Pictures of my circle track RX7
 

Our 1st race is May 20th. It's going to be a race just to get it together by then.

Thats definatly not a race seats Id want to spend alot of time in!

Not to be offensive or anything, but I see some very serious safety concerns with your car.

What sanctionning body lets you on track with that "rollcage"? Especially with circle track where (at least in the pros) there's TONS of contact. The "cage" doesn't even have door bars, lateral, longitudinal, or diagonal bracing. There's also no seat back brace. In the SCCA they require all non-FIA rated seats to have a back brace installed that connects it to the cage. The SCCA rules are sort of the standard for amateur racing in North America. NO aluminum seat is FIA approved. If you were in an accident in that seat the way it is, there's a really good chance that it'd get seriously bent out of shape, potentially causing serious driver injuries.

I'd fear for my life going on track wheel to wheel racing in that. Because of that I certainly wouldn't race it.

AIS 12a project car
 

WOW! First of all,Didn't I say it was going to be a race just to get it done. Take your BS somewhere else OK. We've been racing circle track for 5 years now. The door bars are on the floor near the car, but we aren't done inside so when we are I know they will be there because this won't race or pass TECH without them and a whole lot more, Like a plate of steel 20" x 30" on the outside of the door bars on the driver side to protect the Torso and upper body (All classes have this rule). The 12a just got put in Saturday. Guys like you are the reason I left the VW Vortex. Guess you guys exist on every forum. Can't wait to cut someone down can you. I thought that this was what the Moderators were for! Anyone else want to post with quality posts great, keep it positive or don't bother. This car is being put together by High School Students at my shop. They don't need and thing but encouragement and direction.
Tim

18 sec laps on a 1/2 mile track you do the math
We only allow Aluminum Seats all classes
RULES @ www.AISpeedway.com
"4 cyl D&D High Output Sport Compacts"
For those of you who own Artic Cats that is the same D&D Power Sports Sponsoring this class. We run 1 second slower than the Pro Late Models at our Track and we put on one heck of a show.

he wasn't trying to insult you, your just taking it the wrong way oval so chill.

I wasn't trying to cut you down, I was just trying to make sure that you were aware of the numerous safety problems that I noticed from the pictures. I had no idea that the cage wasn't finished. I assumed that you were done with it, as most people don't paint a cage that's only half finished, because why bother when you have to strip it off again to do more welding? The standard practice is to do it all at once, then paint it. It might be a good idea for you to have a look at the SCCA club racing rulebook for their section on rollcage construction. That should give you some ideas of where to put some extra reinforcing into the cage.

Anyway, the rest of the car is looking pretty good, especially for high school students having done the work.

He's not running SCCA, because last I checked (and bear in mind I've been a member for 15 years) SCCA doesn't do much oval racing. Also, as somebody that has done oval racing, they have rules, too. I'm well aware most snooty road racers think they're superior to everyone, but there's a LOT more oval cars in the States than road course cars...

As far as painting the cage... you obviously haven't lived anywhere with high humidity. It's a lot easier to scrape some paint off than clean a shitload of rust when you're on a staggered build schedule.


Back on topic:

Lookin' good, hope you guys can pull it off. What waterpump pulley is that?

You guys are lucky to be able to run an RX-7. Most of the tracks around Michigan have rules specifically saying "NO ROTARY ENGINES".

Go easy on the other guy about the cage. I feared for your safety before I read down the tread.

yeah AIS banned the rotary for a while until 2 years ago thats why hes building the car because theres too many hondas on the track plus i think a 7 and a couple of VW scirocco's on the field make it interesting to see. like he said is not done yet, still alot to do specially with the rollcage

the motor install looks clean man.

Good job.

12a
 

Hey A.J. Thanks Alot. It does look good in there doesn't it. Eddie that's the car the 12a came out of, A.J.'s. I hope we can do it justice in ours. SORRY for coming on so strong guys but there are alot of people trying to get this car together and some of them are young and in High School. Free work is hard to come by so I'm gonna support my guys. I will keep posting on this car and hopefully it will be mired in a point race all season long and snag a few checkerd's as well. More pictures to come as it progresses and maybe some video with sound.
Tim

Wow - several things occur to me.

1) Aluminum seats are pretty much not FIA certified. Nor are most fiberglass and steel framed seats. Most Kevlar / Carbon fiber ones are at a pretty high premium. Of course if you put a quality back brace behind them - they are. I run aluminum seats and they perform well.

2) Lots of people like to jump in and establish their authority by hacking on every thing that they percieve that is "wrong" with your build. As a general matter of course, any high performance driving competition is almost certain to have rules which means that almost any car participating must pass tech. Regardless of whether a complete stranger on the internet agrees with what you did to your car to make it capable of being operated on the racetrack, your only real concern is that it passes tech with your sanctioning body. You should build accordingly.

3) Even after having said all of that, I feel obligated to say "Settle down Francis!" If you post in a public forum you are in fact soliciting public opinion. You don't really get to tell people that they can only answer if their comments are positive! If you don't want negative comments, then learn not to post - it's very simple.

hey AJ nice to meet you :) thats a nice motor you sold us

The car seems to be a waste only turning left. But I've never circle track raced so maybe it's bad ass and I need to build one to. I think I would get dizzy though.

Car looks good man hope you finish in time. Sounds like you have some sort of deadline.

On anything less than a mile you don't have time to get dizzy.

Circle track racing takes a lot more skill and patience than road racing. A fraction of the passing opportunities and much quicker laptimes mean somebody that can work around the guy in front of him is at a lot more of a premium there than roadcourse stuff. Of course, you can always just lay the bumper to 'em. But you can do that either place....