Aus Rx7 rally build... makes mine sad...

hopefully there are no problems viewing this

http://www.rx7club.com/build-threads-293/gen-1-rx7-into-tarmac-rally-car-group-c-replica-1040772/


but damn. This is almost exactly how my car is coming along minus the turbo engine and adjustable watts whatnot

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First Rally: 2010 First RallyX: 2004 (a bunch)
Driver (0), Co-Driver (7)
Organizer (3), Volunteer (3)
Cars Built (2.5), Engines Blown (2) Cages Built (0) # of rotations (3.5)
Last Updated, Apr 9, 2023

Man, that's purdy..

Ever notice how thouroughly they prep shells? The really put a lot of work into the foundation of their cars...
Why are North Americans so work averse?

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Alex I saw this thread:
http://www.rx7club.com/race-car-tech-103/seam-welding-1031514/

and I thought since you're there you could put up this in response to the guys debating is it worthwhile to stitch weld:

As for what to weld... I love it that Ford Motorsport said in all their books from RWD Escorts onward---including Sierra, on page 1 paragraph one: Shell Preparation. They stresed that this make for a stronger shell and for us privateers

Quote

"for 2 major reasons:
1) It will help prolong the life of the shell by reducing fatigue failures and
limiting accident damage.
2) It will improve the car's handling by increasing the stiffness of the structure"

Goes on to say

Quote

"Start from an absolutely clean shell. Work gradually around the shell "stitching" a 1/2" run of weld every 1 1/2" or so (15mm every 40mm or so) along every exposed spot-welded body seam you can find. Work underneath the car, in the engine bay, inside the car--anywhere thit it is possible to see and to reinforce a seam"

You could say that is directly from Ford Motorsport and so should carry more authority that just some numb-nuts on-line.

They mean it when they say EVERY and should stress they mean to do this AFTER the cage is welded in... cars to twist and tweak if you weld like a maniac in one area..I have warped a sand truck trailer body by 4" welding too long in one area..long ass trailer made of pretty thich plate and it pulled up 4" at one end...Fortunately the boss was sharper than me and by time he was done it had pulled back town to flat..
So move around a lot.


As for should you get so thorough---local rallyguy in his first event too a wrong slot at a Y that some fool had seeingly intentionally driven thru the tapes and met a Subie guy and kind of banged into the Subie guy---who had realised they had gone wrong and turned around and was heading back..
VW Rabbit , gently kiss and the car is tweaked seriously...if the car was stronger, the one corner would be smooshed, but the other parts straighter and an easier fix..

I guess it depends on how long you want to keep the shell--and the cage you spent time and effort installing.

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

John, I had one of the road racers tell me that seam welding made crash damage worse because the whole structure gets stressed instead of one point.

Now, I will admit that I ain't some kind of crashologist, but I've thoroughly studied a lot of videos of people wrecking rally cars, and it seems to me that most of them just take a tree to a corner and just that one piece of car gets bent, and a small minority take a tree to a corner and it looks like the whole shell unzips... one of these things is not like the other, and I'd assuming that's because it WASN'T seam welded.

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Pete Remner
Cleveland, Ohio

1984 RX-7 (rallycross thing)
1978
Silence is golden, but duct tape is silver.

Quote
john vanlandingham
Man, that's purdy..

Ever notice how thouroughly they prep shells? The really put a lot of work into the foundation of their cars...
Why are North Americans so work averse?

Most north americans......ahem.

Quote
phlat65

Quote
john vanlandingham
Man, that's purdy..

Ever notice how thouroughly they prep shells? The really put a lot of work into the foundation of their cars...
Why are North Americans so work averse?

Most north americans......ahem.

Yeah... That's why I like you. and want to help you. you do good work and don't seem to be afraid to do it.

And it is fun when it works iddnit?

But are you reeeeeaaaaaaaaally a Norte Americano?

Ou puet'etre un Anglias, un rosbif?!

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/15/2013 11:01PM by john vanlandingham.

Quote
Pete
John, I had one of the road racers tell me that seam welding made crash damage worse because the whole structure gets stressed instead of one point.

Now, I will admit that I ain't some kind of crashologist, but I've thoroughly studied a lot of videos of people wrecking rally cars, and it seems to me that most of them just take a tree to a corner and just that one piece of car gets bent, and a small minority take a tree to a corner and it looks like the whole shell unzips... one of these things is not like the other, and I'd assuming that's because it WASN'T seam welded.

I think it is a moot point to discuss seam welding with regards to actual crash damage.
Usually a crash is so hard that I would venture the guess that seam welding or not, doesn't really make that much of a difference. Or at least it's real hard to really prove, since each crash is just a bit (or a lot!) different regarding speed, angle, car, object that is hits, etc. etc.
But I have seen enough weird things happen to a shell just over time - cracks, slight tweaks and bends, etc. - to advocate stich welding as well as tieing the cage to the shell.
I've had my Mk II Golf for 10 years now - done something in the order of 50-60 events in it (shorter stuff than yours though), and it has progressed buildwise over the years.
I had the entire front of it seamwelded for quite a few years, and just a few years ago I tied the front shock towers to the cage, and this winter I tied the A and B-posts to the cage as well. Why? I saw cracks in the paint in a few select places... it WILL happen over time - might as well make it last as long as possible.

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Brgrds
Brian