Cams manual schedule J states that gussets must have a minimum thickness of 1 mm, hot rolled 1mm would be easier to fabricate these things (would bend by hand over the bar) but I only had 1.6mm cold rolled in the shed, so I had to make them the hard way.

First I made a card template, transferred it to the steel then tack welded it to a tube of equal thickness to what it will be installed on.

I cut it out with a 1 mm disc on the angle grinder, hole-sawed out the appropriate hole for my dimple die (in this case 1″ 1/4) and pressed both dimples

then out with the torch to heat her up red hot to make forming around the tube easier

after giving it a quick bend with some specialist tools, out comes the BFG to finish it off

<edit: the main hoop bars are actually 3mm, the rest are 1.6, shouldn’t have so many Bulmers before choosing material to cut>

I straightened out the deformation caused by the dimple dies with a hammer and anvil. finished piece trial fitted in place

This was the main hoop cross-brace, other gussets include roof bars, door bars, windscreen pillars and b-pillars

now I just need to fully weld up the gussets and it will be onto prepping for painting the interior (hence the previous procrastination really CBF)

Seeing as I specialize in dressing up engine bays and painting engines, I thought I better do something special for my Zed covers even though you can’t really see them once the plenum goes on

So I decided to go with a technique I learned some 8 years ago and Candy Marbleize them. It matches the colour of the car but with a bit of a difference

what do you think?

It was my birthday last Wednesday, and my lovely wife Alicia gathered my friends and family to make that right

So this will be the last blury or badly exposed photo on maddogcustoms.com.au coming from my iphone

thanks baby!

even this coffee cup looks more expensive

we’re currently utilizing the stock shifter from the CRV, but the throw is pretty large and sloppy. For track duties this will be soon upgraded to a K-tuned Billet shifter box

getting so close to starting now, all that’s left is fuel and wiring

Shifter cable lengths is actually surprisingly spot on once its tucked and mounted under the dash

up front is a hybrid combination of Late model Mini Cooper and Metro Turbo brake disc uprights, hubs and bearings, turbo calipers, rotors, cv joints etc

and at the back its all from a late model Mazda MX5 (or Miata in other markets)

now, the mini hubs are 4×4″ PCD while the MX5 are 4×100, most people will think this is close enough, but over time it will cause wheel stud failure as they are not designed to take those shear stresses

we converted the mini disc brake hubs to the more common 4×100 to make rim choice a little easier down the track

the internal pedal work is carried out with a Willwood triple cylinder top hung pedal box with remote resevoirs, and all lines are either custom steel tubing or ADR approved stainless braid

up until now shes been rolling on her steelies that will be used for street legal duties (yes this mini is fully engineered and will be a registered AWD VTEC)

these are custom 3 peice billet wheels made for us by Force Racing Wheels in the UK in 13×7 +10 offset, with a custom program to clear the MX5 brakes in rear and Metro Turbo brakes in the front.

It was a nervous moment offering these up to the hubs as we had drawn and measured and remeasured and triple checked everything before giving Force the go ahead to hit the go button on the CNC. They’re a perfect fit, and the offset is EPIC. with the semi slicks on it should give the little mini all the grip she needs to handle the engine upgrades planned

VQ30DET front timing cover is covered in ugly bosses and superfluous crap

Bosses removed, you can see some of the threaded holes go deep into the cast aluminium

close up of threaded holes that need filling

You cannot use any bog when dealing with these kind of temperatures, so the metal has to be finished perfectly to accept the new paint, AC TIG welding of cast aluminium is another specialized service we do inhouse

finished front timing cover, this is Lamborghini Fuchsia as seen on the mid 90s Lamborghini Diablo

Rocker Cover in Lamborghini Fuchsia for a VQ30DET Time Attack Car

Trial fitted to rest of engine

Another super happy customer (if you see Tom, dont call it pink)

Now, this car standard is super tough looking, the pics don’t do it justice. but there were certain bits and pieces that I just don’t like on my cars

most of the badges came off pretty easily,

but the one in the rear is actually recessed into the back of the car. this required a little more attention than the old heat gun and pry it off

when prying off the interior door panels i always like to protect the paint so there’s no marrs or scratches, even though the pry tools i use are all rubber coated

panels come off so easy on new cars, not one broken clip.. NICE!

the jeep recess is quite deep so it was filled with fibreglass reinforced polyester filler, before being topcpated with my old favorite

few coats of the Jeeps lovely Tri-Coat Redline Red Pearl

there were also these stupid fender extenders, and of course the dealership number plate surrounds

reassembled

the result is so much cleaner, i think after a bit of heat cycling on the rear as its made of plastic, the Jeep will probably ghost through, but ill revisit it later

Tom from PZP had trucked over his track car sporting a freshly rebuilt VQ30DET and 350z 6-speed for some much needed loving and some Maddog styling.
I’ve already started helping him on the tubbing of the front end while she was up at his workshop, but this puppies getting a full roll cage and tube front end
Stay tuned. I’m off to push it inside before the neighbors start complaining