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A while ago I came across a cool looking little 50's inspired fiberglass body that was being made in England. I was going to build a space frame for Miata parts to bolt into and then cover it with the English body. I ordered the body but was very disappointed when it arrived. It was of very poor quality. I could have fixed it but decided against it as I didn't want to do anything to promote the English company. (The company has been sold. Hopefully the new owner will put out a better product.)

So, I decided to strip my Miata to the tub and cut away as much as possible. I tried to make a body from scratch. But I couldn't get the look I wanted while retaining the Miata's hard points. I like a low cowl, and the longer hood, rear cockpit look of the 50's sports racers.

For the 3rd attempt I decided to go back to building my own frame. I am in the process of fabricating it. The Miata cradles bolt in. I set the wheelbase at 95 inches. (The Miata wheel base is 89.2 inches.) Then I moved the engine further rearward. My goal is 54% rear weight. The 3 pictures are of the frame under construction. It is not done. But, I'm getting close.

I purchased a 1958 Devin inspired body. I am modifying it to fit the Miata's width and to my tastes. I'm using a Porsche 356 windshield. The hood will be full tilt for easy access. My son John is in the car. He is 6'2" tall.

The full fiberglass body is going to take some time to shape, make the plug, make molds and to lay up final parts. In the mean
time I am making a simple body out of colored aluminum sheets. This will let me AutoX it and do some track days. With the addition of lights, windshield, and cycle fenders it would be street legal. Having fun.

Can you give us a good shot of what you did to move the engine back? I mean did you mount it on new mounts or did you somehow modify the stock subframe.

It's something I'd thought about doing on a S2000 subframe and maybe because I'm not thinking of moving it back a whole lot, it seems to be an awful lot of work.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.

That Devin body is beautiful. I had a VW-Devin as a DD in my earlier years. Best looking car I ever owned, although the proportions were a little off to make room for the rear engine. The front-engine body style looks even better.

That's a problem that was nicely solved by "Exige" and revealed on these pages in January 2010 -- see viewtopic.php?f=36&t=8332 Exige built a one-off Adumb inspired Miata-powered autocrosser with the engine moved back 10" and new engine mount brackets welded to the front subframe.

14jmc, if you don't mind telling us, why are you using the Miata front subframe? I can only think of two reasons to do so: 1) Like Exige, you have limited time space and funds, or 2) Like Stuart Mills (Exocet etc) you're making a kit for sale. Can we expect to see kits for these cars when you've sorted them out?

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Locost builder and adventurer, and founder (but no longer owner) of Kinetic Vehicles

Where did you find the Devin body?

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Mike - Read my story at http://twinlakesseven.blogspot.com/

- Thanks for looking.

Motor mounts-I am on vacation for 2 weeks but can post pictures of them when I return. They are part of the 1.5 square tubing that forms the bottom, front rail of the foot boxes. The subframe bolts on top of this rail. The mounts are welded into this frame rail and the vertical tube the forms the inside corner of the foot boxes. It also incorporates a top piece that bolts into the cradle or can be welded in as well.

I found the body on Ebay. It was for sale by a private individual. I snapped it right up. I believe that it was made by a company in N Hollywood. If you google Devin ss body for sale I think that you will find the manufacturer. The body is not a copy of any 1 Devin. But, incorporates many of it's features. The glass work is pretty good but the symmetry is not. It didn't matter to me as I am modifying it quite a bit.

I have built a number of cars. It is my passion and my hobby. For some I used C5 Corvette parts. For those cars I built a frame for the Vette cradles to bolt into. This worked out exceptionally well. I wanted to do an inexpensive project. I drove a friends NA Miata and fell in love with it. That's when I decided to build my next car with the Miata parts. It was just natural to use the Miata cradles and build the frame for them.

I purchased 1 Miata for $25 and drove it on my trailer. This is the one that I am using the parts for to build the prototype. I also purchased one for $1200 that had body damage but had only 78,000 miles. It drives perfectly. I will use these parts to build the final car.

I am semi retired. I have made my living by marketing products that I have invented or by licensing them out and getting paid royalties. I have 1 product that is manufactured for me that I sell on line. I don't have any employees and am able to run the business from anywhere.

I design my frames, then have them critiqued by a couple friends of mine. One is a retired chassis engineer the other a mechanical engineer. Once we are satisfied I work with another friend that builds race car chassis for a living. I'm not a welder so I have him weld them up.

I build my cars for fun but I am seriously considering selling this one as a kit. I will have jigs for the frame and molds for the body. If I can sell a few to help recoup my expenses that would be great. I'll see how it turns out before the final decision is made. If I sell them it's not to make a living. It will be for fun.

I hadn't realized the S2000 and the Miata front subframes were that much different from each other.

Here's a pic of the S2000 front subframe followed by a pic of Exige's solution.

You can see why it's a major project to move the engine back on the S2000 piece.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.