Akpilot's Roadster

[Alvin]

Guess the beauty of the seats/roll bar is that it can easily be taken out nothing permanent, maybe two sets of seats as I'm also liking the minimalist/clean look as well.

Alvin / Mike

What specs are your roll bars for driving on the track?

Ak

Yes, I think Mike actually bolts/unbolts his seats for racing! I don't have the patience for that

Specs: It is a stock-style "street bar" with a shoulder harness bar bolted in:


To get on most of the open tracks in our area the groups want a 4-pt roll bar with shoulder harnesses. That's usually sufficient. For newer convertibles they enforce the "broomstick" rule: your helmet must not go above the broomstick as it lays flat from the windshield across the roll bar.

I guess it comes down to how much "safer" you want to feel when engineering your bar. Does it need to fit under a softop? Will you be racing competitively, rules could dictate the design?
Woody has a neat full rollcage that fits under his hardtop:

[RCMike]

Seat takes 20 minutes.. Jack the car, throw in the stands, unbolt 4 nuts, stick seat outside, put other seat in, spin on 4 nuts, drop car... My seat is a Seibon carbon-kevlar seat..

The bar takes a LOT longer, like about an hour, if I am doing it by myself.. But it is 16 bolts, and 8 are not easy to get to since they are above the axle.. need a wobble on the gun to spin them on up there..

My bar is engineered to make the track day organizers happy so they can tell their insurance that the convertibles had roll bars. If I wanted to feel safe in the car on the track, I would build something like Ron has in his race car. But my car is primarily a street car that I like to take to the track, so I put in the minimum to make them happy, and still be quickly removable so I can then go enjoy the car..

[Akpilot]

Well unfortunately work is getting in the way of any real work, but it is our busy season and we're pushing the O.T. heading into winter. With the seat situation on hold as I figure out if I want to cut down the seats or not I decided to cut out some more suspect metal - beginning to think there was more suspect metal than good metal. Even though the paint shops swear the POR15 would patch any pin holes I just don't trust it especially since it will be in direct contact with rain water and once covered I could not get at it, so like always here goes......


Ak

[Akpilot]

Well I've been working on the throttle, and yea it had me worried as a little movement in the peddle might make a big movement in the throttle bodies. I first needed to make the OEM throttle mechanism be confined to the drivers side as the alternator was in the fire wall trans cutout. With the cable up high and close to the firewall I had little room with out looping the cable around the engine and I did not like that. With the pivot point in the OEM position a long arm had too much movement in relationship to peddle movement. So I made a higher pivot point and linkage to actuate it.

Ak

[RCMike]

Really nice solution!

[RBMann]

Just some inspiration..

Cool a lot like your car Mike. Quote from the video ...
almost nothing is stock! Except the windshield Meant in a good way too.

I just watched the video. I want that Honda.

[Nolan1600]

I have just read through this entire thread and wow, just wow. Talk about inspirational. I wish i had the space to do more on my roadster. Really great work and a really enjoyable read. I can't wait to see what happens next!

-Nolan

[Akpilot]

I have just read through this entire thread and wow, just wow. Talk about inspirational. I wish i had the space to do more on my roadster. Really great work and a really enjoyable read. I can't wait to see what happens next!

-Nolan

I can't wait to see what happens next as well. Haha... Thanks for the kind words Nolan.

Has it been almost a month since I posted any progress? How time flies, but yea still pluggin' away at it. Some things I did and didn't like, then redid ect.

Ak

[Akpilot]

Now to mount Oil Cooler and Intercooler

Ak

[RCMike]

Love seeing progress! Can't wait for more!

[Mattk]

Lovin the build!!

Which intercooler did you go with?

Cheers Matthew

[Akpilot]

Lovin the build!!

Which intercooler did you go with?

Cheers Matthew

http://www.ebay.com/itm/250892428875?ru ... 26_rdc%3D1

Charlee,

Here is the intercooler I went with.

Ak

[Akpilot]

Seems like my posts are getting monthly so here goes....


Ak

[msampsel]

Wow ingenuity abounds in this thread! Fun to see these great things done.

Hope we are blessed with a "cold start video" in 2016!

[Akpilot]

Msampsel, Yes I too hope to have a cold start video in 2016 and not just cus I'm in Alaska right?

So I started out closing in the previous owners hacked in stereo holes in the back. I wanted to have the speakers flush mounted to the package tray back so I made some mounts and then moved on to the front mounts.

Ak