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I am creating this thread for posting and answering of SRX Rules-related questions, as I have had quite a few, and expect to have more.
I noticed in the 2004 SE-R Cup Rules, Section 7.10.4 that "ABS systems must be disabled." Is this the same for SRX, because it says that "brake systems are unlimited provided all safety requirements in these rules and the NASA CCR are met."? Just out of curiosity, why are these to be disabled...does it present a safety issue because of brake modulation?
I am asking because I am currently building my 240SX for SRX, and need to know. If the system must be disabled, I was thinking about removing it entirely and replacing it with parts from both my car and the front clip I received. If not, I may keep it in place and remove the ABS fuse (per advice from someone on FA).
I am creating this thread for posting and answering of SRX Rules-related questions, as I have had quite a few, and expect to have more.
I noticed in the 2004 SE-R Cup Rules, Section 7.10.4 that "ABS systems must be disabled." Is this the same for SRX, because it says that "brake systems are unlimited provided all safety requirements in these rules and the NASA CCR are met."?
"SRX brake systems are unlimited provided all safety requirements in these rules and the NASA CCR are met." is the key. The rest of the rules are for SR unless they specifially specify SRX.
You can run ABS in SRX, although you may not want to depending on your brake upgrades and how they react with the ABS computer.
Kinda the way I figured it. I don't know if I'll have the $$flow for any brake upgrades this year, as safety equipment will need to be purchased. At a minimum though, I'll run Carbotech Panther Pluses...helluva pad.
I apologize for the redundancy of this question, but I tried to dig through my foggy memory to find the original question, and failed miserably. So here goes:
SRX allows through-firewall cage members, as long as the hole is sealed, right? Additionally, does anyone have pictures of such a penetration, and the underhood portion of the cage? Uh huh huh huh...hey Beavis...he just said "penetration."
SRX allows through-firewall cage members, as long as the hole is sealed, right? Additionally, does anyone have pictures of such a penetration, and the underhood portion of the cage? Uh huh huh huh...hey Beavis...he just said "penetration."
If all goes well, hopefully you will in about 5-6 months! Thanks for the pix BTW.
It looks like the thru-firewall bracing is added at a 90 degree angle (horizontally) between the A-pillar upright and the strut tower. If this is sufficient for rally, it should be cool for my car.
A question though: the cages in SRX are "unlimited." I assume this means we can strategically add pieces to stiffen the car up? Meaning, are we allowed to add pieces for the sole purpose of stiffening (since they won't provide additional safety benefit)?
A question though: the cages in SRX are "unlimited." I assume this means we can strategically add pieces to stiffen the car up? Meaning, are we allowed to add pieces for the sole purpose of stiffening (since they won't provide additional safety benefit)?
Yes, you can do whatever you want. I can share a couple of pics of a car I am working on now that has tubes passing through the firewall whenever I get home. Maybe tomorrow.
Yes, you can do whatever you want. I can share a couple of pics of a car I am working on now that has tubes passing through the firewall whenever I get home. Maybe tomorrow.
andris
Awesome. Thanks for the help. Wanna come to the East Coast to build an affordable cage for me?
Speaking of which, I know a little bit about welds and proper penetration, bead, etc, but outside of that I do not really know what to look for in a cage. Andris, do you have any suggestions when shopping around for a cage builder? What do you think about "cheater boxes?" Thanks in advance for your help.
what is a cheater box? Umm, I'm out of town till sunday night, but when I get back I'll try to assemble a few pics of cages and show you some things to look for. Basically, the cage should fit really close to the shell, unless you are trying to do something tricky. I am big on driver space and ergonomics. Side impact protection is a very important thing to consider and is often more important than roll-over protection. Just start looking at a lot of pictures of different cars and see how people do things and why they mayhave done something a certain way. A lot of people just put tubes in places because they see other people doing it, but often without making much of a contribution to stiffness. One good example is the 'petty bar' that a lot of people seem to think is a good idea. It might help a little if the car was getting completely smashed up, but it does zero for torsional stiffness. anyways, ask some specific questions and I'll post some pics on monday.
