As I see it VE is my best option as the car will be used for very technical gymkhanas primarily, I'll have the bottom end performance as well the top end side, even when using other cams like the N1's, that coupled to a decent management system, for instance, activate the VE solenoids only above 4k rpm and above 70% Throttle opening, this will help with a set of wild cams kicking in during a sharp corner etc.

arrr you chopped the bottoms of the coilovers !!!

nice work ,everything about this build is perfect ,the attention to detail and fabrication is awesome!

great work !

hehe, yes, but hold on their is method to the madness, hopefully after the 2nd of May I can share the updated pics.

26 April 2011 - Roll Cage Finished - Rear Fenders - Rear Shocks

Fortunately for me due to the amount of Public Holidays we had this year in April, we were able to spend a week working on my car, due to this we made very good progress and is now in the position to start with the body work preparations. As I said previously, this was the one task I did not look forward to, but at this stage I'm more than willing to get back to the car and start with sanding and prepping. I had two goals for the week, one being to complete the roll cage, second being the rear fenders.
















Work started on the roll cage, 3 components had to be done; Harness mounting pipe with retainers, front shock tower supports and mounting plates. First order of business was the front shock tower supports. We started with making the pipe and mounting bracket as we realised very early that we will have no space to weld around the pipe, the same with the inside, the reason why we opted to use a mounting bracket on the inside, this allowed us a longer and stronger weld than only half a pipe. These parts were aligned and welded together as one complete unit before welding the shock tower reinforcement plate to the tower while keeping the inner mounting bracket in place, while I was busy cleaning up things around and below the shock tower my father continued with the inner welding. After all this fun and games, I will need to repaint my nicely painted inner fenders, luckily a small price to pay for the added rigidity.




















We continued with the harness mounting piece, we opted for this option as we did not have enough space between the seats and the cross reinforcing the main roll bar. I went thru a few different options and decided on the current option. I thought ahead and had harness retainers cut to be welded on the pipe before welding it in place, an very clever idea I saw a while back on rally cars. These retainers was marked and welded in their correct position behind the seats and the pipe welded to the cage and afterwards reinforced with small pipes between it and the cross to make the whole thing much stronger. I opted to have two mounting plates welded to the middle part of the cage, this allow me positions to mount a communication device and cameras.
































Rear Fenders, this was something I just wanted to get this behind me in order to get the car as low as possible and have some travel, but seeing as this was the first time doing something like this new there will be enough surprises to waste a lot of time. First we positioned the car in order to get it at desired ride height, after a lot of inspection we marked the first cut, not knowing what to expect we started cutting, right from the start we knew there is a lot of body filler used on the rear side of the car, suggesting the car went thru a few knocks in its days and have the scares to prove it. Once both sides was completed, we were shocked at the ease it would require to join the inner and outer panels again, seeing that we wanted to get the car as low as possible but still try to avoid welding in strips to join the panels. After inspecting the fenders further we marked the fenders again and did another few cuts more and finished it all off. The end result being a car that is level at +- 100mm clearance between ground and front cross member with +-65mm downwards clearance between the rear wheels and fender. The body filler around the fenders was removed in order for welding, the car being a 1972 model and living at the coast have a few bad panels with rust, so welding was quite tricky, Gas was used for welding and brazing and the Tig welder on the better metal.






































Since we know had clearance we started with rear coil overs. Originally designed for a Mazda RX7 allot of work had to be done to make them fit this particular car. M16 Rod ends and pillow ball bearings bought, the bearings alone costing R1200, then we had retainers machined for the pillow balls and I had to come up with some sort of top spring retainers. I used some Nylon and machined a set of retainers, these end up looking so good, I will use them to get the car done, before just going out and making aluminium units. The biggest reason for using these bearings was the fact that I didn't want to induce any form of movement stress on the shock shafts, due to the mounting position being inwards and slightly to the rear, the other factor being the shock adjusters position on the top. After careful positioning we tacked the shock mounts in position, installed the shocks and inspected the setup for any problems before taking the pipe out on which they mount to do the final welding. The end result looks great and only after testing I'll really know if it will work or not, but nothing suggest any problems, at least we have done the mounting in such a way that the ride height can be adjusted upwards and even more downwards, pre load set on the springs and I can raise the car 25mm by moving one bolt per side for use with street tyres.






During my time at the car I found the time to start with my modifications on the pedal box, as it has a little play on the pedals that I did not enjoy, the best solution I could came up with was to drill the holes in the pedals and body to 14mm and make my own one piece solid shaft to restrict sideways movement, as the original setup used to separate shafts. I also had time to play around with my mock up 260mm rotor on the 4pot Nissan Calliper in 13" wheels, it seems that the calliper will clear, but to be on the safe side I need to cut a mock up rotor bell in order to fasten the components better to make 100% sure before ordering the rotors.












Some parts arrived from Rally Design in the UK finally arrived after some fun and games at customs. Well at least we have them know and can start to fit them, on my list I had: 3 x Brake Reservoirs, 3 Brake Reservoir Drop pipes, Lockable Aerocatches, M10 Clevis pins, Non return valves,
Jazz Remote filler and some very special grommets, these install in a 20mm hole, then you can run anything thru them between 8mm to 16mm by just cutting them shorter. At last my first set of wheels arrived that I will be using for racing, a set of 13" x 8j RMD MiniLite blanks, I will need to have them drilled to 4/100 pcd, as these rims are made for Rally Design to be used on Ford Escorts you can only get them in 4/108pcd or blank. The finish on the rims are quite good, the only downside is that they are a little heavier than expected, but then again I was comparing them to a set of 13" x 8j Compomotive Wheels that my brother bought a few weeks ago. Know I'm just waiting on my 2nd set of 13' x 8j wheels to arrive, not as pretty as these, but they will do the job perfectly.

On the next visit the preparation will start on the body to get things in order for painting. At least I have the power of a Orbital Air Sander by my side to help with sanding. At least if we run into bad weather over weekends we have some mechanical work to keep us busy.

Now thats a roll cage!!
Very nice :)

In regards to the cage, I tried my best to what I had available to copy the FIA specs, but nowhere close to what is really needed by the FIA for rally use, the cage looks mean, but I must say, not a lot of fun involved in building this thing, modding and installing the coil overs was far more fun. The windscreen pillar reinforcements sure as hell does not help with getting in and out of the car, atleast the old man can still get in easy enough.

How much will it cost me for you to come around and do my coupe

Aawww knock on watts :o

That coil over setup is awesome ! I had a similar idea with mine but I gave up and now im just going to put shockys in it

Awesome work ,keep it up!

Hehe, I need a decent set of 1200 rear light clusters and some mirrors that mount on the doors.

The biggest secret is planning and taking your time, walk around scrapyards and get some idea what you are looking at, plan and just start, do not stop until it is done.

Oh, and just freakin do it, if you think it could work, just get it done.

hey mate, i'm just about to buy some springs for my rear coil overs for my four link, what spring rates front and rear did you decide on?
What size swaybars front and rear are you running?
Cheers

Hi nick_m

I'm still far away from swaybars, but thinking of using something in the region of 22mm-26mm in front as a start. Rear I'll first leave out.

Front Springs would be 400 - 500lbs/inch
Rear 300lbs/inch as a start

I used 450lbs/inch springs on the Ute with the A14 and that worked quite good, the only problem was the shocks was valved to soft to keep up. We have an exchange program on racing springs here in Cape Town, South Africa which helps a lot for setup.

If you are going to use your car on the road, stay away from rates this high, it is quite a crappy ride.