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Old 06-22-2006, 04:45 PM   #61
94ToyoCam
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Re: Build your own car from SCRATCH?!

Congrats on building the car of your dreams, a lot of people talk about doing it but you actually are. One quick question for you though on your website and your posts you say that any fwd drivetrain engine will work, but is the car you are building fwd or rwd? Good luck with the car
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Old 06-27-2006, 03:14 AM   #62
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Re: Build your own car from SCRATCH?!

Quote:
Originally Posted by 94ToyoCam
Congrats on building the car of your dreams, a lot of people talk about doing it but you actually are. One quick question for you though on your website and your posts you say that any fwd drivetrain engine will work, but is the car you are building fwd or rwd? Good luck with the car
If you look at the pics, videos, and other info, you will see that it's a RWD car. The donor vehicle just has to have a transaxle. That narrows the options down a bit. You could probably even put a LT1 350 in there if you were to use a pre-85 Toronado, Riviera, or Eldorado transmission/transaxle with an adapter plate. That would go against the lightweight is better idea and it wouldn't get enough traction though. Anyway,Great work so far. I was thinking about building a mid-engine ferrari/lambo inspired 350 powered car in a few years. Your project has me thinking about other options now. Keep up the good work.
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Old 06-28-2006, 07:06 PM   #63
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Re: Build your own car from SCRATCH?!

I also have a suggestion, the Nissan Sentra Spec V(I think that is what it is called in the USA) It has a 2.5L 4cyl with a FWD 6 speed manual gearbox. Engine has great potential with around 200Hp from the factory with a great torque output! The 6 speed box is virtually indestructable so with a decent exhaust and extractors to liven it up, I imagine it could be VERY fun
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N14 Pulsar
VQ35 conversion with major N/A upgrades, 6 spd FWD manual HLSD
18" Rims, big brake kit, Coil overs and freshly painted

Smashed Black VY SS Ute
The workhorse...
Twin turbo 5.7L LS1
Boyd Coddington 19" Turbine Wheels
AP Racing 4 Piston Brakes
Tein Coil over Suspension
HKS EVC 6 Boost Controller
PLX Devices DM-200 OBDII
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Old 06-29-2006, 11:25 PM   #64
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Re: Build your own car from SCRATCH?!

When you built the body for your hand built car how exactly did you do that. Did you create some thing to mold it with. I also see that you spoke about making one side and finished the other. I'm very interested in seeing how you made the body pieces.
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Old 06-30-2006, 10:00 AM   #65
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Re: Build your own car from SCRATCH?!

Quote:
Originally Posted by mmcleo11
I also have a suggestion, the Nissan Sentra Spec V(I think that is what it is called in the USA) It has a 2.5L 4cyl with a FWD 6 speed manual gearbox. Engine has great potential with around 200Hp from the factory with a great torque output! The 6 speed box is virtually indestructable so with a decent exhaust and extractors to liven it up, I imagine it could be VERY fun
Sounds fun, but short ratios are a bad idea on a light, high-powered car with a manual transmission, for the most part. You'd never be able to switch the gears fast enough to take advantage of them. Taking the "human factor" into account, you might actually be able to go faster by skipping a gear or two! This is why seven-speed racecars use paddle shifters.
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Old 06-30-2006, 10:15 AM   #66
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Re: Build your own car from SCRATCH?!

Sorry for the lack of updates but aparently building a car from scratch while keeping a family and a full-time job can be pretty demanding on time. I think I need a 36 hour day...

FYI - my website http://www.grabercars.com has tons of information and photos. You can probably spend a few hours finding out everything I did there. Like I mentioned, there don't seem to be enough hours in a day lately, so keeping up with all the questions is proving to be a bit difficult.

Let me just tell you a little bit about what I have done the past few weeks:

First to the moulds: I removed them from the plug with no problem. The surfaces look fantastic and there are only some minor fixes to make, specifically in areas that I could not completely finish on the plug - deep draft areas, etc. I have the moulds bolted back together and on stands.

[img][/img]

I have to say that removing the plug from the chassis under it was one of the most difficult things to do. Not physically - that was fun! - but emotionally it really tore me up to take a sledge hammer to 3 years of work.

[img][/img]

Within a few weeks I should start laying up a one-piece body out of that mould for fitment to the chassis.


In the meantime, the car is back together and the seats are in, I am finishing up the wiring, installing the Megasquirt and plumbing the turbo this week. I decided to make the chassis-only version of La Bala street legal. It seems like it would be pretty cool to be able to legally drive the car on the street with no bodywork, so in essence I am making a street-only dunebuggy! It'll have lights, mirrors, etc mounted right on the chassis.

If you want to see a short clip of the car driving again, (shot on a digicam by my good friend Jason) click here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqUC2sXZxI8

[img][/img]

I decided to install the headlights behind the windshield. With the proper seals to prevent light backwash of course.

[img][/img]

Do you think there's enough room to put a v8 back there? :evillaugh

[img][/img]

Well, that should be enough to keep you going for a little bit! Thanks for reading!

