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Post by carlyd on Jan 14, 2019 17:44:22 GMT
I have taken the first step on my new build. I plan to design and build from scratch my own kit car, including chassis, suspension and everything else. This will be a cross between a Mev Rocket and a Ariel Nomad but with my own twist. At this point I would thank to thank Stuart Mills and admins for allowing me to share my build on here, thanks Stuart I am not sure where to put it so can an admin move it to the appropriate section please? Many Thanks. I have just purchased the donor vehicle which is a Honda Accord Type S. It's a CL9 (2003) and has the K24A3 (2.4 Vtec) Engine and 6 speed manual gearbox producing 197hp as standard. I have just driven it back from Derby (approx 50 miles) and the engine pulls well, the gearbox feels great, very short and positive gear selection too. I plan to use the engine, gearbox, drive shafts, hubs, power steering column & rack, and possibly brakes and maybe a few other parts too depending on how I like them after the strip down. I am going to design the chassis myself but I intend to have the basic chassis welded or brazed for me (I can't weld yet). This is the only part that I won't be doing myself. I am going to build the car completely then strip for powder coating before final assembly as I am sure there will be lots of changes made along the way. I plan to buy a welder to tack things in place as I need them, (brackets and mounts etc) then get a professional welder to finish everything off. I have the vision in my head, the difficult part is to get it from my head into reality. I know it's going to be a huge challenge and I hope you guys will offer advice and help along the way. So here is my vision so far; - Exo style chassis with roof bars (like the Ariel Noman) although my chassis will not look like a nomad.
I am thinking about gull wing doors to give more of an enclosed feel without having to climb into the car. This would be done using tube and will be exo style same as chassis. Not completely sure about this yet. - Long travel fully adjustable suspension with 30 - 40cm of ground clearance with 2 passengers on board.
- Full glass windscreen with wipers (wiper motor and mechanism possibly from the donor car) and heating system to help keep windscreen fog free.
- Big off road tyres
- Honda 2.4 (K24A3) engine with 6 speed gearbox. (197hp)
- Power Steering system from the Honda including rack and column
- Power Brakes (possibly using some of the Honda donor)
- DASH2 with all buttons and switch gear set into dash surround although I do like the feel of the honda indicator switch.
I plan to have the radiator in the front, along with the battery and fuse box for lights and ancilaries. Engine fuse box in the engine bay. I will have an open engine bay with a removable spare wheel mount and carry the spare wheel above the engine to give the off road feel. Fuel tank will be between the driver/passenger and engine and will run full width of the car. Oh and lots of massive lights on the roof.
Colour scheme I am thinking yellow chassis with black accents. Suspension arms etc will all be black.
I will post some photos of the donor car tomorrow. Any ideas? let's hear them.
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Post by carlyd on Jan 15, 2019 14:30:34 GMT
This is the donor. It looks too good to break but needs must. The engine bay is completely free of oil, no leaks anywhere which is great news. I paid just £700 for the donor and I should get all of that back by selling the interior (which is half leather sports seats), wheels, doors, bonnet and boot lid with spoiler, bumpers etc. Looking forward to the strip down.
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Post by casesensitive on Jan 16, 2019 13:19:28 GMT
Following!
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Post by casesensitive on Jan 16, 2019 13:24:31 GMT
I have taken the first step on my new build. I plan to design and build from scratch my own kit car, including chassis, suspension and everything else. This will be a cross between a Mev Rocket and a Ariel Nomad but with my own twist.... I am going to design the chassis myself but I intend to have the basic chassis welded or brazed for me (I can't weld yet). This is the only part that I won't be doing myself. I don't know how it fits with your vision, but you could consider buying a Rocket chassis and having it modified a little extremely, adding the rollover protection, not unlike what kiwicanfly has done with his rollbar setup. You might even be able to source / connect with a roll cage supplier and have them make a roll cage to your spec. Exo have jigs to make the Rocket classic (insert argument here) pretty accurately, it'd certainly save time, and likely money, assuming you're not going mental with changes. There's also the idea of buying an abandoned-early-in-the-build kit from someone and using that. You'll have to make new engine mounts either way.
