

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