Lickity Split

[hotstreetvw]

I will definitely be attending, the car on the other hand might not.  I haven't been making progress at the same pace I had been, and with adding the cage to the mix it will be very close.  My son started football this year and I have been coaching, so weekends are limited to working on Saturdays.

I'll keep at it and see where we land.

[kev d]

Very cool car

[Neil Davies]

Very cool car

Agreed, it looks absolutely bad ass. The mis-matched panels just make it look angry!

[hotstreetvw]

Thanks guys. This site has been a huge help in determining the direction to take the car.  There are a lot of very cool projects in the pages.

[kev d]

Keep those updates coming!😎

[hotstreetvw]

Had some fun today.  As I was pulling the car out of the garage I had the oil filter burst, creating a giant disaster in the garage, drive and street.  I guess I caught it early enough and it didn't damage the motor.  So today I made zero progress on the car since I spent all of it with the pressure washer.

I got a quote on covering the seats in leather.  All I can say is WOW, ridiculous money.  Any suggestions?

[modnrod]

I got a quote on covering the seats in leather.  All I can say is WOW, ridiculous money.  Any suggestions?

Hhmmmm.
Get a job as a broker?

OR

Keep all the different panels (I like them a lot too!) and then find some picnic rugs or blankets to drape over the seats until you've saved up enough money.
It'll match the outside perfectly.

[Zach Gomulka]

As a [retired ] auto upholsterer, I can tell you that leather is extremely expensive. But, there are a lot of very high quality vinyls out there that would take someone like me to tell the difference. Massive price difference. The only things you get with leather are the smell, and the longevity (vinyl will last plenty long for a "play" car though). If you've got to have that leather smell but don't have the budget, do what nearly all of the OEM's do: leather on the actual seating surface, and a matching vinyl everywhere else.

[hotstreetvw]

Born in the 80s and already retired, explains why they charge so much!

Maybe you can tell me how far out of line this is.  $600 for "hide", $50/hr, but all in between $2500-$3000.  Two low back buckets, no head rest.

[Zach Gomulka]

Loved the work, hated the business side of things, went back to school

You might be able to get it all out of one hide, but it depends on the quality/size. One and a half to be safe. I agree that price is a bit stiff, but most people have no idea the skill and effort it takes to do a quality job. Maybe they priced it high because they didn't want the job, so shop around.

[hotstreetvw]

Finally finished the second seat.  Crappy weather here over the last few weeks.

Tubing for the cage will be here next week, I'm ready to get started.

[hotstreetvw]

Temporary seat support.

[hotstreetvw]

I spent some of the holiday working on the floor plates.  The NHRA rule book is a little unclear weather the cage tied into the rockers needs to be welded to a 6"x6"x.125" plate.  To me it reads the rocker (heater channel) needs to be reinforced with .125" plate,  but doesn't specify the size.  So, in a effort to insure I don't have to repeat this process, I'll do both.

This plate gives the 6"x6"x.125" plate bolted to the pan, plus plate welded up the heater channel.  This will make the cage a permanent addition to the body, but fully supported by the pan.

I bent the plate using a press brake I built last year.  The main hoop plates will get the same treatment, but with an extra step into the seat channel of the pan.

[BeetleBug]

I spent some of the holiday working on the floor plates.  The NHRA rule book is a little unclear weather the cage tied into the rockers needs to be welded to a 6"x6"x.125" plate.  To me it reads the rocker (heater channel) needs to be reinforced with .125" plate,  but doesn't specify the size.  So, in a effort to insure I don't have to repeat this process, I'll do both.

This plate gives the 6"x6"x.125" plate bolted to the pan, plus plate welded up the heater channel.  This will make the cage a permanent addition to the body, but fully supported by the pan.

I bent the plate using a press brake I built last year.  The main hoop plates will get the same treatment, but with an extra step into the seat channel of the pan.

This is exactly how my plates are done and I have not received any complaints from the tech inspectors. Mine are also the same size. Please be careful when you weld the plates closest to the A-pillars. If you use a lot of heat and do not cool down in between it will warp and twist the area around the A-pillars so that your doors will not fit the way they did before.

Best rgs
BB

[hotstreetvw]

Awesome.  Thanks for the advice on welding the heater channel.  I'll go slow to eliminate any warping that will change the A-pillar and door alignment.

Do you happen to have any pictures of your cage in this area?  I was thinking about taking the bar down to the flat plate, tack welding everything in place, cutting holes in the pan, then dropping the cage through the pan to allow for easier access to weld the top of the cage.  The pans will be replaced eventually because they were done by a previous owner and they used cheap pans, very thin in comparison to the factory, plus they did a half ass job.  

The other option is bring the bar down onto the channel and notch it, which gives more leg room, but that wouldn't allow me to drop the cage for welding.

Thanks,
Will

[BeetleBug]

Again that is exactly how my chromolly cage has been fit. Cut the floor, drop the main hoop, weld and raise. The theory behind my cage is that I can easily unbolt the body from the chassis and lift it including the cage. The rear tubes goes to the rear trunk floor where there they are welded to two square plates (SFI size) Then I have two bars going from the frame forks and up to matching square plates under the rear trunk and bolted to the plates above.

I have to admit we copied a lot of details from Adeles car when we did my cage:http://cal-look.no/lounge/index.php/topic,3041.30.html













Best rgs
BB

[hotstreetvw]

Those look great.  I spent about an hour this evening bending and hammering out the passenger a-pillar plate.  I'm sure my neighbors though I was Thor, I sure did

[hotstreetvw]

Sliders arrived this week.  I boxed part of the seat in, this should work well.  Once the cage is build, I'll have the seats blasted and powder coated, then figure out what to do for covers.

[hotstreetvw]

Fitting the dash pods.  I think the switch and button are flipped.  I need to reverse them.  The ashtray knob was brittle and broke before I could install it, so it would up with the nipple from a gear oil bottle.

[hotstreetvw]

Pod clamps are made from the stock Porsche seat sliders.  @ $25/set, I figured I'd make my own.

[hotstreetvw]

Main hoop, 7 bends of complication.

[hotstreetvw]

Halo and a-pillar bars.  A-pillar bars are three bends in three different planes, glad I got it figured out before I run out of material!

[hotstreetvw]

Nhra rule book says the cross bar behind the rear seat is 1-1/4x.118", that's what I used, does it seem smaller that typical?  It's not welded in, that strap is holding it in place.

Last cage I built I ran the a-pillar bar up around to the main hoop.  The beetle interior just seems to fit the halo better.

[hotstreetvw]

The fun continues

[hotstreetvw]

[hotstreetvw]

[hotstreetvw]

I covered the narrowed porsche seat with existing materials.  I trimmed the horse hair and used stock covers; stock cover is a little baggy, but it will do.  A couple more things seat related to take care of, rear support and a temporary head rest for racing.

[hotstreetvw]

Seats are mounted via a sill bar and two cross bars.  I used tubing connectors between the sill bar and tunnel to allow the body and cage be parted from the pan.

[hotstreetvw]

Couple things left on the cage.  "B" bars need to be installed (they are the bars from the main hoop down to the kafer bar.  Window net is on order, custom shape to fit the window/door bar opening.  Harness tabs need to be installed for the lap belts.  Shoulder is wrap around with 1/4" bar "keepers" to prevent them from sliding on the seat bar.

[hotstreetvw]

Porsche seat looks pretty cool in there.