not too sure if this is going to be appropriate here but i know you guys are into some out of the box thinking so heres a build thread copied from another forum.
Ill declutter some of it as i copy it over and ill need to re-add some pictures as they arent all working at the moment.
Any how. I used torace comp safari in an 88" wheelbase tomcat style offroad racer until i sold it in May this year. Power via a 3.9 rover v8.and have been for the past 3 years.
it had fox shocks torqueflite 727 with manual valve block and a B&M ratchet shifter
Fast forward and a few beers one night on the Internet and I'd brought an un finished project car. It's a 100" wheelbase 3m challenger full space frame 3" chassis tubes and 2" cage frame. With modified disco 2 axles and 12" travel fox coil overs. It's previously been fitted with a 5 sped manual gearbox r 380. And a diesel td5.
but never finished,
I decided I wanted to go small compact light and 350bhp!
Another phone call to dave billings at tornado motorsports who previous put a 1.8t into a project of his but never finished it. So a brought the engine,nissan 350z gearbox and adaptor plate.
Got it all home and set about cutting the frame back of all its add ons and un required brackets.
There was quite alot on the car we didnt like so out with the grinders and in with some more tube and all was good.
Then it was a matter of removing the old rear rad air dam. Then adding correct sized side bars, making new engine mounts and gear box mount. Lining up the transfer box, and fitting the intercooler and radiator.
I've brought a second engine an ayp from an s3. As well as fitting the passat Inlet. The s3 lump is fully forged and rebuilt less then 1k miles ago. I've also purchased the turbo. I'm using a k04-064 from a later model tfsi s3
took some fidling about and measuring but the rad and intercooler are finally mounted, it might look strange but when its done should work. It will have an alloy floor to the chassis rails and the sides will also be enclosed upto the bonnet.then behind the rad between the engine will be a vertical section of alloy, so all the cool air is forced through into the rad and cooler then up and out the top of the bonnet which will have a serious sized vent fitted.
he original floor had some heavy box section and alloy chequer plate, so all this was removed and a 20mm box frame made up which will be covered in carbon fibre later on. he engine has been fitted 13" behind the front axle so it should be quite well balanced.
i didnt like the original rear shock mounts, dave over at tornado motorsport also mentioned it would cause unnecessary twisting of the original mounts due to the distance from the hoop. so within 20 minutes a 9" slitter disc and a good friend it was all removed.
the new mounts will be taken from the rear roll cage diagonals, this will however mean some additional bars need to be fitted from the rear diagonal to the chassis. (blue book)
my mate made a template and cut them out at wok in 3mm steel plate, i then set about welding them in place, after plenty more measuring so as to be in the correct position when the car is sat on its bump stops (we need 20mm of shock travel left so as to not damage the shocks by bottoming them out) and as the rear diagonal runs at 2 different angle from the chassis to the main hoop it was a bit of a fiddle. then a 1mm plate bent over the top to box it in, this is only tacked in place for now as the mounts need to be fully welded.
my adapter plate for my k04-064 turbo to 1.8t head has arrived so ill mock that up and measure whats needed for the exhaust and intercooler etc.
we also removed all the unnecessary curse word from the engine, n249 recirc etc etc
brackets were cut with the plasma for the transfer mount but we havent fitted this as i want to get the exact tb i will be using from Rakeway, just need to find a grand for it.
so moved into stuff we can do for nothing, altered the rear end as we need as little unnecessary material on the car as possible, so did away with the rear end.
front prop location has been sorted, it will need a centre bearing to move it away from the turbo.
k04-064 fsi turbo is all fitted and hose routes have been sorted. the pedal box has been messed with and we will be movinf the footwell about 60mm to give more room for the turbo.
we've fitted the fiddle brakes and also sorted out moving the gear selector forward by about 18 inches or so. it doesnt look to pretty but for now it works we will remake it now we know it works using soem more exotic materials and make it look pretty.
made a list of whats left to do, and the target is to have it done for next weekend and start breaking it down ready for paint.
got the frame painted in kawasaki green with 20% gold mica in the lacquer.
standard discs drilled on my mates milling machine and then plated
Audi a small port inlet. Modified by welding the tb holes and drilling and tapping to accept a s4 tb and then bored out the Inlet to 70mm.
3" exhaust.
K04-064 turbo fitted.
70mm boost hoses.
Carbon floor is in.
Fuel and brake lines all braided and fitted.
