Code Monkey goes full retard racecar mode!!!!

[Ace Protege]

Awesome man! I love seeing people set a goal and going for it.

[jroc]

to be honest, the trunk is somewhat light to begin with. heavy, yes, but iirc SUMark said a CF trunk wasn't much lighter than the stocker.

[blackmicamps6]

Originally Posted by Code Monkey Big thanks to @aggierandy; the dash was a bitch, I brought the whale back home, she is 21.4 lbs! The passenger air bag is 4.4 lbs and the driver (steering wheel) airbag is 2.8 lbs. With all the seats out, according to my calculations, the car should be about 450 lbs lighter now, clocking in at 3,150! The racing seats, harnesses, and cage should add at least 250 lbs, I would be happy if the car ends up at 3,390. The next step would be to remove the front crash bar (30 lbs), rear crash bar (26 lbs), BSD (15 lbs), and air conditioning (28 lbs), here's another 100 lbs. With a carbon fiber hood and trunk and Lexan windows it should be possible to have a fully race prepared MS6 at around 3,190.

why do away with the crash bars? i'm no expert in vehicle safety but if you are pushing this car to the limits on the track, wouldn't you want additional safety features? or do you think the cage supplements it enough somehow?

[Code Monkey]

Originally Posted by blackmicamps6 why do away with the crash bars? i'm no expert in vehicle safety but if you are pushing this car to the limits on the track, wouldn't you want additional safety features? or do you think the cage supplements it enough somehow?

I am keeping the crash bars. It was just speculation on my part how light the MS6 could possibly get if you went all the way.

[blackmicamps6]

Originally Posted by Code Monkey I am keeping the crash bars. It was just speculation on my part how light the MS6 could possibly get if you went all the way.

gotcha... maybe a lighter weight crash bar setup is possible while still retaining safety?

[Code Monkey]

Originally Posted by blackmicamps6 gotcha... maybe a lighter weight crash bar setup is possible while still retaining safety?

Yes, the FMIC from FullRace and cp-e, I think, comes with modified and lightweight crash bars. But I am not worried about further weight reduction at the moment, need driver mod bad.

[aggierandy]

And you need those coilovers!

[Code Monkey]

Originally Posted by aggierandy And you need those coilovers!

You think?

[Code Monkey]

Made a little bit of progress today. We measured the seating position and finalized the rear doors. Turns out there is a neat way to keep the rear windows shut without welding any brackets or using turnbuckles and it is still trivial to remove the window in case it gets shattered.

The yellow circle shows where the window connects to the power window regulator. Take the regulator and motor out, hike the glass all the way up and drill a hole in the door such that you can hold the glass in place with one long screw and a few washers. The blue circle show another screw we put in just in case the first screw fails for some reason and the glass comes down. The blue screw will stop the window right there rather than the window slamming all the way down.

Finally, cut off the piece from the inner trim ("rear door unit carrier" in the shop manual) so that you can still open the door from the inside. I think the final look is pretty clean.

The total weight reduction is 11 lbs per door:

5.5 outer trim
1.8 motor & regulator
1.8 speaker
1.9 inner trim

[blackmicamps6]

loving each update.

[qtrmile beast]

Going to have to gather all these weights and put them on my weight reduction thread if you don't mind me doing so....

Good work i am already at 3370 with all my interior in an and without i am down to 3250.... So with some of this weight reduction along with what little i have done i should be close to the low 3100s!!!

[Code Monkey]

Originally Posted by qtrmile beast Going to have to gather all these weights and put them on my weight reduction thread if you don't mind me doing so....

Be my guest.

[Code Monkey]

Seat brackets are done! Here's what a mounted driver's seat looks like! We also got the main hoop bent into a proper shape. To be continued tomorrow....

[Todd98SE]

Make sure the seat brackets are tied into the main hoop. In multiple locations if possible.

How are you dong the door bars, NASCAR style or uninterrupted X with intrusion hoops?

[Code Monkey]

Originally Posted by Todd98SE Make sure the seat brackets are tied into the main hoop. In multiple locations if possible. How are you dong the door bars, NASCAR style or uninterrupted X with intrusion hoops?

No idea yet but I am pretty sure my cage welder knows what he is doing.

[Code Monkey]

Cage is finally starting to resemble cage... No idea why it is attaching upside down.

Edit: Fixed the upside down pictures. The driver's seat bracket has three holes so the seat will be "adjustable" -- that is, you unbolt it, move a notch, bolt it down.... The passenger's seat bracket has only one hole so the seating position will be fixed.

[Easter Bunny]

Sturdy cage didn't even dent the roof when you flipped t over to button up!

[edmsmallcash]

Mindblown

[dubunderpar]

You sir have doomed my ms6's interior.

sent from the tapagods

[qtrmile beast]

When your done please weigh the car so those that are going to do some of these weight reductions can see where they might end up.. Good job and keep up the good work..

[chuckms6]

If you are adding a cage you could go the extra mile and weld in a single cross brace in the trunk and remove those braces and maybe some material if you haven't already

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727

[Code Monkey]

Originally Posted by qtrmile beast When your done please weigh the car so those that are going to do some of these weight reductions can see where they might end up.. Good job and keep up the good work..

Will definitely do. I am still waiting for my custom coilovers and I will need the new weight for accurate and optimal spring rate calculation.

Originally Posted by chuckms6 If you are adding a cage you could go the extra mile and weld in a single cross brace in the trunk and remove those braces and maybe some material if you haven't already

Yeah, I was thinking about something like this, my welder said it was possible.

