finally- I'm caged!

[VdanielW]

Grant at Welding Works did a fantastic job. (714) 744-5854

[VdanielW]

Here is a shot of the transmission- Jim at DerTransaxle, (714) 777-3806, just went through it (and just in time too from how many cracks he found). Fully regeared to: 1st: 3.78, 2nd: 2.06, 3rd: 1.26, 4th: 0.89.  New 3.88 r&p to.  Little more strip than street this time.

[cadprovw]

Not to rain on your parade, but if you want to pass NHRA tech, you need diags that go from the main loop (at roughly the seat bar height) in to the tunnel. Also, I do not believe the seat bar is legal. I may be wrong, but I believe it has to attach to the main loop, not any of the rear bars.

Most tech guys will probably not hassle you, but you never know...

Good Luck!

C-

[VdanielW]

Thanks for the response.  I've been on the phone with Grant about your concerns and here are the answers: As for the diagnal bars going from the main hoop to the center tunnel- yes, they are required for a NHRA certification.  I am not planning on getting certified and Grant has never had a problem with his cages at a PRA event.  He did say that at a NHRA event this would be a problem.  I run in the T1 or Pro Eleminator classes and wont be running low enough times to worry about certification for the time, but they can be added in at a later date.

As for the seat bar, this is a new design and a phone call was put into Mark Trimbly (not sure on the spelling), a NHRA tech inspector,  to make sure it wouldn't be a problem- he said it was fine.

The roll bar section of this cage will soon be sold as a pre bent roll bar kit (in mild steel) from Low Bugget and it was decided to put the seat bar in that location for ease of installation by the guy doing it at home. 

[Greg G]

Fully regeared to: 1st: 3.78, 2nd: 2.06, 3rd: 1.26, 4th: 0.89.  New 3.88 r&p to.  Little more strip than street this time.

Isn't that stock gearing? Thats street and not strip gearing. Maybe its a different 3rd and 4th than you put down.

Good thing you took it in if he was finding cracks. Good catch. Did you hear anything strange when driving it?

The cage looks cool. I kind of wish I put a full cage in instead of the half I have now. I just went with what I would need so I wouldn't get kicked off the track if I went low 10's someday.

[VdanielW]

Oopppps- yes, that was the previous gearing.  The new gearing is: 3.78, 2.21, 1.50, 1.14.  I heard nothing strange from it and it has been working flawlessly for the last 6yrs!  Street and strip use for its hole life.  With the stock gearing I've been running in the low 12's and speeds in the 105-117mph range.  I'm hoping the new gearing will get me down alot lower.  I'm also planning on tightening up my deck a bit and raising my boost from 12 to 18-20psi.  I can't wait to hit the track later this year.

[Greg G]

I'm not sure the turbo will care much about what the deck is. On busterjohns motor, there is no deck. The heads are hemi'd all the way out to the cylinder sealing surface to get the compression down.

[VdanielW]

What I meant by the deck was I'm pulling the .060" head gaskets and installing .040".  Just raising the compression a bit.