Custom mounted lt230 transfer box fitted to the nissan 350z gearbox
New awesome gti red coils.
and a whole host of other bits. Spending has gotten a bit out of control with it. But should be worth it in the end.
so why a nissan 350Z box.?Dave Billings at Tornado motorsports had the box adapted to a 1.8t engine he had mounted into the back of one of his space frames. It never got completed so I knew it was still lay around, a quick phone call and a trip to Derby saw it brought. For the price I couldn't say no.
Looking into it they are very strong and often used across the pond to convert skylines and supras etc for drifting, looking inside of them they are able to take some hammer.
They have an hydraulic clutch so mating this to the land rover pedal box was simple enough.
Clutch wise its a one off using a lightened g60 f/wheel, with matching cover plate, then a 6 paddle friction race clutch made to fit the g60 f/wheel but with the Nissan splined centre.
At the other end is a one off prop which is about 8" long made using the Nissan slider (which was cut form a 350z propshaft which are hollow carbon fibre) then welded to landrover yokes into a remote mounted raceway engineering LT230 transfer box. the transfer box has been altered with a 1.6-1 ratio then the uprated CROWN and pinions in the diffs have ben lowered to 4.77-1 using Ashcroft uprated gears. This means that my 3rd gear is lower then the factory 1st, which means in 6th at 7200rpm should if memory serves me correct give me a top speed around 105mph, which doesn't sound a lot but on dirty, gravel grass and mud it will be plenty. And with it being 6 speed my 1st gear will act as a low range gear incase it gets stuck. (the new transfer box has no centre diff or high and low range, its a solid shaft engineered just for racing these things.
Back at the end of October this year we finally got it running. however we miscalculated a few bits when mounting the engine and box. So the input shaft into the gearbox is 24mm too short to engage properly with the clutch plate. so answer to that one is to have the centre of the clutch plate modified to give me 14mm and then make a 10mm spacer for the end of the crank out of en24t that should be done next week .
however more pressing news my free rent on the workshop is now over as it sold last week. so need to be out in 7 days.
I'll update this with more pictures soon as words are a bit boring.
the next bits are a little out of the time line but give you an idea whats been going on
3" turbo back to a 2.5" back box. brought the fittings and tube then we tigged it up ourselves.
We didnt like the turbo inlet flange as it hadnt welded well so we chopped it off and made a new one.
the boss approved of progress
heat wrapped the exhaust as its quite close to my leg. we also fitted gold heat reflective mega expensive stickytape to the bulkhead by my feet you can also see the carbon fibre floor here
The starter issue. We can't use the passat starter as it doesn't reach the g60 flywheel. So tried the golf one and low and behold it turns the engine over backwards . So spend 3 weeks looking into other starters but without going one off it wasn't going to happen. I didn't want to do that as if the starter fails it won't be an easy fix. The idea on this car is to build it with maintenance in the future not being an issue.
So I pulled the exhaust back off and chopped the side out of the nissan bell housing. Took some balls as these boxes are now Fetching about 1k
Then get a mk4 golf box from the breakers for £40 and chop the starter mount then weld it to the nissan box. My first attempt at alloy welding with a mig
A quick reminder of a low point tracing what I though was either a wiring fault or a component failure. Turned out to be a dud ecu. We could activate the components individually via the delphi diagnostics but it won't fire. So several days head banging we swapped the ecu and all was sorted. I'm quite happy doing wiring where as my partner in crime on this build, daz, hates it. heres a quick one of my efforts.
This next set brings it upto date as of last weekend.
nt had much time recently to spend on the project. With work and life and then loosing the unit and moving it all back home.however this has meant I get some more time to work on it.
All hoses are now on and done.
Turbo is all plumbed in and ready.
Needed to do the inner arches to keep the mud out. Most of it will be done in alloy but around the boost hoses is a pain. So I made a mould and then did one from fibreglass. In this picture it still needs to be trimmed down but kit bad for a first try.
Sides are done and ready for paint. Internal panel work is mostly done
Biggest issue has been the connection to the gearbox. Adaptor has been made for ages however the input shaft on the gearbox was a good way off the clutch.
I'm running a g60 flywheel and cover plate with a golf outer nissan inner clutch.
Due to one thing or another I've had to have an extended clutch plate centre then a 11mm thick crank spacer made and now my mates just finished skimming 7mm off the adaptor plate. All this should mean it finally fits
one 14mm crank spacer made by a mate
vw outer nissan inner made by cg motorsport
my mate spend Saturday night taking 7 mm off the adapter so the clutch would work.
still needs a final pass but getting there.
What it's now meant is the starter motor needs moving back 21mm. So back out with the box. Got down to 27 minutes and a beer for me. And my mate to get it out.
