Alan B
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| posted on 15/5/02 at 01:33 PM |
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Anyone else building a mid-engined car?
Guys,
I just want see if anyone else is going this route, and share ideas etc.
My progress so far:
http://www.desicodesign.com/meerkat/
Cheers,
Alan B
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Alan B
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| posted on 21/5/02 at 01:01 PM |
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Sorry Guys,
Blatant ploy to move this thread back to the top 
I'll expand the question to anyone thinking of going mid-engined? or even just interested in mid-engined stuff?
One of my main motivating factors is the scarcity (in the US) of decent donors for conventional locosts compared to FWD donors. In the UK it seems you
still have plenty of Sierras left so maybe it's not much of a problem there?
Alan B
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john_s
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| posted on 21/5/02 at 06:14 PM |
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Hi Alan.
I'm tempted to have a go with a mid engined model using a front wheel drive car as the donor once i've finished my sierra based locost(which isn't
very advanced at this stage!).
The biggest problem i can see so far would be the work required to enable operation of the gear change once intalled in the new car.
John.
--
John Singleton
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Alan B
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| posted on 21/5/02 at 06:32 PM |
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quote:
The biggest problem i can see so far would be the work required to enable operation of the gear change once intalled in the new car
John,
I thought that too, and in fact I ended up with the MR2 gear change. However, after seeing how it's done you realise how simple it can be 
The handbrake is probably as tricky (or more), but it still isn't a show stopper.
Once you've built your conventional Locost you'll have learned so much that a mid-engined car won't be a big challenge.
Whether you want to go through it all again is another story
Alan
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ChrisW
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| posted on 21/5/02 at 06:58 PM |
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Thought about building a crazy go-kart type thing a few years back using a Mini engine, gearbox, props, hubs etc and bolting it all to the back of a
spaceframe. No suspension, no bodywork, just a 900cc go-kart!
Anyway I did a few drawings but it never came to anything (like most of my 'ideas') although I remember looking at your site and thinking I'd keep
an eye on what you were up to!
Chris
My gaff my rules
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bob
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| posted on 21/5/02 at 09:57 PM |
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Alan
Great site,one of the best i've seen.
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Alan B
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| posted on 21/5/02 at 10:09 PM |
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Cheers Bob,
I'd better get my fat arse and do some more then
Seriously, when you haven't got mates down the street who can pop in encourage you (the nearest builder I know is 90 miles away  ) then having a
website to share stuff is the next best thing.
Thanks for the support.
Alan
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Alan B
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| posted on 21/5/02 at 10:16 PM |
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quote:
I'd better get my fat arse and do some more then
Hmm... what a difference one word makes
It should have read "off my fat arse"
Alan
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stevedenbigh
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| posted on 26/9/02 at 01:55 PM |
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Whilst looking through some old posts to find alink to a website whose name i've forgotten, I noticed this post. I thought it might be of some
interest to people that in Costin and phipps book "Racing and sports Car Chassis design", which was written just after the mid engined revolution in
racing cars, the reoson for the engine being moved from infront behind the driver is not stated for weight distribution or low second moment of
inertia reasons, but it was done to lower the driver to reduce aerodynamic drag by reducing the frontal area (silhoette of the vehicle when viwed from
the front) of the vehicle.
on a similar theme, a lot of people seem to recon that 50/50 weight didtrbtion is best for a vehicles overall performance, but in fact most racing
cars are rear heavy, even front engined ones such as the panoz and the Cheetah (anyone remember that AC Cobra rival from the 1960's/)
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MrFluffy
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| posted on 26/9/02 at 02:48 PM |
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Im doing a mid engined car, but its not quite a locost...
Im actually revamping my kitcar, its a nova sterling based on a 69 vw beetle pan (yuk), I'd already ran a ford cvh on my transaxle with a adaptor and
alienated myself from the whole vw world because I had commited a unmentionable sin of fitting a watercooled engine with a radiator up front, so I
thought why not go the whole hog and build my own chassis with proper suspension.
