NixVegaGT

[zeke]

Yeah! Cool lego cylinder heads!

Cage work is looking great, love how tight in to the body the posts fit. Just read "IRS" , got to go find that page!

[sgancarz]

With everything so tight, will you still have room to reinstall all of the trim?

[1100kaw2]

Yea. Um Wow. Too much math, but paid off. I'm glad I don't have to do interior in that jungle gym. Looking cool.
Darrell

[NixVegaGT]

LOL! Yeah no doubt. I still have some interior parts but not many. I always liked the dash but I'm probably going to give that up too. Since I'm doing a lot more sheet metal work I'm thinking I'm going to fabricate something to sort of pick up on the subtle shape of the glove box side. In the end the interior is going to be mostly just sheetmetal with lots of dimple holes. I really like that look and it's very functional for weight savings. I'm thinking of going with these seats:

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Although an intermediate seat may be more appropriate.

I'm also considering fabricating the fenders with the english wheel and stretcher/shrinker vs. the cave n' pave I sorta have setup now. That said, I shouldn't rip on my sheetmetal work too much. It's pretty close. It's just I started thinking I might end up spending more time trying to get everything straight with very little body work experience. I supposed I could try to fabricate a large swooping fender patch for one of the quarters and find out how long it takes me to build. My guess would be about 20-30 hrs. For now I'm focusing on getting all the sheet metal work done for the interior/engine bay.

The last modification I'm considering is to cut the liftgate at the base of the rear window and use the base of the gate to make a little trunk lid. Sorta like an early mustang. That way I could get the extra stiffness from the liftgate panel and a bulk head across the back of the IRS frame. I could also isolate the fuel cell a little better that way. I'm also planning on frenching in a large cobra style filler cap just at the back of the rear side window. Should look pretty cool and be a functional way to access the fuel cell.

[1100kaw2]

I sooooo wanted to do a big filler cap in the quarter panel. Cobra, or even a customized Mopar cap. I just couldn't pull the trigger on the idea. I talked myself out of it. Looking forward to seeing yours. Cause I know if you mentioned it, your gonna do it.
You may un-do it later, but, you'll do it. LOL.
I like the dipple look too. Racecar feel, and weight loss.

[NixVegaGT]

You may un-do it later, but, you'll do it. LOL.

WOW. No shit! LOL! Luckily since I quit wasting time on the engine a couple years back I've only been able to blame having a couple kids and the lung thing for not being done yet. That said, I also have to say changing my mind did basically take this whole project back to square one in '12. GEEZ.

What's really funny is this; They say to plan out a project before you start. I recently found my original notes from the mid 90's after I bought this car. I'm actually building what I had planned on then. LOL! I had dialed it back due to the expense back in '06 when I started the project. In the end, I didn't get what I wanted in the first place. I guess the point is, stick to your original idea and you're likely going to be happier. I'm off to the Gulf Shores, AL and I don't think I'll be working on the car till Apr. 13th. Then I'm feeling like I'm going to be able to mock up the back stays, dash bar, and roof bars. It's complicated. I'm building it to the most current FIA standards so I can race it at the Targa Newfoundland eventually. That means I have to accelerate the process so I can get it inspected for homologation asap. That way I don't have to back up later. The one bar I'm planning on putting in last is this ridiculous support from the bend at the top of the A-pillar bar to the base of the side hoop at the chassis. RIGHT in the way of everything. It's gonna take some effort to accept it on my part. I can make it removable though.

[megavega]

wow, you really made a serious direction change, but its gonna be neat as heck when your done, post more pics. Your thread is the most interesting one I read here, great stuff!

[NixVegaGT]

Thanks for the prompting. I've finished the roof bars, dash bar, and finished the welding for all the bars in the car now. I'm moving on to the rear suspension mock up and then interior sheet metal. I'm almost done with the alternator/differential mount. All that's left is the adjustment bracket. It took a lot of measuring, mock up, and redo but I'm happy with the results. It looks cool to have the alternator running off the diff. LOL!

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[NixVegaGT]

A lot has happened. Sorry I'm so flaky on the updates. I've gotten a lot more done on the roll cage. (I'll follow up with pix this weekend). I finished the diff mount/alternator setup:

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I also fabricated the rear suspension components for the Miata/Rx7 8" IRS. I added camber turnbuckles on the UCA's:

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I also got a hold of one of those lightweight Kirkey seats this past weekend. Fits great! This weekend I'm finish welding my latest cage additions and then I'm on to sheet metal for the floors… well everywhere else. LOL!

