Here is a RX8 I did the chassis for. Customer is going to run Koni Challenge with it next year. Grand Am said they wouldn't accept anything but NASCAR door bars, so I did my version of them. Much better, but still not as good as the touring car style X I really like. The cage should do a pretty good job of protecting the driver.





















Modified by turboteener at 8:26 PM 7/30/2008

 

looks very nice, the shop I work for makes a turbo kit for the rx8, I like those cars alot.

You not gonna do any gussets on the driver's side?

 

You mean in the drivers side door bar? IT really doesn't need them the way I built it.

 

very nice , are you assembling the whole car as well?

 

im sure itll be fine but there are some strange practices there.
please dont think im picking on you, but you could learn something and get better which is a good thing.


the bent one behind and below the drivers' elbow

the unsupported tube that's vertical on the drivers' side

and the two that almost connect to the node on the harness bar, which IMO should connect to that node.


no offense but it just looks like it couldve been designed alittle better. also some of the welds on the harness bar dont 'look' that great, not saying theyre not because I wouldnt know, but they dont look penetrated enough. theyre tall and skinny.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dfoxengr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
the bent one behind and below the drivers' elbow</TD></TR></TABLE>
I had to do that to clear some of the structure in the rear door. Nascar won't let me gut that door completely. SO I had to work around the bar and latch structure in there. Remeber there is no A-pillar so the door interferes with part of the door bar.


<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dfoxengr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
the unsupported tube that's vertical on the drivers' side</TD></TR></TABLE>
What tube are you referring to?


<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dfoxengr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
and the two that almost connect to the node on the harness bar, which IMO should connect to that node.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Everything in the middle of the car connects at the center of the cage. The Diagonal does not go through the center of the cage. The diagonal would not have hit the proper point on the A-pillar/main hoop junction if I moved it lower or closer to the center of the harness bar.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dfoxengr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
no offense but it just looks like it couldve been designed alittle better. also some of the welds on the harness bar dont 'look' that great, not saying theyre not because I wouldnt know, but they dont look penetrated enough. theyre tall and skinny.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I know the welds your talking about. I went over them twice to make sure, and there was a little excess build up.

The door bars are a factor of NASCAR rules that require a NASCAR door bar, but I can't stand NASCAR door bars, so I came up with this design. Plus mounting the seat as low as I did required the upper door bar to kick out where it does. The tunnel is really wide and the fatboy Sparco was interfering with the door. Nascar says the doors must function the way the manufacture designed them, so I had to limit the intrusion into the doors.

That said, on the next car there will be a few more changes that should make it even better.

 

Damn , that rx8 has a tall tunnel !

 

you couldnt put a straight tube in place of the bent one and then make the top of the triangle there shift to the right to avoind the door latch? there had to be a better structural and cosmetic way.

im referring to the only vertical tube on the drivers side door bar.

everything connects -near- the middle, not to that same node. it just seems bad practice to connect tubes where they are unsupported thats all. I wasnt saying that the diagonal should go through the middle. please reread what I wrote and understand some terminology and youll get it. a node is a point if thats where you got caught up, and I was saying that there are like 3 tubes that are near that node, when they could have easily been placed at the node for better structure and looks. when you make it the way you did it becomes unsupported which is bad practice.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by turboteener &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I had to do that to clear some of the structure in the rear door. Nascar won't let me gut that door completely. SO I had to work around the bar and latch structure in there. Remeber there is no A-pillar so the door interferes with part of the door bar.



What tube are you referring to?


Everything in the middle of the car connects at the center of the cage. The Diagonal does not go through the center of the cage. The diagonal would not have hit the proper point on the A-pillar/main hoop junction if I moved it lower or closer to the center of the harness bar.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dfoxengr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you couldnt put a straight tube in place of the bent one and then make the top of the triangle there shift to the right to avoind the door latch? there had to be a better structural and cosmetic way.</TD></TR></TABLE>
You mean like this?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dfoxengr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
im referring to the only vertical tube on the drivers side door bar.</TD></TR></TABLE> That vertical tube is not supporting any load. It might could use a gusset, but it is in no way unsafe. It is like every other NASCAR door bar under the sun. See above picture and tell me why that setup is better than mine? It is completely unsupported.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dfoxengr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
everything connects -near- the middle, not to that same node. it just seems bad ractice to connect tubes where they are unsupported thats all. I wasnt saying that the diagonal should go through the middle. please reread what I wrote and understand some terminology and youll get it. a node is a point if thats where you got caught up, and I was saying that there are like 3 tubes that are near that node, when they could have easily been placed at the node for better structure and looks. when you make it the way you did it becomes unsupported which is bad practice.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

I am well aware of the terminology. There are no unsupported tubes that bear any load. In theory you could make the argument that it could deform down in a complete vertical roof top landing, but even then that load is would still be transferred down the two down legs to the rear shock towers and front lower a-pillar bar. Every bar in that center node is backed up directly with another tube or pair of tubes. Perhaps the angle of the photo doesn't show it, but they are feeding loads into one another. Maybe this is a better photo.

 

not trying to **** you off. just saying that theres a better way of doing it.

and i never said it was unsafe at all.