Howdy.

I'm building an under two litre sports sedan from a 1200 coupe shell.

This thread is going to be a pictorial of the build.
Feel free to ask questions and learn from my hits and misses as the build progresses.

I decided to use a shell that was not complete enough to be used as a street car as most of the fire wall and trans tunnel was missing.

The idea was that I was not taking a "roadie" out of circulation.

Not sure this was such a good idea as a starting point.

Cheers,
Geoff

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  bare shell 1 .jpg (181.30 KB)


  bare shell 2 .jpg (179.79 KB)

good job taking the extra effort

what the plans for bodywork/drivetrain?

Wow - That looks like it had some history. I think your absolutly correct in using that shell for a sports sedan and not a pristine roady. All you need is a shell to start - you'd waist to much time selling off all the bits out off it - ( wait a minute, I just bought some of those bits) second thoughts pull apart a concourse coupe

Howdy.

The shell looks worse than it is. . . . .

It has a bit of surface rust where the previous owner removed paint and then did nothing.

The chassis rails and floor are quite sound.
Being stripped already means I could see all the bad bits.
They had no wear to hide. . . .

So the plan is:

Motor and gear box from a HONDA S2000.
Why Honda and not Nissan?

The F20C Honda engine is 1998cc DOHC, it fits being under 2 litre and in it's standard form is 182Kw @ 8900rpm.
I intend using it unmodified so it will last.
It's more powerful than a standard SR20VE.

The standard S2000 gear box is 6 speed close ratio.

I bought a front cut from Japan so I have the motor, gearbox, tail shaft, wiring looms, digital dash, radiator, ECU etc, all still in the front half of the S2000.

The only down side to the Honda is the exhaust is on the right hand side so will make for a hot drivers side.

The motor is going to be moved backwards so there is no extra weight in front of the axle line. this means cutting away the fire wall and trans tunnel.

I contacted MADDAT (the 1200 specialists) here in South Australia and Scott and his team were very helpful.
I asked what stuff they could provide for the suspension and there reply was simple . . . EVERYTHING

So front end is cut down 200B struts with 280mm vented discs and RX7 4 piston calipers. all the control arms are on car adjustable.

The rear suspension is from a s13 silvia.
The diff is a R200 LSD with 4.4 ratio
The rear brakes are 300mm vented discs with R32 GTR 2 piston calipers.

The way MADDAT narrow the sub frame to fit the 1200 mean that all the suspension pick ups and geometry stays standard and all you need to do is shorten the axles.

This is what a F20C motor and gearbox look like.

Thanks,
Geoff

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  motor 1 .jpg (143.79 KB)


  motor 2 .jpg (138.28 KB)

Crikey, no wonder the tunnel in an S2000 is so large!

It was the No. 1 rated HP/liter back when it debuted and AFAIA is still the top 2-liter. Since then the Ferrari 458 has topped it (127 hp/liter)

Boy this is going to be good, I'm looking forward to seeing how this goes! Great engine choice by the way.

Very nice combo for racing.

These donks with ITBs and a few other bolt ons
can make 200kws which is not bad at all

Howdy,
The next step.

The motor installation.

The reasoning behind why I put it wear I did. . . . .

To get a better weight balance front to back the motor needs to be moved back in the engine bay. . . .

The motor position will be set by the need to clear steering and suspension components and the fire wall and trans tunnel will need to be modified to clear as well. . . . .

If the motor is rearward enough it may be impossible to remove the rocker cover for servicing.
Requiring engine to be removed for servicing out through the bonnet opening. . . .

But what if the motor was not under the bonnet ????

If the motor was in the cabin the rocker cover would definitely be impossible to remove because of the windscreen. . . .

If the motor had it's own cross member that connected to the chassis rails, and was rearward enough to be dropped out the bottom of the car without touching the steering or suspension or bonnet or radiator. . . . .

Motor and gearbox removed as one piece also saves on clutch problems. . . .

So this is what I did. . . .

Cheers
Geoff

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  motor mount .jpg (164.20 KB)


  motor mount 1 .jpg (146.46 KB)


  motor mount 2 .jpg (152.80 KB)


  motor mount 3 .jpg (177.82 KB)


  motor mount 4 .jpg (142.77 KB)


  motor mount 5 .jpg (124.62 KB)

all the best with the build should be a monster.
Good luck getting the most out of the S13/S14 rear suspension. They require some correction to the geometry out of the box, hopefully maddat has a handle on that.

Howdy,

The trans tunnel, engine cover and seat mounts are next.

The steel I am using for the tunnel is 1.6mm mild steel sheet.

It is about twice as thick as the floor of the car,
I thought a bit of strength was a good idea for my own safety and for the cars structural stiffness.

The sheet metal is heavier than the rules require but Safety is my main priority.
The clutch area will also get a 6mm aluminium shroud.

The seat mounts are built into the floor and are made from 50mm x 25mm x 2.5 RHS mild steel.

The rules allow the seat to be moved back in the car so the back rest would touch the back seat if fitted (using the rear passengers leg space)

The trans tunnel was built around the seat, no point building a car and not being able to fit into it.

Cheers
Geoff

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  seat 2.jpg (125.79 KB)


  motor cover .jpg (137.55 KB)


  motor cover 1 .jpg (114.33 KB)


  motor cover 2 .jpg (114.85 KB)


  motor cover 3 .jpg (119.00 KB)


  motor cover 4 .jpg (98.24 KB)


  motor cover 5 .jpg (143.93 KB)