Talladega Chassis Buildup  

1.  We'll start by attaching the oil cooler to the front hoop.

2.  Glued on and set aside for drying.

3.  Start with your cleaned up chassis.
 

4. The following steps show how I build up the cage for painting when the cage is a different color than the interior chassis pan.  It is a little more difficult when this is the case as I will build it so the assembled cage can be removed, painted, and then re-installed.  On cars that have the cages the same color as the chassis you can simply glue everything in place instead of taping the pieces to the chassis for alignment.  In this photo I have taped the firewall and right side roll cage to the chassis.  Using liquid cement I glue the firewall and right side cage together.  Note - I used a red sharpie to highlight the glue joints in the following steps.

5.  Do the same for the left side roll cage.

6.  Install the floor cross bar and glue to the side cages only..

7.  Take the dashboard support and glue it to the firewall and roll cage sides.

8.  Install the back roll bar and glue to the side roll cages.

9.  Install the roll cage front bar.

10. Glue the seat bar to the roll cage back.

11.  Install the V bar and glue to the upper right roll cage side and to the roll cage back.

12.  Add the roll cage back bar and glue to the center of the roll cage back.

13.  Install the kicker bars by gluing them  to the top of the roll cage back.  Set the entire assembly aside to dry completely.

14.  Again, if I was building a car where the chassis pan and rollbars were the same color, I would have glued the cage to the chassis right away.  I would also attached the other 3 parts shown in the photo below prior to painting..

15.  This is an example of a car I did that for.  This is the chassis for one of the Richard Petty Talladegas I am building.  Everything in this photo was assembled prior to priming and painting.  After the paint dried I brush painted the the pieces that are black in this photo.

16.  When the roll cage assembly is completely dry, carefully remove the 3 pieces of tape that are holding it to the chassis and simply lift off and paint it the needed colors.  I usually paint the panels in front of the side roll cage, the dash support, and the firewall the same color as the chassis pan will be painted.

Your cage is ready for paint.  Now we can flip that chassis pan over and attach the suspension pieces before painting as well.
Click here to go to the Suspension page.

Here is a quick shot of the chassis sub-assemblies as they came out of the paint booth.  Some detail painting and they will be ready for final assembly.

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