In the meantime I was distracted by a dream I had about a 180º header setup even though I finished the SS corvette exhaust mod. OH YEAH. I've got to upload pix of that too. Well I may be headered down another fork. I've been using a really great program for planning cages and headers:

http://www.bend-tech.com/product_infos/bt_pro.html

Stuff works awesome! You end up with these really great measurements for complicated compound bends and cutting templates that just wrap around the tubes and tape on! Saves me a CRAP ton of time cutting. I don't know how many of you out there have fabricated cage or chassis components but really cutting/fitting is what takes the longest. WOW it's crazy how long. Well more to come.

[ponchonuty]

Very sweet build!! Man that thing is sick!!!!

[1100kaw2]

Nic
Ur back..... not to sound mushy or anything, but.... I've missed seeing work on this car.
Glad your back at it.

[bbcowboy]

I can't believe the engineering on your car wow...nice work..

[gmagilla]

The last modification I'm considering is to cut the liftgate at the base of the rear window and use the base of the gate to make a little trunk lid. Sorta like an early mustang. That way I could get the extra stiffness from the liftgate panel and a bulk head across the back of the IRS frame. I could also isolate the fuel cell a little better that way. I'm also planning on frenching in a large cobra style filler cap just at the back of the rear side window. Should look pretty cool and be a functional way to access the fuel cell.

Nix , glad u r ok , that last mod is called a Notchback so now u gotta go buy a Notchback and start all over just kidin . When I built my 71 for a bulkhead I put a piece of sheet metal across the back just back of the rear window past that metal lip that hanges down , with a push on universal seal on top of the metal that when the hatch was closed sealed up against the bottom of the hatch and against the rear side of that metal strip across the hatch that the big plastic interior trim screwed to . If I didn't explain it good ( my wife says I don't , anyone else have that problem ) I could sent you a pic .

That A-Pillar bar give me the most trouble and didn't go any faster on the other side and I didn't go through my dash which must make it a lot harder to figure out . Nice work

[NixVegaGT]

Thanks for the well wishes, guys. It's good to hear from you all.

Yeah, man. It's funny, I was thinking the same thing this weekend about the seal. The reason I was thinking about this was a way to try to build some sort of firewall to segregate the fuel cell too. Although I could make the fuel cell accessible from the bottom instead but I was trying to give myself options for access to anything that is broken without lifting the car so I've planned in a bunch of access panels from the inside.

The one mod I really want to work is that alt at the diff. It puts the alternator right next to the battery location (basically the opposite side of the diff). I was planning the sheet metal this weekend while I cleaned up from one of my marathon ADD fugues. LOL! The shop is all ready to tear apart again. I'm hoping to put in a few early mornings and I've lined up a staycation to work on the interior sheet metal and exhaust.

I might put some time in on that 180º header idea too. In my dream I paired the inner tubes and outer tubes into tri-y's and then crossed one tube for each inner pair to collect the secondaries right at the tailshaft housing. That gived them roughly 24" primaries and another 10" or so to the secondary collector for a total of around 33"ish. Then I'm going to move the x-tube down to right before the exhausts turn to go out through the qtrs right in front of the rear tires. I think that will work out pretty good. I realize it pairs the wrong tubes for effective tri-y scavenging but maybe that will be made up with even pulses on each bank... Either way it should sound f'in bitchin'.

[NixVegaGT]

Got some pix of the latest cage mock up. I finally tacked in the wheelwell. I'll tack the other side in next and then it's on to fabrication of the rear sheet metal. I tacked in the steering wheel too, along with getting the rough location for the seat. Super lightweight seat but I'm definitely going to have to modify it for my uses. It really is very focused for circle track. When sitting in it I feel pretty comfortable turning left. LOL! The rest of the time I feel like I'm hanging from my arm pits. Once the seat pad is back in it will probably feel different/better though. Even still it might be fun to modify it a bit. Everything else is! LOL.

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You can see the base I fabbed over the center section mounts for the coilovers off the pushrods. I'm looking forward to building that part. That should be fun. I might scrap the idea of pushrod in the front in favor of Byron's raised spring pocket idea. (IMSA Vega)

Having fun with this again!