The Roll Cage Goes In

While the engine is out and off being rebuilt it's time for the roll cage to go in.  First task is to remove all of the trim inside the car, most of which won't be going back in.  The removal of the roof lining, seats and door trim was straight forward.  The dash was a bit tricky, but fortunately there is no shortage of advice out there in various RX7 forums on the best way to go about this.  I printed off step-by-step instructions and went about the task.

Recognising that it could be some time between dash removal and replacement and knowing that my memory is not too reliable with regard to the small details, I took quite a few photographs throughout this process.  Now I'm not sure I took enough.  Never the less, the instructions were excellent and everything went according to plan with nothing broken in the process.  It did take longer than expected, largely due to the difficulty of undoing wiring connections in hard to get to places.  Each plug is slightly different, which will be a significant advantage when the time arrives to put it all back together, but is a challenge when it comes to working out how to get them apart when you can't see them and can barely touch them.

With the dash out, air conditioner and heater and other ancillary bits were relatively easy to remove.  It was time get serious about the roll cage.  After considerable research I chose to go with the safest option of a full CAMS compliant roll cage.  This task was outsourced to Brad Stacy Fabrication.  Brad has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the fabrication of roll cages and is the "go to" guy in Perth.  The car was duly delivered to Brad and 10 days later, as promised, he called to let me know it was ready to be picked up.  The photos below don't do justice to the quality of Brad's work.

Next job, remove the sound deadening material.