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Build your own Midi book..
coozer - 8/7/12 at 06:25 PM

Is there such a book.. I've been overtaking for the need of a midi....

Fancy building one from scratch.. what you think eh?

Steve Hignett - 8/7/12 at 06:43 PM

I think Kurt's book is meant to be the best reading in this area, but is not something to follow exactly...

zilspeed - 8/7/12 at 07:21 PM

The car in my avatar is a scratch built midi - it's almost finished.

The metal bits were relatively straightforward.
I was speaking to the builder last week and he confirmed what I though.

Bodywork was by far the most time consuming aspect of it.
Once it's finished, I'll have some pics.

Seeing as I was a tiny bit involved, I think it's a far superior car to any of the usual mid engined cars available, but I would say that.

Slimy38 - 8/7/12 at 07:48 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Steve Hignett
I think Kurt's book is meant to be the best reading in this area, but is not something to follow exactly...


Could you point me in the direction of Kurt's book? Who is Kurt?

I was under the impression that the La Bala was pretty much the only mid engine car design that falls under the 'self build' title?

tegwin - 8/7/12 at 07:58 PM

I have a copy of the Kimini book if that's any use to you. Good bit of background Reading

[Edited on 8/7/12 by tegwin]

liam.mccaffrey - 8/7/12 at 08:40 PM

linky

kurts book is really interesting, I have it and read it quite a bit theres a lot of inspiration for my car in there.

adithorp - 8/7/12 at 09:47 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Slimy38

I was under the impression that the La Bala was pretty much the only mid engine car design that falls under the 'self build' title?


Off the top of my head, there's the MK Midi, Sylva R1ot and J15, Ultima, plus the GT40, LolaT70 and Stratos replica.

Slimy38 - 9/7/12 at 07:48 AM

quote:
Originally posted by adithorp
quote:
Originally posted by Slimy38

I was under the impression that the La Bala was pretty much the only mid engine car design that falls under the 'self build' title?


Off the top of my head, there's the MK Midi, Sylva R1ot and J15, Ultima, plus the GT40, LolaT70 and Stratos replica.


Sorry, my bad use of 'self build', I was referring to the OP's question of one to be built from scratch, IE lengths of RHS?

Unless there are self build plans for a J15, now that would be very tempting. Their JPS liveried demonstrator is just gorgeous.

kb58 - 12/7/12 at 01:34 AM

Midlana, the successor to Kimini, is getting closer to completion - it's coming apart for paint right now. 1500lbs and 400hp mid-engine. Sorry for the giant picture.



http://www.midlana.com/

If you want a book that says "cut the tubes this long" to build a given car then check it out.

If you want more of an overview on how creating a mid-engine car of your own design, about the pros and cons of doing things different ways, then the Kimini book is perhaps better.

And yes I'm biased

[Edited on 7/12/12 by kb58]

equinoxms - 26/7/12 at 12:26 PM

We've made a hint of this in a press release to Total Kit Car, but, as there are clearly some interested parties and the concept fits well with this forum here is what we are currently planning.

Equinox Products are currently designing and building a new sports racing car that can be used on road and track, using a space frame chassis, modern sports prototype bodywork and commonly avaialble (cheap) high performance donor vehicle. We are going to encourage people to build this car themselves in a similar way to the original Locost concept.

We are going to be releasing the chassis drawings for the new car, provisionally named the Equinox Mirage, so people can build the chassis etc themselves. We have a racing club prepared in principle to put on a single make championship for the new car. The projected cost for this type of build as a race car is £6,500.

We are proposing to release the details of the chassis etc in an article, and then the build of a car in a further article(s) published in a build diary on this forum, as well as a downloadable e-book from our website, or if they are keen one of the industry magazines.

Overall what we are hoping to achieve is a single make racing series like the Locost championship. Obviously it's very early days at the moment and nothing is cast in stone, but we've had some good feedback from a racing club on the basic principle.

Although I keep refering to the racing side of things, the car is going to be suitable for use as a road car, it's just the racing side seems to be coming together nicely with the overall concept at present.

[Edited on 26/7/12 by equinoxms]

kb58 - 26/7/12 at 01:32 PM

I'm the Kimini author

The Kimini book is a general guide on how to design a mid-engine sports car using a FWD drivetrain mounted mid-engine. It does not contain any dimensions though since everyone's going to use parts available to them.

The upcoming Midlana book takes a different tract and contains detailed plans. It uses Miata suspension parts and your choice of 4-cyl FWD drivetrain, an looks something like a Lotus Seven with the passenger compartment pushed forward a bit.

So depending which way you want to go, your design or mine, you'll soon have a choice The Midlana book will be out around the end of the year if I keep my nose to the grindstone...

Kurt

[Edited on 7/26/12 by kb58]