Lothars old cage fitting.. fits good but I am having a few issues..

Eric Mckenna · 10-21-2003, 09:05 AM

Here are some shots of the process..
The 2 things we... three really isssue I am having are as follows
1.Front left pillar bar bolt plate isn't sitting near as flush as the rest of the mounts..

2. the drivers side door will not allow me to retain the upper door molding.

3. the bars for the front windcreen pillars are too close to allow me to roll the window up or down if the doors are closed.

any tips on the issues?
Lothar did you have these problems?
if so how did you fix'em?

here are a few more pic's of her as I transfrom here into street/track fighter

Eric Mckenna · 09:10 AM

and.....

Eric Mckenna · 09:49 AM

DAMN RED FORD no respect! i tell ya .. no respect!ahahahah

oh well I have the entire WINTER to finish her up!

later guys..

Wil Ferch · 10-21-2003, 09:19 AM

Eric:
Is that a Momo 07 steering wheel ?

---Wil Ferch

BGCarrera32 · 10-21-2003, 09:37 AM

Eric- all of those floor pans are going to vary just a little bit from car to car depending on year and if some idiot has ever put a jack or a shop lift there. Shift your cage around and resettle it (unbolted) just to see if it squares up any better. You may also try some slight persuasion with a big rubber mallet (ask me how I know) to close the gap a little. If not, I'd shim the spots and make a mating plate that goes on the underside, such that the bolts go through the mating plate, then the floorboard, then cage plate on the inside, then finally the nut. As for how the bar intereferes with your doors, you might try shifting the whole cage forward or backward to gain clearance, and shimming the leftover. Find a machinist with a mill, and take patterns you've made to get the right thickness. Layering up non-corrugated cardboard (like from the back of a notebook pad) works good.

Good luck-
BG

BGCarrera32 · 10-21-2003, 09:41 AM

Another thing I would do is chunk off the sound deadening junk from the floorboards where you intend to bolt it down, and use minimum Grade 8.8 hardware (marked on the hex head) with nylock nuts for final install.

Eric Mckenna · 10-21-2003, 09:42 AM

Wil,
Yes, it is a Mod .07 MOMO.. nothing but a cheaper version of the CUP wheel.

Eric

Eric Mckenna · 10-21-2003, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BGCarrera32
Another thing I would do is chunk off the sound deadening junk from the floorboards where you intend to bolt it down, and use minimum Grade 8.8 hardware (marked on the hex head) with nylock nuts for final install.

hahahah! Yes I knowthe Mallet WELL!

and the sound deading has been gone for a long time that is bare metal, I had painted flat black so that shouldn't be a problem.
Thanks for the helpful tips!
I will need them, the thing went in well and then the small things surfaced ya know little things..
like the window crank issue

haha no biggie just a minor problem i'll just remove them they are dead weight anyhow! hahahah
Thanks again BG!
Ciao,
Eric

thrown_hammer · 10-21-2003, 09:49 AM

You are the man! That car looks sooo MEAN! Love it.

Eric Mckenna · 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by thrown_hammer
You are the man! That car looks sooo MEAN! Love it.

Thanks Shawn,
for the pat on the back for the car.. I like her alot myself.. she is my pride and joy!
I simply hope the cage doesn't have any type of "james Dean Curse" on it.
if you remember what happened to Lothars car!

Thanks again bro..
Eric

thrown_hammer · 10-21-2003, 10:08 AM

I really like that tail. When you putting on the bumper I sold ya?

Eric Mckenna · 10-21-2003, 10:18 AM

I gave it to a friend that was more in need than myself.. after he well had a shunt. haha so it's alredy in use on another 78SC bastard mobile. ahahahah!
I am going to wait and get a set later on.
after a lot of other stuff is removed and replaced with lighter weight items..

Eric

Lothar · Lothar's Garage

Eric,

I experienced the problems to which you refer. I have the window problem with the cage I have now. I plan on fabricating a shorter window crank to clear the front legs of the cage.

I had to remove the top rails to allow the door to close. Even then, you will have to coax the feet inboard to avoid contact with te door panel.

Once you decide how to position the feet on the floor and you install the backing plates, don't worry about the flatness of the floor. When you tighten the nuts the floor will flatten out. That's not a pleasant thought, but those are the realities of bolt in cages.

Can you imagine that I installed that cage by myself. I nearly killed myself trying to position it so the sleeves would slide into place.

Of course, I now sleep with my rubber mallet as we are closer than ever.

Eric Mckenna · 10-21-2003, 10:56 AM

HAHAHHA! Yeah I am getting pretty handy with the mallet!

I will get to issues worked out.. The shorter cranks will have to be done as well.. won't work otherwise.. no biggie.

I have stalled this all myself as well, I went ahead and cleaned up the knee bar nubs and just deleted it.. less weight and didn't like it anyhow.
to close to my knees. for my liking.
I have no wories about the floor pan getting falttened, haha as long as it all fots up right. I call it a success, i am a simple easy to please kinda guy!
hahaha
Thanks for the tips Lothar..
IS your new cage welded in?

Jack Olsen · 10-21-2003, 11:52 AM

KevinP73 shortened my window cranks, and did a nice job of it.

As you can see, the bolt-in side bars interfere with the pull handles on my doors. We left it that way in the interest of getting the car finished, but one of these days I'm going to reposition the handles to fit around the bars.

One thing, make sure you get high-impact padding for the cage, for the bars that are anywhere near your head. Without a helmet, a minor accident could bust your head open like a watermelon.

For the parts of the cage that would only break your arms and legs, the nerf-style padding is probably sufficient.

Eric Mckenna · 10-21-2003, 12:01 PM

Jack,
Thanks! That is just what Lothar and I need to do.
looks very clean the job there in the pic that is..Kevinp73 did a great job for you.
I will for sure get some padding. I have already got a knowt on the side of my skull. hahaha damn it hurt! almost like someone hittingme in the head with a steel pipe! hahahah joking!
Thanks Jack.

ipapilot · 10-21-2003, 01:11 PM

Looks like great fun Eric! Your car looks awesome as always and i really like that tail too! I've been debating a cage myself, but think I will just end up with a rollbar. Whatever happened with the lexan windows?

makaio · 10-21-2003, 03:00 PM

That's hardcore for a daily driver brother! Like Jack said, MAKE SURE & put some high impact foam on those bars!

bell · bell's Garage

uh-oh...eric has a cage

now you have the stregnth/protection to outrun those cops

in your pics the drivers side bar looks more tilted in than the passenger, maybe pull out the rubber mallet and try "readjusting" how the bars slip together.........

Lothar · Lothar's Garage

Eric,

THe new cage is a Stable Energies that is welded into the door sills. Fortunately the cage came with the car or my budget would never have allowed it. I think the cage costs over $1k and installation is about the same or more.