#848 has seen "Phases" of transformation since first diving into it 20 months ago. First was Suspension, then "easy" Engine, then Transmission work, then Brakes, and now an admittedly tough Interior project. I've done something like this before with MM2 back in 2005, but not to the level of completeness and "all at once" scale of this time around. The theme is slightly complex; keep the dashboard and doors stock, but get rid of all other weight and frivolous luxury accoutrements in the name of lightweight performance while not destroying everyday usability and aesthetic tactility while maintaining the function of the front airbags and battery pyrotechnic device while improving on-track safety with proper safety equipment. The Bill of Materials goes something like this: *Stock dashboard, steering wheel, door panels, HVAC, and stereo *Sparco Evo seats with custom fabricated seat mounts that started life as Sparco steel rails *Schroth Profi II ASM-FE 6-point harnesses *Autopower "Race" 4-point rollbar [has welded-in diagonal and harness bar] painted Electric Blue *Braille battery replaces stock but it located under drivers seat with welded battery box and using factory battery terminals and fuse block *side impact airbags and sensors removed but all loads emulated to convince the Airbag module all loads are present and functional to retain functionality of two front airbags and battery pyrotechnic device *rear wiper removed *all interior panels and wiring removed aft and above occupants heads [headliner, side panels, pillar covers, clock, visors, dome light, boot light, aux boot power, wiper power and washer tube, side and head curtain airbag wiring, side impact sensor wiring, CD changer wiring *interior sheet-metal painted, with certain locations covered in fabric The project is just started, so here are the first pictures: How the interior started; rear panels and seats removed, but otherwise stock. Stock seats and dashboard Stock battery location, but previous owner replaced the battery with "Brand X" that didn't quite fit. Rear wiper removed and the hole in the backlight that remained. "Uh oh, the interior fell out!" "The carpet fell out too!" Test-fitting the Autopower "Race" 4-point rollbar Test-fitting the Sparco Evo seats Test-fitting the Braille battery and eye-hooks for Schroth Profi II ASM-FE 6-point harnesses More updates soon! Cheers, Ryan [I also posted this on MichiganMINI.org cuz that's my home turf]
It turns out there's quite a bit to worry about with the airbag system: *front airbags [2 ohms] *side curtain airbags [2 ohms] *the seats {thorax bags [2 ohms], seatbelt pretensioners [2 ohms], driver seatbelt buckle Hall sensor [450mV on signal line] ['02-'04 only, after which is more complicated]} *battery pyrotechnic [2 ohms] that blows the battery-to-starter cable when any airbag is fired *side impact sensors underneath the rear seats [79 ohms each] I'm assuming the airbag module has the longitudinal g-force sensors since I can't find anything else. Others that have measured the airbag loads have come up with upwards of 4 ohms, though their cars have been later model years, so things may have changed over the lifespan of the chassis. From '05 onward the passenger seat started using a full Hall sensor for the seatbelt along with an occupant detector mat in the bottom seat cushion. Thankfully I don't have to worry about those things! Since I'm keeping only the front airbags and battery pyro, all other loads have resistors on them. I built a simple voltage divider for the seatbelt buckle sensor. It appears it's a Hall effect sensor with 5V and gnd fed to it with a signal wire returned to the airbag module. Testing showed that the signal wire [blue/yellow] output 0V with no buckle and 450mV buckled. The voltage divider is a 390KOhm and 39KOhm between 5V and gnd. This outputs 450mV between them, perfect for the sensor wire.
Awesome you finally got your interior project underway:cornut:. How was the test fitting of the roll bar?
The Autopower fits good enough. The bar doesn't mount to very structural parts of the chassis; the rear corner of the floorpan and the rear fender inner liners, but it's better than nothing. The instructions tell you to just crank down on the fasteners and any creases in the sheetmetal will be smoothed out, which is highly ghetto. I opted to use fender washers to keep the floorpan structural/acoustic creases intact, however this necessitated buying proper hardened locknuts instead of a double nut jam situation. Also, the passenger rear diagonal bolts need to be installed with the head in the fender and the nuts in the cabin in order to clear the charcoal canister within the fender. No biggie, just something I had to figure out on my own. The rollbar does allow me to fit my 205/45-16 Hoosiers in the rear seat vacancies with perhaps a 1/4" clearance between them and the harness bar. Close fit!
