I have heard somewhere that it is possible to get a 4x4 locost.

1. Is this possible?

2. Is there any benefits at all?

3. Is it much more difficult to build a car around for a first time builder?

4. Are there loads of chassis mods that are already available or is it mod as you go along?

I知 just checking all areas out before I attempt to start building so I have a clear picture in my head of what I want from the car! Been looking for a while and keep changing my mind! Arghhh!!

Ewan Spence is probably gonna be the first

http://www.geocities.com/ewanspence/

Also, dont forget my mate Liam, the excited looking football hooligan with a 170hp Honda V6!


Atb

Steve

I take it, it is possible but not very easy with loads of mods etc! Possibly not the best thing to try first time!

Hmmm, I gotta change my picture - it's a bit out of date, and I'm not really a football fan anyway - World Cup is different though.

Gremlin...well I'm fresh out of university and my 4x4 locost is my first bit of car tinkering (I didn't even play with minis/unos/novas when I was 17). But I'm also an idiot and I obviously enjoy headaches.

To answer your questions:

1. Of course - anything's possible. Hell you could build a 5WD locost. Er, yeah.

2. Some would say none at all, some would say only if you have big power, some would say hell yeah. Could argue for ages. I like the japanese hi-tech approach to performance cars and love their 4WDs (scoobies, evos etc). It's just something about the car looking the same as a 2WD from the outside but under the skin there is all this extra technology in the name of performance - it's understated. Some might say you should take out technology to improve performance but I love 4WDs.

While at uni I decided my ideal car would be a lightweight mid-engined 4WD sports car - and I wanted to build one. Spent ages doing designs but wasn't confident enough about designing and making bodywork. Decided to build a Locost instead. Discovered the existance of the dax rush quadra and got a ride in one in the wet - oh my god. Decided to build a 4x4 locost. Decided a locost is technically mid-engined (cos the engine is between the axles) so voila - my ideal car . Doing 4x4 for the challenge and the fun, the performance in all conditions - including when I go rallying in it hee hee.

3. Look at ewans site - he's doing it as simple as possible, and very cheap. If you can do a RWD you can do a 4x4 - not harder, no extra skills, just more to do. I've given myself a few more headaches cos among other things, I didn't want to use the V6 from the 4x4 sierra, I want inboard dampers, I didn't want to keep the sierra rack as Ewan's done...like I said I must be an idiot and enjoy engineering problems.

4. Ewan has gotten away with not modding the chassis a great amount. Standard IRS at the rear and some mods at the front. My chassis doesn't share a common tube with the book


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Luckily for you I've done all the research you could probably do on the matter of building a 4x4. I could go into lots and lots of detail. Ask away if you like reading...

Liam

P.S. Er that's 180bhp steve. Not to mention 170lbft from, er I dunno, idle speed But that's before the turbos...

Thanks for that Liam. I currently run a Calibra 4x4 Turbo and admit i do like the little bit of extra safety when hitting those corners in the wet or a little quick. Vauxhall in the wisdom decided that when you dab the brake or put the clutch down you loose the 4x4 and hit 2wd. so if you are going to quick into a corner don稚 hit the brakes you must ride it or you will loose back end! Humm was it worth it!

In a locost I知 looking for a quicker car then the Calibra 0-60 in 6.2sec 6speed 152Mph. Maybe not top speed but defiantly 0-60 and would also like it to be safe ie 4x4. Only thing is I知 a computer techie and did techi bits at uni. My welding skills are a 4 week course as a part of something else! There for my designing skills and modification skills need some work so i was thinking of buying chassis. I would love to build it but with the power I知 looking for not sure i would do a good enough job!

Anyway now I知 mumbling but would like a 4x4 but not sure i would want to do to many mods my self to the chassis!

As previously stated, yes, its possible. Its not too different from a standard build.

Main 3 differences are front diff mounting, front prop needs to be lengthened and front wishbones need to be modified to allow for the drive shafts.

Apart from that it is a standard build. I chose to go IRS, keep the v6 and use Sierra rack and front hubs and keep it to around ｣1250. I am trying to keep it cheap for fun not finances. But you could keep standard rear and use the 2.0 4x4 sierra (and tune it....alot) or do a Liam and use some other mad v6 or even v8.

Any specific questions let me know.

Ewan.

The cav/calibra 4x4 system aint really a proper full time 4WD. It's front wheel drive until the front wheels spin, then a centre viscous coupling locks up sending power to the rear wheels. The ford stuff you'd put in a locost is the real business, permanent 4x4 with 2/3 rear bias.

That's a 4 week welding course more than I've had! I'm kind of learning as I go - just cutting and tacking at the moment on the chassis and learning proper on scrap. It aint too hard, 'cept my welder is s**t. Ewan's basically just added bits to a standard chassis. Not too much either - you can do it, don't sell yourself short

I did electrical engineering at uni, but i s'pose i've always loved cars and am very mechanically minded.

Any questions, I'd be happy to answer.

Liam

So let me get this straight! If i buy a IRS chassis or make one there are only a few mods that need to be done to house 4x4 and thouse involve adding bits not removing?

Didnt know that before about the cal thanks that makes me feel so much better now when i hit corners a little quick!

Yip! sort of. The problem is that there is less actual knowledge of the changes required. There is plenty of theory and very helpful advice on the list but a lot of trial and error.

I made the standard chassis then built all the mods around the individual components.

Other "nice" features of the 4x4 are standard LSD (2 actually - 1 in the transfer box), discs all round, V6 means an exhaust down each side , 150 bhp before I start tuning. ｣75 for a 50k mile donor..........

I thought hard about what the donor would be and I don't expect that I will every build a second one (never say never) so I planned to make it to the max spec I wanted and the lowest budget.

There are some features designed in for future upgrades I will make over the following years - seats, coilovers, wheels, roof, Cosworth 24v

Not bad for a projected cost of ~｣1250 (currently sitting at ｣850).

Ewan,

I know nothing about 4x4, but I do know that your URL's are coming up with 'page not found' and/or 'page unavailable at this time'.

Cheers!

Thanks David. I know a little about 4x4 but not a lot about HTML

Hi All,

Like Gremlin, just at planning stage at present. Was thinking about the Xr4i anyway, but having read the above I'm quite interested in this 4x4 lark!

Ewan, when you say you started by building a basic 'book' chassis, was this to book sizes, or did you have to extend anywhere?

Thanks,
Mart.

Cheffy good question as that was going to be my next. If it is the case at least i can get started and know im going the right way.

I built the main tub to the book dimensions. The only changes to the chassis were

1: change to rear end for the IRS. The outside dimensions are the same but where the diff mounts its different.

2: added extra "bits" to the front lower chassis at each side for the lower wishbones. The reasons for this were...I had to use the full width front driveshafts (didn't want to reduce the track or have to mod the also) and I also wanted to reduce the length of the bottom wishbones it also meant I used the full width steering rack.

3: Modified the bulk head to allow the engine to move back far enough to allow the front diff to be inline with the centre line of the front wheels.

4: trans tunnel was built round the trans after it was trial fitted. Due to the front prop passing up the drivers side of the engine the tunnet needs to be wide (very wide) at the front.

Pictures of all the mods are on my web site. Probably in the sections 2,4,5,8,10

Ewan.