Thats pretty much where we are as of today with the car.
Hope its of some interest to some of you.
Ill declutter some of it as i copy it over and ill need to re-add some pictures as they arent all working at the moment.
Any how. I used torace comp safari in an 88" wheelbase tomcat style offroad racer until i sold it in May this year. Power via a 3.9 rover v8.and have been for the past 3 years.
it had fox shocks torqueflite 727 with manual valve block and a B&M ratchet shifter
Fast forward and a few beers one night on the Internet and I'd brought an un finished project car. It's a 100" wheelbase 3m challenger full space frame 3" chassis tubes and 2" cage frame. With modified disco 2 axles and 12" travel fox coil overs. It's previously been fitted with a 5 sped manual gearbox r 380. And a diesel td5.
but never finished,
I decided I wanted to go small compact light and 350bhp!
Another phone call to dave billings at tornado motorsports who previous put a 1.8t into a project of his but never finished it. So a brought the engine,nissan 350z gearbox and adaptor plate.
Got it all home and set about cutting the frame back of all its add ons and un required brackets.
There was quite alot on the car we didnt like so out with the grinders and in with some more tube and all was good.
Then it was a matter of removing the old rear rad air dam. Then adding correct sized side bars, making new engine mounts and gear box mount. Lining up the transfer box, and fitting the intercooler and radiator.
I've brought a second engine an ayp from an s3. As well as fitting the passat Inlet. The s3 lump is fully forged and rebuilt less then 1k miles ago. I've also purchased the turbo. I'm using a k04-064 from a later model tfsi s3
took some fidling about and measuring but the rad and intercooler are finally mounted, it might look strange but when its done should work. It will have an alloy floor to the chassis rails and the sides will also be enclosed upto the bonnet.then behind the rad between the engine will be a vertical section of alloy, so all the cool air is forced through into the rad and cooler then up and out the top of the bonnet which will have a serious sized vent fitted.
he original floor had some heavy box section and alloy chequer plate, so all this was removed and a 20mm box frame made up which will be covered in carbon fibre later on. he engine has been fitted 13" behind the front axle so it should be quite well balanced.
i didnt like the original rear shock mounts, dave over at tornado motorsport also mentioned it would cause unnecessary twisting of the original mounts due to the distance from the hoop. so within 20 minutes a 9" slitter disc and a good friend it was all removed.
the new mounts will be taken from the rear roll cage diagonals, this will however mean some additional bars need to be fitted from the rear diagonal to the chassis. (blue book)
my mate made a template and cut them out at wok in 3mm steel plate, i then set about welding them in place, after plenty more measuring so as to be in the correct position when the car is sat on its bump stops (we need 20mm of shock travel left so as to not damage the shocks by bottoming them out) and as the rear diagonal runs at 2 different angle from the chassis to the main hoop it was a bit of a fiddle. then a 1mm plate bent over the top to box it in, this is only tacked in place for now as the mounts need to be fully welded.
my adapter plate for my k04-064 turbo to 1.8t head has arrived so ill mock that up and measure whats needed for the exhaust and intercooler etc.
we also removed all the unnecessary curse word from the engine, n249 recirc etc etc
brackets were cut with the plasma for the transfer mount but we havent fitted this as i want to get the exact tb i will be using from Rakeway, just need to find a grand for it.
so moved into stuff we can do for nothing, altered the rear end as we need as little unnecessary material on the car as possible, so did away with the rear end.
front prop location has been sorted, it will need a centre bearing to move it away from the turbo.
k04-064 fsi turbo is all fitted and hose routes have been sorted. the pedal box has been messed with and we will be movinf the footwell about 60mm to give more room for the turbo.
we've fitted the fiddle brakes and also sorted out moving the gear selector forward by about 18 inches or so. it doesnt look to pretty but for now it works we will remake it now we know it works using soem more exotic materials and make it look pretty.
made a list of whats left to do, and the target is to have it done for next weekend and start breaking it down ready for paint.
got the frame painted in kawasaki green with 20% gold mica in the lacquer.
standard discs drilled on my mates milling machine and then plated
Audi a small port inlet. Modified by welding the tb holes and drilling and tapping to accept a s4 tb and then bored out the Inlet to 70mm.
3" exhaust.
K04-064 turbo fitted.
70mm boost hoses.
Carbon floor is in.
Fuel and brake lines all braided and fitted.