I ended up on this board because there are a lot of good ideas regarding jigging out the front suspension, suspension design, donar parts etc. Im even
going to nick the geometry from the locost, but make it adjustable with bushes so I can tune it to suit the weight of the car..
Also it seemed a shame to keep that poxy 4 speed transaxle with swingaxle suspension, so Ive got my mitts on a renault espace 5 speed UN1 (same as a
renault 25), and Im going to try run granada halfshafts with adaptors..
Motor wise, well, the plans were to buy a whole renault25 v6 turbo and use the motor and transaxle but seeing as someone gave me the trans, I can blow
the budget on getting a rover v8 in there instead now 
If you take off my fancy grp bodyshell, and squint a lot, it might even look like a locost
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Alan B
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| posted on 26/9/02 at 02:53 PM |
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MrF,
You should find plenty of stuff on my site of interest.
The link is at the top of the thread.
Good luck!
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MrFluffy
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| posted on 26/9/02 at 03:27 PM |
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quote:
MrF,
You should find plenty of stuff on my site of interest.
The link is at the top of the thread.
Good luck!
I already did, we exchanged emails on the matter already..
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Simon
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| posted on 26/9/02 at 03:31 PM |
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Alan B
Now I've seen how "simple" (quotes, cos I've no doubt there is a lot of work involved) the engine / rear suspension area is, I intend, once my
current project is on the road (when/if etc:-) ), I intend to build myself a "mid engined" Mini.
Engine - Rover Turbo / Box etc
Very wide arches (Fortech!) etc
Ultra lightweight (similar Locost if poss)
Probaby been done before, but never mind
ATB
Simon
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MrFluffy
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| posted on 26/9/02 at 03:59 PM |
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I actually ran into a guy with something remarkably like that in paris, loading it onto a trailer, we chatted for a while and it turned out he raced
it but couldnt get it legal for the road despite his best efforts... Should have taken a pic....
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theconrodkid
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| posted on 26/9/02 at 04:39 PM |
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I am building a mid engined road racer,escort xr3i running gear,looks a bit like a radical(or it will do when its finished)dont hold your breath!
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Alan B
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| posted on 26/9/02 at 04:45 PM |
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quote:
I am building a mid engined road racer,escort xr3i running gear,looks a bit like a radical(or it will do when its finished)dont hold your
breath!
Hmm...Very interesting! Keep us informed
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Alan B
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| posted on 26/9/02 at 05:35 PM |
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Conrod, I have some pics of an escort engine mounted in a mid-engine racer, are you interested? If so I'll post some in my archive.
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interestedparty
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| posted on 26/9/02 at 05:41 PM |
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I'd like to see those, Alan
John
As some day it may happen that a victim must be found,
I've got a little list-- I've got a little list
Of society offenders who might well be underground,
And who never would be missed-- who never would be missed!
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Alan B
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| posted on 26/9/02 at 05:42 PM |
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OK, I'll post some later!
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theconrodkid
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| posted on 26/9/02 at 05:46 PM |
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Thanks Alan would be good to get some more ideas,ps yours is coming along at a fair rate
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Alan B
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| posted on 26/9/02 at 06:10 PM |
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quote:
Thanks Alan would be good to get some more ideas,ps yours is coming along at a fair rate
I have few, I'll sort out the best.
Thanks, it's moving on! Will get better in winter, it's much cooler to work on it!
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Alan B
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| posted on 26/9/02 at 06:44 PM |
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I have posted 4 pictures under the title SRF 01 etc.
The last 2 are from somewhere else on the net, so apologies for copyright etc.
I'll post more of mine later.
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theconrodkid
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| posted on 26/9/02 at 07:19 PM |
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Sorry Alan cant find them?
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theconrodkid
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| posted on 26/9/02 at 07:31 PM |
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Just ignore that last post
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theconrodkid
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| posted on 26/9/02 at 07:43 PM |
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found them,very nice any more without bodywork would be nice
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