Tally Ho

Well, after talking to a few cage builders, I think I have settled. As long as the world keeps spinning the same direction, I should be dropping the car off at Davenport Racing within the next couple of weeks. Doug is a cool guy, and he is one of the few local rally guys. Most of my other options would have required trailering the car a long distance to have it caged. This way the car will be local, and I might even be able to check out the progress. I have a lot of work to do before then, but I think I can get it done.

Some of you may wonder why I dont build the cage myself, there are reasons. Rally America cages must be built to FIA spec, and the regulations are very strict. Also, the cage will be very closely scrutinized when I go to apply for a log book. They will closely inspect all the welds, bends, gussets, and mounting points. Without a pipe bender, and prodigious welding skill. Building an adaquit cage is currently out of the question. Its also something I plan to remedy.

On to the updates. I left off last time with the car essentially fully disassembled. Now Im moving on to some of the tougher work. In some of the previous pictures, some of you may have noticed the rust in the typical spots for an S13, where the fenderwell/strut tower meet the frame. I chose this as the plase to start my assault on the rust.

You can sort of see it in this picture. The thin fender well has almost completely separated from the rails, on both sides.



After attacking it with an angle grinder, and cutoff tool, I got to see just how far the rust had gone. Boy thats a big hole.



I also wire wheeled all the seems that will get stitch welded. Man the seam sealer they use is nasty.



The other side is almost as bad.



Besides the hole I cut, there is also a ton of holes in the fenders from the factory. Many are just filled with plastic plugs. Others were used for mounting power steering lines and other such rubbish. I will be changing that.



Gage getting ready to start stitch welding.



And hes off.



Not as pretty as some, but it'll do. The seam sealer was wreaking havoc on the way the weld was flowing.



With the stitching done, Gage took off, and I went to town on all the holes.

Sealed up tight.









With the holes filled, I started grinding them down. It didnt take long to figure out I need ear protection. Man that thing makes noise. I was at it just long enough for Cale to snap this picture.



I will be back at it tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully I can get the plates welded on the bigger holes.