darren.cudd

hi guys and girls, not been on here for a couple years as i haven't really had a toy to play with due to moving for work reasons and lack of garage space ect.
some people who have been on here for a long time may remember i used to knock around on here with my black cosworth powered westfield, well ive got to the point where i miss the car like crazy and want another bash at building something a little special. of course it has to be bigger and better than the previous car so here is what i have in mind.....

was offered a very good deal on a raw striker chassis, it is the race spec chassis which means it sits 70mm lower than the road going versions, the previous owner then took it along to pilbeam racing and had them rework all the suspension geometry which apparently improved things further. the car was running a hyabusa bike engine and a muffet rear diff so im going to need to make some fairly serious alterations to the chassis to fit the new engine and transmission.
the plan is that she will be getting a 2.0ltr duratec with a rotrex supercharger to take her to just over 400bhp, this will then be run through a quafe 6 speed sequential box into a 7" sierra rear diff fitted with a plate lsd.

this is how the car looked in its previous build spec with the busa engine fitted,


the new car is going to have the new style scuttle fitted as im not to keen on the angled alloy type one its got. here is the style its going to be, but it will be lower, wider and most probably black.





engine thats going to be fitted, and also the sort of instalation i have in mind...





but anyway...back to reality for a moment..and reality currently looks like this









only picked her up a few days ago and im under no illusions about how long this project is going to take me as im normally very busy so finding the time and the money to build this thing is going to be interesting. im aiming for a full build inside 2 years so please be patient with me, it'll be worth it in the end i promise

so here we go.. first job that i have started is to remove some chassis so a car engine will fit into it, this means some swift work with the disk cutter got a few hours on her tomorrow when il get my teeth into it a bit more but at the moment ive just taken the drivers tunnel back and removed the old scuttle tubes



will update as i go

Barry_GTi

Used to build Rotrex Saxo's(6 years ago now!!) and ALWAYS wanted to put one in a kit car. You will LOVE the power delivery.

Subscribed to this thread!!

bigryrs

iTrader: (10)

very interesting project mate i will be keeping an eye out for this

darren.cudd

todays updates,

borrowed an old development engine from the back of the workshop so i could do some trial fitment.



really wanted it get it so i can run a flat floor but doesn't look like it is going to happen means the engine will sit to high and tbh i want it as low as i can get it for weight reasons. unfortunately the budget nor space in the car will allow me to fit a dry sump so will have to do what i can.
other than the height issue everything else is looking fairly straight forward.

engine sits over to the passenger side to aid weight distribution, plus the car is so small i cant get it in the middle anyway as it encroaches on the pedal box....so thats lucky. lol


some pics of clearance around the engine...







need to move the passenger tunnel over an inch or so as its a little tight.



going to rotate the supercharger round 120 deg so that the inlet pipe comes out the side as i want to run an additional chassis brace across the top which means there is no room to route the pipe the way it was in the previous car. will be running a charge cooler rather that an intercooler so im thinking of mounting it behind the engine on the bulkhead to help make the boost pipe routing a little more straight forward.


once i figured out what needs to move engine came back out and started stripping all the alloy panels off to get the chassis ready for modification.

most of this will get removed to make way for the 7" diff


took off some redundant brackets, then removed the standard tunnel as it needs so many changes its just easier to cut it out and start again







and thats about all i had time for today. ordering up some steel on Monday so will start welding in some new sections soon as it turns up.

youngben

iTrader: (2)

liking it mate

It's Czech Mate

Good Luck, watching with Interest.

Zetecfiesta

looks good, liking all of the cars in the background!

darren.cudd

give us a tenner and you can have the crappy tvr if you like. lol

darren.cudd

got some time on the car tonight, managed to finnish removing the raer of the tunnel and the old diff mounts. then got the main framework in for the new tunnel old one was pretty naff imo, was just sheet steel ontop at the front so the tunnel wasn't tied in properly which must have meant the torsional rigidity was nowhere near what it should be for this type of spaceframe.

anyway, now sorted used 1" box with a 1.5mm wall to strengthen things up a bit, also tied the new tunnel into the bulkhead properly and secured it to the second front bulkhead bar as well as the first one. will start putting some of the other braces in after the weekend as im kinda tied up till monday. but she's starting to look a little better now

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

Nice project and i like the engine.

