"The time has come," the Walrus said, "To talk of many things: Of wives--and kids--and snow tires-- Of garages--and things-- And why the SAE car is hot-- And whether pigs have wings."
OK, sorry to Mr. Carroll, but there comes a time in life when one has to face reality. And that reality for me is that the Formula SAE car in my garage is way beyond my time, commitment, tools, enthusiasm etc. It's got to go. Based on the last SAE car posted here I'm asking $500, unless someone has a set of new snow wheels and tires for a Volvo C30 :)
The gory details.
It's an old University of Texas (UT) Formula SAE car. I have some photo's I can e-mail people if interested. Its remains are now residing in my garage. From what I know I think the car was built around 91 and was the fist full carbon fiber vehicle in the SAE competition. It was built for a Ninja engine then converted to CBR600 power in 92 or 93. There is a tech sticker from 94 so it went that year as well. After that the team built a new tube chassis and supposedly swapped over all the suspension and running gear. They were going to throw the tub out but it was rescued. Several years later they were getting rid of the space frame car but that was rescued too, less engine and box. The space frame car was cut up and thrown out keeping the 'kit' of parts to theoretically re build the carbon car. The carbon tub and that 'kit' of parts is what I have.
A brief description of the car and what is included, which is everything I have, is as follows;
• Full carbon tub. Front cockpit area is fairly standard with driver opening and typical formula car front structure. Main bulkhead which includes 'dash' panel, perimeter bulkhead midway between the dash and the front and a front bulkhead with opening for access and master cylinder mounts. There is a full height bulkhead behind the driver with a small access panel that will be covered by the 'seat' I assume the engine control electronics will reside here. The engine bay area is basically a box enclosed on five sides with the top open so the engine can droop in. There is a slot in the rear of the 'box' for the chain to pass through and a vertical plate between the front bulkhead and the floor; I assume this is the main engine mount. The rear is another box, open this time to the rear which houses the diff and its mounts. The tub appears to be a single outer shell which was made in two halves and joined at a horizontal seam. The bulkheads I think are mainly foam although the front one may be some form of high density wood or resin based material, I'm not sure. There are some other areas where foam seems to have been used with carbon over the top for reinforcement along the sides.
• Carbon fiber nose cone and side pods.
• Roll hoop attached to a plate which is riveted over the top of the tub. There were two rear supports that went back to the rear of the tub, but they are missing and need to be remade
• Mono shock suspension with composite leaf spring front and rear. Front is pull rod with the springs, and roll bar located under the driver's knees. Rear is pushrod with the spring/shock located on top of the tub and the roll bar located inside the tub. I have the front and rear composite springs, but NOT the shocks or rear bar.
• The control arms and pull/pushrods were supposed to be carried forward to the tube frame car and they are what I have. I was led to believe they were the same and should fit, but none of them do. At the very least they still have the heim joint that could be used in new arms.
• The wheel base is around 68", not up to the SCCA 72" rule for non SAE A mod cars, but better than most modern SAE cars 60" from an autocross point of view.
• The steering rack is present
• The column is a simple rod with a very nice small quick release wheel.
• Fuel tank is a cheese wedge shaped aluminium (sorry, even after 12 years in the country I just can't bring myself so say aluminum) part that I have. It resides in one of the side pods.
• The radiator (housed in the other side pod)
• Hubs/uprights/drive shafts etc are fabricated and thankfully present.
• The diff I believe is a Torsen unit and is present – this must be worth the asking price alone
• Brakes, lightweight cross drilled rotors for each front wheel and a single rotor attached to the diff housing at the rear. All three calipers are present.
• Pedals, master cylinders, balance bar etc are all present
• Various tin's and boxes of miscellaneous stuff, mainly fasteners
• Wheels weigh nothing! I can pick up a wheel and tire with one finger! I'll have to weigh them to see how light they really are. The slicks are 6x20 front and 6.5x20 rear. These are really really nice parts and again must be worth the asking price alone.
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So that's the good and what you get, now for the bad;
• It's an old car that's been in pieces in various garages for probably 15 years, it's not complete and needs a complete rebuild, which is easy as it's completely in pieces J • No engine or box • No exhaust • No electronics • Needs a gear change • No shocks • Needs new control arms reverse engineering and building
My plan of attack would have been
• Measure the suspension mounting points and uprights. From there I know the track at least at the rear from the diff/half shaft assembly. Make an assumption as to tub height; start by assuming the lower control arms are parallel to the ground. From there the control arms should design themselves. I'll obviously check the geometry before committing to metal. • Find something to use for the shocks, I think that many old SAE cars used bike shocks, I'd hope to find something similar for CHEAP. From here build up the rolling chassis.
The above would give a rolling chassis. Once at that point it needs an engine. My intention was to find a 91/92 CBR 600 engine/box/carb's exhaust/ignition/instruments etc and drop the whole thing in bone stock. Obviously the exhaust isn't going to fit, but I wondered about basically cutting off the header mounting flange and flip it upside down and run it basically stock. I know absolutely nothing about bikes or their engines so at a later date I'll be looking for advice.
So, any takers? Oh, the car is located in SE Michigan. I have no trailer to move it with so it will have to be picked up.
I seem to recall talking with James Walker Jr as well as you, I used to work with him on the 97 Escort brakes.
