Designing a locost style Lotus 7 Replica

[Caffeine]

thanks. Ill give it a shot. I've never used the weldment feature.

The tutorial on it is quite good

[Mokesta]

Further to my earlier comments re torsional stiffness. It is relatively easy to pass the Qld requirements for a 4 clyinder. The car I was referring to had a v8 so it needed extra stiffness. Of course, I would want to surpass teh minimum requirements by a fair degree because a high torsional stiffness will enable far greater suspension tuning accuracy and handling predictability. So you may not \"need\" addtional stiffness but you would probably want it.

[CONTI]

Redback Motorsport has alreay brought in a couple of MNR bike engine cars and have ordered their first MX5 single Donor chassis bases on a NB, but will be installing NC engine and 5sp for ADR compliance.
www.mnrltd.co.uk is the manufacture site. So keen I have already brought the Donor. Just waiting for them to complete and rego the demo!
:mrgreen:
Andrew

[Caffeine]

Redback Motorsport has alreay brought in a couple of MNR bike engine cars and have ordered their first MX5 single Donor chassis bases on a NB, but will be installing NC engine and 5sp for ADR compliance.
www.mnrltd.co.uk is the manufacture site. So keen I have already brought the Donor. Just waiting for them to complete and rego the demo!

Andrew

Looks quite nice...

Who else saw top gear on saturday?

it was the episode where they build a caterham while the stig drives one from london to try and beat them to the start line, classic!

Although live rear axle bleargh!

I've been looking more into the NC as a donor, and it all looks good, damaged NC's are ridiculously cheap importedfrom Japan (relative to damaged aussie models) except I may need to source an australian delivered engine to avoid emissions testing.

So I've been looking at focus / mazda3 wrecks, people have talked of picking up focus wrecks for ~$2500, and you don't care how much damage there is from the firewall back

So an NC wreck for most of the drivetrain / mechanicals, and a RWD converted focus or mazda3 engine for emissions (the sump etc is setup for FWD, and the compression is lower, so a bit of mix and match with the NC engine would be required...)

[bjones]

the sump etc is setup for FWD, and the compression is lower, so a bit of mix and match with the NC engine would be required...

We can always fix the compression ration just force more air in it insert laugh here

BJ

[Caffeine]

the sump etc is setup for FWD, and the compression is lower, so a bit of mix and match with the NC engine would be required...

We can always fix the compression ration just force more air in it insert laugh here

BJ

Hehe, that would be interesting in a ~550kg car...

Have to make sure the traction control works!

[Caffeine]

Hrmmm... the NR-A model looks interesting, only 5 gears (but you won't be getting ot the top of 5th much in a clubman anyway) but height adjustable bilsteins

NR-A They seem to sell a bit cheaper than standard NC's too...

[CONTI]

There is some great info on www.ozclubbies.com.au on the use of Duratec engines from Focus' and 3's. Not exactly sure but something about being cantered over xx degress and the baffeling in the sump?? Have a read very intresting. There seams to be quite a lot using Ford Type 9 boxes. Big business in the UK.
PRB and Westfield (UK) are using this option and I think so is Birkin.
Its a thread in Technical might have to go back a couple of pages.
Andrew

[Caffeine]

There is some great info on www.ozclubbies.com.au on the use of Duratec engines from Focus' and 3's.

Yeah I've been reading that, very interesting stuff indeed

[Caffeine]

I've been having a quick play with the weldment analysis functions in Solidworks, and I must say I'm impressed

Here's a simple cube shaped welded box, with 2in square mild steel tube, with a 500nm moment applied to one of the top corners, while the bottom of the box is fixed...

[bigdog]

Yep, that looks like the rear end on BJ's after the first full throttle launch....

[bjones]

Yep, that looks like the rear end on BJ's after the first full throttle launch....

HEY you couldnt see the rear end through the rubber um I mean smoke. Besides the guru helps out with straightening it again

BJ

[Caffeine]

I've made a mock up of the duratec engine, based off some drawings available on the net. It's not absolutely accurate but it gives me a good idea how it will fit together and what will have to be moved...

[Boost]

Nice stuff Caffeine.
Change the units to mm instead of m.

[Juffa]

Never thought I would be bringing an old thread back to life, especially one on Lotus 7 replicas.

I have come across a damaged Westfield clubman. From photos and conversation with the owner it would seem that the chassis from the shuttle back needs to be replaced. The rear axle, body panels and fuel tank would also need to be replaced. Otherwise the car seems to be in reasonable condition. It has a 4AGE 16 valve engine, Toyota T50 G/Box, Ford Escort diff , Carbon fibre dash , bonnett bulge & front guards , twin master cyls with balance bar , braided brake hoses , a fuel surge tank set up , CAMS licensed roll bar , front anti roll bar & AVO shocks. The car was built and used as a track car only, it has never been registerd and I assume therefore has not needed to be certified for ADR purposes. The owner is asking $4,500 as is. I am thinking of buying the car and then either repairing the damage, or remove everything from the chassis and build a new 'locost' chassis, while putting all of the running gear on the new chassis. My goal is to have a road registered Lotus 7 replica, which I assume would be easier with a new chassis, rather than trying to repair an existing one?

So, does it make sense to pay $4,500 for a car where I may have to throw away the chassis and start again? A quck calculation suggests that the replacement value of the running gear, fibreglass panels and other parts would be close to the asking price (feel free to correct me if I am wrong). Can anyone suggest what a 'locost' chassis might cost, assuming that I aquire the metal and do the build?

Note: Like a lot of things this may turn out to be a pipe dream, and based on the cost may never happen, but one is allowed to dream

showing rear bulkhead bend.jpg

showing straight hoop bent bulkhead.JPG

J.