Twins

iTrader: (18)

Fantastic project

darren.cudd

managed to get a couple hours on the car last night. aiming to get a whole day over the weekend but just trying to clear all my little favor jobs out the way first so i can get into this properly

dropped the engine back in and started marking positions for engine and box mounts, also started adding some bracing to the chassis..





not much room at the front of the block now but it does just about fall into its hole





got the drivers side pedal box vertical back in and started triangulating the gearbox tunnel.



over the weekend i hope to get the diff mounted and most of the bracing around the standard chassis. but we will see what else pops up that i have to do.

Porkie

iTrader: (1)

Sweet. Good luck with rest of build

alan12112

Looks interesting mate, good choice of engine

Can't wait to see the results

CraigoScott

iTrader: (1)

wow, good luck with the build, i wouldnt know where to begin with something like that!

darren.cudd

got some more done today,

got most of the diff mounting done



finished bracing the tunnel, included a rear vertical section to protect my legs incase the propshaft ever lets go, just need to add a small bar on the bottom of the tunnel under the front of the prop to catch it if the front uj ever lets go, seen a car catapult from the prop hitting the track and flipping the car and dont fancy having a go at that. lol



also removed the joggled side rail that used to go over the old exhaust system and put it back to a flat standard one as well as adding a couple small plate webs that will be used to mount the top engine stabilizer mounts.

darren.cudd

got some spare time this savo on my day off so went in to do a little bit more on the diff mounts,

got the second front mount welded in





started making the detachable bar to hold the bottom of the diff, need to be able to remove it else i cant actually get the diff in and out. lol

darren.cudd

not done an update in a while as ive been very busy doing stuff with work which has been spilling into my spare time...but was feeling a little guilty so decided to get some hours in on it this week.

finished off mounting the diff up. both the lowwer mount and rear brace mount are detachable otherwise i cant actually get the diff out if i need to. or should i say when i need to.





also need to turn the dummy engine into a show engine next week which means i loose the use of it hence why i kind of had to crack on while it was still available.

got the main engine mounts in....




top cross braces to stop it twisting off the lower mounts..




going to have to run more boost as the larger pulley wont currently clear the lower wishbone mount....more boost hey.....thats a shame



also had to get the pedal box case in. been putting this off for a while so nice to finally have it finished.

was easier to just cut the whole old one out.



then start remaking in 1.6mm steel sheet








you can see here why i have mounted the engine the way i have..i really dont want it moving very much with the clearance i have..





so currently starting to look a little bit like a car again if you close one eye and squint a little bit






next job is to sort out the steering column and then start thinking about making the actual pedal box.

Richie.

iTrader: (5)

Nice project

COLEYST200

iTrader: (3)

i like it

darren.cudd

cheers guys glad you like it.

darren.cudd

small amount done tonight.

cut off the old steering column bar mounts and made some new recessed ones to allow for the new style scuttle



quick trial fit with a spare scuttle



a general check and thoughts session with the nose on so i can work out where i want to put my side pods when i make them



cut off the old exhaust mount and put a new one on the other side.



then had to have a quick pic to convince myself that it is a car and not just a oversize climbing frame

AustenW

Looks a good project, any updates?

darren.cudd

yes.........you just had it. lol

need bits for the steering column ect. but will prob wait till next weekend as me and the boss are off to the stonley kitcar show so i can probably find some bargains there

mariS

I love these toys. Great work.

andy escos

iTrader: (1)

nice toy m8

loggyboy

Sorry to dig this up, but did it ever get any further?