So, went out for drinks tonight, but before that my automotive ADD would not allow me to not work on the rack. Today's goal was to make the mounts and a couple other things.
So, for the mounts, I took a page out of the 1970s rack my Triumph used to have, and basically did this the exact same way. With some small-diameter steel tubing. cut into 2" pieces and welded to the sides of the legs. Then drilled a hole in the bottom of the gutter where it lined up.
Now, the issue with this is that the e30 gutters are not flat, they're angled upwards. So the bolts (M6) won't sit totally flush, and there isn't much clearance. I took the ginder and ground down the back side of the bolt head so they essentially hold themselves in place at the bottom (requiring only one wrench, at the nut at the top). It's not perfect, but it'll work and just a bit visible under the outer weatherstripping.
Finished up with the correct size washers. Will get some installed shots tomorrow. My welds are still ugly....
The last order of business was to make some brackets for a fairing. Still need to scrounge up some material to make a fairing with, but mostly anything will work. So mocked it up and made some cuts and bends.
And did some painting. So I think the fabbing is done. I've never been a great fabricator and this is admittedly not that complex a thing, but I'm pretty pleased that i managed to think things out and it came out pretty much exactly as I'd hoped. So, that's good.
Final shots this weekend once I get a fairing and do a final fit on the car....
super-cool snowboard fairing?
Just throwing this in here for entertainment value. Kelly Moss racing built this Safari 911. To demonstrate the strength of their roof rack tied into roll cage they placed 911 race car on top of the Safari. Crazy.
^^ the thought did cross my mind to have it bolt into the cage, since the feet are more or less aligned with my windshield bar and main hoop, which aer both very tight to the roof skin, but that would almost certainly be looked upon with dislike by rally tech inspectors (and would have to be plugged when the rack is off).
This being a stage rally car, the rack will definitely not be on the car during any kind of competition (or for general driving). It's there strictly for carrying tires to local rallycrosses, and pretty much no other reason.
In reply to irish44j :
Also supports their roof top camper set up
ok, so finished things up with the rack. The last order of business was to build a fairing. After digging through various sheet materials i had on-hand, i stumbled across a dusty old Thule fairing from like 15 years ago sitting up in my garage loft. Talk about good luck. So, since it was from my old Jeep and pretty big, had to do some cutting to get it to a more e30-ish size. Then got it mounted up on the car
I think it came out pretty good as far as fit and alignment go, and it sticks up a couple inches above the rack itself so hopefully will stop any whistling from wind, etc. Also "test-fit" some wheels up there (i.e. wanted to take some photos), so here's the whole setup loaded (though not strapped down)
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Ovid_and_Flem said:
In reply to irish44j :
Also supports their roof top camper set up
See, the nice thing about having a front-engine Porsche is you don't NEED a roof rack to carry lots of stuff :)
And yes, since this is my road-trip car, I definitely have checked to see how awful it would be to sleep in the hatchback with the front seats tilted forward. Not bad, actually, and i'm 6 feet tall :) But, I stay in hotels (er, cheap moteld) when I road-trip, because I'm fancy like that 
irish44j said:
ebonyandivory said:
I’m an automotive geek of the highest order. These types of projects “do it” for me.
Great work!
(link to the $60 light package discussed early in the thread? Please?)
no clue at this point, but it was off ebay. Just google "LED floolights" or something and a million different ones will come up
where did you funnel all your rooftop lighting to? I've been trying to determine a good location for mine? Any pics?
DirtyBird222 said:
irish44j said:
ebonyandivory said:
I’m an automotive geek of the highest order. These types of projects “do it” for me.
Great work!
(link to the $60 light package discussed early in the thread? Please?)
no clue at this point, but it was off ebay. Just google "LED floolights" or something and a million different ones will come up
where did you funnel all your rooftop lighting to? I've been trying to determine a good location for mine? Any pics?
you mean the wiring? It goes through the rack tubes and then down the A-pillar trim and windshield seal trim on the passenger side. It kind of fits right underneath. My relays are on the firewall over on the passenger side. Switches are down right above the tray in the center console, though in retrospect I should have mounted them up at the sunglasses holder with some kind of panel.
irish44j said:
DirtyBird222 said:
irish44j said:
ebonyandivory said:
I’m an automotive geek of the highest order. These types of projects “do it” for me.
Great work!
(link to the $60 light package discussed early in the thread? Please?)
no clue at this point, but it was off ebay. Just google "LED floolights" or something and a million different ones will come up
where did you funnel all your rooftop lighting to? I've been trying to determine a good location for mine? Any pics?
you mean the wiring? It goes through the rack tubes and then down the A-pillar trim and windshield seal trim on the passenger side. It kind of fits right underneath. My relays are on the firewall over on the passenger side. Switches are down right above the tray in the center console, though in retrospect I should have mounted them up at the sunglasses holder with some kind of panel.
Yea was curious where you ran the wiring into the cab. I just bought this setup for a Jeep that I'm going to shoehorn into my sequoia. Old girl needs some wiring clean up from the previous owner (who did take really good care of it) .
NIce. Yeah, I don't love my switch location. one of these days I'll do something about it and put them in a better space....it's on the list of projects.
A little break from the Raider today as I took off the (very heavy) roof rack from the Sequoia to make some modifications to it - better tie-downs, a grab rail on the side opposite the roll-out shelter, better access to the mounts for the cargo box (not currently on it), rewired all my lighting much cleaner than previously, and a few other little things. It hasn't been off the truck for a few years and it shows...
You may recall (if you follow my other builds) that this rack was made from an ebay-sourced tri-fold ATV ramp (basically, cost about half of what raw materials would have, and took half the work....) and some composite chicken-coop flooring (which has really held up great to the elements). So anyhow, a few pics of the improved rack...