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Post by casesensitive on Jan 16, 2019 13:27:17 GMT
I plan to buy a welder to tack things in place as I need them, (brackets and mounts etc) then get a professional welder to finish everything off. It's a big upfront hit, but skip straight to TIG, one plant, one gas to rule them all. MIG is easier, but I sold my MIG plant within 3 weeks of starting the TIG course, it just makes more sense. Get some fancy clamps or a small child though, you need 2 hands to tack with filler :-)
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Post by carlyd on Jan 16, 2019 17:19:35 GMT
One concern that I do have about designing my own chassis is about IVA on an essentially 'untested' chassis. Does anyone know if they need to be crash tested or stress tested and proof of outcome for IVA or any special requirements. I know when you get a MEV IVA'd it's a proven chassis so not sure how i would go about doing this for my own design. Just for the record, this will be a protoype, a one off. I will not be making any more or selling plans or anything like that.
Welding... well that's something for the future, although I was thinking about either brazing (I have done a bit of that but years ago) or TIG welding which I have never done. Am I right in thinking that you can TIG weld both steel and aluminium?
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Post by casesensitive on Jan 17, 2019 15:17:56 GMT
One concern that I do have about designing my own chassis is about IVA on an essentially 'untested' chassis. Does anyone know if they need to be crash tested or stress tested and proof of outcome for IVA or any special requirements. I know when you get a MEV IVA'd it's a proven chassis so not sure how i would go about doing this for my own design. Definitely not, small volume manufacturers don't have to do crash testing. Doubt RTR/Exo ever did, nearly certain Stiggy addressed this before. Welding... well that's something for the future, although I was thinking about either brazing (I have done a bit of that but years ago) or TIG welding which I have never done. Am I right in thinking that you can TIG weld both steel and aluminium? Yep, you have heat and pure Argon shielding gas in 1 hand, filler in the other, which is good for mild steel, stainless, aluminium (you'll need AC facility for this), chromemoly, brass, copper, magnesium, titanium, whatever you've got. I did a tiny bit of copper welding on this v-day present, and I even saw a guy repair a porcelain mug with the right filler rod! You can use the same plant to braze (I've done some silicon bronze stuff where I'm not sure what the material is, or I'm joining dissimilar materials), and it comes with the electrode holder to do arc/stick welding too if you need to, which I haven't yet, but handy for outside work, trailer needs some attention.
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Post by casesensitive on Jan 17, 2019 15:28:05 GMT
..but you could consider buying a Rocket chassis and having it modified a little extremely, adding the rollover protection, not unlike what kiwicanfly has done with his rollbar setup... There's also the idea of buying an abandoned-early-in-the-build kit from someone and using that. You'll have to make new engine mounts either way. www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UNFINISHED-MEV-Rocket-Kitcar/163474464675Comes with crate Zetec, ITBs, seats and a bunch of other stuff you could flog to make up cost, sitting at £5k with 1 bid.
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Post by carlyd on Jan 17, 2019 15:45:24 GMT
..but you could consider buying a Rocket chassis and having it modified a little extremely, adding the rollover protection, not unlike what kiwicanfly has done with his rollbar setup... There's also the idea of buying an abandoned-early-in-the-build kit from someone and using that. You'll have to make new engine mounts either way. www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UNFINISHED-MEV-Rocket-Kitcar/163474464675Comes with crate Zetec, ITBs, seats and a bunch of other stuff you could flog to make up cost, sitting at £5k with 1 bid. I have considered it and as much as I love the Rocket I want my car to be totally custom, so long as it will pass the IVA.
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Post by carlyd on Jan 18, 2019 14:43:52 GMT
One concern that I do have about designing my own chassis is about IVA on an essentially 'untested' chassis. Does anyone know if they need to be crash tested or stress tested and proof of outcome for IVA or any special requirements. I know when you get a MEV IVA'd it's a proven chassis so not sure how i would go about doing this for my own design. Just for the record, this will be a protoype, a one off. I will not be making any more or selling plans or anything like that. A response to my own question; I emailed the DVSA regarding the chassis and received this reply. "For IVA a kit car would be an ‘Amateur Built’ test class and qualify for a ‘Basic’ test, sections 53&54 only apply to a ‘Normal’ test so no evidence would be required of stress/crash testing." Yay! this is great news! Onward!
