Winston
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 posted on 27/4/04 at 06:36 PM |
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My project -- Ford 351w V8
I'm happy to be joining the ranks of loonies that are outfitting their locost with a big, cast-iron V8!
My particular engine is a '70 351w from a '70 Mercury Cougar that I own (it is rusty beyond saving). It will be fitted with an EFI system
from a '95 Ford van, and will be controlled using MegaSquirt. I'm still trying to find a transmission that I can afford and that will hold
the 351's torque (esp. once worked over). Unfortunately, the Cougar came with an auto box. Rear axle will be the stock Ford 9" from the
Cougar, currently 3.08 open but eventually with a limited slip diff.
So basically, ole Colin will be rolling in his grave over this beast 
Website to follow when I get the chance (and get some more material).
-Winston
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Deckman001
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| posted on 27/4/04 at 06:39 PM |
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Good luck, sounds like you'll need it !! 
Jason
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Winston
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| posted on 27/4/04 at 06:43 PM |
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I belive that I'll become quite familiar with "throttle oversteer"... if it steers at all with that lump in front.
-Winston
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Deckman001
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| posted on 27/4/04 at 06:48 PM |
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Oh yes !!
Good luck tho, havn't seen one of those lumps in a 'book' locost, think you'll have to widen the engine bay a bit
Jason
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Winston
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| posted on 27/4/04 at 06:58 PM |
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Aww, it'll fit
Seriously, "timf" mentioned that Jim McSorley made up some plans for his Chevy 350 build. I'm hoping to get the same set of plans
from Mr. McSorley.
-Winston
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derf
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| posted on 27/4/04 at 08:13 PM |
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Shoot anything will fit, you might have a real high CG, and the engine will occupy the same space as the windsheild, but It'll fit. Seriously
though just get a big shoehorn.
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Dale
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| posted on 28/4/04 at 03:57 PM |
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To suit the extra weight of the 2.3l lima (450lb) (and width due to the turbo) my build has a longer wheelbase in order to have the weight balance
better. It will not be as nimble to say the least but it will be more controlable (I hope) due to the lwb.
Dale
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Winston
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| posted on 28/4/04 at 05:22 PM |
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LWB is a good idea. We'll see what Mr. McSorley's plans specify once I get them. How much longer is your wheelbase, Dale?
-Winston
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NS Dev
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| posted on 28/4/04 at 08:40 PM |
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big weight difference between the Lima and the 351!!!!
The 351 is 60 degree V though isn't it? so it should be no wider than the Rover really.
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Simon
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| posted on 28/4/04 at 10:34 PM |
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Winston,
Believe the saying goes - "Drop anything from high enough, and it'll fit!!"
Good luck and look forward to seeing the website pics!!
ATB
Simon
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crbrlfrost
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| posted on 29/4/04 at 12:13 AM |
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afraid not, almost any american OHV V8 is a 90deg V8. You can lose some height by going with the 302, but if you can fit the cubes, more power to ya!
Cheers!
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pbura
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| posted on 29/4/04 at 12:36 AM |
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Glad to see the 'small and light' police haven't ganged up on you
What's your target weight, 1800 lbs.? That's still pretty light compared to these 3400 lb. Nissans and so forth. Ought to go like a bat!
Have fun,
Pete
Pete
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Winston
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| posted on 29/4/04 at 01:24 AM |
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Haha, I'm a fan of 'small and light' as well. I just REALLY want something with a big V8 in it. I figure that I can have that with
this car, then when I can afford a used Elise in a few years I'll have the small and light sports car as well.
1700-1800 lbs is what I'm aiming for. I have plans to help this machine handle almost as well as it accelerates. While 1800 lbs sounds portly
for a locost, it's actually quite dainty as far as high-power sports cars go. The Federal Elise will weigh in at 2000 lbs, and I hope to have
100 more horsepower and more than double the torque after modifications. I think that "goes like stink" complements "impeccable
handling" quite nicely
-Winston
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Bigfoot
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| posted on 29/4/04 at 11:31 AM |
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I have built several vehicles with even heavier engines (up to 454ci Chev) and they were still relatively light. As you quite rightly say, 1700lbs is
still quite dainty for a high powered sportser. My present build using an RV8 is a feather weight by my usual standards.
If I was using a bike engine or small four cylinder car lump, weight would be an issue, but I'm not. There is no reason that your 351w project
couldn't be made to handle well, and a good big engine will always be more fun than a good little engine.
Good luck.
