Paul's R32 Gtr Track Build

[mattlikewhoa]

That cage looks great!

[paulR32gtr]

Cheers Matt - stoked with the way it came out - Andrew @ Meridian is a gun if I haven't said it enough yet.

Picked a darkish silver for the respray today - girlfriend reckons it's got some hints of purple to it but I am bit colour blind so I dont care!! Black for the front bar lip and insert, and same for the 34 wheels - should look hawwt.

[paulR32gtr]

Updates will be pretty thin for a while as the car is completely stripped and taken back to bare metal. Will pop some photos up as they become available.

Australian weather has taken its toll on all the seals etc, so I have ordered some brand new quarter windows, door frame and external weather strips from Nissan jp. As much as I like to support business in Australia, the price is roughly half of what Nissan Oz will charge you for the privilege of importing them for you... hmm

[nuclear_skyline]

Can't wait to see the piccies of this! I picked mine up from its tidy up and n1 kit being fitted and love t!

[phunky_monkey]

Cage looks excellent mate. Fantastic welding and nice tagging

[paulR32gtr]

Yeah very happy.

I know its the latest craze to bend the front legs in several places and weld them straight to the A pillar, but I think this way is more compliant with CAMS rules saying there should only be one bend near the dash level or something (read in Risking's cage thread I think). Looking forward to setting up a seat and checking how the bars sit visibility wise - I am pretty picky about being able to see where I am going!

[M.C Ren]

if those side intrusion bars where bolt ins, would this cage be legal to have in a street registered car?

or is there too much obstruction of vision in this paticular one.

also, could something like that be fitted to the same car with retaining the whole intirioir minus the back seat?

this may be a silly question, just interested in a street/circuit car with a serious cage like that.

cheers

[paulR32gtr]

I think the only real registration problem with having a full weld in cage like this is the side intrusion in relation to ingress and egress ADR's. You could make the side intrusion a bolt in piece and remove it when driving on the road.

If you remove the back seats you need to re-register the car as a 2 seater - i.e. go over the pits.

Brown davis have photos of one they have done (think Racepace look after the car - grey R32 GTR) - full weld in cage, then the rear seats stuffed in behind the bars, and Vicroads is happy with it - this car is completely road registered as a four seater - you just cant sit in the back!

Another consideration is compliance with seat mounting - you can have an ADR approved seat (like the Velo GPT-2 - my passenger seat), but not sure about mountings - if you can retain the factory mount as well, then you could just drop your standard seat back in while driving on the road.

With regards to interior - you really want that roof lining out if you are taller (I am 6'2'') so the bars can run as high as possible. Once you have a helmet on, and you have padding on the top bars, you are likely to be resting on the padding. Otherwise its really just a matter of convenience - getting to trim panels with bars in the way is likely doable albeit hard, you might wreck them in the process I guess.

[M.C Ren]

I think the only real registration problem with having a full weld in cage like this is the side intrusion in relation to ingress and egress ADR's. You could make the side intrusion a bolt in piece and remove it when driving on the road.

If you remove the back seats you need to re-register the car as a 2 seater - i.e. go over the pits.

Brown davis have photos of one they have done (think Racepace look after the car - grey R32 GTR) - full weld in cage, then the rear seats stuffed in behind the bars, and Vicroads is happy with it - this car is completely road registered as a four seater - you just cant sit in the back!

Another consideration is compliance with seat mounting - you can have an ADR approved seat (like the Velo GPT-2 - my passenger seat), but not sure about mountings - if you can retain the factory mount as well, then you could just drop your standard seat back in while driving on the road.

With regards to interior - you really want that roof lining out if you are taller (I am 6'2'') so the bars can run as high as possible. Once you have a helmet on, and you have padding on the top bars, you are likely to be resting on the padding. Otherwise its really just a matter of convenience - getting to trim panels with bars in the way is likely doable albeit hard, you might wreck them in the process I guess.

thanks for that buddy, im actually planning this build not too far down the track if everything goes well, im 5"9 so the head room shouldnt be a problem, thanks for the information

[LotusGTR]

if those side intrusion bars where bolt ins, would this cage be legal to have in a street registered car?

or is there too much obstruction of vision in this paticular one.

also, could something like that be fitted to the same car with retaining the whole intirioir minus the back seat?

this may be a silly question, just interested in a street/circuit car with a serious cage like that.

cheers

I can comment on this as I've had recent conversations with Merdian and Brown Davis. You can have the full interior in there, but it's a fiddle and will cost. I'm considering this route for myself as part of a strategy of not getting pinged by the law when (howsover infrequent) I drive on the road, and for some other sundry reasons too. Full cage legality is contentious at best and can be summarised as 'best you don't get caught with one'. I do beleive it is possible though.......Apart from side instrusion the main hoop diagonals, the roof daigonals and the A pillar visibility are also no-no's. Like Paul says interior space is tight on the R32 (reportedly 50mm less in a 32 cf a 33) but as I'm also 5'9" I've been advised I should be able to retain adjustable runners, albeit they will not be factory and will be able to get the factory seat back in there if required. Even so I reckon head space will be tight.

I'd think a (reputable) cage builder would not do a full CAMS compliant cage with bolt in side instrusion bars for occassional removal.

Hope this helps. Speak with either / both of the above mentioned fabricators and they will tell you straight.

[phunky_monkey]

I'd think a (reputable) cage builder would not do a full CAMS compliant cage with bolt in side instrusion bars for occassional removal.

For reference, I have a Brown Davis CAMS compliant half cage with removeable side intrusions, so it can be done. As far as whether removeable side intrusions are legal for Tarmac Rallies I'm not sure.

[paulR32gtr]

For reference, I have a Brown Davis CAMS compliant half cage with removeable side intrusions, so it can be done. As far as whether removeable side intrusions are legal for Tarmac Rallies I'm not sure.

Yeah we did targa with a full bolt in cage, of which the side intrusions were removable - although I wouldn't have trusted them in a decent impact - was just a single bar.

I guess it wouldnt be too hard for them to make a side intrusion like mine, and just have it bolt on in four spots, and the rest of the cage welded in. Wouldn't give quite the same protection but it would still be pretty good I would think.

[phunky_monkey]

Yeah mine is the same in that it's just a single bar, so in reality I would like more than that if doing Tarmac rally. It would be worth the enquiry as to whether something with a decent X brace could be made to be removeable.

[paulR32gtr]

Yeah for sure I should have qualified that statement - single bar is just no so good when you add trees!!

[LotusGTR]

Updates Paul?

[paulR32gtr]

Was trying yesterday but I can't upload pics at the moment!

[paulR32gtr]

Not a great deal of movement as yet - should be some more major work this week.

Have received a few goodies in the way of seals, new quarter windows, and a Nismo 320kp/h speedo.

Horrible bronze tint (no more grey tint left in jp) - hoping some 33% tinting will hide this.

Some more pics of the cage without all the rest of the gear it had in it.

Drivers seat mount Meridian put together

Meridian also sorted the door where someone had punched out some of the metal breaking in many years ago.

[Roy]

Nice, any idea what the cage weighs?

[paulR32gtr]

From memory my discussions with Brown Davis had a comprehensive cage around the 90-100kg mark. I think he was saying a Moly cage would come in at about 60kg.

Have not asked Meridian - will ask Andrew when I get over there.

I should hopefully be on the way to cancelling it out having removed:

- Aircon

- Interior, carpet sound deadening etc

- Entire hicas

- Audio system

- Spare wheel and boot trims / carpet / jack

[nuclear_skyline]

You'll definately pick up other advantages in regards to shell rigidity with the cage - I wouldnt be too concerned about its weight.