Roll cage update.
I received a call from TSR that the car was ready but they wanted me to pop down to have a look so went down early one Saturday. All looked great, apart from half of the dash, steering column, shuttle, engine missing. I didn't think how much they needed to remove to fit the cage. I had removed as much as i could, or so i thought lol
Here are some pictures from the Saturday. We collected it on the following Monday but it was raining, hence the bubble wrap at the windows. Oh yeah, they were missing too! lol
International spec cage with a few extra bits added. I didn't need it going through the bulkhead to the front struts so that saved a bit. Custom gear shift tower added also. I thought i might as well put a pretty good cage in seeing as i have come this far with the shell. It also adds to it's value but will limit it from some race series. I don't intend on selling it any time soon though [:s]
Back at my workshop it was time to mock a few things up before the inside was painted. Last thing i would want to do is ruin fresh paint on the inside.
Let's start with the hand brake.
Oh dear, that doesn't work. Let's move on lol
I loosely assembled the dash bar and column back together so we could start fitting the dashboard. This needed lots of cutting to fit around the two uprights. It doesn't help that the dash falls right on the bend also. I wanted to keep the front of the dash intact so no cut's through the vents. I have seen some shocking jobs of these done so it took a good half a day to get this fitted.
I had to cut into the dash more than i wanted to get it into position so once it's in there is quite a gap. I can cover this with a plate at a later date but it's the lesser of the two evils. The front stand intact and i might be able to get the vents working still.
Fixed the hand brake. Had to make up some brackets to move it towards the driver. It's in the middle of the car now so i don't chop my fingers off. To be honest i could do away with the whole thing but it creates more problems than it's worth.
I thought i would leave this stuff in as i know what a ***** it was to remove on the MK2. However i spilt petrol on it removing the tank and it reacted a little so had to remove it or it would show in the paint and bug me. I wish i had done it before the cage was installed though [><]
It's actually a lot easier to remove than the MK2 stuff but i suppose it's only been there 10 years, not 20+
I originally purchased Cobra Suzuka's for this car. I had them in the MK2 in GT width and they were very comfortable but we did slop around in them. I knew at the time if i did another car that i would get the same seats in standard width, so that's what i did.
When they arrived i got one out to test it and i couldn't actually get my bum into the seat :thumbd:. I never knew how much difference 30mm could make as i have a standard width Evolution pro on another project and that is the perfect width. I had no option but to send them back and swap them for two Evolution pro's instead.
I had to test fit the harness as it seems a little short. I'm looping around the rear roll cage bar which is between the rear struts. It's further back than most that i see but they have much more webbing left on their straps so i think it's a combination of the bar being that far back and the harness being shorter than most. I think it will be fine but will check it again once everything is bolted in tight and i can pull the straps in nice and tight.
The door side lap belts fall right into the standard seat belt captive nuts, much like the MK2.
The inner ones require welding in so i let my old man do that while i worked on the gear shift tower.
There was a little side to side movement in the tower so it needed changing. Now is the perfect time to do that so i set about beefing it up. I removed the two bars holding the actual shifter and welded in a flat plate to hold it properly. I can also mount the factory ABS and TC switches in front of the gear stick. I wont need them when it's mapped but have to switch them off manually currently. I will have to see if i can reach them once strapped in or might have to put them on a riser plate facing the driver.
I also changed the length of the side bars, making them shorter and bolted under the shifter means this is now very strong. There is no movement it in at all.
A date was booked for the painting so worked a few late nights on it. The rear struts had some spot weld drill marks on from the removal of rear brackets so i wanted to so something about this. I welded them up and smoothed it over. I gave it a spray of primer to make sure it was OK.
Just had to mask up the rest of the parts i didn't want painting then. It was easier to paint with the gearstick in place than remove it again so i covered this over. Also i wrapped the cables up to the pedals and put a big bag over them.
Gave the cage a rubdown to remove the sharp edges and welding blobs. Pushed it outside and gave it a couple of coats of etch primer.
All done ready for painting! :D
