Wasn't really sure whether to post under Chassis, Luego or BEC but here seemed about the best option.

We have a radical rethink of our engine option and are now going with the bike engine instead of a Zetec unit. The main reason for this was to do with space and the realisation that everything suddenly got very close when you drop a zetec into that little gap!

Has anyone else put a bike engine into a Luego chassis? What engine was it and how did you go about mounting it? We are ideally looking at ZX9 or Blade engine, and the most popular mounting option seems to be in a sort of cradle. Is this likely to fit our chassis if we got it from, say, Stuart Taylor or would we need to get it made up specifically for our engine/chassis combo.

Thanks in advance

I'm not sure exactly on the Luego, but I fitted a blade into an old MK chassis using the Stuart Taylor engine cradle etc. I had to re-weld the diagonal across the engine bay that runs from the inside top of the drivers footwell, across to the outer drivers side chassis rail, and also had to weld in mounting lugs for the cradle.
I would say that either way, you are going to have to do a bit of modding, so it probably wouldnt be worthwhile getting the chassis powder coated.

Chris

Welcome to this, the most exciting of sections!!

And I possibly wouldn't bother buyin a cradle, if you've got to mod it anyway you may as well make it and save yourself ££££.

Stuart Taylor know what they'e doing, have loads of experience with BEC's and do stock many very useful parts, but beware, his stuff can be very expensive (though not always), he can talk complete bullshit (though not always!), and there is often a much cheaper alternative to his parts. A good example of this is the prop flange, £85 from ST, £50 from MK for exactly the same thing.

You should look at the BEC group in Yahoo Groups as well if you do go the BEC route, a really invaluable source of help.

You've made the right decision!!

Thanks for that guys. Unfortunately we got the chassis powder coated directly from Luego. At the time we didn't think we would need to make any mods. Neither of us can weld, which is a slight problem, although this has only become a problem due to our 'engine decisions'. Pretty sure we have made the right decision now though. And will almost certainly be cheaper than that f@$#ing Zetec!

Do it, you know it makes sense!

You should look at the BEC group in Yahoo Groups

Be warned, once you join you can't get out and then theres 20,30,40+ emails aday?

Col

damnit I wish someone told me this sooner
like b4 I joined

what don't the admins like to let people off the list

Its all caused by Yahoogroups themselves, not the admin of the BEC list (Bazzer).
The de-registration process is crap, some people still try to use the old "to unregister email unregister @ EGROUPS.com" which doesnt help, and the whole registration and admin process from a user point of view is a total pigs ear (same user but different public profiles etc etc). The easiest thing to do is just log onto the website, onto the BEC page, edit your membership to not receive e-mails for that particular list. Ive done this loads of times when I know Im not going to be around for a few days (and dont want my inbox full), and its always worked for me.

cheers
Chris

works 4 me too Chris, i don't get ant mails from the BEC list at all...........

Yup, not sure why so many people have so many problems with it to be honest, just leave it on "No Email" and check the threads on the site as and when you want to read it. Maybe it doesnt work for some?

cheers
Chris

stuartA
i may be able to help you if you want to use a blade engine, this is what i have in my luego chassis.the weight they have given you is my car's weight albeit a little less now.
as already said it is best not to buy engine craddle, cheaper and better to manufacture yourself.
i see you are at stowmarket, which isn't far from me at cambridge, you could pop round with a camera if you like and we could have chat.
call me on 01353 648596 (after 2pm please)
i hope i can be of some help - wish i had this help when i built my car.
matt.