Our Ice testing went great. Besides our initial wiring problems, the car has ran flawlessly through the entire winter. We couldn’t be happier. So with Phase2 complete, we started the final phase, turning the car into a real race car.
We started ripping (and cutting) everything apart to prep the car for its roll cage.
We removed all windows, gutted the doors, removed ALL interior including dash, and cut out the sunroof. This was a full weekend project.
We purchased a pre-fabbed cage through Roll Cage Components. It fit ok, but with several modifications. We went with DOM(Drawn Over Mandrel) 1.75 X .095 tubing. DOM is much more consistent in wall thickness and is supposed to be stronger than EWS tubing. Painted the cage white for 2 reasons. Easier to spot any cracks in the chassis/welds, and also brightens the inside of the car up.
We dropped the gas tank to finish some welding as well as replace some old rubber inner brake lines with some new StopTech SS lines. Fire bottle ready just in case.
Now we could start putting everything back in and prepping the car for real track racing. We started by lowering the steering column. The E30’s have no tilt steering and come with a hula-a-hoop of a steering wheel. So we installed some spacers dropping it down about 1.5inches, and put on a new steering wheel. MUCH better.
Before installing the dash, we made a dash panel and mounted the battery kill switch and Fire puller.
And after several test fits and lots of cutting, the dash gets bolted in.
And for the seat, a Kirkey full containment road race seat.
Then Mike got angry because he couldn’t change the brake pads so he broke the rear window.
After Mike broke the rear window, his arms were tired. So he installed the seat so he could sit and rest.
Then he took a nap under the car for a while.
While Mike was napping, Eric welded the sunroof plug in.
We’ll add some fill to that later.
Installed the new window net:
and our 4 Liter fire system. 2 nozzles in the engine bay and 2 in the cockpit.
This was a very productive weekend and we were able to cross a lot of things off the list. We’re down to a few small jobs and a full fluid change. With less than 3 weeks to go, we are feeling confident.
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