So yesterday I got the rest of the front suspension off of the car along with the steering rack:
About all that really remains forward of the fuel tank are the brake lines, which I'll probably pull shortly as well (and label clearly). As a result of all of this, my shelves are starting to get full of parts... I am definitely worried that I'm going to run out of shelf space...
I have more shelves to use, but the rear suspension will take up a LOT of space. I also need to start trying to sort things more according to what needs to be done (everything needs to be cleaned, but some things I'll be media blasting in my HF cabinet- which you can see the back of on the left, some things are too big and would need to be done along with the frame, some things- like the rotors, if I don't replace them, will need machining, etc) to them.
The rear suspension is going to be next- I'd like to just work my way backward on the car, but I don't really want to deal with trying to get the fuel tank out until I have the frame out on its own since I'll need to jack the frame up pretty far to get it out (or jack up one side of the frame, if I already have the engine & transaxle off at that point).
This morning has been quite slow work-wise, so I decided to do some spreadsheeting on this project to keep myself occupied while I wait (so far in vain) for the server issues with the program I need to get fixed. I went through the parts diagrams for the front suspension and steering rack and figured out both what parts I definitely need to replace (bushings, ball joints, bearings, tie rod ends, and front shocks) and what they would cost to buy while re-using and cleaning up everything else, and what it would cost to go more 'pie in the sky' and upgrade things like the LCAs, change to coil-overs, replace the steering rack with a new one, and upgrade to heavier-duty vented brakes.
- Front Steering and Suspension minimal parts (no LCA reinforcement): $600
- Adding in the LCA reinforcement 'arms' (which I'm most likely to do): $950
- 'Upgrade and Replace Everything': $3,100
These prices don't include things like nuts and bolts that will be needed, but those should be fairly minimal.
Very cool. Does anybody make a stainless frame for these? Seems like a natural upgrade.
You should at least flip the concrete blocks to the correct orientation, they are shockingly weak with the hollow part horizontal
In reply to llysgennad :
There is one place that makes a stainless frame- but it's outrageously expensive (frame itself is about $20k AND you can't just buy it and put everything on it yourself- they only sell them if you're having them do the install- so add in thousands more for that).
Didn't have the chance to work on the car last night, but did have time to grab a caliper and measure the frame sheet metal thickness- and somewhat surprisingly it looks like it is 1/16" thick.
Dang, I had some Grey-Guessers like that in college. I haven't used vernier calipers in probably 25 years.
In reply to TVR Scott :
I do have a digital one, but the battery was dead in it. I don't use them that often but they do come in handy.
I was thinking it might be worth looking for a used sheet metal brake for building replacement panels, but at that thickness, you could possibly just form them with a hammer and some blocks of wood.
In reply to eastsideTim :
It would still be a lot cleaner and straight of a bend with a brake. I've not worried much about looking around to find one myself because I know that the local Makerspace has at least one and I figure I'll be signing back up there when it comes time to do all the fabrication for the car.
What is the cost of a new frame? Then factor in a powder coat for it. In the end in my experience sometimes it's worth spending more $ not to dive down that hole. But I know that's not for everyone. And holt crap that frame is thin. But seems to be on par for some of the British stuff I've seen. And since lotus was british...well there ya go.
As far as the Spax being trashed...they kinda are trash. GAZ FTW if you ask me.
In reply to autocomman :
I haven't gotten to the point if figuring out what having a new frame built locally would be, but a new frame from Europe (already coated, powder coated I believe) is $7500 + however many thousands shipping it from Europe would be. I've generally figured it would end up around $10k.
Not sure if you have seen this yet, but the crazy French guy from that Hyperdrive show on Netflix built a DeLorean. I'm linking to an article about it only because I'm pretty sure he had the original wheels upsized/converted to 3pc:
https://www.motor1.com/news/512819/v8-powered-delorean-front-engine/amp/
Definitely not a car for purists. I'm into it.
In reply to ebelements :
That's definitely one of the most extreme builds I've seen. Not my taste, but definitely interesting and a lot of work. I have to wonder just how much of the original suspension and such was kept or if they just did everything from scratch on the tube frame.
Unfortunatey haven't gotten anywhere on this for over a month now- but now that the yard sale is done I'm starting to get the space where I plan to move the frame to cleared out and may be able to get it out from under the body over the weekend to continue tearing things down.