That is the main reason I went with the Safety Devices bar. The legs mount to the boxed "frame" members.
Thanks Nitro Nathan; the main reason I went with the Autopower is because it allows me to keep using the rear seats to hold my race tires to and from the track. The SD bar you have would block that ability, unfortunately.
I know that all too well.. ::waves to set of track wheels currently residing in Detroit that didn't fit to bring back from MOTD::
With respect, not always. Be very careful. A vehicle's safety systems are all meant to work together. As a general rule (and I can think of almost no exceptions), if you have a rollcage you must drive the car with a 4 or 6 point harness properly fitted, fastened, and tightened - and wearing a helmet - every time you drive (maybe with the exception of rolling the car around the pits or onto the trailer). Why? Because, padded bars or not, you can put a head into 2.5" of chrome-moly steel and smash it like a ripe melon. Not pretty, and a mite difficult to recover from. With a roll bar (as above) the rules are slightly different, because the cage bar that goes over the driver's door doesn't exist. In that case you must make sure that in no crash situation is your cranium able to contact a rollbar. If you're really tall, it's certainly possible that the seats will be back far enough for head contact to happen in a sideward crash. Very "not good". Also you canNOT carry passengers in the back seat of a rollcage-equipped car. Hit the brakes hard and their face is toast, especially if you've also modified the tires and brakes. <ouch> Note: I'm NOT against the proper use of safety equipment, but all for the intelligent use of safety equipment. Recognize the limitations - a rollcage has some pretty severe tradeoffs in a street driven car. A rollbar has similar, but slightly less severe tradeoffs. Note also: I definitely think a rollbar or rollcage-equipped car is "cool", and I did drive one on the street for a while (1991 GTI 16V, SCCA SSB modified, fully caged). Thankfully, I was lucky, because my dimensions and that car allowed me to mostly clear the rollcage - mostly. It came out when I discovered (a.k.a. "was scolded by a real racer") about the truths above. Scared the pi$$ outta me. What I also noticed is that the interior sound level went wa-ay down. Those tubes can resonate! That said, this looks like it's a Really Nice Build Up - and I'm looking forward to seeing the result! Please be safe.
Words of wisdom, thank you very much for the comments DixonL2! This is exactly why I didn't go for a full cage; because I still drive my R53 on the street and didn't want to increase street-driving risk w/out a helmet. The combination of my seat positions and rollbar place any steel far behind and out of harms way from the occupants heads, a critical facet. The rear-ward slope of the Autopower bar helps facilitate this easily. I progressed a bit more tonight, but since the Red Wings game is on tomorrow :cornut: , it'll be a few more days before I realize any significant progress.
I found this a while back and you may have looked into it and seen that it wouldn't accommodate wheels and rear seat.
Sorry about the Pens tonight, guys... looks like they had to pack Lord Stanley's Cup away for a couple days... Don't worry, they'll take it out later in the week. For whom? Well.... yep - off topic... but was a great game! Keeping it on topic, it seems those guys need cages or rollbars on the ice! Some hits!
Update! Tearing apart the wiring harness: This is the driver side looking toward the firewall More wiring harness, this time the rear section driver side. The wires for the rear wiper, washer tube, power outlet, and airbag system wires all were removed. Here is my voltage divider for the seatbelt hall sensor: The new Remote Keyless module location, behind the tachometer. The loose wires are for the module but haven't been shortened yet. I did this on MM2urbo and the keyless performance actually improved! I finally found a good use for the headliner! Cheers, and thanks for the kind comments so far! Ryan
Ryan - looks VERY cool! I may have left the rear wiper on though, that backlight can get pretty grimy if you're racing in the wet. Also, interesting use of the headliner - gonna reinstall once you've painted it electric blue? :lol: