After tea-leaving the haynes book from my place of work a few years back, I've been pretty much bitten by the bug to build one of these but never really had the skills necissary.
Three years later and I'm now a reasonably competant welder and machinist, so i thought I'd give it a crack.

Basically going to buy a precut pack (I could cut it all out by myself, but it would take far too long, and probably involve lots of mistakes, so).
The only real thing that I'm racking my brain about lately is the choice of engine. Being from a biker background I'd prefer a bike engine, but this requires slightly more complexity. The only upside I have is that I already have a bike (1979 GS500E) that would happily donate it's engine, the small problem being the weak 50bhp output.

Any help, or opinions in this matter would be kindly appreciated, and sorry for the waffling on, it's what I do best.

Welcome to the site

I'm sure you'll get plenty of input regarding engine choices - BEC v CEC will raise it's head too I'm sure

I'm running (or will be when it's finished) an 'anchor-driven (Pinto) car. I have a VFR750 at the moment and when it can no longer cut it I would love to use the engine in a car - would sound good and at c100BHP should go fairly well too.

Not sure your 500 would be up to the job, but someone with more brains than me will be along soon I'm sure.

Good luck whatever you choose, you'll get loads of help off this forum

JB

Welcome to the forum!!

Re: the engine, do you have another 3 of those engines to run alongside it? 1 for each wheel maybe?

Joking aside you've come to the right place for help and advice.

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Originally posted by eznfrank
Welcome to the forum!!

Re: the engine, do you have another 3 of those engines to run alongside it? 1 for each wheel maybe?

Joking aside you've come to the right place for help and advice.

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a pinto free or otherwise will be a much better option, i'd forget that particular bike engine altogether to be honest.

When you start considering the lower capacity bike engines, I've heard it's the gearbox which is the weak link.
I'd do plenty of homework first

Thanks for the replies, looks like my attempt at money saving isn't going to work. Guess it's time to sell the bike and throw the money at a sierra for parts!

The GS500 might have OK torque for it's class, but when you compare to an early R1, it's still less than half the torque and a third of the power.

There's a good argument for considering both car and bike engines - no doubt this thread will end in the usual banter.

However, best bet is to have a ride out in good examples of both types of car to help make up your mind.

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Originally posted by StevieB
The GS500 might have OK torque for it's class, but when you compare to an early R1, it's still less than half the torque and a third of the power.

There's a good argument for considering both car and bike engines - no doubt this thread will end in the usual banter.

However, best bet is to have a ride out in good examples of both types of car to help make up your mind.

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Depends how much you want for it...

glad you decided to forget using the old susi engine on your own.............sell it and use the money to buy a seirra or if you really want to use a bike engine you need at least 100bhp..........imho

Start searching ebay etc once a week for an early Blade or R1 - you can pick them up for not a lot of money...

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Originally posted by Steve Hignett
Start searching ebay etc once a week for an early Blade or R1 - you can pick them up for not a lot of money...

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Originally posted by iDENTITi

Three years later and I'm now a reasonably competant welder and machinist, so i thought I'd give it a crack.

Basically going to buy a precut pack (I could cut it all out by myself, but it would take far too long, and probably involve lots of mistakes, so).

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hi all this is my very first post as im a new member to the forum.

i had a GS 500 that i used and abused for 2 years solid to work and back every day and although its a great litle comuter your right it would strougle with the work load even in a single seater.

im looking at doing one of these with a bike engine and if you want the cheap option why not look at and old CBR600 i have a 21 year old CBR that i abuse constantly and she is bulit proff and i think puts out about 85BHP.

Please excuse the typos I'm doing this in a hurry at work

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Originally posted by trevcbr
hi all this is my very first post as im a new member to the forum.

i had a GS 500 that i used and abused for 2 years solid to work and back every day and although its a great litle comuter your right it would strougle with the work load even in a single seater.

im looking at doing one of these with a bike engine and if you want the cheap option why not look at and old CBR600 i have a 21 year old CBR that i abuse constantly and she is bulit proff and i think puts out about 85BHP.

