Mike, best picture I could get on the trunk side. This setup still aloows full use of your Targa holder thing, and 95% of the window travel. Plus it’s at an angle that I can live with, even though not ideal from what I build myself. all bar node in at one junction as tight as possible
Door bar side shot(driver). Clearance is a tight as I can possibly make it with the existing fishmouths/angles and not having to notch the door handle. The doorbars just ever so slightly press againt the forward most corner of the door handles on your inside panels.
I can fit in the car quite well with my skinny 6.2 frame. If they had made the damn hoop another 3" wider I would have had the material to stretch the cage to make a little more room for your left arm but alas, working with what I’ve got in front of me from S+W.
The work and the fit looks top notch, especially with the pre-bent cage. The rear bars are damn good, i believe this is the first sol ever to have rear bars and a functional rear window (even if they dont sit on top of the wheel wells)
Yeah, it was a compromise to make it all work. Not the stiffest/most logistic way to put those bars in, but the only way to do so and make the rear window function even remotely close to factory standards. Honestly what I’d do down the road if you get a little money is to ditch the rear STB and build a steel cross bar that ties the strut tops into the car down bars via an x brace and integral STB. Could build it all out of 3/16" plate and 1.5" .095 DOM and have a drastic increase in stiffness over that aluminum bar there without much of an increase in weight. Could probably even use the existing STB brackets if they’re steel(I didn’t check) and save a little more weight.
Not really much else to it right now. Cage is just a simple 6 point +2 with a harness bar, so those pics pretty much show it all. Finish the seam welding and it’s done(cage components 100% in as of 8pm tonight). Tomorrow I’m going to look into his oil leaks and then maybe get to tackling whatever this electrical/no start issue is…the wiring in this car is an total mess(no offense to you Mike). More twisted bare wire connections covered in electrical tape that I can keep track of :nono
Silicone to seal AN fittings and NPT pipe threads is a nono, especially for coolant or oil. Just doesn’t work and guaranteed to leak. Teflon tape is a bad idea as well as it has a thermal capacity below that of what most fluids in your typical auto can reach while running. Can also thread off and clog oil galleys if wrapped and installed incorrectly. Use a proper hydraulic liquid sealant, or in a pinch you can use blue locktite. Both of those options also allow you to tighten the fittings properly in race applications without the worry of a fitting coming loose, or over tightening and galling the angle seats which destroys the fittings after you undo them for service work.
All fittings on Mikes car are locked down and sealed up with hydraulic sealant so they won’t leak now unless they’re defective. Won’t know that until the motor runs. Cage in. Tomorrow going to check cam timing and a few electrical things, run a base compression test, and a few other small tid bits to sort out before digging too deep into the electrical harness on the car for further issues. Hoping to just find something small and stupid that’s hindering this car from starting and running under its own power.
Shop owner for race chassis + suspension fabrication, precision engine building, Porsche tuning and setup for PCA members, prototyping/R&D, CAD cnc work and design, etc etc. Acquaintance of Mike for a couple years or so.
Mike no run @ no fuel currently at injectors, pump running, ~1/4 tank fuel. Did you say this thing ran but stumbled? Car will not even start right now due to either no fuel at rail or injectors not firing…came inside to make some phone calls so I haven’t looked into it further… Ignition wires need replacing, compression ~130 per cylinder. Did you find out what CR this build was(I’m guessing 8.8 to 9.0:1)???
I’ll put a little more time into figuring this out.
Yea it did run, it would continue running if I held the gas. At one point it ran on its own (rough) until I turned it off but then wouldnt start again.
Turbo swap/tranny work soon enough. I’ve got a 12 point IP BMW cage to build before then…