Roxanne - budget milano/75 track car

[75evo]

Guys,

Maybe we could keep this thread clean. It's suppose to be a thread on Jes' car. We can start another thread on tracking our cars in CA.

[AR4me]

If you have track experience and feel comfortable I would go for the time trail - the big track is fast and fun. Even there the instructors are typically willing to take a ride with you or just discuss the track. If I can get Roxanne ready for the school I plan to take the race class.

For the race group/class the car neats a roll bar. I plan to put in an Autopower cage - a 6 point cage is $750 custom fit for the milano - bolt in. Alternatively, I could opt for lesser protection as a more "simple" roll bar is sufficient to qualify the car. Though, I'm leaning towards the 6 point cage:
http://www.autopowerindustries.com/Roll_Cages.htm
What do you guys think?

Jes

[nizam]

Sorry Jes, that was me hijacking.

I've PM'ed Grant off-thread wrt my prefs. He can start a new thread if he wants.

[gday]

In terms of pure value I'd haveto say the school. there may not be quite as much time on the track, but when you're not on the track, you're on the skidpad, or in the class learning from the very competent instructors. The pace is a bit frantic, and every minute of the day is occupied with something. Often at the end of the first day I'm too exhausted to go out for a beer with the gang. Still, it's a good time and I always learn lots.

Time trials have a different pace, not so frantic, but more time on the track, and more time to rest up, or tune your car (or rebuild your engine if you brought a british car with you). There's more time to talk to people about what they're doing to their cars or how they get around turn 2 so much faster than you. I learn lots there too, and I have enough energy left over to enjoy a nice beer and some bench racing at the end of the day.

I'm sure there'll be a hundred different opinions, but this is about Jes's car, so.....

Jes....you could shed another 10 lbs off the car by hosing the dirt off the front of the motor.
Seriously though, I remember someone telling me that a friend of theirs shed a surprising amount of weight from their car by shaving every bolt on the car flush with its nut. I can't remember the amount, but I think Jes should try it out. anyone else curious how much that would save on a milano? Get to work, Jes!

[gday]

I think the full cage, although very cool, would make it difficult to get in and out of the car, Jes. You're planning on commuting in Roxanne for a while, right? If you could get the side-bars made bolt-in (like the cross brace in the autopower roll bar) then you could remove them while not at the track.

Hey....what about a fuel cell? are you going to install one? does the arosc race group require it?

[Grant]

Sorry about that. And thanks A LOT for the info Graham. I wasn't able to find info like that on th eAROSC website.

<i>We now return to our usual broadcasting.</i>

[AR4me]

Quote:

Hey....what about a fuel cell? are you going to install one? does the arosc race group require it?

[75evo]

Jes,

How much does shops in SoCal charge for a simple rollcage (6-point, no elaborate tubing)

[AR4me]

Not sure, but I think it will be hard to beat the $750 Autopower 6 point cage. I talked to Don (I think it is) at Autopower, and he said that no welding is required - it should fit around all interior - if you have that . You need to drill holes and bolt it in (with back support naturally). If you desire I suppose you could weld it in. Any custom made cage would require the shop to measure, cut, etc. My impression is that Autopower has templates ready. Also, you do the install yourself. In my case I'll pick it up straight from Autopower in San Diego and put it in. Colin and I were also considering making it ourselves from scratch - he has all necessary equipment. They did that for his GTV6, but materials alone were something like $400.

Oh, note that delivery time for the Autopower cage is something like 3-4 weeks! They can rush the order in 2 weeks for an extra $95.

Jes

[Fortis 621]

Autopower cage is a good deal. On my GTV6, I spent just as much or more on materials alone... I don't even want to count the number of hours it took for a professional cage builder to fabricate and weld it in.

If you can, it would be good to slightly modifiy their design. For example, instead of a horizontal cross bar, use a x-brace. It makes climbing into and out of the car easier and really stiffens up the car. If the design doesn't have a horizontal bar that connects the left and right front A-pillars, I would add that in as well. I also make sure all the bars were meeting at a joint on the floor. As a simple, general rule, you want triangles, not rectangles.

Good luck.

Colin

[75evo]

Around here (Nor Cal), tcdesignfab.com said $850 for basic 4 point rollbar (rear 1/2 only). This is a MIG welded bar made from DOM steel. They will fit it in the car.

I like this better as they attach the bar to the frame rails and not the floor sheet metal. Or at the very least the floor sheet metal is strengthened by means of welding metal base plates connecting the rail and floor. Sheet metal isn't as strong as the car's frame rails. I don't quite like the fit of the autopower cage either. So I might end up going for a basic 6-point weld in cage. Estimated price, $1500.

If Roxanne is going to be a commuter/track car, then maybe a good rollbar is all you need until the 3.7 is done. I saw the autopower rollbar on Alfaracer75's car and it was ok, not too great. But the price is reasonable. However when I take into account shipping and other options (removable crossbar etc) the price jumps close to $600. And I still have to fit it myself.


Fortis621,

Your cage is very elaborate. I'm pretty sure it costs more than the car .

[junglejustice]

[quote=PSk]Gee you Americans are such safety pansies , I'm surprised you can ever muster up enough courage to even take your car on the track .

[quote=AR4me]Of the 3 people speaking about the fuel lines no one is American We are all aliens in America Well, some of us permanent residents by now.

[quote=PSk]You need to hire a steam cleaner and clean the front of that engine (and engine bay) ... otherwise you are sacrificing your nice new belt. Oil and rubber timing belts do not like each other and while I understand this is a budget race car and maybe not the final engine ... well I'd turn the car away if I was the scrutineer due to oil leaks.

Race cars should start the day spotless. It's important for safety/performance so you can easily see things leaking or going wrong.

Gee you Australians are such clean-engine pansies It's a track ***** - I'm surprised you can ever muster up enough courage to even take your trailer queens out of the garage (or LORD forbid - on to a track...)

[AR4me]

Quote:

If Roxanne is going to be a commuter/track car, then maybe a good rollbar is all you need until the 3.7 is done.

[nizam]

Wow, without the dirt on the motor, you must have shaved off at least 2lbs. Right at the nose of the car too that'll help with reducing the understeer!

Nice work man. Real nice