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You should probably both have a good search on here at bike engine options. Anything much under a 900 is pretty much unheard of (unless in a single seater)

Cool if you did you would make them look stupid of course.

i think I’m going to have a go with a 750 ninja I’ve been offered as i found a vid on you tube of a single seater built by some students that say they got 0-60 in 3.5 sec out of there 600 cc bike engine (how true this is im not sure) but its all about power to weight and I think any sports bike engine bigger than 600 will make you smile so an R1 or blade engine will keep you grinning like a fool for months

yes i agree the reason im looking smaller is i am going for the single seater option

It is said, over and over on this forum, that the negative aspects of having a smaller engine (600, 750 etc) are not that they lack power and that you'll be going only a small amount slower, it's the fact that the extra weight now having to be shifted is a marked jump in stresses that the gearbox/drive will have to cope with.

In fact didn't someone mention that in this very post?

You can pick up an older Blade/R1 for around £400 off ebay, obviously like everything on that site, you pays your money and akes your chance. You could contact people that sell engines, but they are more expensive (for good reasons), Yorkshire Engines, AB Performance etc...

Steve

Just super/turbocharge the b*tch.

But isn't emission an issue with the proposed bike engine and Pinto engine?

quote:

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Originally posted by Steve Hignett
It is said, over and over on this forum, that the negative aspects of having a smaller engine (600, 750 etc) are not that they lack power and that you'll be going only a small amount slower, it's the fact that the extra weight now having to be shifted is a marked jump in stresses that the gearbox/drive will have to cope with.

In fact didn't someone mention that in this very post?

You can pick up an older Blade/R1 for around £400 off ebay, obviously like everything on that site, you pays your money and akes your chance. You could contact people that sell engines, but they are more expensive (for good reasons), Yorkshire Engines, AB Performance etc...

Steve

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Jedi single seaters use CBR600 engine's for one of the classes and I know that Revelation use the ZX7R to good effect in their race cars.

The 0-60 figures are fairly believable, but I know that Jedi's and the like (and anything in Formula Student) are lightweight and very focused. IE they are built ti do a job just well enough and will need the chassis re-jigging regularly to keep it true.

I reckon you'd be pushed to achieve the same result first time out with a home built single seater, but that's the fun of the developmnent process

Bit mroe thinking, and yeah, a 7 is a bit too heavy/big for anything under 100hp/900cc.
The 750 would probably be hilariously fun in an offroad buggy or some such, but again, I'd be dubious about the longevity of the gearbox.
I could supercharge/turbocharge the gs, but, that would mean uprating the engine a bit, not entirely worth it. Also emissions wouldn't really come in to it, since its such and old engine!.
Secondhand R1 engine I think then... Just have to cross my fingers and hope I don't buy a duff (when I finally have the money!)
Plus I'm building my car a *little* stronger than as designed, but only in the passenger cell. Since I'm a new driver, I figured this was for the best

After a bit of a quick price up, and some input from my brother in law (he wants to to fit a 5litre chevy v8 with ~250bhp...) I'm thinking a car engine will be cheaper, but, a mad shouty bike engine with sequential shift seems fun. The only expensive part being the reverse box, which I'd need if I ever wanted to put it on the road.
Unfortunately, its all done to a students budget, so whichever is cheapest will probably prevail.

Right, this is probably getting a ltitle boring for you all, but bear with me.

Can someone help me out with what engines will fit in the roadster?
Pros and cons of each, rough prices etc.
And please try and leave out bias, thanks :p

I would of thought that a zetec would be a good choice, readily available cheap and easy to source and plenty of help here should you run into problems.

Yeah, I was offered a whole car last night (in theory).
Ford escort s reg 1.6 16v zetec lump, 130k miles on the clock which worries me a bit...
but it means i get the engine, and entire wiring loom, clocks, steering wheel etc. for basically nothing. Pretty clean engine on the outside too, peering through the oil filler the cams dont look too worn either.

I think that yet again we have failed to answer the most important question for him!!

Which is best??

BEC or CEC

Any oppinions to help him

Te guys over at Locost USA have been talking about a smaller 500cc car. Some old pics posted, looks to be powered by a 500cc single but might be of some inspiration.

http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=8609



Cheers, Ted

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Originally posted by FFTS
I think that yet again we have failed to answer the most important question for him!!

Which is best??

BEC or CEC

Any oppinions to help him

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