There's a guy in Australia making reverse ring and pinions for the Subaru tranny's so you can use the Subaru setup rear engine.

On the 4 seater I'm designing now, I'm using a GM Ecotec motor and tranny, sitting sideways like it sits in a car, but mid engine driving the rear wheels. Mine is definitely off-road oriented though.

Do you know the history of that frame? It definitely looks like an old single seat race car. It would be a shame to cut it up too much and ruin that look.

 

I really don't know the history too much. The frame does have a serial number. It is an old race frame that has never been used. The people in Utah that sold it to me 7 years ago had it for a while before I got my hands on it. I know about the ring and pinion that will allow me to run the engine in the rear. That just still seems like the wrong place to put an engine to me. Porsche begs to differ however.

 

Utah makes sense since there isn't much off-road racing going on in the southeast.

I agree that mid-engine would be ideal for a road handling setup. My fear is that car was designed around a rear engine layout, and you'll end up hacking most of it up to change to mid engine, and the front suspension design.

Have you thought about just doing a ground up chassis like an Ariel Atom but in steel? You can get a tubing bender setup for $800, and then you won't have any compromises already built into the chassis.

 

I have a pro tools model 105 bender. And yes, I have thought about completly building a new frame. I would hve to hack away a little bit of material to make a mid engine work. I have a Subaru, so it made it really easy to measure the gearbox and engine to see if they would fit nicely enough. Since I won't get nearly enough money for my frame to compensate for new material to build a new frame, I'm just going to use what I already have. It is possible to not cut away too much and not have to add a lot of material to compensate for everything that has been cut out.

 

I'll be there... with a Tundra.
Hopefully there won't be too many tight turns...

 

We don't Call him Johnny "too many projects" Goumba for nothing. I forgot about his buggy..

 

You forgot about it because it's been locked up in storage. I don't dare pull it out until I'm standing on good ground with both my Subaru and merkur. Then it will be mid engine locost time.

 

9:30.... I might be late...

 

Well, sucked that I DNF'd because of a frag'd tire. Especially since it was caused by something as stupid and simple as the fiberglass wheel arch. But most of all, I had a good time anyway! No worries though... fix the body work, order a tire (or two), and I'll be good to go again.

I think I was kinda starting to "get it" a bit too, even if my last run was terrible. I really just need more (and more and more and more) practice. And I'm definitely going to install the 3.91 diff now... short-shifting out of first with the 3.15 diff just takes the car out of power going into 2nd.

So, when is the next event?!?!!!

 

I thought about heading over there today, but it was nice to have a relaxed day and get a few other things done.

How many people showed up? That's always a major factor in "when's the next event?" If lots of people are interested and eager, it's a lot easier to justify putting the effort into organizing an event!