Celica is similar to Talon to see out of. I didn't realize what a factor that would be when I built the talon. It's a very big deal. My cage was super tight and high quality. Basically if the seat was low I couldn't see out. If it was high enough to be able to see at all (still not nearly good enough) my helmet was in constant contact with the cage... not good! Even though I had a strong motor and awd there were lots of tight (fun) stages where I could've driven faster in a stock Xratty just because of the visibility factor. I'm sure with more seat time and trusting the navigator and his notes more I could've overcome some of that... but it would always be a factor slowing me down. Bottom line I would never do it again!

I must agree with Tim here Robert. That particular RX7 is built to be reliable and strong. I looked at it quite close at WW last year. It has finished a lot of rallies.

$5k seems like a bargain, and I am not a proponent of the buy it, I would much rather see someone build their car. It sure does sound like the Toyota is not the best car to start with......

To further the RX7 point, when you are done with it and move on to another car you should be able to still sell it for 5K, as long as you don't write the car of during your use of it.

I hear ya guys.

As of today I'm a better car builder than I am a rally driver. I will post up some progress photos of the cage work and any questions I might have related to the cage.

Awesome Sean! You have a dirt road up there we can go hoon on? I just may be able to shed some light on your choice...

doesn't look so bad...

Yea, great vid. It all seems so raw and bad ass, compared to rally today.

Ok, those look fun. Wished Damitios hadn't torn that inlet boot on the 2nd stage. Ass end slightly out in nthe corners, a thing of beauty.

I'd build it NA if you need to for now. It won't be that bad and you'll get to rally a bunch more. Lots of rrr'ss, no lag, no restrictor, more reliability. There is a certain joy in spinning a motor 7 or 8000 revs. I used to turn my rotary 9500 when I was mad.

Send me pics of the cage as you build it so everything goes as planned.

Gene Mccullough
RA/NRS western tech supervisor

Quote
Tim Taylor
I'm still contemplating doing an open light build of my spare shell with a 2.5MZR and an all-trac drivetrain swap...the shortest crank pulley ends up about 1/2" into the frame rail to make it fit...just a whole lot of work for a nebulous return.

...Um, if you ever make that adapter plate, make 2, mkay? I think my car'd be way more competitive and prolly more fun as an openlight car with that engine than the open class car we're doing now...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/13/2010 08:06PM by Jay.

Wow, those cars have hp, grip.. but mostly I wish I could drive like that!

So I've been busy.... Sorry for the unanswered PM's

I've been working on the celicas a bit and have decided to cage them both at the same time, got the metal & everything. John told me to talk it out w/ the board before I started cutting & bending. So I got my art's & crafts on. This is the cage's I plan on putting in the cars, give me some input guys. No solid works for me.






A couple of questions:

- Can I put a "slight" bend in the british bar to get it closer to attach to the door bar?
- Is there advantage in running a bar from the bottom of the main hoop to the rear shock towers More strength???

- What thickness of metal are you guys using to plate the shock towers?
- Attaching the A pillar bars to the front shock towers? Worth it?

I know I'm forgetting something.

We practiced a bit on a customers car, w/ some of the things were going to do on the Toyota. There was alot of owner input in this cage which is annoying. low clearance door bars, retain door guts, factory dash bar etc...... whatever keep the lights on. :-(







& my cat

I believe the overhead bars to be within 100mm of the header bar connection. There is nothing to be ained by having the header bar ends bend backwards like you're doing. It would be better if just straight across the top of the windshield, or nearly straight.

A-pillar support can be bent outwards 20* to improve fitment and increase knuckle room on steering wheel. Don't overdo the main hoop/lateral 45* reinforcements, the ones beside the helmet. 253 has some max dimensions on those.

Door bars need not be too high and hinder egress also.

We do the top spreader bar like that for window clearance, it also makes it easier as you only have to make one bend on the roof x, for more head room. The celica doesn't have much. I like to think the supports connecting the a-pillars to the spreader bar would give it a bit more meat in a multiple roll...rollover compared to the bar just going straight across.

Also what's everyones take on harness mounting? The Celica's hatch is pretty useless. I was planning on running them to the bar connecting the rear strut towers.

Yes, run the tubes to the front struts, the front of the car takes a beating. I just fixed up Adam Crane's Corolla that basically was close to collapsing the front end.

I initially had a harness bar between the shock towers on mine, although legal, Gene gave me a bunch of grief, and I added bars behind the seats.

For the rear shocks, you may want to put in a tower, those mounts look pretty low. Whats the longest shock you can get in there?

Here is a couple pics of my rear shock attachment

Oooo nice, looks very tidy. I was wondering what kind of car you drove......rx7?

Also noted about the harness bar.