Well, it's been 6 weeks since I even posted anything in this thread... but with the show now behind us (though I still need to edit together the footage for the DVD...) I was finally able to get things somewhat sorted out in the garage and find the time over the weekend to move the frame out from underneath the body so I have much better access to everything that needs to be pulled off of the frame (which is, of course, everything).
So now I can actually start moving forward again- though I need to finish cleaning up the garage again so I can actually both find tools and have space to put parts that I pull off. Some things though (especially eyeing the fuel tank) are going to just have to get stashed under the body for the time being. And I still have NO idea where I'm going to put the existing engine (nor have I nailed down what I want to put into the car in its place...). But, it's progress at least.
Now if the temperatures would drop down below 85 so I can work more comfortably out in the garage...
Bump.
These cars continue to increase in value, so you're time invested should pay off. Any progress to report?
In reply to Indy - Guy :
Unfortunately not yet- I sadly got essentially zero done on it last year. But... this weekend is The Dancer's non-profit's annual yard sale- which matters because 'we' have been getting crap for it dropped off for several months now and- of course- all of it has gone into the garage and makes it essentially impossible to do anything on the frame. After Saturday aaaalll of it will be gone (with the annoying note that several desk-chair props will be coming back shortly thereafter as well, but they get tucked away in the back) and I'll be able to really pick up and organize the garage again and (now that the weather is also nice) try and get some more work done on it.
I really want to at least get everything stripped off the frame and it ground down and the rust issues repaired by the end of the summer. In an ideal world, I'd also have figured out what I am going to swap in to replace the original PRV and have sourced that and worked out what needs to be done to install it (see this thread for some of that discussion...) as well, but we'll see how things go- it's looking like we may actually go out of town more than usual this summer, so I may have less time to work on it than I'd like. If all of that happens, I can start working on the wiring and non-engine stuff in the fall and (if I am willing to deal with the cold) over the winter.
So, I had some time last Friday and found out that one of the nearby u-pull-it yards had a 2012 Leaf that hadn't been there entirely too long, so after several hours in the 90-degree sun and some mild dehydration, I now have this sitting in the back of the Infiniti:
That's the motor/transaxle assembly from the 2012 Leaf and its (all-electric) AC compressor, which cost a combined $160. Needless to say, they didn't have a clue how to ring up the motor/transaxle- and I was honest and told them exactly what it was (twice). They still rang it up as a transfer case.
No clue as to whether I'll end up using it or not- but at that price I could turn around and sell it and probably make a profit...
I thought I remembered some discussion a while back about a rotary transplant? Somehow an electric delorean seems cooler. Carry on
In reply to barefootcyborg5000 :
My original plan (several plans ago...) was to use a Renesis from an RX-8, but the more I looked into it the less confident I was that the DMC's transaxle would be able to handle the RPMs that the Renesis would need to reach to be worth having so I had to discount it unless I was willing to track down and buy a much more expensive transaxle for it.
Lemme get this straight....
You were gonna swap IN an engine that is notorious for being fiddly, not reliable, needing rebuilt every 75k miles, gets bad gas mileage, and doesn't make much power....
How bad is that weird French motor?
(All this coming from somebody who actually does like rotaries).
In reply to wvumtnbkr :
The main reason for wanting to use the rotary was that the original plan (back when it was being designed) was for it to use a rotary engine, but the company that they had partnered with (obviously not Mazda, it was a Europrean company) never got their engine working well enough to use so they had to scramble to find something else which is why they ended up with the PRV.
I think electric would be cool.
Ashyukun (Robert) said:
In reply to wvumtnbkr :
The main reason for wanting to use the rotary was that the original plan (back when it was being designed) was for it to use a rotary engine, but the company that they had partnered with (obviously not Mazda, it was a Europrean company) never got their engine working well enough to use so they had to scramble to find something else which is why they ended up with the PRV.
I always thought a rotary Vega would be cool for this exact reason!
If you are still thinking about rotary, an s4 or s5 turbo would be the direction I'd go.
I think electric would be awesome for this application! Just make sure it has a tall enough gear to hit 88mph!
Electric is better for the Mr. Fusion too
