Update 4 – Originally Posted - Sun Jun 07, 2009 10:48 am
http://preludeuk.forumup.com/viewtopic. ... =preludeuk
Custom Fabrications work on Project SCRAP
As much as I'd love to be able sit back at the end of this project and have all of the satisfaction of knowing that I did everything on the car myself there comes a point where it's far better to hand it over to someone that specializes in a specific field of expertise. The area in question is motorsport bodyshell preparation and fabrication work.
Let the one off custom cage and bodyshell prep commence.
Well after one of two delays in getting the car up to the guys at Custom Fabrications and after having another discussion or two about the cage design, further weight saving and seat mounts etc, Project SCRAP was left in their very very capable hands.
I really cannot express how involved Custom Fabrications wanted me to be with all aspects of the design and functionality of not only the cage but the whole car structure, seat mounts and further weight reduction ideas.
Some might think that the roll cage and level of shell prep is "over the top" for what is essentially a clubmans motorsport car and maybe they have a point. There are lots of cars out there racing and performing extremely well with what you would call basic cages (bolt in or weld in) and believe me I have no problem with that whatsoever. What I want however, is for the car to be as light and as structurally stiff as possible and also to offer me the upmost in protection should the worst happen, as far as I'm concerned bolt in cages can only offer so much before they are compromised and in terms of shell rigidity you cannot beat triangulation and multiple pickup points...I don't like compromise
Custom Fabrications is a new company in it's own right started by Simon and Andy who are two of the highest grade Prodrive fabricators. I know all too well what these guys are capable of producing, what with their involvement in motorsport at the highest level most notably WRC, Touring Cars (right from the supertouring era) all the way through to Le Mans GT cars, there really isn't much that they haven't done.
What struck me most about meeting them for the first time was their down to earth no bullshit outlook (much like my own) and more to the point they actively sought my input so that they could be sure I would be happy with their work. In my experience this really doesn't happen too often these days, most companies you deal with will TELL you want they think you should have rather than take the time to discuss your options. With all of that said, the basic outline of what I wanted to achieve discussed, the budget discussed and the car delivered to their workshop I then very much instructed them to "go for it and do whatever they think would benefit the car (within reason)" - I had/have total faith in them.
Again here's a selection of pictures to bring you up to date on progress - the rest are on my build gallery
04 - Custom Fabrication 01
SCRAP parked up in the "build area" at Custom Fabrications workshop shortly after they took delivery.
Note: The front strut brace is purely there as a clearance reference point at this stage.
Doors off and front suspension all removed ready for the work to start. Rear suspension removed shortly after and car sat on stands all round.
All seam sealer needs to be burnt away to ensure no contamination during TiG welding of the panel seams. Nasty process but needs to be done this way as scraping and wire brushing the sealant off doesn't get right into the panel joint. Can get away with this to a certain extent with MiG but TiG needs cleanliness
New lightweight fabricated seat mounts custom made and tacked in place. Original plan was to use CDS tubing but the guys thought this was a much better and lighter option. Looks bloody cool as hell too
Note also that seam sealer has been removed inside ready for welding.
The cage build begins with main hoop, front legs, harness bar, door bars and the first of many diagonals and triangulation braces. At this stage everything is just being tacked into position to evaluate the fitment and allow for adjustments as required.
Note the accuracy of the notching work to get such a tight fitment of tube to tube - no need for heavy gap filling MiG welding here
Test installation of driver's seat. I was requested to go for a test fitting to ensure seat position was right for me and that clearance was good around my body. With a small adjustment of the seat height and distance rearward a few minor alterations will be required to the cage tubing. Most cage builders don't go to this level of ensuring the end build is right for the driver.
Considerably more tubes now
. Upper and lower rear diagonals through to rear strut towers, plus "pit prop" tube at the front of the forward leg down past door bars. These will be "wrapped" to adjoin onto the door bars.
You may be wondering why I've opted for a passenger seat mount? Having the facility to carry a passenger keeps options open for road mapping and fine tuning and also for driver instruction or "demo laps" if required. The pros far outweigh the cons of carrying the small extra weight of the mounts.
Another couple of views of the "Pit props" and door bars plus the dash bar can be seen in place.
Note also how the front legs don't just run down to the floor, they are actually cut into the inner sill structure which will of course be fully reinforced during the final build up and weld in of the cage.
Main hoop lower cluster (N/S)
Views of the O/S central "cluster". Maximum head protection and a very high quality finish at the tube joins. This is all just "tacked" into position at this stage
Boot floor completely removed along with rear panel additional skins.
With this removed (neatly I might add), it exposes the rear chassis cross member which will be receiving some additional reinforcing and bracing to the cage/rear strut brace.
Chassis crossmember - The beginings of linking the chassis to the cage structure. Note this area and the hole below it will have tubes running through and welded to the car structure.
Rear "diagonals" loading will be spread around the strut towers aiming at a central focal point rather than the traditional single pickup point. Of course the whole area will be reinforced at final fit up time. This is how the true professionals do it.
Majority of cage in position for test fit (all spot welded). From this stage there are still another 8-10 tubes to install to get the finished article and that's before you add all the ties, gussets and wraps
Fantastic workmanship by the guys at Custom Fabrications
Once the guys were happy with the fit and positioning of the all the major cage framework the next step was simple...........
Off with it's roof to enable the disassembly of the cage in sections and also allows them to be 100% certain that all the hard to access sections will be welded perfectly. They give themselves no margin for error which is very reasuring. The roof removal was an option and to fair the cage can be done with the roof in situ but as it's easy enough to remove and there further weight savings to be had from within the roof "rails"...I gave them the green light to go ahead.
That's the most up to date picture I have at the moment, still got all the seam welding to do and some further weight reducing measures to take as the cage gets re-installed.
I think you'll agree that the level of workmanship is amazing and not only that but the level of communication has also been superb.
If anybody wishes to discuss future roll cage projects, custom builds or pretty much any high quality fabrication work I can 100% recommend the guys at Custom Fabrications
If you are serious about getting in touch with them then you can do so through us @ Performance Autoworks
via PM on here - username Performance Autoworks,
our email -
info@performance-autoworks.co.uk
or give us a bell - 01285 711733 and we will arrange it for you.
As always, any questions and comments are welcome
Thanks for looking
Rich
) street legal as it was here just before the start of the project.
) .. with those problems putting things behind and the offer of a re-spray to good to miss, I decided if it was going to be done at all it was going to be done from scratch. 
yes, isn't it 
Thing is at the moment, my buddy in his R34 GT-T (tested 300bhp, filter exhaust) is only a shade faster from 3rd gear on, he barely gets past. But in 1st/2nd the grunt that is the rb25 pulls away clean. I want to know if I should stick with NA, strip it out to buggery and add a set of big cams, or should I just keep it laden and use a smallish turbo setup?