Bodies will be just around $5K and the finish out of the moulds will be superb which should save several thousand on finish and paint prep compared to other commercially available glass bodies. Just ask the Factory Five guys about body prep... Ideally one could choose their color for the gelcoat and be perfectly good to go. I don't have a price structure for the chassis and/or plans because I have a bunch of mods I want to make to the chassis once I test at the track. But I will have that information by the end of the summer!
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Old 07-03-2006, 09:11 AM   #67
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Re: Build your own car from SCRATCH?!

Quote:
Originally Posted by kevinthenerd
Sounds fun, but short ratios are a bad idea on a light, high-powered car with a manual transmission, for the most part. You'd never be able to switch the gears fast enough to take advantage of them. Taking the "human factor" into account, you might actually be able to go faster by skipping a gear or two! This is why seven-speed racecars use paddle shifters.
The QR25DE actually has very widely spaced gear ratios for a 6 speed. There are quite a few people using this gearbox on VQ35DE engine conversions in their B15 Sentras on the B15 sentra forum.

My own donor vehicle, the Autobacs Garaiya uses a 6 speed manual gearbox from the factory. The HKS built Garaiya track car laps the Japanese Tsukuba circuit less than 3 seconds behind the mega power GTR Skylines. The 6 speed means that you can select an appropriate gear to power out of a corner without provoking wheelspin from too low a gear or understeering from lack of power once hitting the apex from too high a gear...

Just an update for my own project...
I ordered a GT42R turbo rated at 800Hp to be used on my sr20vet motor. With weight being dropped to under 600Kgs at the drag strip, it should be VERY entertaining. Street driven, the car should be around 800Kg which will be crazy with the amount of power I aim to extract...
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N14 Pulsar
VQ35 conversion with major N/A upgrades, 6 spd FWD manual HLSD
18" Rims, big brake kit, Coil overs and freshly painted

Smashed Black VY SS Ute
The workhorse...
Twin turbo 5.7L LS1
Boyd Coddington 19" Turbine Wheels
AP Racing 4 Piston Brakes
Tein Coil over Suspension
HKS EVC 6 Boost Controller
PLX Devices DM-200 OBDII
Custom Front Mount Intercooler
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Old 07-03-2006, 11:17 PM   #68
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Re: Build your own car from SCRATCH?!

Psshhhh! Use my cars engine 1.3 litres of fury! Twin turbo an only 1300CC! 13B-rew aka 3rd generation rx7 engine aka renisis! Rotor power!
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Old 08-06-2006, 05:43 AM   #69
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Re: Build your own car from SCRATCH?!

hi friends,

i am a complete beginner in cars and all...
nevertheless, i want to build my car from scratch.
i kno i need to read a lot to get the hang of things.Can anyone guide me with some good basic readin materials??? i wil highly appreciate any help from you all...

thanks
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Old 08-06-2006, 01:47 PM   #70
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Re: Build your own car from SCRATCH?!

If you like unique rods you should see this vehicle.

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=106122

The only way to have a car exactly like you want is to build it yourself.
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Old 08-08-2006, 02:30 AM   #71
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Re: Build your own car from SCRATCH?!

jcsaleen: FD RX7's do not use the Renesis motor, they are used in the RX8.

The 13B and even the 20B rotary motors need to be mounted in the front, which is major hassle when you want the engine/gearbox in the back for the weighted pendulum effect
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N14 Pulsar
VQ35 conversion with major N/A upgrades, 6 spd FWD manual HLSD
18" Rims, big brake kit, Coil overs and freshly painted

Smashed Black VY SS Ute
The workhorse...
Twin turbo 5.7L LS1
Boyd Coddington 19" Turbine Wheels
AP Racing 4 Piston Brakes
Tein Coil over Suspension
HKS EVC 6 Boost Controller
PLX Devices DM-200 OBDII
Custom Front Mount Intercooler
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Old 08-08-2006, 01:57 PM   #72
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Re: Build your own car from SCRATCH?!

Man, I'd like to put a turbo 3 cyl. from a Firefly inside your car, it would have the look, the fuel economy and weight less than a firefly (a bit of gain in performance) =P only trouble would be fiting it for a mid-engin mount...
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Old 08-09-2006, 11:28 AM   #73
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Re: Build your own car from SCRATCH?!

The 3cyl turbo firefly would be a good engine for economy and spritely performance. So many people want to put huge honking engines in the back, but I for one think that the smaller, lighter, turbo engines are coool.

G
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La Bala - A Lightweight Sports Car for Street and Track
http://www.grabercars.com/
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Old 08-09-2006, 11:58 AM   #74
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Re: Build your own car from SCRATCH?!

^ if the engine is too big, it will throw off the whole car due to all thre weight in the rear. I'd say a V6 at most. Even that will practically pull your face off as you accelorate because the car is so light.
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Old 08-15-2006, 10:25 PM   #75
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Re: Build your own car from SCRATCH?!

I finished the moulds this past weekend. They turned out really nice. Those are pure reflections btw! I'll be laying up the first body this week.


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http://www.grabercars.com/
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