RX3 Coupe track rat

Hey Steve, I stole an update pic from John's Facetube page.

Pizza break...

Tight fit

This is a great cage fit

In reply to Geekspeed:

Thanks for posting that youtube link. I love watching old BS cars go at it.

Aussie, the cage is looking good.

I have a line on a cheap bridgeported 13B in Virginia if you're interested. (Not mine, but friends with the owner of it was has since done an engine swap)

Capt: I may have a friend that might be of interest if Mr. Australia doesn't jump on it.

Nice build.....great read!!! Keep us posted !!

Always interested in an engine, pm me Capt

Nice! What's the seat plan?

Good question, while I want to stay in theme for the period, safety is important too, any suggestions?

We have an older Kirkey Aluminum seat in ours but I want to change it next year so I was hoping you'd come up with a good alternative idea I could steal :)

The biggest issue I have with my current seat is that I inherited the position from the previous owner and there is no adjustability. We have two, sometimes three different drivers and I'm the odd man out on height/torso but the other guys fit much better, so yea, looking for good ideas.

Here's a simple shot of the base for the seat, its all non-adjustable, welded in to the cage. If you run an aluminum seat, it'll need a brace or direct bolt to your cage. I like that they did your cross bar above the steering column so you could in theory change the height of the steering wheel too.

Steve, I still have the Kirkey Intermediate in the rx7, if you're interested.

I'd rather get a seat that fits me better, as opposed to gaining weight to fit the seat.

Looking great! I trust John's skills but many people get hung up on having the cage close to the body all over. I see a lot of cages with all kinds of bends to keep the cage near the body. That is fine if it is giving the driver a little more needed room but a bent tube is just a spring and a driver's hoop smashed against the sides of the car is useless if you can't get a good weld on your door bars.

I'd rather pull a B-pillar off a hoop on the frame machine after it got pushed in 2" than see a door bar tear off right at a weld that didn't quite get that last 1/4" around.

( I also know there are some big holes in the side panels behind the doors that you can feed your welding torch through on your car)

John is very good with cages, he is a survivor of TBI and very aware of cage safety

one320b wrote: Here's a simple shot of the base for the seat, its all non-adjustable, welded in to the cage. If you run an aluminum seat, it'll need a brace or direct bolt to your cage. I like that they did your cross bar above the steering column so you could in theory change the height of the steering wheel too.

What is going on over in the passenger side? What is that square section for?

Cuda wrote: What is going on over in the passenger side? What is that square section for?

It's for the instrument panel:

aussiesmg wrote: John is very good with cages, he is a survivor of TBI and very aware of cage safety

You're in good hands, I'm not worried about that. I only mention it because guys look at these build threads and get ideas for their 'first cage'. I had a friend who was an engineer for Mazda borrow my tube bender years ago. He wanted to build his own cage because he's an engineer... Well, he wasted about 80' of tubing trying to get his main hoop just the way he wanted it. I have to admit it was gorgeous, right up against the chassis of his soon to be ITB Fiero. I took one look at it and asked him how he planned on welding anything to it? He thought about it for a couple minutes and looked at me with a blank stare, "Fffuuuuuuu......"

I think he ended up using the second hoop he had bent because the first one was too wide. At least DOM tubing was only $1.85 a foot back then.

Tomorrow this one comes home again, time for body and paint

John has skills

Your cage-builder appears to be slightly cross-eyed...

Looks the same as he did about 20 years ago except no mullet

jgrewe wrote: Looks the same as he did about 20 years ago except no mullet

I didn't know John back then, but I have seen the pictures...

This one came home today, cage is done, paint and body is next

Easy to hand load this car. Followed by drinks and chat at JMR, thanks John.

Hot damn, that's nice!
< goes to CL, strikes out on RX content >

Parts sourced, original and rare steering wheel

Rarer wheels, these are sharp

The engine that belongs in this car was built by the PO, it is getting a freshen up, it is a really sweet street port, runs up to 11K RPM as built using the right combinaton of parts.

Lakecities Intake and 48 IDA Weber carb