I got distracted by a LeMons race the month leading up to Halloween
, but we're back in business now. I've made a little progress, but now that the ferrous destruction portion is done, it's about time I make a plan on how to make this heap loosely resemble Colin Chapman's pride and joy again.
Ripping out the old engine and dummying up the new one feels like a good starting point. The length from axle center to front of the crank pulley is pretty close between the two engines, so it ought to fit without massaging the firewall and without needing to build in misalignment to the axles (did I just jinx myself?).
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Doing some sketches over a whiskey - a little lubrication helps the creativity flow.
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Flares are awesome, and yet - I've never made any before. Necessity is the mother of invention.... Stock Europa track width is ~52". We're going to bump that out to 59".... Couple it with some sweet wheels I found locally... (TRM 15x9s), and I should have an excuse enough for some meaty flares.
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- Rear suspension will use NA/NB Miata knuckles. I ought to be able to use early NA bolted flange axles. If that doesn't work, VW hubs will press into the Miata knuckles and I'll go ahead and use VW axles. The Miata axles would require an adapter to go from 6x100 to 4x100 at the CV flnge.
- Front suspension is also getting widened (click the button in Vsusp that toggles front vs rear suspension). The front geometry leaves a little be desired, but it doesn't change the stock Europa mounting locations. I'll need to straighten the steering arm and probably drill it out and use rod ends for the outer tie rods so I can fix any bumpsteer since I'll also be using the stock Lotus rack, although I did pick up a Miata rack for future investigation.
I welded up the rear most bulkhead and tacked it into the frame this weekend. The lower gussets are big and ugly right now, but I wanted to leave some room so I can incorporate the transmission mounts.
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Next up: forward control arm mounts, drivetrain mounts, control arms.