2011SVT 10 Report post Posted March 23, 2014 Me likey. Nice choice! What is the back spacing if you don't mind me asking? Is that on a stock axle and wheel well? (Apologies if this has been asked and answered) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted March 23, 2014 Nice way to mess around, looks pretty good to me. Think they would look better without the rivits just not a fan of them. My wheels have those bolts, but are on the back side where they are not seen. These wheels will be a pain to clean because of the bolts. These are 3 piece wheels, and the bolts are functional. Me likey. Nice choice! What is the back spacing if you don't mind me asking? Is that on a stock axle and wheel well? (Apologies if this has been asked and answered) These wheels are for the '93 coupe sitting beside my '70, they have the same size tire and over all rim dimensions, but would require the housing to be narrowed because of the back spacing. I am running a standard width rear housing 18 x 12 with a 7" back spacing, and they look quite different, sorta tame from the side, till you look under the car. I had to stick the KDW under mine to see how much more room there was with the tire mounted and inflated. I have about 1.5" clearance with an unrolled lip. The tubs in my car are 2" wider than stock. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bossed 10 Report post Posted March 23, 2014 I'm not a fan of the bolts either, but other than that, they look awesome all tucked up under that sexy rear hip :thumbup1: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted April 1, 2014 Took some time today to tack in the halo bar, and the support gussets. With work being so wide open, and attempting to get my buddies' coupe done, my project is sitting. I did put some POR-15 in the roof area over the weekend, that stuff makes a mess when attempting to coat the inside of parts you can't see. At any rate, it is on it's way to being a part of the car. I only had an hour or so, but a little progress is better than none. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jmandcb769 10 Report post Posted April 2, 2014 Beautiful cage! Disassemble and send it my way haha.Are you going full 10 point going to the front frame rails? I'll be having somebody make mine hopefully in the next month Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted April 2, 2014 Beautiful cage! Disassemble and send it my way haha.Are you going full 10 point going to the front frame rails? I'll be having somebody make mine hopefully in the next month Don't know if you would call it a 10 point, as I don't think I will be going through the fire wall. It is going to be a jungle gym when it is done. This is my first "home made" cage, it is a bunch of fun. Good luck with your's Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted April 8, 2014 More tacking tubing together this afternoon. I actually cheated just a little. I got the areas welded that I could reach with the halo and main hoop tacked in place. Then cut the tacks to lay the assembly down towards the front of the car. As I was doing this, it looked like it would come out of the car, which it did quite easily. The above picture was taken after I tacked the X in place on the welding table. (tricks of the trade, don't tell anyone) I really didn't want to have to cut holes in my new floor to drop the cage down in order to weld the top, this worked quite well, for this section. After removing the assembly a second time I went ahead and fried everything in place. Mild steel tube is not my favorite thing to weld, still has trash in it even after cleaning the joints inside and out. Still had a couple of decent welds... A little wire brushing is all it takes to make it look much better than the burnt grey look. I suppose while it is out of the car, I will get the epoxy out and coat the top of this portion, just have to be careful to not get any on the areas that I am fixing to weld more tube to. TIG welders do not like paint, makes a mess out of a puddle. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted April 8, 2014 "Mild steel tube is not my favorite thing to weld, still has trash in it even after cleaning the joints inside and out." I told you that you shoulda opened up the wallet and bought some 4130! JK, nice job. Cool tip on tacking, cutting, removing and finish welding. You're smarter than the average bear. Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted April 9, 2014 Was a busy builder today. Made the front beef up plates for my A pillar down bars, and got them fried in place. In between a couple of coats of epoxy primer on the top of the now welded assembly Had just a few marathons (worse than a run) on one of the front corners, but was able to wipe most of it off. Just so happened to be where a tube is fixing to get welded in place. After this dried, well, almost, I went ahead and stuck it back in the car, for the last time, repositioned it and tacked the A pillar bars in place. I like the way the X brace goes directly into the A pillar bar, it makes me happy :) One of my favorite view of this entire exercise is the view from the front of the car. The bars will be tied into the A pillars with some sheet metal at a later date, but this view makes it all worth while, cause the halo bar is not visible from the outside, even from the sides. Get the A pillar bars cooked in place, as much as possible, then some fun moving things around to get to the back sides of those tubes. I might not like my cage after this portion, but it has to be done. I want to do all the welding without cutting up my floor, we'll see... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted April 11, 2014 One more piece of the puzzle. Made the knee bar today, fitted it in several places and came up with this. It is a lot lower than I had originally planned, but cleared everything except the plastic part of the glove box. It would not shut and needs to be notched. The main part of putting it where it is was to avoid having to notch out an area for the speedometer cable and being able to use the defrost ducts. I marked where it needs to be welded in place and started removing the crunchy dash parts, hopefully will be all clean the next time they go back in. I was worried that the heater box would be impossible to remove with that bar that close. Everything came right out, without any issue, thankfully. I put everything back in it's storage spot, the car looks so empty again... Need to vacuum up the dash droppings, (probably going to need a better one as this one is extremely light weight) I cut the tacks on the attachment plates, used a ratchet strap on the main hoop to pull it in a little, and slid the entire thing back as far as it would go. I tried all kinds of ways to gain access to the little bit of welding I need to do, to no avail. Looks like I am going to have to cut my floor, or risk warping my A pillar bars to where they will not fit any more. Such is life, it is just metal... :punk: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted April 11, 2014 Superb! Are you talking about dropping the front vertical bars at the A pillar? If so, where would you drop them thru? Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted April 11, 2014 Superb! Are you talking about dropping the front vertical bars at the A pillar? If so, where would you drop them thru? Bob Going to drop the main hoop down in front of the rear wheel wells. I guess the inner rockers could be notched, but the rear is only a single sheet, much easier to repair. Still don't want to do it, but I had to make this cage super tight, guess it is the price to pay... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
