I'm about to start building a locost and cannot get my hands on a ford as specified in Ron Champions book. Unfortunately most cars where i am have rather large engines and i'm not sure which one i could use.

Is there a limit as to how large an engine i put in the locost space frame chassis??

Also does anyone know how big the rear axle has to be for the locost?

most people go for sierras nowadays. the pinto engine is fairly popular, if you can get hold of the right sort of pinto (SOHC or DOHC or something, I can't remember).

obviously there's a limit to how big an engine you can fit in. to some extent it depends on how ingeneous you are and how much custom plumbing you're willing to do. as a guide, apparently it's possible to get a rover v8 in a book chassis, but most people go for a larger engine bay: I've made my chassis 4" wider to take the v8, and some have said it would have been easier with 2" more length in the engine bay as well.

as for how big the axle has to be, it's pretty much up to you. consider the dimensions of the chassis and how much you want your wheels to stick out.. it's your car, you can design it however you like.

having said that though, the following works out quite nicely: if you use standard sierra running gear at the back (ie not cut down driveshafts) you can get a dedion axle from GTS tuning which will fit. also, if you build your chassis +4" wide, an escort mk2 type steering rack will be almost perfect dimensions for your chassis pivot points (bump steer and all that sort of thing)

Thanks for the reply. I have another question for ya, i'm 6 foot 3 inches in height, by how much do you think i should elongate the original chassis design to be comfortable?

Martin ,im 6.3 and not planning on making it any longer.Just need to be carfull with seat design and pedal design.Part of the atraction of the "7" for me is it looks....

You dont say where in the world you are ?

If uk/europe ,then sierra is the last massed produced donnor available..

[Edited on 11/9/05 by big_wasa]

i suspect USA due to his comments on engine size

A lot of space can be saved with fibreglass seats etc. Im 6'2" and have more problems with my knees on the steering wheel, than outright length, but my seats are quite padded.

They must have had Sierra's in the states? But probaly under a different name.
I believe they were fitted with a 2.3 pinto.

murkur out there. 2.3 turbo is apparently a very different engine to the uk ones. must be rare now, they're not too common in the UK now and there were undoubtedly more here than in the US.

Was sold as a Ford but the marque was called Merkur. They had a 2.3L turbo - first without an intercooler. Engine is very, very heavy though - about the same as the Ford 302cid V8. They did however come with the T9 tranny. They didn't sell well so they are rare-ish.

Worth taking a peak here - http://locostusa.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=4 for North American donors.