Another Wreck, another Race Car.....

[Jarred]

Glad I could help out the other night!

looking forward to seeing what they come up with!

[Peter Jones]

It's back!

[Peter Jones]

[Jarred]

Looking good Pete!

If that wont work, I don't know what will!

[Peter Jones]

Yeah, I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

A few comments on the design.

I wanted to keep it all as light as possible which is why the single diagonals in the roof, hoop and rear stays.

Weight is also the reason for the driver side getting full double intrusion bars and the passenger side is a basic single bar.

It's a single occupant setup for track work, you'd use a more comprehensive setup for rallying.

The boxes that the rear hoop is sitting on have a compression member inside them to prevent that box from being crushed in an accident.

It's an interesting science, all the pieces of the cage do different things, some parts are for safety, some are for rigidity and the main function of the rear horizontal bar is to hold the seatbelts up.

[Preen59]

Very neat cage, Pete. I like it.

Like anything, there's more to it than is visually recognisable.

[GoLfMan]

nice Pete! Good to see it progressing so fast! Next the Engine?

[Peter Jones]

nice Pete! Good to see it progressing so fast! Next the Engine?

Engine is last.
Lots of bodywork first then suspension and brakes.

Much wiring too.

[Dub Toffee]

Nice work with the cage! theirs nothing like Fresh MK1

[Preen59]

There's nothing like Fresh MK1

That's taking over the bukkake sig.. spelling corrected.

[Peter Jones]

OK. Been quiet for the last week, painted the bedroom and installed some stainless steel balustrading.

Back to the cars now

The golf is back up on the rotisserie now and the suspension is back out.

Just getting back into some rust repairs now.

First up is a tricky bit, firewall.
There's actually 3 panels that meet at the seam across the firewall.

The lowest of the panels is the main bulkhead which has an upturned flange on which the next two panels sit. The bulkhead panel is quite thick being a structural member of the car.

This is a panel I'm fabricating to replace the firewall above the seam. I made the bends with a cheap bender ($60) from the local tool place.



This is the section that the piece above is to replace.






The wheel well came out yesterday. More on that later.



Spot welds cleaned up



New piece held in temporarily for rough trimming.



From the inside.



At this point I've got to make and install the lower repair piece before I can do any more with the upper section.



Before it gets cut out a new piece needs to be shaped. Here's piece 2 with another flange bent onto it.

[Peter Jones]

Marking up.



Rough trim of new piece.



Clamp in new piece.



Beat the snot out of it with assorted hammers.



Here's the two pieces upper and lower so you can see them taking shape.






Marked for cut out.



Remove lower section






Trial fit looks good enough to proceed.

[Peter Jones]

From the engine bay side






Easier to punch holes than try and drill sheet metal.






Lower repair panel in place



Clamped.



Spotted back to the flange.



Tacked,



and welded!



Bit of a tidy up with the grinder.

[Peter Jones]

Tomorrow I'll finish shaping and attach the upper piece.

[Jarred]

Looking good Pete!