[aggierandy]

Originally Posted by chuckms6 If you are adding a cage you could go the extra mile and weld in a single cross brace in the trunk and remove those braces and maybe some material if you haven't already Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727

When I was over there checking out @Code Monkey;'s setup, I spoke with the cage builder about this specific matter. One solutions we discussed was a dual purpose rear bulkhead that would function as the braces. I think this would be an ideal solution as it would provide bracing in essentially all directions (in-plane).

Something kinda like this:

[Code Monkey]

Jesus, that thing looks heavy.

[aggierandy]

Originally Posted by Code Monkey Jesus, that thing looks heavy.

Its aluminum. Even if I overestimate it at 1.5 mm x 0.5 meters^2 its less than 5 lbs!

I'd use like 1.2mm aluminum plate. You can cut it with electric shears typically and maybe even reuse the factory bolts. Because all the load will be in tension, it doesn't need to be very thick.

Grab one of these and you can even put your own bead in it:

Benchtop Sheet Metal Fabrication Kit

Heck, you may even talk to someone like Jamie over at JBR about selling one of these. He could make money on them and they should be cheap once you have the template. Plus, as the MS6 ages, there will be more of them retired to the track.

[Todd98SE]

That plate would block his down tubes from the top of the main hoop to the rear strut towers.

Like this:

[El_Diablo]

A simple sheet like that works great without adding much weight at all. Even if you drill holes for the down tubes the function is still there. You can also use it as a firewall if the rule book mandates one between the trunk and passenger compartment.

When you look at that sheet think about those DIY shelves that you nail the thin piece of cardboard to. its that Cardboard that holds the shelves up, otherwise they would parrellegram with the slightest side force.

[aggierandy]

Originally Posted by El_Diablo A simple sheet like that works great without adding much weight at all. Even if you drill holes for the down tubes the function is still there. You can also use it as a firewall if the rule book mandates one between the trunk and passenger compartment. When you look at that sheet think about those DIY shelves that you nail the thin piece of cardboard to. its that Cardboard that holds the shelves up, otherwise they would parrellegram with the slightest side force.

Precisely

[aggierandy]

Originally Posted by Todd98SE That plate would block his down tubes from the top of the main hoop to the rear strut towers. Like this:

BTW that cage is WAY more intricate than what he is getting. His down tubes don't cross (I don't believe they do at least). And he doesn't have the 6 way cross behind his seat either.

[Code Monkey]

The down tubes can be either crossed or parallel, we chose parallel. We are still undecided on whether we will run diagonal bars there.

The main hoop will have a crossbar and at least one diagonal bar going from the driver's side down to the passenger's side, but I will probably have both diagonal bars making it a 6-way cross.

[aggierandy]

If you are gonna go with a single sheet, it something you probably need to consider immediately. If you have already welded in the down tubes, you're gonna have to use multiple sheets and that isn't ideal for bracing.
RapaTapTap

[CorkSport]

Originally Posted by Todd98SE That plate would block his down tubes from the top of the main hoop to the rear strut towers. Like this:

What car is that cage in?

-Derrick

[Todd98SE]

Originally Posted by CorkSport What car is that cage in? -Derrick

I don't want to derail Code Monkey's thread but it is my old Sentra SE-R.

SE-R Photos by todd98se | Photobucket

It was a fairly overbuilt NASA/SCCA spec cage, maybe Code can get some ideas from the pics.
@Code Monkey; what city are you in? Near Austin?

[aggierandy]

Originally Posted by CorkSport What car is that cage in? -Derrick

Demolition Derby Car? :LOL:

Originally Posted by Code Monkey The down tubes can be either crossed or parallel, we chose parallel. We are still undecided on whether we will run diagonal bars there. The main hoop will have a crossbar and at least one diagonal bar going from the driver's side down to the passenger's side, but I will probably have both diagonal bars making it a 6-way cross.

Yeah, but I think that is still very different from the photo, right? In the picture, they braced the harness bar (not sure if that is the right term) with an additional X to the main hoop. Essentially making a six point star within the hoop. It looks like serious overkill to me.

[Code Monkey]

Originally Posted by Todd98SE I don't want to derail Code Monkey's thread but it is my old Sentra SE-R. @Code Monkey; what city are you in? Near Austin?

Not a problem, always eager to learn! I am in Bryan/College Station, about 90 minutes away from Austin.

Originally Posted by aggierandy Yeah, but I think that is still very different from the photo, right? In the picture, they braced the harness bar (not sure if that is the right term) with an additional X to the main hoop. Essentially making a six point star within the hoop. It looks like serious overkill to me.

Just got a response from Sam:

"Definitely single diagonal brace and harness bar within the main hoop (to make it NASA legal). The X in the main hoop makes the harness bar more complex, but it can be done. You don't need any more bracing to be legal but I was going to do an X on the same plane as the ground from the main hoop to the rear supports. The door bar will hit the hoop at the same point which adds strength to both. If you want a diagonal or X in the rear supports, I can do that in place if the horizontal support. It will cut down on rear visibility and add a little weight, those are the only downsides. I will also be adding 1.5" tubing gussets in 4 spots."

[CorkSport]

I think the single bar should be sturdy if done right. We ran the bar for the harnesses in to make the X.

[aggierandy]

Originally Posted by CorkSport I think the single bar should be sturdy if done right. We ran the bar for the harnesses in to make the X.

Yes, I think this is much more similar to @Code Monkey;s setup

RapaTapTap

[helmetface]

I think @Code Monkey; s gut is the next step in weight reduction :p









<3

[Code Monkey]

Originally Posted by helmetface I think @Code Monkey; s gut is the next step in weight reduction :p

Already lost about 25 lbs in the last 9 months but there's still a bit to trim if needed.

[aggierandy]

Originally Posted by Code Monkey Already lost about 25 lbs in the last 9 months but there's still a bit to trim if needed.

Looking svelte! Its all those reacharounds.