indianfiremach 170 Report post Posted April 11, 2014 Definitely impressive work. I take it the car will be run on the track? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted April 11, 2014 Definitely impressive work. I take it the car will be run on the track? Kinda blurry lines between a "street" car, and a full on "race" car, since the heater is still in it. I didn't want to go and make a full out custom firewall / chassis / tin interior / race gas motor, just a combination of it all. There are compromises when you attempt to do multiple things with something, just attempting to get a "balance" between the two. (if that makes since) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted April 12, 2014 Went and did it. Broke out the 3" hole saw and put two holes in the floor, just forward of the rear wheel wells. Found out it was easier to drop one side at a time down to weld the A pillar joint. There was tons of room, standing outside of the car made for some easy welding. Finished the passenger side up, switched sides, and holes. All this cutting and fighting the cage to weld for less than a total of 2 minutes, can't complain, they turned out nice. There was more than enough room to get the torch positioned for easy welding. If you are wondering how far the main hoop tube came through the floor... I am fairly certain it would have gone to the concrete if the strap had not been in place. Worked out quite nice. Now I just have to get it put back in place and fix the holes in my new floor. Guess I'll do the rear bars next. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bossed 10 Report post Posted April 12, 2014 Been away for a little bit and came to check you out. You just keep soldiering on, very nice work as usual. As has been said, can't wait to see this monster finished :thumbup1: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SWPruett 83 Report post Posted April 12, 2014 Just a little more length on those floor connections and you could have some super strong (and slick) jacking points under the car! Nice work all around! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mustangstofear 608 Report post Posted April 12, 2014 Very nice. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted April 12, 2014 Well the good news is nobody (but us) will know about those holes. That knee bar sure fits nicely in there. Excellent work as usual. Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted April 19, 2014 Since I have been goofing off, running around the Speedway for the past couple of days, very little progress has been made. I did have to take a look at my upgrades though... I had Mr. Shaun bring me his latest offerings for rear brakes. I wanted a parking brake from the beginning, and was going to use a spot style caliper for the job. Guess there were some other people wanting a setup, so he made one. This is a drum style parking brake and hat assembly. The rotors went up in size to 13", as big as my front brakes. The only down side to this upgrade is I am going to have to cut on my pretty new housing to install the mounting flanges, and get it re powder coated, oh well, it is just some melted plastic. I'll have to do that mod here in the near future, but for now, back in the box. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted April 23, 2014 Been spending some time in the trunk. I want to tie the coil over mounts into the cage attachment points in the rear. I have stuck the watz link mount (which also has the upper coil over mounts) in the car for a reference. It would have been quite difficult to actually land a tube on top of the mount, so I am going to do the next best thing. The centerline of the rear tubes is right where the trunk floor meets the transition panel, so that is where I started. I cut some 1/8" plates, and slightly notched them to fit the contour of the area. Went ahead and welded them in place. While I was stuck back there, I also finished stitch welding the inner wheel houses to the trunk floor, since I didn't finish that earlier. There were a few seat brackets that had to be removed in order to put the plates in, should have left them out in the first place. Removing them left the bottom of the trap door panel free to move. Made some little brackets to keep it in place, and got them welded in as well. I am going to cheat a little. Taking the tube back to work with me to use the cold saw. I can porta-band them, but the cold saw is much more accurate for mitering the bottom of the tube to my new attachment plates. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mustangstofear 608 Report post Posted April 24, 2014 You might have got something done if you stayed home instead of going to the show LOL. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted April 24, 2014 You might have got something done if you stayed home instead of going to the show LOL. The show was quite worth while, and very nice to actually meet you in person. I hope you had a good visit and got a bunch of orders. Where are the pics of those milled trunk hinges? I could visualize them while I am in the trunk :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mustangstofear 608 Report post Posted April 24, 2014 The show was well worth it. Michele and I really enjoyed meeting everyone from this forum. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted April 25, 2014 I didn't forget my tube this morning, so it got cut up to the correct angle and brought back home. I did a couple more measurements before I notched the other ends of the rear down bars. A little test fitting and tacked them in place. I am going to install an X between the down bars, so I made a diagonal bar from the driver's side hoop to the passenger side rear attachment point. That took a while. There were so many different angles to fit and cope, but it looks like this... The rear miter / cope looked wicked before I stuck it in place, it ought to weld up nice. The top attachment area is getting busy, there are five tubes in a very small area, but it all lined up, kinda like I planed (simply scary) I will have to remove the X bar in order to completely weld in the down bars. Once they are in place I might put in the diagonal, might as well, I am going to have to get more tubing, I have enough for 1/3 more of my X, this is not quite 60' of tubing welded in the car. I would have never guessed it would take this much, and probably another 30', gona order 40' more just to be safe. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
