Hello everyone, my name is Vincent and im from SW Michigan. My current DD is an 03 Evo with a 95 talon AWD as the toy. This is a project thread ive been dreaming up and researching for about 6 months in my free time. I expect this to take quite a lot of time since im having to learn to do everything from scratch
To minimize costs im planning on designing as much of the chassis and suspension through CAD drawings and wood modeling. (also have a dirt floor 1 car garage with the mother-in-laws '75 formula in residence) At the moment im getting my hands on all the useful free software and literature i can find
The Idea is a minimal cost unique tube chassis V8 powered AWD midi with some splurging for designs i really want to use to maximize on track peformance without causing excessive wear and tear during the 90% street driving. Ive already run across a couple similar ideas in the forum but i was so disappointed when the most promising project suddenly stopped being updated.
I want to keep the chassis very stiff to handle possible future power increases and to maximize suspension effectiveness. so im aiming for 10,000ft/lbs per deg torsional stiffness. 100% ackerman since there is no way to know what the tire slip angles will be and its best for the normal street driving. wheelbase will be be roughly 95". Aiming for 1500-1800lbs(351 windsor is about 80 to 100lbs heavier than LS1
) wheel movement aiming for +3 or 4" and -2"
Planned parts:
Space frame/backbone hybrid
dual wishbone with toelink rear(simple enough for me to figure out with Wishbone)
inboard brakes all around
Foxbody mustang 5.0 V8 and t5 trans (rated for 300ft/lb tq)($200 "621" bellhousing to LSx swap
)
s10 4x4 tailhousing for the t5 to enable mating to a
BW4472 transfer case(rated 500ft/lb tq)(1/3 power to front and mechanical)
B6 audi A4 aluminum rear knuckles on all 4 corners(steel hubs are sure to be cheaper and the inboard brakes can be passed up for more standard design)
Tentatively selected other parts:
245/40/R17 (common and ive got an extra set of wheels for them)
evo brembos or f-body aluminum calipers(2001ish celica or MRs brakes are cheaper less rotating mass and probably plenty for less than 300hp)
audi or dsm/evo differentials and halfshafts(LSD and non-LSD for front available)(more agreeable cups into diff for mounting brake disks would be a huge plus)
dsm driveshaft (3 piece allows for a jog back to centerline after the oilpan to front diff)
currently the halfshafts and driveshafts are where i plan to adapt parts to work together
Please offer any advice, concerns or constructive criticism
Many of the people on here really know their way around solid modeling and engineering stuff and since this is admittedly going to take years for me to do id like to put out an open invitation for anyone that wants to help create a public design project a la opensource. Is Weldments a standalone program? Iv only started looking at the software section and what it offers for CAD programs. Once i get something in Wishbone worth sharing ill post it
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What could have been a low budget V8 midi has planned itself into something pricier...of course
My Build