Bigfoot
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Winston
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| posted on 4/5/04 at 08:03 PM |
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I've put up a bare-bones website for my locost project, dubbed the "Invictus." The permanent domain will be www.v8roadster.com but
until the domain name resolves you can find it at
http://host179.ipowerweb.com/~v8roadst/index.html
Comments (e.g. "You'll kill yourself," "You idiot, that's not how the wires are supposed to go," etc.) are always
welcome. Keep in mind that I have almost zero html skills, and that I'm relying heavily on the template that my host provides for free.
I'll try and make it all cool and pretty, but my main focus is the actual car!
-Winston
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Dale
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| posted on 4/5/04 at 09:47 PM |
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I have a wheel base of aprox 105 inches and kept the track if I remember right 61inches. So long and low (extreamly long wb for a sevenish car). I
have the body style of the marlin sportster with the chassis sytle of the seven(beefed up[).. In front of the engine I have around a foot of space for
possibly a clutch fan rad and intercooler. Even with the lwb and 5 inches of crush zone at the rear the total length of car I think is around 142
inches as the car has no overhang on the front of the wheel.
Dale
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mackie
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| posted on 5/5/04 at 08:51 AM |
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Hehe, your donor looks a bit wonky.
Good luck with getting that engine running, it's a monster!
We too are building a V8 locost but using a Rover V8 (a weedy 3.5 litres  )
Check :
http://www.ma.ckie.org/gallery/locost
and
http://www.leetfighter.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=locostbuild
For fun and games.
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derf
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| posted on 5/5/04 at 12:37 PM |
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Maybee it's just me but even if you tip the scales at 1900 lbs it's still light, and with such a low CG you should have no problems with
handling whatsoever, except maybe a bit of throttle oversteer.
I used to drag race an 81 RX7 with a 351 clevland bolted in, I had the interior completly stripped down to bare metal, cut out all non esential metal,
used the lightest parts I could find, and I gave up my quest for free horse power at 2067 lbs, down from 2995 full interior and V8. At a haie under
2000 the thing would go like a bat out of hell, kicking arse and taking names all day, I also achieved a best trap speed of 9.659 with it (non-stock
engine) in the quarter.
2000 lbs is light by automobile standards, especially when these engines are designed for cars that weigh 3000 lbs or more
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Winston
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| posted on 5/5/04 at 02:05 PM |
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My donor is a bit wonky-looking in that pic because both tires on that one side are flat. No matter, it's getting scrapped anyway! Thanks for
the link, I love reading others' builds -- especially V8 cars!
derf, thanks for the vote of confidence. I think this beast will handle a lot better than many expect.
I am really debating on whether to keep the massive, overkill Ford 9" rear that I already own, or sell it in favor of an 8.8" or
7.5." I don't think that I could destroy any axle made for a V8, simply for lack of traction. However, I think that the car's
balance might benefit from a heavy axle in the rear. My father-in-law has told me tales of how he and his friends would put cinder blocks and pieces
of railroad ties in the trunks (boots ) of their Mustangs to keep weight on the rear axle. He says it improved power-on handling immensely. The
downside is all of that unsprung weight...
-Winston
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Dale
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| posted on 5/5/04 at 02:20 PM |
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7.5 inch rear from a bronco2 lsd and 4.11 if the 5 bolt wheels line up.??
Dale
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mackie
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| posted on 5/5/04 at 02:55 PM |
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Bear in mind that your arse is pretty much right over the rear axle and an average bloke is going to weight quite a lot to that keeps things a bit
more balanced.
If you do use a big iron V8 then just make sure all the mounts are really strong and that you keep it as far back as possible in the chassis.
PS. Check this out: http://www.leetfighter.com/~jon/v8%20run%20big.avi
(divx codec needed)
[Edited on 5/5/04 by mackie]
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Winston
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| posted on 5/5/04 at 04:06 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Dale
7.5 inch rear from a bronco2 lsd and 4.11 if the 5 bolt wheels line up.??
Dale
What years? All 4x4 models?
-Winston
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Winston
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| posted on 5/5/04 at 04:12 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by mackie
Bear in mind that your arse is pretty much right over the rear axle and an average bloke is going to weight quite a lot to that keeps things a bit
more balanced.
I'm only 135 lbs (61 kg), so I'm not very good ballast! Now the Mrs. on the other hand  ONLY KIDDING DEAR! She's a bit self
conscious at the moment, as we're about 10 weeks pregnant! Good thing she doesn't hang around in here!!!
I'll have to view the video at home, work has some sort of codec blocker... bastards. They expect us to work or something.
-Winston
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Dale
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| posted on 5/5/04 at 09:07 PM |
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I think all of them were lsd but not sure which ones were 4.11 I am sure the info is out there. There are a couple in the local scrappy near me and I
intend on getting the gear pod out of one as it is suposed to drop right into the 7.5 tbird rearend that i have 3.08 but not lsd.
Dale
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