How to build a ef hatch figure 8 race car...(lots of pictures)
 

Well lets start this off, I picked up a 91 ef hatch STD for $200 with a blown motor (perfect!!!) had some passenger door damage and some quater panel damage as well, but that wasn't really a big deal. But before i get too far, ill show my 2009 civic figure 8 car, it was not pretty. it was an 88 sedan with a z6 with some p29 pistons. other than that she was all stock. Thankfully she met her demise when my ex girlfriend hit a car at full tilt in the intersection (for those who dont know what figure 8 racing is, its where the race course in shapped like an 8, so you have to watch out for traffic in "The X" and there are no rules when it comes to "The X". you tube "evergreen speedway stinger 8" and you will see me in the #51 car)
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...IMG00212-1.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...7/IMG00199.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._7524782_n.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._5610795_n.jpg
This was the 2009 car, kind of a pile of crap, not very safe (trust me the cage is not mounted mounted properly) and it was heavy and liked to lean pretty bad in the corners.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...87/wrecked.jpg
And this is how she ended up at the end of the 2009 season. Thankfully it gave me an excuse to build a much safer, much faster car for this last 2010 season.

Re: How to build a ef hatch figure 8 race car...(lots of pictures)
 

SO... about as soon as my sedan went to the scrap yard (after of course removing the motor trans, and all other valuble parts) i decided to begin the building of my $200 hatch.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._2381711_n.jpg
Heres the new victim before the striping.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._6896895_n.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._2859467_n.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...48_50301_n.jpg
And after the striping. I reduced the all the harnesses to bare essentials to cut down on weight, and ended up with about 15lbs of wire and fuse boxes left over. Now the roll cage install can begin
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._3710351_n.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._1554202_n.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._4742636_n.jpg
Its kinf of nice to have the sence of security with the door bars knowing that if your timing is off you could end up t-boned at 50mph in the door. and you can notice in the 1st picture that there is a square tube perimeter framework integrated into the uni-body. this cage is solid as all hell, but you haven't seen anything yet...

Re: How to build a ef hatch figure 8 race car...(lots of pictures)
 

Once the basic framework is there you can pretty much go nuts with bars untill you know you will feel safe. we were going with the theory that if the car got hit, it would be so light and strong that it would literally bounce before it would bend (and trust me, i tested this theory)
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._5210155_n.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._2026111_n.jpg
here you can see the awesome damage that i had to fix before it ever even hit the track lol.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._6937542_n.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._7858165_n.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._2179619_n.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._6053092_n.jpg
and with a little help from a donor parts car (that was my daily driver) you can get a good as new patch panel
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._3164316_n.jpg

Re: How to build a ef hatch figure 8 race car...(lots of pictures)
 

So the cage at this point was %90 done, so next came piecing the exterior back together.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._3039849_n.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._5810266_n.jpg
Some sweet lexan windows.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._5699229_n.jpg
and a new door for the pass side
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._5972504_n.jpg
along with some 1"x2" .120" wall steel nerf bars... and oh yeah dont forget the bullet proofing..
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...1_838157_n.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._4148925_n.jpg
you can see here the custom core support, and later you will see the 1/2" expanded steel bridge decking welded to the front of it for protection.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._2209354_n.jpg
and dont forgett about the front bumper.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._6702828_n.jpg
here you can see my awesome 2" exhaust, and also the rear bumper mounts that are tied in directly to the cage.

Re: How to build a ef hatch figure 8 race car...(lots of pictures)
 

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._1627104_n.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._2001802_n.jpg
heres a better view of the front end fortress.

