Right, Time for another update i think.
Spent most of this month just in the garage really and generally trying to tidy up the inside of the car. The old roof liner that i fabric wrapped was beginning to get on my nerves due to it being all creased at the front where the sun visors should have been and around the interior light surround. I tried to wrap the visors but they have just been ruined, so im in need of new sun visors.
Now as mentioned before i bought a half cage but haven't really posted any photos of it, so this is where the update begins.
I finally got my finger out and sanded down the cage all ready for a good few layers of primer (cant really remember how many) but spent a good week end prepping and spraying it a couple of weeks ago.
Now it was time to think of a colour i could put the cage and to be honest i did have a lot of bright lairy colours in mind but really i thought i would keep it subtle just to be on the safe side. It was a toss up between yellow or white in the end and when it came to it i decided white. So went and got all the paint i needed and got back and gave the cage a good wet sanding all ready for its fresh new paint.
i spent a good week painting as i wanted it looking perfect, i know it wasn't going to be amazing since i was using spray tins but that doesn't mean i should rush and do a half arse job.
Heres a few pics of several layers being applied.
And finally the cage all finished and lacquered and ready to go in the car (hence the car all jacked up)
Now i have never fitted a cage before so had no idea how this was going to go so as shown in the pic above i jacked the car up and put it on axle stands and then set about removing the front seats. rears were already removed anyway due to false floor but i removed the front section of that anyway for more room to maneuver the cage.
Whilst i was underneath cleaning up the areas where the seats bolt through my mate decided to give a hand by hoovering out the front of the car, Just as well any ways as the car was manket and plus would have been pointless not to with the seats out anyway. So with the car all cleaned out it was time to put the cage in the car.
I put the cage in through the passenger door and my mate then held it through the driver side, We tilted the front legs up so the top of the cage would pass under the sunroof handle but even then it was a really tight fit. After a couple of minutes of carrying the cage through the car we finally got to the back and after a few god nudges we finally got it sitting where i wanted it. The cage was actually a really good fit, so we marked the holes after cutting the carpet back and started drilling. Strangely everything was going to plan with no mishaps which was unexpected but we finally got it fitted with 10 M10x25mm bolts with lock nuts and we used loctite on the threads as well.
Heres a few pics and then a high res pic of the finished product.
And finally one of my now favourite photos of the car at the moment, Its exactly how i wanted the rear to look. Some of you may notice the missing visors and interior light surround these will be getting replaced very soon just haven't gotten round to it yet, I also have my original steering wheel back on, Refitted the original for m.o.t time as i cant seem to figure out how to connect the horn to the aftermarket one.
I also have a new oem Gear knob on order as i now realise how ridiculous the one i have at the moment is. Next plans are to start getting the exterior back up to scratch and the way i want it and refit all the missing interior trim and put the aftermarket wheel back on.
Also bought these for the sake of it to be honest. they were only £3 so why not!
