Project 73 911 R/RS -- Week 9-10
 

Well, things are definitely moving along and the car may be running in a few weeks. In the last 2 I got the cage painted, dash in, oil cooler and all fittings ready, lexan windows and the shifter in. The plastic body panels can all be fitted and bolted on in about 15 minutes.

Cage is RSR style with front and rear suspension pick-ups of my own design backed up by tons of research and talking with folks at Gunnar, etc. I've seen a lot of cages in a lot of cars ranging from amazing $80K race car builds with bird-poop welds to cages being bolted/welded directly to the floor to, well you name it. I wanted something so much better, safer and this is it.

I wanted a bright interior that would complement the someday Aga Blue exterior that would give me a "machine tool" look. Something very purposeful and no-nonsense, so I went with light machine gray enamel. A few pics:


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1087575900.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1087575914.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1087575926.jpg

the Mazda oil cooler is also coming along. orignal cooler mounted.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1087576406.jpg

I then cut of the femail AN8 mounting bosses with the grinder, a 6.5 inch wheel and a steady hand. I packed the inside with plastic to avoid shavings in the cooler. the good part is that the plastic melted a little and trapped any loose Al dust.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1087576520.jpg

I then took the cooler with AN12 males and have them Tig'ed on. they also cleaned the threaded openings up and matched them to the fittings. It's ready to go.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1087576619.jpg


I found some 1/8th inch Lexan and made some windows. The sides will get NACA ducts. These are in rough dimensions now and need edge -finishing to straighten out any waves. I cut these to just be glued/siliconed into place and will glue the NACA ducts on, then Dremel out the opening. The rear will be screwed into place along with silicone. Al bars should be easy to fab up.

If I made a short run of these, does anyone want them?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1087576137.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1087576188.jpg

Although a small job, getting the shifter in somehow made it a real car again.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1087576354.jpg

This weekend is big! I'll be making AN6 lines for the fuel cell, AN12 lines for the oil cooler, getting the 3.2 Motronic wiring harness in, pedal cluster, Mercedes master cylinder and brake lines too.

WOW!

Cage looks very well designed from a rigidity perspective. How about some pics of the cage in the trunk / engine compartment?

The gray is sharp.

Every time you post........DANG! I am just in awe!

Very nice work. I was talking with James at the Watkins Glen club race, he did very nice work.

How come you didn't tie in the a- or b-pillars?

How about running an aluminum tube down next to the tunnel to put the fuel and oil lines through, ala the RATT RSR?

I also taked to James ( #717, Blk) at the Glen.....

How come we Pelican heads never seem to meet ??

--Wil

Outstanding! I'm saving this link along with the rest of yours.

Very nice ride! Great color!

FYI - You should see if the oil cooler clears the front bumper as there is very little clearance between the tub and front bumper in the long hood cars.

For the oil cooler to be effective, the air needs to flow out the back side. With the cooler flush mounted to the nose panel it will not work effectively. You may need to cut the nose panel to allow the air to exit the back side of the cooler, ala RSR's. Another option would be to mount the cooler inside the tub, cut an opening in the tub then fabricate some ductwork so the air runs through the cooler and out. An added benefit of the cooler in the tub is when you go farming or there is a fender bender the oil cooler is out of harms way. The fiberglass bumpers provide little protection.

Did you open up the Mazda cooler to take out the stuff for the thermostat? It looks like you cut a chunk off and re welded it.

More great work! keep it up!

Will you were there also? I kept trying to meet up w/ Jim but never did. HAd a nice chat w/ John Colesante, Bill Walzack and several others.

:)

Thrill, yup, doing that with the cooler mount. Here is from a week or 2 ago.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1087592356.jpg

The Rennspeed RS "S" bumper has RSR openings that do come very close to the line fittings. With the bumper in place I can see what room I have and more than likely will run a 90 degree into the car trucnk and out again to the hard lines.

Elombard, yes, I pulled the thermostat and am considering cutting down the plug bolt. Will probably leave alone until I see what happens on temps. I did cut the female bosses off to help with clearance for the males, a little better flow into the cooler and to provide a nice surface to weld to.

Chuck, pics of front and rear coming on Sunday/Monday.

John, I may run a tube in the car but will most likely just lay the AN6 line on the tunnel and afix with nylon loops screwed in. Oil is using stock lines for now.

thanks everyone for the encouragement!

Chuck, pics of engine and trunk. The tops of the front towers will be joined together have the car has been loaded and suspension set-up, balanced, etc.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1087781626.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1087781990.jpg

Pics from Week 11 coming up.

Oh man, it's even "more" serious under the skin. Awesome!

outstanding work!

Did you use mar resistant Lexan, the 1/8 will work well in the side But I believe you will need braces in the rear, the 3/16 doesnt flex as much, I put a 3/16 mar resistant windshield and have been running it 4 years, the rear window is a 1/8 and is not mar resistant and its the second one, it became coudly and scratched, Kevin

Kevin, yes, the Lexan is mar-resistant and bars are on the agenda.

I haven't found Lexan sheet large enough for a windshield. Where did you get yours?

Shaun -

There is a plastics supply place in Worcester where you should be able to get the Lexan you need:

Plastics Unlimited: 508-752-7842
website

Unlike Jack Olsen's, you designed the cage correctly by linking it to the suspension pick up points -- very very important!

I'm not sure what you mean by 'correctly.' My cage choice was determined by the intended use for my car (street driving more than track) and budget. Tying the cage into the suspension points for a track car is a no-brainer -- but mine is there more for safety than chassis rigidity.

Interesting.....So tying the cage into the suspension points makes the car less safe? I'm guessing you mean that if you tie the cage into the suspension points you have less of an impact zone to absorb the energy in the even of an impact?