This is my friend's 240sx drag car. I was given the task to make a fuel cell cage and sheetmetal it and also find a way to mount a battery somewhere near it....so here's what I came up with.

Keep in mind this is the first "real" time I've welded.

Here is the fuel cell:

I made some simple straps to mount it between the coilover crossmember/rear crossmember. I then created a frame that surrounds the fuel cell using 1" square tubing and some angle. The frame is tacked onto the two crossmembers here.

Here is a shot from the bottom:


Now for the battery enclosure. If you look at the first pic, you'll notice a square tubing bar on the right with some marks on it. The battery enclosure will mount to that.

Using some more angle and square tubing, I created this:


The piece that I'm holding onto is the lower tray. I welded nuts inside of the "down posts" so you can simply "bolt" the lower tray on. This makes it easy to access the battery.

Here is a closeup of one of my welds...


Here is the battery enclosure "resting" on the fuel cell cage:


I'm going to sheetmetal the battery enclosure (obviously) before I weld it to the fuel cell cage. Keep in mind the sheetmetaling job is somewhat subpar due to lack of proper tools. I was kind of hoping it'd come out a little better. Oh well...plus it doesn't help when you ask someone to cut out a piece of sheetmetal and they hand it back to you curled up and wrinkled...*sigh*

Most of the welds have been grinded down so you can't see tooooo much.

We kinda make due with the tools and resource we have.

Opinions/thoughts/etc?

-ryan

 

Hay mann, that's "****!" OK?

 

Hey your from SA! BTW looks good

 

Looking good! Cannot wait to see this car back out on the road...with it's new "guts"...

 

Got any more pics of the car?

 

Your work looks pretty damn good. However, I REALLY hope I am seeing things when I look at the second picture, and the passenger side frame rail looks to be two seperate pieces welded together? GOD I HOPE THAT IS NOT THE CASE! Although if it is, you could have yourself another fun welding project! Have fun, and again, nice job.
Kyle

 

Eh, it's not like it goes to anything structural.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by blueoval557 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the passenger side frame rail looks to be two seperate pieces welded together? </TD></TR></TABLE>

That is the case. Tubbing a unibody car is not easy, and often means cutting frame rails. The original frame rail was cut just past the rear axle. It was then braced with what you see...LOTS and LOTS of steel. That piece you see is the actual "brace" that reconnects the frame rail.

I assure you it is VERY sturdy...it's just hard to see from that angle.

I should have more pics of the progress of the overall car over the next few months. We'd love to get this thing running by the end of summer.

-ryan