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Re: It Came From the Fab Shop: The Cheapo Mid-Engine Car Conversion
I'm glad Chad or Brian didn't post this up, cause they got no time for this type of project.
Good luck Loren ! -
Re: It Came From the Fab Shop: The Cheapo Mid-Engine Car Conversion
You're as sick as I am, and you have the skills to make it happen. 8)
It took me awhile to wrap my head around it, but I think I get it. You inverted the trans for placement above the axle, which does not change rotation. The diff is inverted (which changes rotation), but the diff rotation will be corrected with the gear box you will manufacture. Good so far?
Is it possible to use some form of torque converter to connect the engine directly to the diff? I recognize that would mean no gear selection (including reverse :P), but maybe a two-speed rearend could crutch the gear issue. Alternatively, is there a CVT that is a small enough package?
I really like your idea, I'm just spitballin'. ;DComment
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Re: It Came From the Fab Shop: The Cheapo Mid-Engine Car Conversion
Great article. Makes ya wanna go out to the garage and weld something....
Ya know..... I've really been wanting to take a late model Chrysler Sebring, move the seats back a foot or two, and weld a 440 under the dash. With a viper 6spd and Dana out back. Maybe I should go to therapy tonight to help with these issues...Mike in Southwest OhioComment
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Re: It Came From the Fab Shop: The Cheapo Mid-Engine Car Conversion
Great piece Loren ;D
I've also thought about the doing a mid-engine wheelie machine before. I had the same idea of using a 4x4 transfer case and custom drive shafts to avoid the expense of a V-drive. It seems like a packaging challenge (ok, nightmare). Your method of flipping components is intriguing - I like it, I like it!
I would like to build a wheelie van done '70s style - couldn't you just imagine the CJTV van going wheels-up down the street? I am giddy at the thought of it and it's something I'd like to build when I get the chance.Comment
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Re: It Came From the Fab Shop: The Cheapo Mid-Engine Car Conversion
What's wrong with doing it dragster style? Just mount the engine in the bed with a short driveshaft or coupler to the rear end. Use a center diff that would be fixed mounted like a vette or 8.8 from a lincoln and use rear cv or driveshafts with IRS. Seems like that would be 'fairly' easy.Comment
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Re: It Came From the Fab Shop: The Cheapo Mid-Engine Car Conversion
That would be easier, on the positive side. Negatives would include that even with the shortest transmission (this heavy car will need some gear multiplication), the motor would still intrude halfway into the cab...we'd rather have it out of the way of the interior and back (and up a little) where it can be seen. It's likely that some sort of IRS could be rigged up that would be strong enough and such a plan would be suitable for a different-type car. The Bill Thomas Cheetahs hooked the trans yoke directly to a Corvette IRS but were still a "front"-engine car.Originally posted by revolutionary
Some years back, on the L.A.-area street-racing scene, there was a guy with a sixties Dodge van with a blown 440 behind the seats, you had to really crawl into the van to see it. There were also dually off-road tires :o. Groucho remembers and may be happy to tell you about his street manners ( >
) but anyhow the thing would carry the wheels about fifty feet and the guy would never get out of the throttle, it was amazing to watch race.
Re: driveshaft and axle rotation, the deal with my setup is that if you used a front-end from a 4x4 you need a transfer box with three gears to keep the shaft rotation right, with the upside-down 9" you'd need two gears. Or four. Part of what (I'm calling) the transfer box needs to do is put some distance between the two driveshafts and three gears would be better in a way, for my two-gear box I'm just using the biggest two gears I can find, which happen to be the straight-cut reverse gears from a couple of medium-duty truck transmissions, running against each other.
Thanks for all comments, if I can ever encourage anybody to get off of their chair and go out and build something, my day is complete! ;D...Comment
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