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Post by davefromdownunder on Jan 20, 2019 9:08:37 GMT
Hi Carl
You will probably need to have an engineer do the appropriate bending and torsional tests. Just check what is required. I know in oz the spec is 4000Nm per degree which both the rocket and sonic do not meet.
If you find a good engineer they will guide you through the entire process and make getting it through IVA easy.
By the way Great choice of engine, what about a turbo or supercharger on it straight up?
Over here I can fit a turbo running 8lb of boost on the standard ecu and it will still go through the emissions test.
All the standard sensors will work fine up to about 10lb of boost..
Cheers Dave
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Post by carlyd on Jan 20, 2019 16:13:01 GMT
I am no engineer but have a rough idea of the chassis style that I want, but as safety is important (as I will be in it) I will get an engineer to looks over the final design before I have it built. I will be having a professional engineering firm do all the bending, fabrication, welding etc of the main chassis. When I have the chassis I will be adding brackets and odd bits here and there as I want to reduce the number of bold on brackets etc. I haven't started the strip down of the donor yet (as it's bloody freezing here) and there is a long way to go so I will think about a supercharger further into the build. I'm not too concerned about power yet as 197bhp as standard isn't bad, although that will increase a little with de-cat exhaust and a better air filter. My Rocket had about 240 bhp and was very quick for the roads. I am looking at overall dimensions of the build at the moment as I felt a little cramped in my Rocket so I may add a bit of width to the chassis but still want to keep it within the wheels. I am also a little undecided whether I want to exposed exo style or something like this. Obviously I am aware this is a toy but you get the idea
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Post by carlyd on Jan 29, 2019 16:28:41 GMT
While planning my chassis I am trying to find a glass windscreen which I can design the chassis around, rather than design and build the chassis then have to have a bespoke screen made (at £6k for a bespoke screen it's too much). So my question to you is are you aware of any existing windscreen which is approx 1200mm wide and 800mm high?
Pilkingtons can make me a bespoke screen for £250 but it's flat. I think that will look awful, so a curved screen requires new tooling at £6k.
There must be a small car which has a windscreen that is only about 1200mm wide???
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Post by casesensitive on Jan 29, 2019 18:02:45 GMT
I am no engineer but have a rough idea of the chassis style that I want, but as safety is important (as I will be in it) I will get an engineer to looks over the final design before I have it built. I will be having a professional engineering firm do all the bending, fabrication, welding etc of the main chassis. When I have the chassis I will be adding brackets and odd bits here and there as I want to reduce the number of bold on brackets etc. I haven't started the strip down of the donor yet (as it's bloody freezing here) and there is a long way to go so I will think about a supercharger further into the build. I'm not too concerned about power yet as 197bhp as standard isn't bad, although that will increase a little with de-cat exhaust and a better air filter. My Rocket had about 240 bhp and was very quick for the roads. I am looking at overall dimensions of the build at the moment as I felt a little cramped in my Rocket so I may add a bit of width to the chassis but still want to keep it within the wheels. I am also a little undecided whether I want to exposed exo style or something like this. Obviously I am aware this is a toy but you get the idea Looks like those mental Baja 1000 Trophy Trucks / Dakar trucks. Do it. This will permit, nay, require you to put 1000HP under it.
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Post by jason82 on Feb 4, 2019 14:12:48 GMT
While planning my chassis I am trying to find a glass windscreen which I can design the chassis around, rather than design and build the chassis then have to have a bespoke screen made (at £6k for a bespoke screen it's too much). So my question to you is are you aware of any existing windscreen which is approx 1200mm wide and 800mm high? Pilkingtons can make me a bespoke screen for £250 but it's flat. I think that will look awful, so a curved screen requires new tooling at £6k. There must be a small car which has a windscreen that is only about 1200mm wide??? Can't you use perspex ? I know that the messerschmitt used a perspex bubble for the roof & front screen, maybe a nice cheaper alternative.
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