Custom mounted lt230 transfer box fitted to the nissan 350z gearbox
New awesome gti red coils.
and a whole host of other bits. Spending has gotten a bit out of control with it. But should be worth it in the end.
so why a nissan 350Z box.?Dave Billings at Tornado motorsports had the box adapted to a 1.8t engine he had mounted into the back of one of his space frames. It never got completed so I knew it was still lay around, a quick phone call and a trip to Derby saw it brought. For the price I couldn't say no.
Looking into it they are very strong and often used across the pond to convert skylines and supras etc for drifting, looking inside of them they are able to take some hammer.
They have an hydraulic clutch so mating this to the land rover pedal box was simple enough.
Clutch wise its a one off using a lightened g60 f/wheel, with matching cover plate, then a 6 paddle friction race clutch made to fit the g60 f/wheel but with the Nissan splined centre.
At the other end is a one off prop which is about 8" long made using the Nissan slider (which was cut form a 350z propshaft which are hollow carbon fibre) then welded to landrover yokes into a remote mounted raceway engineering LT230 transfer box. the transfer box has been altered with a 1.6-1 ratio then the uprated CROWN and pinions in the diffs have ben lowered to 4.77-1 using Ashcroft uprated gears. This means that my 3rd gear is lower then the factory 1st, which means in 6th at 7200rpm should if memory serves me correct give me a top speed around 105mph, which doesn't sound a lot but on dirty, gravel grass and mud it will be plenty. And with it being 6 speed my 1st gear will act as a low range gear incase it gets stuck. (the new transfer box has no centre diff or high and low range, its a solid shaft engineered just for racing these things.
Back at the end of October this year we finally got it running. however we miscalculated a few bits when mounting the engine and box. So the input shaft into the gearbox is 24mm too short to engage properly with the clutch plate. so answer to that one is to have the centre of the clutch plate modified to give me 14mm and then make a 10mm spacer for the end of the crank out of en24t that should be done next week .
however more pressing news my free rent on the workshop is now over as it sold last week. so need to be out in 7 days.
I'll update this with more pictures soon as words are a bit boring.
the next bits are a little out of the time line but give you an idea whats been going on
3" turbo back to a 2.5" back box. brought the fittings and tube then we tigged it up ourselves.
We didnt like the turbo inlet flange as it hadnt welded well so we chopped it off and made a new one.
the boss approved of progress
heat wrapped the exhaust as its quite close to my leg. we also fitted gold heat reflective mega expensive stickytape to the bulkhead by my feet you can also see the carbon fibre floor here
The starter issue. We can't use the passat starter as it doesn't reach the g60 flywheel. So tried the golf one and low and behold it turns the engine over backwards . So spend 3 weeks looking into other starters but without going one off it wasn't going to happen. I didn't want to do that as if the starter fails it won't be an easy fix. The idea on this car is to build it with maintenance in the future not being an issue.
So I pulled the exhaust back off and chopped the side out of the nissan bell housing. Took some balls as these boxes are now Fetching about 1k
Then get a mk4 golf box from the breakers for £40 and chop the starter mount then weld it to the nissan box. My first attempt at alloy welding with a mig
A quick reminder of a low point tracing what I though was either a wiring fault or a component failure. Turned out to be a dud ecu. We could activate the components individually via the delphi diagnostics but it won't fire. So several days head banging we swapped the ecu and all was sorted. I'm quite happy doing wiring where as my partner in crime on this build, daz, hates it. heres a quick one of my efforts.
This next set brings it upto date as of last weekend.
nt had much time recently to spend on the project. With work and life and then loosing the unit and moving it all back home.however this has meant I get some more time to work on it.
All hoses are now on and done.
Turbo is all plumbed in and ready.
Needed to do the inner arches to keep the mud out. Most of it will be done in alloy but around the boost hoses is a pain. So I made a mould and then did one from fibreglass. In this picture it still needs to be trimmed down but kit bad for a first try.
Sides are done and ready for paint. Internal panel work is mostly done
Biggest issue has been the connection to the gearbox. Adaptor has been made for ages however the input shaft on the gearbox was a good way off the clutch.
I'm running a g60 flywheel and cover plate with a golf outer nissan inner clutch.
Due to one thing or another I've had to have an extended clutch plate centre then a 11mm thick crank spacer made and now my mates just finished skimming 7mm off the adaptor plate. All this should mean it finally fits
one 14mm crank spacer made by a mate
vw outer nissan inner made by cg motorsport
my mate spend Saturday night taking 7 mm off the adapter so the clutch would work.
still needs a final pass but getting there.
What it's now meant is the starter motor needs moving back 21mm. So back out with the box. Got down to 27 minutes and a beer for me. And my mate to get it out.
Thats pretty much where we are as of today with the car.
Hope its of some interest to some of you.
