DILYSI Dave said:
Question, as it's one I've considered for my own C5Kart - why did you decide to keep the vette chassis versus stripping it down to the roller skate and adding tubes, ala Exocet?
i reckon you could certainly just utilize the front and rear axle cradles and tube chassis inbetween - that would just a bigger job than my quickie strip and cage effort here. the A-pillar and trans tunnel are certainly were my weight is bc they are all structural elements. eliminating them by building your own tube chassis would be a massive weight savings. i am going for quick and cheap in this build, so reusing the C5's tub makes sense for me.
I thought bends in two planes were frowned apon on any roll cage A pillar?
Mad_Ratel said:
I thought bends in two planes were frowned apon on any roll cage A pillar?
i havent heard or read that, but i will absolutely agree that anything bend out of the initial plane will be weaker. similarly anything deviating from a triangle will be weaker. i am trying to compromise aesthetics, functionality and NASA/SCCA rules. Think ariel or excocet, aesthetics is somewhat important. i have to be able to get in and out and work on the thing. And, this will never be door-to-door raced, but the NASA CCR/SCCA GCR cage guidelines are fundamental.
got the lower door bars bend and tacked today. they attach 3" from the bottom of the front and main hoops. the bends come up and out - the upper door bars will meet at the bend.
I like it. They dont flare out as far as the nylon template showed, which is a good thing in my book.
major progress late this week. presenting.... all major element complete!! lots of gusset bars to follow...
Lof8 said:
Lookin awesome!!
thanks!
short video walk around of LS1-KART
All those curves make it look like a rock bouncer cage almost.
worked on gusset bars today.
in order of pics: got the forward hoop to main hoop bars done, maintaining the same rake angle as the rear braces. forward hoop to a-pillar and main hoop to rear frame. 
defiantly going to do a set of bars connecting the upper to lower door bar and the frame. also looking for somewhere to up a handle for the passengers and i need to add grill bars to the bumper. otherwise, getting pretty close to turning it over to my buddy for welding!
all the gusset / brace bars are fitted! started on the grill today. goin simple.
anyone an LS1 injector expert? all of mine have a '36' scribed into them. stock flow rate is 28.... the PN indicates they are OE LS1 injectors. neverheard of anyone altering injectors for more flow, but 36 would be about what a cammed LS would like... i guess...
a friend of mine (and local autocrosser) has been TIG-ing away at the roll cage in his spare time for a week or so. He should wrap it up this week. Here is the first joint:
the understatement of the day is: 'its gonna be alot nicer than if i had done it with my MIG."
once the kart is back to filling the void in my garage i will need to replace the B-pillar area i removed to re-box in the dual fuel tanks and tie the B-pillar to the roll cage/frame. i have some 20ga steel for that tasking.
from there i will spray paint the cage (for now-considering the probability of slight changes is 100%). I bought stuff required to redneck-lizard skin (micro-bubble + latex paint) the floorpans and transmission tunnel. then will add grip tape to the floor pan.
other large task looming is suspension/brakes. i need to decide on rotor/pads. i already have SS brakes lines. leaning towards HP+ for pads, probably going to go cheap on the rotors.. PFADT makes a camber kit that consists of shims, drilled plates to replace the cam bolts and studs. i am going to try and cheap out for now, by putting the cam bolts in the max position, fashioning my own grade8 studs/bolts and using standard alignment shims. should save $350. i need to order lowering bolts for the front leaf spring. thats the extent of what i have planned for the suspension for now.
just after that on teh priority list are hood, roof and truck bed like elements. nearly certain to be aluminum (race-car type) sheet, rivet and angle reinforced.
WRT part out sales..... i really only have a passenger door, bumper wall fixture, tonneau cover and two boxes of misc trim, etc. i have netted just over $2500, total sales of more than $3250. i hope to scrape another $700 out of the remnants.
Jax Solo released the 2018 schedule. first event is 4 feb. i have less than 2 months left to debut!
cage welding 100%. only front bumper / cone guard left!
On injectors factory ones have an engraved part number (gm likes 10 digit numbers)
i’d guess someone put 36# injectors in maybe from somewhere that flows them and sells matched sets hence the manual carved numbers. i can’t remember without going outside if all my ls1 injectors are black or grey.
Did you run into any issues welding in the door pillar area under the windshield? The pillar is steel but the windshield frame is aluminum and basically becomes part of the lower pillar at the factory. It’s been several months since I dealt with that, so I don’t recall where steel ends and aluminum begins. Looks like you’re fine there though.
In reply to Patrick :
yea, the 10-ish digit nubmer on the injectors indicates that they are OE LS1 units. i agree, i think someone modified them somehow. no idea how...
yea, a-pillar from dashboard up is Al. Steel from frame to dashboard height, so we tied it in about knee high.
Those are some damn nice welds. Please send my regards - random fellow from the internet
starting to figure out how i am going to box in the fuel tanks. here is the space i am working with on the drivers side
:
here are the posterboard templates i am fitting before cutting 20ga sheet...
