Is this project OK to post?

Hi,

I have been enjoying this site a great deal as I have a few projects going on myself and I appreciate the great skill and insight provided by many of the regulars.

I would like to find a place to post my project but I am not sure it is right for this forum.

First off, I have several vintage and modern sports cars and a few motorcycles. I also have a decent backyard shop with a fair selection of machine tools (small mill, tig, lathe... not as fancy as some I have seen here!).

I was considering building a porsche 550 spider but decided it was too open for me, plus I have a '62 alfa spyder (also open). I also have a couple of saab sonett sports cars. Some time ago I came across a well worn '69 Sonett with considerable rot in the floor. As way of background, these cars have fiberglass bodies and weigh about 1700 lbs. Although light, there are not so fast.

So what am I doing? I currently have the body off and am in the process of fixing the chassie. I have also been considering different drive train options. The one I have come up with is the subaru flat four or flat six. It would be replacing the ford v4 motor that came stock and will easily double or triple the hp and is lighter also. The '67-'69 generation sonetts has some sucess in rallies and ice racing.

I want to wind up with something along the lines of a 550 (light and glass body) and an Alfa TZ1 (also light, small capacity but with closed cockpit).

I know this is not a GT40, Lola or a 917. But it has been fun and might interest some like me who cannot take on a full blown scratch build and who need to leverage production parts where possible. Of course there has been and will be more fabrication involved.

So what do you say? Yes, No, is there a different site that would be more appropriate?

Hmmm... looks like my picture is too big to post, I'll fix and try again.

Thanks!
Kevin

Hi Kevin,

Welcome to GT40s.com ....

For the most part - project cars here are of the Can-Am / Lemans type .... You might want to take a look at this forum;
Other Cars - FFCobra.com - Factory Five Racing Discussion Forum

I am a moderator over there as well and while I hesitate greatly at re-directing members to the other forum, I think you'd really like it over there as there are a lot of diverse project cars / motorcycles there (including some of my own)...

Of course you're welcome to stick around here as well !

Thanks Randy... I took a look and I am not so sure I fit in there either . Any others you can think of?

Kevin

Go to www.locostusa.com they have a non traditional build section. If you are building from scratch you will probably be welcome. I currently have a mid engine car that I am building listed under the non traditioal build logs forum.

Thanks for the link to locostusa ... looks like good work going on there too.

I will check it out, Kevin

Kevin the cars in this last post look a lot like the saab sonnet. My buddy ice races one with a rotary and custom transaxle. The rotary sometimes has a gmc 2-71 blower on it. Looks really cool.

A Ford V4? I'd like a pic of that!! What's the displacement? I'd bet that thing is tiny in size!!

Ford V4 (Taunus) - Motorbase

Will give a small pic of the V4

Ian

Guess if I read the whole thread I would have answered my own question.

Conquest351 said:

A Ford V4? I'd like a pic of that!! What's the displacement? I'd bet that thing is tiny in size!!

Click to expand...

the ford V4 was used in many projects as it was ford of germany industrial engine used by sabb exports bombardie in the snow track and some small english fords many uses but low on HP it was the basic 60 deg 2.8 v6 less 2 cylinders

bobo said:

the ford V4 was used in many projects as it was ford of germany industrial engine used by sabb exports bombardie in the snow track and some small english fords many uses but low on HP it was the basic 60 deg 2.8 v6 less 2 cylinders

Click to expand...

They were also used in some kind of combine sold in ethe U.S. A friend has gotten into custom mini tractors and has one he put in a large lawn tractor. They were also used in the original Mustang concept back in '62. A car I mentioned should be Fran's next build....maybe with a modern front wheel drive powertrain...like a Taurus SHO.

bobo said:

the ford V4 was used in many projects as it was ford of germany industrial engine used by sabb exports bombardie in the snow track and some small english fords many uses but low on HP it was the basic 60 deg 2.8 v6 less 2 cylinders

Click to expand...

Hey Joe, nearly ALL English Fords in period used used Essex V4 built in Dagenham England and of 1600 and 2 litre capacity. Saab used German built Taunus V4.

IIRC no parts of these 2 V4 motors were interchangeable.

Essex V4 went on to become Essex V6 that ended up in a vast array of cars, with Cosworth versions even finding their way into F5000 etc.

Taunus V4 eventually morphed into 2.8 V6, again, no parts interchangeable with the English Ford V6.

Just to set the record straight...