Looking Great so far !

Just a shot of the top of the fuel cell:

http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/a...FuelCell38.jpg

Had to put some fuel line on the outside of the braided line to make sure it doesn't abraid the kevlar surge box:

http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/a...FuelCell39.jpg

Had to use special Teflon lined braided line with special fittings (speed flex hose) for in tank fuel use since there are new unpublished additives to some fuels, causing the standard rubber lined braided lines to swell.

http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/a...FuelCell40.jpg

Lost 20 pounds of polar mass by cutting that butt ugly spare tire tub out:

http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/a...ightening2.jpg

http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/a...ightening5.jpg

I just need to make a small sheet barrier to close it back off from the elements. There will be a lot more work stripping the rhino-liner I previously put down on the floor in the front. I am thinking either sand blasting or using that aircraft remover. I am not looking forward to that.

awsome project!!!!!

good luck and and enjoy the reward

Your in a grey area on removing that wheel well. The way to make it indisputable would be to make sure the fuel cell occupies a fraction of an inch of the space it used to be in. Or the 'floor' can be recessed for a muffler.

Looking good.

Wow, the cage rules allow bent/curved side bars?

That's scary!

It says somewhere in the GCR about you're allowed to remove as much material as you want as long as it doesn't require additional reinforcement.

I think the muffler is a great idea! Or I could use it for the fuel cell filler or something. Thanks!

That material removal is about the back side of hoods and doors for lightening if you aren't using an alternate material.

You can't create holes in the chassis where there was none before unless its written out in the rules. One example is a hole in the core support for engine air behind a headlight opening. Even then they specifically limit the size.

Your best bet is to 'need' it gone for fuel cell or muffler mounting. Or, dig through the scrap pile and keep it handy so you don't have to cut up another car to get the damn piece later when someone calls you on it.

I've never had to interperet rules before. I'll keep it around if I need it.

Edit: Just a random thought... could it be pulled off if I modified it to be a jack point? The place I part time work at jacks their ITA Integras from the same point, its really convenient.

What are the rules on Lexan? Or something similar?

Yes - 1/4" front and something thinner in the rear.

1/8 anywhere else, no front door windows in the 'up' position when running(so take them out, you don't need to haul them around the track)

im jealous! nice work keep us posted

You still have your wheels and the Kazz?

What are your plans for those?

I plan to sell the KAAZ and the wheels. I need neither. Want them?

Thank you, although with all this work on the fuel cell, the first thing I'll probably do is crash the car into the tire wall in the left rear corner and smash all that stuff. Owell.

If the rules don't say you can, then you can't.

What I would do is, for every thing you plan on doing, highlight the specific passage in the GCR where it specifically says you can do it.

Another thing to watch out for is "you may do X but it may serve no other purpose". So, to invent a rule instead of wading through a GCR I'm not entirely familiar with, being allowed to make brake ducts doesn't mean you can make a massive front spoiler/splitter arrangement with a couple holes and hoses attached and call it a legal brake duct.

My absolute all-time creative interpretation of a GCR, was "Any hood may be used." So the unnamed party ziptied a Folger's lid to a hood hinge and said "There's my hood." It met the letter of the rules but not the spirit. He said that if a protest on it was upheld, he'd tape some Saran Wrap over the hood opening... Next year, the rule was rewritten :) Now it says something like "bodywork is open but car must be recognizable as the model entered." Which completely threw out my plan for hacking the useless front 18" off of the car...

That cut out is fine. I'm only racing regionals. It says I can not create any non stock openings in the bodywork; that's not the body, that's the chassis. That's my interpretation.

If I went national, it may be a matter of concern. This is my first real race car, and I'm not going to be winning right away, especially on a national circuit. I'm not worried.

Finished with the fuel cell! FINALLY!
 

Bracket for fuel filter and external pump:

http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/a...FuelCell45.jpg

http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/a...FuelCell46.jpg

http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/a...FuelCell44.jpg

Plumbing the surge tank to the external pump:

http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/a...FuelCell47.jpg

http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/a...FuelCell48.jpg

http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/a...FuelCell49.jpg

From the GCR:

The body, unibody, frame and their components can be lightened, provided that structural rigidity is not compromised to the point of requiring additional support. No non-stock openings can be created in the bodywork. The lightening of the cars structure can not create any openings into the cockpit, or from the wheel well to the engine/trunk compartments. Existing seams in the unibody and frame can be welded.

I don't see this as a hole in the bodywork or an opening directly from the wheel well to the trunk since it will be sealed due to fire safety reasons of the fuel cell. I'm adding a jack point there anyway, for convenience.

yes i do... ill call in a little bit. Driving thru flint today. going to grandmas for christmas.
keep your wheels and kazz around for the time being.

it seems that these rules are somewhat open to interpretation.

Will you be using that huge aeromotive fuel pump from your more rambincious turbo days?

I'm using the bosch 044 pump as seen above from the old turbo days. Flow tested at 375 liters/hour at 75 psi... lots of fuel for an EP car...

Base plates took all day today. Only got 1 completeley welded and another one mostly cut. Then I have the fronts. Also I started stripping the interior for weld and paint prep.

I'll post pics tomorrow.

Started Stripping Interior, Prepping Cage, and Made 2 Base Plates
 

Never ever EVER rhino-line your interior. Its such a PITA to get up. This was from before when i had the turbo. Worst idea of my life.

Before (the edges were covered by the dash, this is why it looks so crude).

http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/a...0-24-09016.jpg



Sort of after, still finishing it. Will end up going to bare metal by the time I'm done. What a pain in the dick.



http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/a...tStripping.jpg



Base plates:

http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/a...asePlates1.jpg

http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/a...asePlates2.jpg



Mocking the cage with dental floss:

http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/a...lCagePrep1.jpg

http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/a...lCagePrep2.jpg

http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/a...lCagePrep3.jpg




All non-required bars are 1" x 0.049 wall and very lightweight. Total weight of tubing purchased was around 125 lbs, I won't use all of it for the cage. Around half of the tubing will be used for templates.

The dental floss showed that I have to relocate my seat. I'll have to chop the factory seat brackets out and figure out a way to mount the seat to the ground. I'll also be ditching the sliding seat bracket. I'll gain about 4 inches of head room this way, and I won't have to run a bent harness bar move the main hoop back to under the vertical connection between the b-pillars. Instead, the main hoop will be high - just under where the sun room motor was mounted, which is as high as the cage can be.

Looks like one of those security laser mock-ups!

If I may make a suggestion, run all the tubes in the rear to the actual shock mount tower. All the load is coming into the car from the springs inside those towers. Going anywhere but there and you lose the performance advantage you might gain from all the required safety weight.

I just wrapped a plate around the whole tower so I could put a bunch of tubes to the same spot.

Be sure to keep your plates under 100 sq in., 10" max in any one dimension.