Car Prep for a newcomer

[Evo2Hifi]

Hi I am in the process of preparing a Porsche 914 for use in the HSCC 70s road sport class and I am in the need of a bit of guidance. I think I am listing this in the correct forum, if not feel free to move

I imported the car from the states with some preparation already done. I have built and modified the engine to the regs but I would appreciate your thoughts on the cage I have in the car at the moment. It is an Auto power roll cage (US Brand) built to SCCA Regs (6 point cage welded in but bolted to base plates). I have spoken to Dallas at the last meeting of the season who viewed the cage using photos I provided. He highlighted the cage base plates which were not 120cm2 as the blue book states (they are roughly 70cm2). Apart from the base plate issue the cage only required two gussets to add support to the A pillar part of the cage.

What are your thought’s on getting round the base plate issue ?

My first thought was to unbolting the cage and grind them of but access has proved to be an issue due to the cage and the position of the base plates.

Other option would be to cut the cage out and remove base plates as I now have access. Then get hold of an FIA approved bot in cage. This would be my last resort as it seems a waste to scrap the cage due to only the base plates.

Could anyone else recommend a way around the problem that the scrutineers would be happy with ?
This is my first venture into motorsport so I would appreciate any help I
Please see a couple of photos below to illustrate the problem

[Paul D]

Those baseplates look pretty thick to me - 6mm perhaps (or 1/4 inch if done in the states?). For us, you need only 3mm minimum.

It would, as you say, be a shame to scrap an otherwise good cage just because of this - but I wouldn't fancy trying to grind those weld beads off if it is 6mm thick.

However, after unbolting the cage, it may be possible to cut around the plates with a cutting disc, thus removing the baseplate and the piece of floor it's welded to, leaving you with a hole the size of the current baseplate. Then you simply make up a larger baseplate to MSA spec, in 3 or 4mm, drill it for your bolts and weld it over the hole - as it will be bigger than the hole you have, it will cover it entirely.

As it looks like your bolts go into a blind box section, you'll probably have to weld nuts to the underside of the plate before you weld it to the car. Incidentally, it looks as though your current bolts may only be about 8mm (or 5/16 inch), which isn't really sufficient - so while you're at it, drill out the cage feet to take at least M10 (or 7/16 inch). But you only need three for each foot (two for backstays), so you could leave the awkward looking one that's under the cage bars, or just replace that one with the current bolt size if you can't get a drill into it.

Hope this helps! Good luck.

[terence]

Pretty certain that all you need to do is extend the plates to the required area,cut out extensions,butt weld,grind off to finish,repaint sounds like the easier option.

[defender47]

Hi Evo,

How are you getting on with your project? I was considering going down the same route with a 914. I used to run a 1970 911 2.2 in the 70's.

I would be interested to hear how you are getting on with the development of the car. I presume it was raced formerly in the US.

If you can pm me I would be very keen to hear from you.
Kind regards

Paul

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by terence bower

Pretty certain that all you need to do is extend the plates to the required area,cut out extensions,butt weld,grind off to finish,repaint sounds like the easier option.

Or what about welding bigger plates underneath the old ones or weld the additional plate down the side so the base plate is a right angle.

[terence]

Quite right Tim,only spec is on size,no mention of how that is achieved,as long as the weld is up to strength and ground back flush. There's enough strength in the mount as is so extending will only improve matters.