5 lug. nice!!!
I’m finally diving back into this with hopes of having it tuned and on the road by the end of april. In the meantime I’ve gotten a new laptop with solidworks '09 and I wanted a small project to take for a spin. This should look familiar to adam.
Lolz, yeah I never like those pre-fab cage kits but that one you had wasn’t too bad of a fit. Probably because there isn’t much to it. Get this shit done already :lol
Oh and '09 is better than '08 but because DS wouldn’t even give a partial refund for my purchase I can’t afford a new license at the moment. I went back to '06. I’ll wait to 2011 ver pops out and update then.
Picked up some new/used tires today, then took some time to set the ride height, camber, and toe a little bit more properly
I also took a look at my radiator support, I had an issue with it over the winter where while I was lowering the car down to the ground the tow hook slipped off the jack and the lower portion of the radiator support hit it breaking the welds that held it onto the frame rails. I’m thinking now that I’ll simply cut off the bottom half of the support, cap off the frame rails, and weld a tubular support in its place to keep everything solid. This would allow me to put my radiator and IC mounts pretty much wherever I want which would therefore give me a tighter fit of everything up front and more room for the turbo setup behind it.
Just ideas right now, I’m not set on anything. I might draw it up in solidworks first.
I realized that my idea for the radiator support is similar to what my friend mark has on his new evo, hopped over to his thread and actually his setup is pretty much exactly what I want.
Photos from here: http://www.nyspeed.com/showthread.php?82272-Neonglh-s-new-project-2006-Evo-drag-car-quot-Lana-quot
This type of mounting system would allow some better options for the compressor outlet to IC inlet plumbing, as well as allow me to push/lean the radiator forward affording me more room between the turbo+downpipe and the radiator.
So with that, I began work to remove the radiator support. From the factory 6 bolts and automotive grade adhesive is used to mount the piece. As it turns out, mine had only 1 bolt, and a few small patches of adhesive holding it on.
Similar to this?
http://forums.club4ag.com/zerothread?id=68554
BTW, always love your updates, Mike, keep 'em comin!
Not really, that looks like its built to be some sort of crash structure. Mine is just simply a way of tying the frame together while creating a custom mounting point for the radiator and intercooler.
AHH I want that mani !
got cash?
Who makes it ? You probably mentioned it somewhere already in your 17 page build .
That one is from AFI, I have the downpipe for it as well. My current plans are to chop it up to meet my needs but honestly if someone wants it, it would be easier for me to start from scratch.
Howw much were you looking to get for it ? with downpipe
PM me. Maybe we can work something out. I would just hope to be able to cover materials for a new one with the sale.
Will do , passing out . Ill send you a pm in the am man
After considering cutting the frame farther back like the evo, I decided to keep this somewhat contained and just go with the original plan of splitting the radiator support at the middle. This way I don’t have to worry about headlight/bumper/hood alignment. I decided that cutting more of the frame, while beneficial, would open up a whole 'nother can of worms that I really should be staying away from at this point. If it did cut the frame back then I would want to tub the front fenders, which would require tucking the frame in a bit more, and at that point I might as well just tube the entire damn car.
switching the lower radiator support to a tube directly helps me get the car running because I will be able to get the turbo, manifold, and charge pipes setup easier.
With that being said, I’ve cut the support, trimmed the top to allow me to tuck the radiator into it, measured it all up, and came up with a design for the lower bar:
The radiator in these pictures isn’t “tucked in” because I have not decided if I want to cut off the top mounting pegs or use them and drill a hole in the radiator support for them.
Here is my plan for the bottom half:
with the simplified front end model:
nice man, looks like maybe further provisions for a skid plate can take place as well.
So would that bottom half act as a sort of crash beam?
I could act that way, but in reality the crash bar and EPS foam bumper is gone and this is no replacement. I still have some crumple zones left on the frame rails but at this point most of the things to absorb impact; hood, plastic bumper, bumper beam, foam, plastic shock bumpers are all gone already.
Hmm, I’m actually interested to see how that fits & works out.