And you thought I'd expended my frustration last time - wrong!
The second part of the CAMS Bulletin I was questioning last time (
http://www.cams.com.au/bulletins/B04...lly%20Cars.pdf ) is about interior door trims.
They ditched the following:
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by TBWB
It is permitted to remove sound-proofing material from the doors, provided this does not modify the internal shape of the doors. The door trims must remain, as must all hardware and fittings. In two door cars the trim on the side panels behind the front doors and in front of the rear seat may not be removed
|
and replaced it with...
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Bulletin
It is permitted to remove sound-proofing material from the doors, provided this does not modify the shape of the doors. In the case of a two door car the trim situated beneath the rear side windows may also be removed but must be replaced with panels made from composite material, save for utes in which case such trim is not required to be replaced.
a) It is permitted to remove the trim panel from the door together with the side protection bar in order to install a side protection panel which is made from composite material [/b](See diagram 2)[/b]
b) If the side protection bars are not removed, the door panels may be made from sheet metal at least 0.5mm thick, carbon fibre at least 1mm thick, or from another solid and non combustible material at least 2mm thick. The minimum height of this panel must extend from the base of the door to to the maximum height of the door strut.
It is permitted to replace electric window winders with manual ones.
|
Now, I like that they're tried to clarify the door trim thing, and have (finally) recognised that newer cars have much more "sculpted" door trims and that modern roll cages make it nearly impossible for us plebs to retain the original door trims.
But I have some questions:
1. WTF is a "door strut"??? I've NEVER heard this term before. If they're going to invent or use an obscure term, a definition would go a long way...
2. Can someone please define for me, what the "rear side window" is, on a first generation RX-7, and for a second generation RX-7? What about a Toyota Sprinter? (Have a look at the pics of these cars before attempting to answer unless you're Jenny.
).
3. How big does the panel under the rear side window have to be? Is a piece the size of a business card good enough? Why not?
What's a composite? Is a piece of newspaper gaffer taped to a piece of aluminium foil enough? Why not?
4. What sound-proofing is there that will modify the internal shape of the doors? I'm not disputing that this is probably possible on a certain car, but it does sound really odd and pointless - what's "internal" any how? Are we talking about the bit that the occupants can see (the door part of the internal shape of the cockpit), or the guts of the doors that aren't visible to anyone? If it's the latter who gives a rat's proverbial what it looks like?
Why was the word "internal" removed from the new wording? This doesn't really avoid any of the questions posed in my previous paragraph, but does create some new ones (like: Is it sound-proofing if it is on the outside of the door?).
5. What is a "side protection bar"? Are we talking about the door intrusion bars that are welded inside doors, as mandated by ADRs for road rego, or what we all call "intrusion bars" in the roll-cage? I'm assuming the former, but it's hardly clear...
What if you have an old/import car without internal door bars?
How does the standard in-door intrusion bar compare to a crossed, gussetted welded-in roll-cage intrusion bar? How does a piece of 0.5mm alloy sheet compare to either?
6. I simply don't understand the requirements for the new panel size. "The minimum height of this panel must extend from the base of the door...." OK, where's the base of the door? The lowest edge that can be seen from the inside, with the door closed, or the very lowest edge of the door*? In the RX-7, these two edges differ by about 150mm... If you use the second version, then it would be a monster of a thing, and it would be (nearly) impossible to close the door, not to mention dust sealing...
And any concept of the required top edge is wasted by the phrase "door strut"... but I'll point out that Mazda RX-3s and Mazda 808s (essentially the same cars for the unwashed, non-Mazda-philes), have two different door trims - the 808 trims leave about 50mm of steel door exposed between the top of the trim and the bottom of the glass, whereas the RX-3 has more "luxurious" trim that extends all the way to the bottom of the glass. And that this difference is an Australian specification level one, rather than inherent in the difference between an 808 and an RX-3.
7. Why the use of BOTH "door trim" and "door panel". Two terms makes it sound like you're talking about two different things - so if I argue that "door panel" is the outer door skin, and that I'm allowed to replace my steel door skin with 0.5mm alloy (thereby saving a noticable amount of weight), who can tell me that I'm wrong?
Sorry for the rant, but this really ****s me.
Why not use the simple, workable definition of "door trim" as used by either Improved Production (3J) or Sports Sedans (2D?), depending on what they are attempting to acheive?
The 3J rules fairly clearly state that you've gotta use standard door trims, the 2D ones say that you've gotta stop occupants from being able to stick their hands into the insides of the door (and that you must use a rigid, non-flammable materail to do it). Why make it harder and more ambiguous?
We are not a European country - our automotive culture, our available cars, our terminology, our 'typical' competitor and our technical resourses are wildly different to the European norm. Therefore, adopting FIA (European) standards ad nauseum to a national category does not, and will not work.
*I'm saying "edge" rather than "base" because base imples a broad area that supports weight...
Obviously no area at the bottom of a car door supports the door's weight - so I'd argue that there is no "base" on a car door...
, and then we can send it.
Linear Mode
