Shell Preppin '74 EMS

[allessence]

Wow, Luke your work is looking great. I was just checking out the pictures and the difference in layout as well as overall fit is just remarkable compared to the first cars pictures. And I'm sure it's not just because you bought a nice new digital camera. Nice job.

I also really like the adjustable rear spring/shock mounts. Where did you find the threaded gimble and the screw?

I have been looking at different ways of setup the rear with coil overs but didn't come up with anything like what you did. Wow.

[Luke]

Thanks Jennifer. The camera is the same Canon I've had for ages. The threaded clevis setup is made of std circle track parts I sourced locally. I am lucky to have a great shop nearby that lets be take parts home for test fitting. I am hoping the rear coil over setup works out well. I think it will be great to be able to play around with different rate rear springs.

[GRMPer]

Luke, what gauge/thickness of steel did you use for the taco gussets? Did you bend in place or use a press?

I've seen some gussets that are just a single layer of sheet welded into the V, as well as a short section of tubing that's cut correctly, but the tacos look the strongest.

[Luke]

On the front corner gussets I used .095 plate because I wanted that to be strong strong. On the main hoop X I used 16g. I have a bending jig I made for my arbor press that makes these. They say putting flat plate on the centerline of the tube for a gusset is very dangerous. As the juction starts to deform the gussets crimps the tube at the centerline, flattening it and causing it to fail worse than if it was ungusseted.

[GRMPer]

Huh, 16 gauge is enough? that's almost bendable in place (weld one side, wrap over, weld other side. )

[Luke]

8.2.14 Gusset :
Reinforcement for a bend or junction made from bent sheet metal with a U shape (drawing 253-34) the thickness of which must not be less than 1.0 mm. The ends of this reinforcement must be situated at a distance from the top of the angle of between 2 to 4 times the diameter of the biggest of the tubes joined.



So 1mm minimum is the word, 16g is about 1.5 mm. I agree it still seems a little thin thats why I used thicker stuff at the corners.

[GRMPer]

Yea, I went back through the FIA notes, figuring out what it'll need. 1mm is more like 18 gauge then. I'll probably wind up doing the gussets then myself, after the car/cage come back from Alabama. I can also do the tie-ins to the a and b pillars here.

looks like I'm doing the 253-9 with an extra sill, 253-14, 253-22, x in the main hoop and probably that extra harness bar like yours. How high is your harness bar and X from the sill? Do you think the Saab needs 253-15 reinforcement?

[Rallyho]

FWIW

If I can get a link in here with pics of my cage, I will...but I've just re-installed the X and harness bar(s) into the main hoop. After doing some noodling and talking to folks I felt that the bars our harnesses wrap around were too low...especially with a HANS device in place. Keep this in mind (we didn't the first go around) that a HANS is going to add height to your shoulders thus changing the angle that the shoulder harness comes in. RA says it has to be less than 20 degrees. The HANS install instructions doesn't talk about angles, it talks about how many inches above or below the harness bar is relative to your shoulders.

Anyway, we ended up with two different height harness bars due to different seat heights...and they both moved up. Co-driver by 2in, driver by 3in. Both now put the harnesses at less than 10deg angle up to the shoulder.

http://picasaweb.google.com/38crew/Saab ... 6162983506
http://picasaweb.google.com/38crew/Saab ... 6098212418

[Luke]

I can measure the height of the harness bar off the sill when I get home, it is higher than my current car I know that. Running through the slots in the seats, the belts go directly back to the bar.

I don't think 253-15 is required on a saab. Its darn close though and it depends on how you measure. The SAAB a-pillar is very vertical and that reinforcement is intended primarily for modern cars with very raked windshields. I chose not to add it because it makes getting in and out of the car a royal pain and for anyone who has ever sawzall'd a SAAB A-pillar they are seriously beefy by themselves. I figure if anyone ever has a beef it wouldnt be that hard to add later.


Oh and for the door bars I did 253-9 as well but this time I built them with 2 bent pcs that are welded where they touch. The idea is that there is no weld to break by your hip and act as a spear in a side impact... I don't know how much truth there is to that but putting the bends in was easier than notching all those funky angles. I plated/gusseted the junction. I think it turned out really nice. I'll put some pics up soon.

[GRMPer]

Rallyho, that looks like it's just a touch higher than where Luke has it, about even with the bottom of the quarter window.

Luke, I'm having a hard time imagining what you're explaining. I've done door bars where one diagonal is solid and the other one is two pieces that are welded on either side.
Per

[Luke]

Thats what I mean, hard to see but the door bars are actually 2 continuous pcs bent to form an X. That way nothing can break loose and spear you, or so they say.


You can see in the large picture here better:
http://cages.jive.net/gallery/wrx/Wedding_Rally_PIctures_042?full=1

[GRMPer]

Gotcha!

[Luke]

Thats the door bars. I put a large butterfly shaped gusset on both sides after the pic was taken.



Couple other updates:
I built the towers even taller this time so they can use a longer shock for mucho travel. They had to be scalloped to clear the hood.



I also added an X in the front end make it mega strong.

[SaabsBreakDown]

doesn't that bend in the door bars take us back to the old tension vs bending properties of steel?

if you have one strait bar and the other bars joined to it anything entering the car would have to stretch the tubing. if we assume that welds will fail under the forces of a crash, I would imagine this setup would have less strength and would allow a tree to get farther into the car.

[Geoff]

Nice! Any plans for heat? Is that a 900 rack? It looks different, maybe because it isn't covered in slime...

You know, if you've got time to do some cage building I've got a car that I could bring to you.