Nipped out this evening to weld the chassis sections together, then removed it so I can add some extra sections more easily. Getting there! :D

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/chassis_1.jpg

http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabrio/chassis_2.jpg

Away this weekend so no more progress for a week or so...

torsion bar tye-in...
 

Love all the build images so far ricola.
Can you tell me about your plan to tye in the torsion bar housing?
I am looking at matching your perimeter forms, with round stock for the upper portion of my 'rollcage' but I am unsure as to how I should go about connecting the torsion bar housing into the floor section?

Thoughts?

It won't be anything fancy, just small sections of the tube shaped to fit inbetween the rear crossmember pieces and the torsion bar housing...
I'll get to it when I flip the chassis over.

and how about weight?
Have you weighed out your parts to get a picture for totall additional weight with the way your building?
I would be curious as to the weight per foot of the box tube your using.

Strength is much more important than weight for me, especially in a cabrio and considering it will have an excess of power. There are easier ways to get better strength/weight but not hidden, I want this car to look relatively stock to help with the sleeper approach.

Weight of the tubing is just over 4kg per metre..

Well, its just a run of the mill suby engine...don't get over excited by what it will put out :lmao: ;)

lol, this engine is only 300bhp, the next version will be a fair bit more, I'm thinking about a 2.5sti based engine next... got to come up with some other projects and stop my habit of selling cars the second I finish them!

Lets see some dyno proof of all that big hp talk of you :D

in time...

Heh, that is what i am working with 05' 2.5T STI engine... Can't wait to get it booted up.
Just waiting on my adapter kit... damn all this waiting...

Not sure how much of it would be used in the end, stronger rods, pistons, heads, turbo etc etc I still have to do some more research as I have a closed deck RA engine now which may be a better base...

Bit more done...

Cut rust out of chassis:
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...epair_prep.jpg

Then fabricaate new panels and weld them in, took a bit of beating to get the right shape with that thick steel!
http://www.ricola.co.uk/images/cabri...tom_repair.jpg

Added some drain holes to help prevent problems in the future too...

Very nice work Richard!
Structural rigidity will probably be greatly enhanced by this.

One thing I was going to ask you Wally, did you shorten/lengthen your shift rod at all? Mine is roughly going to end up with the base of the shifter in the same place as stock so pulled back a bit by the bend will probably be just about right for me but it has been a while since I drove the thing so am open to opinions...

Yes, I did need to lengthen it quite a bit. Made this pic. You can see the welded piece in between, but I used quite some overlap, so the actual lengthening is a bit less than you think you see ;)

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...0.jpg~original

Oh, don't mind the extra piece I made on the coupler. It turned out not to be neccesary.