And its on to the painting!!!
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...2_727161_n.jpg
First is the gloss grey on the inside and flat on the outside for the 2 tone paint job.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._6320861_n.jpg
next goes the flat black main color for the car
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._7555098_n.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._6722266_n.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3..._6644383_n.jpg
And this is what you end up with!
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...941261_n-1.jpg
The 5 switches are all pretty basic: 1)main power on, 2)vtec shhh... 3)start 4)radiator fan 5)wipers.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...731326_n-1.jpg
Here it is getting all the vinyl graphics on it. And at this point it was about midnight the day before the first race, so i was sweating a bit. But when i got off work and showed up to the track, i had this beast waiting for me all completed just in the nick of time.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...275773_n-1.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...946188_n-1.jpg

Re: How to build a ef hatch figure 8 race car...(lots of pictures)
 

WOW!!!! NICE!!!!

Re: How to build a ef hatch figure 8 race car...(lots of pictures)
 

So the season went pretty good, i started off with a d16y8 with p29's which resulted in an insane amount or compression, like 13:1! unfortunatly i was regulated to stock 91 si pgm-fi due to the rules (technically the y8 wasnt even legal) It was a monster still, and was thirsty for 110 octane race fule (tried 92, and broke every ring land on all 4 pistons after 3 races, oops). eventually after realizing half way through the season that stock y8 headbolts were not up to the challenge i went back to a d16a6 with p29's, and it has remained bulletproof to this very day. Ill show a couple of picture of all the body damage and repair i had to do through out the season to keep it looking to nice, including when i got t-boned in the pass door on the 2nd race.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...775710_n-1.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...062696_n-1.jpg
if you look close, you can see that the cage didnt even get touched.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...976511_n-1.jpg
and thanks to the donor car, it was back together within a week. And did i mention i added a custom wing to the back!!!
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...001998_n-1.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...705336_n-1.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...421019_n-1.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3.../photo13-1.jpg
In the background is my teammates car, its a 91 celica gt, and in this picture it was still brand new and never raced.

Re: How to build a ef hatch figure 8 race car...(lots of pictures)
 

That aout sums up my figure 8 car for this year. currently its getting re-worked (sealed windows, heater, adjutable pedals) to go road course racing at PIR at the end of the months for a 12 hour endurance race. got brembo rotors with ITR calipers and hawk pads up front, and the same in the rear, with SI sway bars and all polyurethane suspension bushings. Next up will hopefully be a tilton pedal assembly with dual brake masters and a hydro trans with an LSD!

2 more pictures, one of how close we get at about 50mph in the intersection, i was fighting to stay in the lead in front of the focus SVT but he eventually got me and the second is after the most recent refresh of the body for the last 3 races.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...1_612357_n.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...3_742806_n.jpg

Re: How to build a ef hatch figure 8 race car...(lots of pictures)
 

thats pretty cool man, nice build

Re: How to build a ef hatch figure 8 race car...(lots of pictures)
 

Cool car man, Looks like you put alot of work into building this cage much safer compared to the last one

I always liked figure 8 racing as coming up to the X or "intersection" always seemed exciting to me, especially when your flying through at 50-80 mph

Re: How to build a ef hatch figure 8 race car...(lots of pictures)
 

and dont forgett the matching tow vehicle, gotta arive to the track in style!

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...269205_n-1.jpg

Re: How to build a ef hatch figure 8 race car...(lots of pictures)
 

Thanks, yeah it was a lot easier to focus on shooting gaps in the intersection when you not worrying about getting hit. when i did get hit it was a full speed hit and i was a bit sore, but walked away fine. and yeah, the X is absolutely insane, its a lot less "hillbilly" than a lot of people think. It adds a very exciting new factor, and if you get good you never have to worry about it.

Re: How to build a ef hatch figure 8 race car...(lots of pictures)
 

thats sick, u build ur cars just to crash them!

Re: How to build a ef hatch figure 8 race car...(lots of pictures)
 

wow that is an impressive build and work you put into your cars. Im impressed!

Re: How to build a ef hatch figure 8 race car...(lots of pictures)
 

Lol, I try not to crash mine, but there are those out there that do. Besides it's all made of steel, and it bends back