Front spaceframing cars

Anthon · **Postat:** 2006-12-14, 13:12

Has anyone on here had experience spaceframing the front end of a car?

ive got an idea brewing in my mind, for once my kawasaki project is complete, and it involves an engine which is a bit large for the car, and as such needs a custom front end putting in place.

i know Qvarnis has used a spaceframe on the front end of the porsche for the fuel cell, body mounting etc, and some of the drag boys - Brillko etc have used spaceframe engine mountings on their cars but are their any road legal cars out there?

and does anyone know if the car needs SVA-ing in the UK as a result, as in a way, yes the chassis is modified, but its not a new chassis!

Car - Rover Metro K Series 1.1

Engine & Box - Calibra 16v Redtop 2.0

MVH

Mr W

Johnathan · **Postat:** 2006-12-14, 16:14

Not sure about the SVA as a full car inspection. The SVA is single vehicle approval, which is mainly used for cars built from scratch. I think some jap cars have to go through an SVA test because of lights and speedo conversions from kph to mph, although again i am not sure.

It may just be a case of having an engineers report done to make sure it is structurally sound, and your welds are not going to crack under the stress of the new engine. I would imagine your biggest problem would be getting it insured in the uk, as usually if its not a mod bought from halfords they dont understand it.

Just build a caterham. You have Alan on hand who has built more kits cars that versions of the bible have been written!

Anthon · **Postat:** 2006-12-14, 21:15

kit car is to easy lol,. i want summat tricky!

space frame refers to piping to hold things in place! or a chassis!

Zels · **Postat:** 2006-12-14, 22:41

KISS...Keep it simple silly!

How much do you think the metro will weigh with the engine btw? and whats the engine kicking out?

Anthon · **Postat:** 2006-12-15, 08:57

the standard engines are 153bhp, but will obviously feature different air filter, and exhaust simply because of space issues. with the new engine and front chassis in place i think it will weigh a bit more than standard, but it depends what i do with the rest of the bodywork in terms of fiberglass panels, plexi-glass and interior weight saving

Johnathan · **Postat:** 2006-12-15, 09:25

It would be interesting to see how the different weighy issue would affect the car also in terms of understeer.

Anthon · **Postat:** 2006-12-15, 14:14

well this is the beauty of spaceframe, it means i can set the one of subframes, and suspension where i want (engine permitting) meaning i can fit wider wheels, or build a fiberglass lift off front end, like ITSFUN3 for example, so i reckon i could get up to 7.5 x 14" wheels up front, or maybe even 8x15s at a push, some grippy rubber and it should be a hoot!

hell ive even been offered a doner car for free! but what got me thinking was if im cutting the front end off, why not go the whole hog and stick another engine in the boot :D

Johnathan · **Postat:** 2006-12-15, 15:23

hahaha you're mental!

would be a damn good laugh though!

liquidvice · **Postat:** 2006-12-15, 18:53

Sounds like a great idea! I don't know how the UK insurance regulations work but for ideas on construction and design you might look at some Hot Rod class front wheel drive Honda drag cars. I know alot of those guys front half the car to fit different suspension and bigger tires for better launches. I think the same ideas apply for road/street as they do for building a drag car. The real key, as Johnathan said, is getting nice, solid welds and getting the suspension geometry correct.

-Greg

Zels · **Postat:** 2007-01-04, 20:08

How the speaceframing project coming along btw?

Anthon · **Postat:** 2007-01-05, 08:58

Citat:

Ursprungligen postat av Zels

How the speaceframing project coming along btw?

at the moment its not :(

i may be changing jobs again soon though, so circumstances may be a little different within the next few months :D

Zels · **Postat:** 2007-01-06, 22:05

Citat:

Ursprungligen postat av Mr W

at the moment its not :(

i may be changing jobs again soon though, so circumstances may be a little different within the next few months :D

Well good luck to ya in any case :D