Hackster's Need for Swede 😁

[Flash68]

I like your decision. You are someone who enjoys the big track - vs big parking lots - so the more bars the better IMO.

[SSLance]

I like it! That is going to work out very nicely for your needs. Nice execution...

What size tube is that, it looks big? I believe Charley used 1.75" 0.120 wall on mine but can't remember for sure. He said it was good for any sanctions up to actual wheel to wheel racing (no door bars). He was able to tilt mine forward to completely weld on top of the bars then tilt it back into place. Looks like you had to scoot forward instead because of the sheet metal the rear down bars go thru.

[hackster]

Originally Posted by Flash68

I like your decision. You are someone who enjoys the big track - vs big parking lots - so the more bars the better IMO.

So true, cannot wait to see what this bitch will do on the track.

Originally Posted by SSLance

I like it! That is going to work out very nicely for your needs. Nice execution...

What size tube is that, it looks big? I believe Charley used 1.75" 0.120 wall on mine but can't remember for sure. He said it was good for any sanctions up to actual wheel to wheel racing (no door bars). He was able to tilt mine forward to completely weld on top of the bars then tilt it back into place. Looks like you had to scoot forward instead because of the sheet metal the rear down bars go thru.

Thanks man, and I agree it should work just fine.

Same as yours 1.75" .120 DOM tubing but this car is pretty small so the tubing looks big. There is a joke in here somewhere but too inappropriate for anything on a forum =)

Sometimes you get some great pointers. Tying the main hoop into the b pillars would stiffen up the chassis significantly. So I whipped these puppies up today.









Turned out pretty good considering it was a little bit of an after thought. Ties into the factory seatbelt mount on the b pillar.

Went and got some paint matched to the seats...its close, not perfect. 2 coats of etching primer and 2 coats of color going on. Regret the cage being so close to the headliner at this point it was a bitch to mask and I got some on the headliner. Hope that I can use some mineral spirits to get it off.





Turned into the worlds fattest contortionist the past few days, was the most fun when I was painting and painted myself a few times.









Hope to get the rear wheelwells buttoned up in the next few weeks so I can get the carpet in, then seats. Exhaust after that.

Appreciate the good feedback on the b pillar tie in.

Sean

[SSLance]

Those B pillar supports are sweet!!

Charley was able to paint the top of my main hoop while it was tilted forward before welding it back in place. That helped a ton... Are you going to fab a package tray where rear seat was or put seat back in around the down bars?

[CMillwheels]

Wow! Awesome job man. Love the choice on the paint color for the cage, it looks really nice.

[rustomatic]

That is awesome: first brown roll bar known to man (on purpose). I love the maintenance of original color choices here--styling choices are on point!

Can't wait to see this thing under pressure!

[rideordie28]

this thing is awesome

[hackster]

Originally Posted by gofastwclass

Nice progress. Sorry about the burn. Looks like you caught some slag with the wrong side of your glove.

Exactly......I cannot imagine the pain that people that get real burns go through, has got to be horrible. Its a week later and its still gnarly. Thanks for the props, I am not sheetmetal guy so this is tough work for me.

Originally Posted by rideordie28

this thing is awesome

Thanks man, I hope I get to spend more time enjoying it than working on it =)

Managed to get a little time yesterday to get the passenger side a little closer. If you are attempting to do this at home my method was pretty good. I left about .5" flange from where the inner and outer wheel tubs meet, it gave me a nice place to be able to spot weld my sheetmetal to after folding lip on the arched part with a hammer and dolly.

These are what I ended up spot welding to the actual quarter panel. THe are rolled in two different directions to fit the quarter panel exactly. They are broken up into three pieces to clear the inner body support that is up there. I wanted to be high enough that I never had a clearance problem even if I flared the car.





Once you have the outer portion of the wheelwell cut out, all the tedious tasks begin getting rid of all the little pieces, trimming to get a nice edge. I believe I am pushed out about an inch and a quarter from stock. I have plenty of room for a 275 on a 10"" wheel.



New flange welded to quarter panel.



I got all three tacked in place last night now I need to build the filler panels on the inside. I am going to do this side in 2 pieces with a seam at the top. Working with one long piece on the other side proved to be a pain in the ass for no real reason other than a seam at the top of the wheelwell that will get seam sealed just like the rest of this.

I am really hoping to be done with this part of the car this week as I have to get wheels ordered in order for them to be here by LS Fest.

[hackster]

Managed to make some pretty good progress last week before heading out to Florida for a quick meeting....

I wanted a finished look all in and around the rear fenders, so I built some 1.25" tubing to take place of the 2x4's for a little extra support and welded those in. Also seam sealed all of the joints inside and out, was very impressed with the SEM seam sealer in tan too =).

Inner fenders got seam sealed, primed, painted and then undercoated.









Just some close rattle can but it all got nice etching primer and most of it will be covered up still trying to pay attention to details for whoever is the next guy to work back there. To the untrained eye you would have no idea that its as modified as it actually is.

Got the exhaust hung after having a buddy weld it all out for me......its the second thing on the car that I have not done myself, he is however a far more experienced welder and it turned out amazing. Only hang up installing was the rear hanger moved and I didnt open the hole for the wideband sensor enough to fit so it had to come back out, get a couple things dialed in and then final install.

Pretty sure its going to hit on the axle tube but I can deal with that a little later.









Got to work on the carpet for the car. I dont love the color, but I love the contrast it has with the seats and the dark brown so Ill run it for now and see if I grow more in love with it as time goes on. What a pain in the ass to install too.



Worked on salvaging the rear deck and some old seatbelt covers I snagged from the twins. Doesnt look terrible.



I finally got around to trying this out and it worked better than imagined. Think it will give me a nice finished look for the rear seat area. Plan is for the seats to get carved up more bucket like and have the same material and pattern as the front seats have on them, just no logos.



Wheels are going to be my stumbling block though, CCW's are 10 weeks out plus shipping. Chatting with Fifteen52 to see if they can get me some quicker, I like both.

I also think I can come up with some work wheels in a reasonable timeframe.

Going to try and get a bunch of little stuff knocked out this week, its almost ready for a test drive and some tuning.

Sean

[hackster]

I picked up a reasonably nice dash Friday night and got to work on Saturday, disassembling the dash vents, vin, speaker grille.

I have used this process in the past with excellent results. Wash first with purple power, scrub with a red scotch brite pad and purple power, dry part and heat it up, heat up the can and spray several very light coats. It keeps the part from getting glossy and keeps the texture in the plastic part.



And here is where I started on Saturday morning.



Once I got the dash in I got to work on getting that bad ass cluster all built and put together. For those that have not seen it, this thing is seriously a work of art.



Getting there, First look of the dash bolted in.



By the end of the day I had a fully installed dash and console. There is a lot of little detail work to make highly modified look simple and tasteful.

This is the inside of the glovebox,

Pic is hard to tell but the OBDII port is mounted on the exterior of the box and just pokes through, the connector is for OBDII can bus interface for the race pak setup. The white wire is for data logging the AFR's. Behind that is a flush mounted USB port for programming the Race Pak dash configuration.

MIL Light is flush mounted in the top corner of the glovebox opening.



All assembled and functioning.









I also spent a bunch of time fighting with the stupid TCM controller. Long story short, the e38 ecu and OS I am running doesnt like having the VSS input straight into it, so we are having to run a TCM controller, send the VSS into the TCM controller and from there over can bus into the ECU but when I hook it up it corrupts the Can Bus so working with Jolt to see if he has a different solution.

If all goes well this thing should be ready for some tuning in the next few weeks.

Sean