1989 Daytona tube chassis race car

steveo · Post by **steveo** » Sun Sep 02, 12 5:46 pm

Jon Connolly wrote:Blimey ... 4 months since I`ve been near this

Got the Plymouth Arrow this morning on the truck and Hiab ed it up in the air so could see all around and underneath it. The wheelbase of the Arrow and Daytona are a bit different and the rake of the screen is a bit different but should be able to " lose " the changes in the rear arches and the passenger cell. The front is damaged and will be straightened prior to cutting to suit the Daytona.

The cage still has a current tag to 7.5 and as I`m not touching anything behind the firewall should be fine ??

The Arrow body will be cut off and thrown away

good idea !!
looking forward to seeing more updates & pictures as you progress

Jon Connolly · Post by **Jon Connolly** » Tue Sep 04, 12 11:47 am

Removed the body this morning and scrapped it

Cage is now ready to go on the jig ( read 2 x RSJ`s laser levelled

) and push / pull any damage ... there is very very little damage on it

Will try and drop the Daytona body over later in the week to get some idea of proportions

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Tue Sep 04, 12 1:50 pm

Cracking Chassis there!!

autofetish · Post by **autofetish** » Tue Sep 04, 12 10:23 pm

This is going to be one very sweet car keep the pictures coming

RobTwin · Post by **RobTwin** » Tue Sep 04, 12 10:35 pm

Was that Paul's old Arrow - the one that crashed at Shakey a couple of months ago?

Looks like it...

Jon Connolly · Post by **Jon Connolly** » Wed Sep 05, 12 7:55 am

Hi Rob

Nice pictures .. not seen them before.

Yes it is the same chassis, I believe Andy Robinson finished it ?? as it wears one of his build plates and was modified to get it`s current tag. The front of the chassis has been altered since that photo so maybe Paul built the version 1 and Andy Rob modified and adapted it ?

It crashed at Santa Pod at low speed and hasn`t done much damage at all .. the front struts took alot of the impact and the wings, grill, bonnet scrubbed alot of the speed off.

This is what I`m building

RobTwin · Post by **RobTwin** » Wed Sep 05, 12 8:33 am

That'll look great Jon

Copy his car but dont copy anything else about Darrell Alderman

Maybe Andy Robinson did some recent mods to fit the Chevy motor for the previous owner? Tho he may have done some work while Paul still had it.

I suspect Clive Bond (Ultimate Race Cars) down in Cirencester did the original chassis as he does most of Paul's stuff - has done since he raced that Aussie Chrysler CH in the Roadster class in the mid to late 80's!

Paul said Debrorah was selling up cos it was gonna cost £14k to fix!

So I thought there was gonna be more damage than that....

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Wed Sep 05, 12 9:51 am

Pete wrote:Cracking Chassis there!!

Lets hope not Pierre

so did you just buy that car for the chassis then Jon?

Jon Connolly · Post by **Jon Connolly** » Wed Sep 05, 12 11:15 am

Yes .. Just bought the chassis cage, axle, 4 link bars, wheels and tyres equals massive time savings fabricating

Plus this was a proven chassis set up on a very similar sized body so should fit

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Wed Sep 05, 12 11:42 am

Excuse my ignorance Jon but would having a cage like that built, cost more than buying a car with a cage that was certificated and in good, useable condition and then cannabalising it?

Jon Connolly · Post by **Jon Connolly** » Wed Sep 05, 12 1:47 pm

Clivey

I was going to build a cage and chassis from a kit I have but that would have taken weeks, need painting etc and then may not have been " taggable " straight away without further work.

This came up for sale as a pile of damaged / salvage parts and was priced as such ... not a big value in the open market. The Arrow car had no engine, box, electrics, fuel system ... they had already been removed by the previous owner who had crashed it. The value for me personally was in the chassis and axle only. The body was incomplete ... no doors, tailgate, wings, bonnet, grill came with the car.

So, I will cut my Daytona body ( as per the picture of the Arrow body ) and graft it onto the old Arrow cage / chassis. Fit my fibreglass front end and my smallblock running gear. I should then end up with a tube chassis car with a current tag to 7.50

You`re confusing me now

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Wed Sep 05, 12 2:09 pm

So where do you go to get a car tagged?

Any details on how they do it? Is it a basic 'points' system like 5 - 7 - 10 point cage and then do some checks of all the connections?

Does it have to be tagged by some kind of authorised body? Does it need re-tagging after light bumps etc? In other words, apart from running faster and having a massive crash, what invalidates the tag?

Jon Connolly · Post by **Jon Connolly** » Wed Sep 05, 12 2:34 pm

Duncan / Guy / Pete / Turnip etc can correct me if I`m wrong ??

Cage has to be built to FIA / MSA rulebook for chassis and cages. A technical inspector ( someone like Jeff Martin ) will then inspect it on a " technical " day at Santa Pod and ask to see samples of materials used. If it meets the requirements of the MSA / FIA rulebook and is constructed well and proficently he will pass it as a representative of the sanctioning body, if it is built incorrectly with the wrong materials he will fail it.
He will then attach a sticker / tag with a serial number and expiry date. This is unique to the chassis cage and not the car. It is traceable and details recorded so they cross refence with the chassis plate etc. When it expires it has to have another reinspection and is passed again for a number of years ( unless rules have changed in meantime and it needs an update ). There is a fee for this. All these details are then kept centrally to ensure all cars in competion meet minimum legal requirements for safety.

Harnesses, shields, flex plates etc regularly have to be changed but generally speaking a chassis won`t need work between inspections. Any work forward of the firewall is outside of the scope of the inspection hence I will change from BBC to SBM and change rack and pinion and wheelbase

Think of it as equivalent of MOT + V5 for a road car

Jon Connolly · Post by **Jon Connolly** » Wed Sep 12, 12 8:52 pm

Bunked off work today

Body is now cut to outer skin only and some secondary supports

Offered the body up to the chassis and the fit is really good

Am off tomorrow too and the chassis will be going on the jig ( homemade )

The body will be fitted to suit the front struts with door openings coming where they come. The rear arch will then get chopped and moved forward / back to suit rear wheel position

I also stripped a 360 block to use as a mock up

Coil over and springs will be here next week

Cannonball · Post by **Cannonball** » Wed Sep 12, 12 9:15 pm

now that is a good fit jon,

lucky and pleased for you,