This thing is amazing!

i would love to do something similiar myself some day.

Any more progress pics?

This thing is awesome.

I actually sat in an arial atom the other day and can understand why they won't comply them for road use in australia. You would be anhilated in any sort of accident! even so it was a super cool car and would make for an awesome track weapon.

sooooooo, any progress??????

this thing looks amazing, i love cars like this, i would love to build a kit car some day!!!

wow this thread got so lost in time.... Progress.... I'm onto car number 3 now....

here's car nr1.


and car nr2.


and this one is for the cookie-factory owner,



can you spot the ute in that middle pic....

This is seriously good to see.
Thanks for the pics they are inspiring.
Can you run no pollution gear there?
Also I think you can easily find an LSD for those boxes.
d.

we don't have gas laws here yet.... they are coming ....
good thing that we are going to install an ECU with fuel and timing trim ability, so it can be controled properly.

some updates

THis is the coolest.

I'd love to do something like that one day. Are you just building this in your garage or is this your job?

full time job for me... and yes for now it's out of a gararge. Not for long though....

what are you welding with, the welds on the hub thingo look mint

Quote:

Its not the welder it must be the dude.

I wish it was the welder..... then I could just go on lunch and come back with the frame all done....

That said.... without the welder I would not have been able to get it that nice either.... so it's both I guess.

It's a TIG Welder I got myself for X-Mass...(nice to be with no Ball&Chain hey??? )

I Learned myself how to weld with it, but honestly.... if you started with a MMA (stick) welder and you wondered what it would be like to weld in heaven.... then that's what a TIG welder welds like.... pure heaven...


here the engine is getting tried for size....

I love this thing! Bloody well done!!
I'd also love to see the tube cutting thinga-ma-jig.

yeah.... that thing is freaked out.... but actually not that complicated......

it's got a big-ass chuck, like on a lathe.... that turns the tube, and then the laser is getting pulled back and forth at 90

here are some updates, I have the jig on it's stand now, so it can rotate....

Why front wheel drive?

it's mid engined, rear wheel drive.

as in taking a FWD engine-gearbox and moving it to behind the seats.

better make sure you stick the engine in the right way or you'll have 5 reverse gears and 1 forwards.......

it's on it's wheels, and looking oh so Sweet.....

some updates....










The gear linkage was a uge relief, when I got that to work, and it's working like a charm....

the aim is to reliably put 220+ rear KW onto the pavemunt with less than 550kG's worth of car. hmm a tall order, but it is being done elseware.... so why not here...

Ariel Atom.... what's that?
Looks a bit like what we call a Lotus super 7.

And how on earth did you manage all that 3D drawing in std autocad?
I've had the misfortune of trying to use the Autocad std 3D component a few times & it's PAINFUL.
Or perhaps you used Inventor / Solid Works.

Nice bit of design work either way.

Google the Ariel Atom - they reviewed it on Top Gear and it looked absolutely insane.

Open tube frame road legal two seater powered by a supercharged Honda motor if I remember rightly.

I think 0-100 times were around the 3 second mark

http://www.arielmotor.co.uk/

I think those 0-100 times were even as low as 2.8 seconds?

Your model looks pretty good. I have also had the misfortune of having to work with autocad and I wouldn't touch it for anything but 2D work.

I'm sure it's alright once you have the hang of it but something like Solidworks is so much more user friendly.

what will you use the car for?

Mid engine!!! go the mid engine option!!!!

Obviously you have got something in mind here, but it kills me that there are all these lotus 7 style kit cars and no lotus elise style kit cars. There are so many good FWD engines to be had out there which would work brilliantly in a mid engine application-

GTi-R SR20DET
Subi EJ20t or tt
any one of honda's Vtec range
toyota's 4cyl ZZ range or 4AG range
GSXR 1300

And all of them come ready to go in a half cut with evertthing you need!!!

What lotus should have done 10 years ago when the elise came out-

700-800kg car
2L turbo engine.

none of this 88 kW crapola

In Australia wanted to register something like this you need an engine that complies with Euro 3 standards I think? Which rules out just about everything that's not currently in production

ilike the atom however why the bent tubing...if you read Jack brabhams book regarding his designs of the BT series Brabham formiula 1 cars...he always argued with Charlie Cooper that his bet tube design on the race cars were flawed and nowhere near as strong.....
If i was going to build a kit i would do a PRB or even better a GT40 with straight tube design.

