So over the last 3 months, I've been pretty quiet on the forums and busy with the IX. Beginning in March I stripped the interior down to a shell and a heater core and with the help of Racetech fabrications, added an 8 point cage to my once pretty car that I bought with .2 miles on the odometer.

I'll get some pics posted eventually as a build thread, but I have a few questions for our Evo community of racecars.

1. Right side lap belt. I bought a 6 point OMP harness and matching OMP 1 piece race seat with Halo, and with the stock Recaro, the right side belt attachment is on the seat itself, I've always doubled this spot up for my harness lap belt when I ran with the stock seat + Schrothe 4 point. How have you mounted this strap in your racecar? Did you just bolt a eyelet thru the tunnel with backing plates, or weld it in to the tunnel? I'd like to retain the center console.

2. I purchased about 6 pieces of FIA legal rigid foam for the areas in reach of the driver's head. The foam is supposed to be the safest on the market, but I have no idea how you can bend it in tight radii around areas like the top of the A pillar, or how to attach it to the bar other than the subpar 2 sided tape it came with. Zipties and electrical tape seem like a rough way to do it.
Also, how do you cut this stuff? I would like a clean edge, even racecars need the 'pimp' factor! haha

3. Window nets. On our cars, the angle on the windshield makes the 'quick connect' seat belt type latch right on the arch where the cage comes down the top of the A pillar. This seems deadly when the net is not in place. I want to be as legal as possible in as many classes as possible, one of our local organizations requires a net...
Is anyone else running a window net? How/where did you mount the latch locations?

4. Door panels. Does anyone use them on their caged cars? I'd like to maintain some interior, due to the fact I drive the car occasionally on the street. The "X" brace runs right below the line in the door panel below the arm rest. I figured I'd cut the panel off there, maintain the top of the panel, and do some sort of fiberglass panel for the bottom section behind the "X".

I realize 90% of these questions are dumb, and relatively unimportant, but I'd still like to maintain a somewhat clean car, regardless of the usage.

 

If you're running the OMP seat bracket, it has a mounting tab.

http://safedrives.com/proddetail.asp?prod=VSB1&cat=148

It won't bend much. I cut mine with a hacksaw no problem and ziptied.



No experience with nets, I defer.

I kept my front door panels for window up/down, lock and primarily for a stereo on several hour long drives to and from the track.

 

My window net is in the same spot, but if the net is "up" then i'm certainly strapped in and secure from hitting it. From a legal perspective both yourself and a corner worker have to be able to reach the net connections, and it has to do it's basic job of holding your arm in, so that's the only place to put it. Here's mine on a simple swivel connection, he's since started doing 2 belt connections on each side so it just drops straight down. But I found myself one time on the out lap without the net up, having this one connection made putting it up while on track possible.



As you can see I have nascar bars so door panels aren't a concern

On the padding i'm using the cheaper stuff. Several reasons. First as you said the SFI padding is impossible to manipulate, and in our FL sun turns to dust in a year. So we went with the roll bar foam from Pegasus which is super durable and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Then made sure I had the halo seat and the rest to make hitting those areas with my head less possible.

 

For the right side lap belt, here's was my cage builder did:



For the SFI foam - zipties.

My window net. It's attached at the bottom, drops straight down and is springloaded at the top. Attaches to the cage with a welded on circle clip. Def recommend a halo seat; I really like mine.



Door panels with a cage; not that I've seen. I thought about it but didn't go that route. I'm probably one of the few (if not only) that still has the power windows and power doorlocks in with a legal cage.

 

I didn't go with the OMP bracket, my cage builder fabbed one that uses the factory mount locations. It looks easy enough for him to weld a similar tab on like done with Boomn29's car.

Thanks for the advice, man, putting a cage in the car leaves SO much "busy" work to be ready for signoff. I'm also retaining power windows/locks. I currently have the switch panel ziptied to the door but I do want to put some sort of panel in when I'll consider it 'finished'.

 

If you look at page 4 of Nathan's ^ 2012 season thread you will see how I used a piece of alumilte for a door card (with power windows) and Dave K's use's of a stock door card for his cage. ( modified obviously)


FWIW, if you look around there are companys in the UK that sell carbon fiber ( even Kevlar) door cards made to work with power windows for caged evo's. It's very commen to have these things in rally cars! They are very $ and are awesome. I had a pair that were sweet but, didn't fit my cage because of one bar that is different from the FIA cages of the UK.

Oh, you don't really need padding behind you in a caged car. Unless your seat breaks! Then your ****ed either way.

 

i did cut my foams with a cheap home depo wall paper knife, Works great makes a very clean edge.


You should have a sticky part in the foam inside if its FIA rated , but still you need a zip tie to make it sure it will stay on it at hard impact.


this is how mine looks like :


the upper ones



the lower ones:



i have a brand new window net from schroth (black with yellow letters) , i thought we will need it for a hill climb races, but turned out to be a false info. So i never used it. I will sell it for you much cheaper then i got it, if you interested.

this one:



this is how we have a solution for door panels with a cage:

 

ok i got a request to show how my seat belt are installed.

Here is the pictures.
All of them plated and welded to the frame. We do not used factory locations , and we used a much stronger base.

here are the fast pictures i just snapped a minute ago. Ihope it will help











and here you can see the botom of the car where the eyes are welded and mounted. Out side plated.



and this how we did fold properly up and together the upper part on the cage, using a usual zip tie solution.

 

Rob, i think you have one of the most professional interiors i have ever seen in an EVO! That is a dream office.

 

Thank you Jeremy.

 

Pics of my door - with the power windows and power locks still in working condition with a 6pt cage:

 

I already purchased a net before I posted this. The belt pics do help, I just don't have that massive seat bracket like that. We fabbed a rail system similar to the stock seat setup, with two additional studs in the rear footwell area. Hopefully we can do something similar off the right hand side.

The National Hillclimb Association rules we use here in OR and WA don't require a net unless you run with the windows down. Another prospective group I might run with for the road course requires a net.

 

[QUOTE=boomn29;10217467]Pics of my door - with the power windows and power locks still in working condition with a 6pt cage:



HAHA I ended up doing some custom ziptie brackets to mount the window/door switches on the driver side. Passenger just can't roll the window down.

I can still use the top 'half' of the door, I just didn't want to leave it at the hacked off stage, I'm looking for some way to clean it up on the interior.

Rob, damn your car is clean on the inside as well as the outside!
Did you just cut the top of the panel off and close it off with carbon fiber? If you can, could you post a couple up close images, or email them to me @ gtisrule@msn.com

Thanks!

 

Yes i will do. And thanks for the compliment.

Ps: yea the upper parts are se
parated from the door panel and lightened up a same time. Behind that is cf sheet cut for the door. The electric window lock etc is fully functional. Reqiuerd by rally regulations.