Im converting my van to rwd and was wondering if anyone could advise me on what rear axle to use?

 

depends tbh mate.. what kind of power are you gonna be putting through it and what will you be using the van for?

i'd go old school and use and a narrowed atlas, but you could get a cossie rear beam i guess.
it'd have to be a sorted cossie beam though, as the standard ones are shocking!!

 

i want to race it up santa pod so not too bothered about it being road leagal, but was looking at putting a rover v8 in it

 

as mark said theres various options out there ,

just depends on your budget

beef

 

What sort of price are cossie rear beams? and were would i get 1?

 

If you're drag racing a cossie beam is the LAST thing you want.

I'd be using a decent live axle on 5 links and coils.

 

sounds like a cool project mate.

 

narrowed atlas axle plus 6 link all day long then mate.
strong as fuck,. no stupid camber issues, plus with the 6 link you can dial in anti squat to get you off the line at the pod nicely.

 

Cheers, weres the best place to pick 1 of these up and for the best price?

 

could try looking on www.turbosport.co.uk
or copies of retro ford/ classic ford for breakers ect


theres always ebay aswell


beef

 

This project was eventually finished - you can see the pictures here if you are interested: http://www.cluelessracing.org/apps/photos/. We've been running the van at Santa Pod for a year now (in Sportsman ET) and will be changing the rear axle setup to a 4-link over the winter (it tramps badly on the launch). The 4-link setup can be bought as a kit, so I'm ok with that, but does anyone know which coil-overs I should use?

Any advice will be very gratefully received. Many thanks. Ben's dad.

 

That looks good. Has the bonnet been air brushed,if so it looks good. What times are you getting then.

 

Thanks Glenn. Yes, the bonnet is airbrushed - that's our son's dog in the artwork. Current best is 16.2 at around 83mph. The engine is a standard (rebuilt but not bored out) 2.0 Pinto with the only mods being the twin 45's and a Kent FR33 cam - makes 143bhp on the dyno. The rear axle is from a 1.6 Capri, so the ratio is all wrong (still in third gear at the finish line - Type 9 5-speed box) and we get too much tramp, which is why I'm making changes over the winter - I just don't know about the coil-overs so I'm hoping for some good advice on here.

 

Awesome read!!! - I really love the website and your dedication. Thanks for posting the end result

 

love the van, just spent a while reading through your website and having a good look at the photos.

Good on you (and the rest of Ben's family), all the best for the future

 

Thanks for all the kind comments - they mean a lot (and I mean that sincerely). I am still hoping for some advice on the coil-over shocks if anyone can help?

 

You can buy floor and turret sections from companies like gartrac to weld in to suit a 5/6 link rear end like an atlas or english, If your going te sierra route your best off finding a rolling shell and use that floor, if your thinking of running big power and have to funds to do so, you might be best building a tubed frame to suite the engine and transmission you want and fit the van shell over the top

 

If you don't need the van to be a van anymore then I would be cutting out the bed and sticking in a v8 from something like an Audi s4, cheap to buy and can turbo later, use the whole Audi front sub frame and suspension etc and just lock off the steering, a guy called Toby did it with a VW Caddy and in std trim it was under 4 to 60 so loads of scope. Imagine an RS4 or other in there.

Word of warning though, don't attempt any of these conversions unless you can finish them with either money or the skills. You need to be able to problem solve a lot to get a v8 running rwd in a car that was designed to be fwd. It is FAR cheaper to add massive power and sticky tyres to your existing car set up and lower drag times. 100 shot of nos and track tyres then throw away most of the interior would go a long way, then use light weight panels where poss.

 

Thanks, but I think you are misunderstanding me. I'm not changing the engine/gearbox or back axle, everything will stay as it is except I just want to get away from the current leaf spring setup by adding a 4-link kit and coil-overs, the only bit I'm stuck on is knowing which coil-overs I should get. I'm hoping to just swap out the existing shocks/dampers for some adjustable coil-overs without having to do any extensive modifications. Again, any advice gratefully received - thanks.

 

i mixed you up with the original poster...sorry.

I have seen people put turrets over the leaf springs and then use coil overs to damp the leaf springs...a mate of mine used ohlins off an R1 and whilst there was no science in the rates and stroke the BW caddy handled beautifully after.