You want the cage to fit tight in the shell. Since you are building an SRX car, you really want it so close it is touching. Then you can weld it to the shell Regardless, a lot of cagebuilders don't get the tubes really close to the shell and I don't know why. The farther away from my head the tubes are the better. In some cases, having space in places other than the main hoop can be ok if you are making big box sections out of sheetmetal to attach the cage to the body in an attempt to gain stiffness, but it is usually not worth getting that fancy, and you'd already know if you needed to do that . In most cases, a good goal is just to get it close to the shell everywhere.
These are of a front tower section I was working on. You can see where I welded around tubes where they pass through (not big holes). If you look closely in some pics you can see seams where the sheetmetal has been welded back together near some of the tubes. This is from slicing and peeling back the metal to allow the tube to be wiggled into place. Once the tubes were in place I worked the metal back into its original position and welded around the tubes/seams.
These are Jim's doorbars. On an SE-R/NX it is hard to get the main hoop far enough back and still have good NASCAR doorbars without resorting to multiple funky bends. This is about the only good way to do it. (I didn't build this one).
Are these what you meant by cheater boxes (some random car from the web)??
A few random ones. The first is just good gussets. The others are two good braces to reinforce the top of the a-pillar area (commonly crushed). Just make sure you can still easily get out of the car.
Thanks a lot for the pictures andris...that helps quite a bit. I would like to be able to do the x-bars like in the above pictures. While this may be overkill for SRX, I think it would help to connect the chassis/cage to the suspension much better. The major issue obviously is fitment on both sides of the firewall.
I noticed in Jim's picture that the factory underdash crossmember looks like it was retained. Is it possible to take this out and have your cage crossmember replace it? If so, I think I would like to do this as well. That way it becomes part of the chassis/cage, and possibly adds some stiffness and/or crash protection.
Any thoughts?
Oh, and Jim: mine will probably stay unpainted for some time, so don't feel too bad!
I noticed in Jim's picture that the factory underdash crossmember looks like it was retained. Is it possible to take this out and have your cage crossmember replace it?
I should have clarified: is it feasible to do this without dropping a hefty sum at the cage builder's?
There's not really much to it- since it is just a bar straight across. If you have the dash and everything out already it might be one of the easiest pieces to put in. Of course, I don't have first hand S13 experience, so it might be a little different than a B.
I have seen some cars retain the stock dash bar and add an additional bar to support the cage or some tie into the stock dash bar. But these were in classes where most of the dash had to be retained- which isn't so in SRX where removing the bar would save some weight.
I guess the final answer is talk to your cage builder and come up with the best performance/price for your application.
Hmm, I think calling those cheater boxes gives them a negative connotation. I don't think there is anything wrong with making the cage base like that. However, if you are going to have those, your cage better damn well be touching the roof all over the place since they would allow you to weld the tops of the roof cage joints before sliding the boxes under the ends of the tubes. In the pic above the fabricator welded a "standard" baseplate in first and then welded the box on top of it. My assumption is that they did this to have more surface area to spread an impact over. If they didn't do this, the box alone would have just edges pressing against the unibody instead of faces, despite having the same amount of weld. Another option is to use a normal (large) baseplate and carefully use a holesaw to cut holes in the floor below the cage so it can drop down. Once you weld the top of the roof joints, you can slide the baseplates under the cage and weld them in. In general, just make sure your baseplates cover as many faces of the body as is reasonable (floor, vertical rocker, top of rail, etc). If they pass over wavy places in the floor, just stitch them to the areas it touches and don't bother too much filling large gaps or trying to hammer the plate into every undulation. In a lot of cases, I think doing complete perimiter welds on baseplates is weaker than stitches just because of how hot the thin floor gets (think cookiecutter). However, tech inspectors may not always think this is sound.
. In most cases, a good goal is just to get it close to the shell everywhere. 