I'm using Acad2005 (the full version). have been acading since back in the day.... so for me it's easier to cad something than it is to put pen on paper.... almost

Acad has some very powerful 3D abilities, the only thing it don't have is animation.... but for that I'm using 3ds-Max. This will come in handy to model the a-frame suspension.. a bit later on.

the bent tube is for looks. the frame is a critical part of the cosmetics of the car.

we are designing the car mainly for production here in RSA. importing the real Arial will make it cost no less than R500000.00. That is half a million, as in a top of the line BMW's pricetag, as in you will work five ears and not have that kinda money.... and some fat-ass politician (import taxes and ####) is making 3 times the money on one car than what the guys that built it is making.... NOT COOL. We tried to become a kind of manufacturer for Ariel, the same way Brammo is for them in the US, let's just say we did not succeed with that.

you can also add the Mazda 2l DOHC (FE3) engine to the list. as reliable as a rock and with miner upgrade to pistons, can pump 300BHP day in and day out. boosted of coarse. we did a turbo on one a while back motor was still dead stock std as it came from the Jap importer... pushing a steady 250 Hp on the wheels.
We do not want to do Honda.... mainly because the real Atom uses them. But our philosophy dictates that the Customer is the boss.... so Honda it might be, if so desired. My personal one will obviously have a 13B Rotary in it. MHAHAHAH

This car will all be SABS approved, has to be for production. so all the parts on it need to be SABS or euro stamped. that is going to be a problem.

a bit of an update, started with the frame...

Tubes are all Laser cut to size and shape, makes putting it together a breeze....

Looking good, are you cutting those tubes using one of those rotating laser cutters?

I think the 550kg mark is more than achievable with this design. My datsun 1000 was under 600kgs with little work like no bumpers, no tar, lightened flywheel, no window winders, heater swiss cheese frames on bonnet and boot and a few other anal things. More is possible with lexan, no window winders, acid dipping panels, composite leaf springs and lighter die cast alloy engine etc.
Ive been researching engine weights for almost 5 years now and have found engine and the gearbox weight to be the main area of performance on a budget or for all out against expensive and exotic machinery.
The honda and Sr20 engines are sand cast aluminium making them very heavy compared to die cast aluminium engines like the suzuki g13b, daihatsu Hd-e, renault mi16 and Rover K series. I prefer cast iron than sand cast engines eg an ca18 over an Sr20.

I found the best engine to be the Rover K series for there is already available a rotary valve head for it from Roton engines.
Its design is almost identical to the hondas s2000 but 15 years earlier. Its a four piece block much like motorbike engines with through bolts all the way from top to bottom. The K series with a rotary valve head and better internals would be the ultimate 300hp NA engine from 1.8 litres and 85kg.
Of course bike engines are the best bet but a close second is the Daihatsu Applause engine.
Rospen Motosport used to campaign a daihatsu charade detomaso with the 1.6 that use to make over 200hp and won the australian title two or three times and thats against 2ltr turbo subarus and other 2ltr cars.
Its torque curve is unbelievable too.
This little engine weighs 60kgs bare and with accessories about 80kg also. With a spacer plate for better rod ratio and custom sleeves 1.8 litres can be made and with a small turbo a responsive 300hp isnt out of the question.
Currently there are some Dutch 1.3 litre charade versions with 220hp and little boostand little snails on almost standard internals.
The ports are as big as 3sge and the valves bigger and combustion chamber design almost identical to the 4age.
All this with a sohc head design with 16 valves that is incredibly compact.
A lesser but similar copy made by suzuki the g16 was raced by Monster Tajima in Pikes Peak with 380hp each with boost but he used on for the fron and one for the back. Thats 2 x g16 turbos for almost 800hp.
The g16 also weighs 80kg bare.
Just something to think about as the Honda B series engine is about 100kgs bare and every kilo counts. Well 40kgs difference is a huge difference especially when you are talking 200hp of NA power. The championship driver for de tomaso daihatsu said to me he never spun or ever broke anything in the HD engine even with the hollow cast crank.
A suitable upgrade for the crank if going beyond 300hp is the honda d series crank which fits in to the daihatsu by machining the block to accept the bigger big ends and then you have also a factory honda crank girdle that holds the bearing in place.
Im currently in the process of getting a 21mm spacer plate for a HD-E engine and Borger engineering will be receiving my block end of Jan for machining the block to accept either 79mm or 80mm sleeves. Im hoping to even get 81mm bores but need the extra meat for boost.

What is the SR20-DET engine's weight?

here is the rear engine compartment.

The sr na is 140-150kg
and the turbo up to 170kg from 240sx members.

It a sand cast heavy engine capable of big numbers but I would prefer a hemi V2, Gen 3 or VQ for those weights

Are you going to use a FWD setup for the rear? If so another engine I can recommend is the KL-ZE Mazda v6. High revving 200hp from 2.5ltr and superlight.

a12.... lol

RB 12a or 13b
all alloy full race or aircraft versions

Yes . it's going to be a front wheel drive setup, just moved back...

thanks for the numbers.... this engine is indeed a tad bit on the heavy side...

some more pics.... the Jig and the front suspension box





all the brackets and stuff... these came out awesome.