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Hi,
As we all know (or should do) the Bedford Rascal is a little unstable when it comes to corners. For me the reason for this is 1, its to tall and 2, the wheel track is to narrow. Now i've been looking at getting one of these little blighters for a while now and fitting in a motorbike engine into it. I've been doing a little research into various bits and pieces but I was wondering if anyone knew if there was a ratio between wheel track and vehicle height? I'm thinking of making up a 1" steel tube chassis and plonking the rascal body over the top so therefore I can make the track as wide as necessary and stick some big arches over the wheels and tyres, plus drop the body as low as necessary over the tube chassis. Anyone with any thoughts on this?? The idea is to make the vehicle into a tongue in cheek trackday weapon, so i'd like it stable.
Thanks in advance
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Aug 18, 2008 10:26:17 GMT
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The lower and wider it is, the less chance it'll have of falling over.
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Aug 18, 2008 10:27:14 GMT
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It sounds fantastic!
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Your car is not 'epic', this thread is not 'epic'....the OCEAN is epic, the UNIVERSE is epic.... please stop misusing this word!! It would appear Hotrods are the new VWs - aint fashion funny! '69 BUICK LESABRE 350
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Aug 18, 2008 10:28:50 GMT
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You are on the right lines but I'm not sure you will be able to make it massively wider without needing arches that are unfeasable. Do what you can, have it sit lower, and remove as much weight from high up as possible to lower the centre of gravity.
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1986 Panda 4x4. 1990 Metro Sport. 1999 Ford Escort estate.
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Aug 18, 2008 10:52:46 GMT
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They aint that bad, i didnt even know i was 2 wheeling mine on the bends till me mate happens to mention it after he followed me somewhere, most of the time the back slides instead so the worst thing you can do is fit wider grippier tyres.
if you really want it more stable you need more weight low down and less high up, so roof chop it, don't let fat bastards drive it and don't fit a super light bike engine in place of the original heavier one, plenty of room in the for a proper car engine that will drive much better on the road anyway.
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Volvo back as my main squeeze, more boost and some interior goodies on the way.
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Aug 18, 2008 15:47:04 GMT
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LOL, What engmpoll has neglected to mention is that he is a Super Heavy Weight, stands about 6'-5" (at the shoulder...) and weighs in about the same as a Bedford Rascal...
So as long as he sits on the floor, all should be peachy...
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Lex
South East
日本車 <3
Posts: 2,404
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Aug 18, 2008 15:53:49 GMT
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lower it with wide wheels..
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Resto-UKal
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Aug 18, 2008 16:11:06 GMT
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Do it like a Caterham. That's just a bath tub with wheels sprouting from the sides. Rascal hot rod FTW!
Well, it'd look really odd actually, so win predictions are a little hard to judge!
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1986 Citroen 2CV Dolly Other things. Check out my Blog for the latest! www.hubnut.org
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Aug 18, 2008 16:14:57 GMT
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if you wanna go proper mad and make a track slag then cut the foor out and build a space frame for the body to sit over , it all depends on what kind of extreme you go to ? ? ? or like the others have suggested fit wider wheels and hit it with a stick there is always the option of fitting the wider bedford midi van axles so you have a wider wheel base aswell mate , you will just have to machine the prop mounts etc to make it work with what you want to do
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Aug 18, 2008 16:53:57 GMT
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most of the time the back slides instead so the worst thing you can do is fit wider grippier tyres.. I thinkthis is a very valid point, despite all the 'wide tyres' advice
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bootsy75hst
Part of things
"scrap the caddy clyde"
Posts: 229
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Aug 18, 2008 17:01:26 GMT
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i had one in the winter, it was ace it slid about all over and would spin off corners for fun. if youre building a spaceframe for it put the engine in the back, therefore even christmas plump people cou could drive it without tipping it over!
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"when the going turns weird, the weird turn pro" hst
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street
Posted a lot
6.2 ft/lbs of talk
Posts: 4,662
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Aug 18, 2008 17:10:59 GMT
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Do it like a Caterham. That's just a bath tub with wheels sprouting from the sides. Rascal hot rod FTW! Well, it'd look really odd actually, so win predictions are a little hard to judge! LOL! Thats the best idea EVAR!
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Aug 18, 2008 17:15:38 GMT
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most of the time the back slides instead so the worst thing you can do is fit wider grippier tyres.. I thinkthis is a very valid point, despite all the 'wide tyres' advice i think you need to have driven these things on a regular basis to understand really, wider wheels will stick out further i guess, but i don't think the extra track will outweigh the extra grip which is gonna cause it to possibly fall over, i think i'd fit a large car engine and box as low as possible and fit sme fat wheels if i was trying to get one to corner well, otherwise you'll just have to take it easy, as i said earlier you quite often don't know its on two wheels. there used to be a pick up truck that ran at the pod with a bimmer 6 pot in it, that went pretty well. Our family has lots of experiance of these things, the current crop is two campers in the garden, and two out on the road along with the mini people carrier, not in the pics are the ex council van or the hi jet we also have.
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Volvo back as my main squeeze, more boost and some interior goodies on the way.
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Aug 18, 2008 17:27:47 GMT
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weld 2 together!!!
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Aug 18, 2008 17:28:19 GMT
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Caterham style wheelarches, spaceframe chassis and channelled body (with about 2" ground clearance under the sills) FT-handling-W.
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Aug 18, 2008 20:18:40 GMT
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Thanks for all the advice guys and encouragement. I've spent alot of time on the Locost website trying to understnd chassis design, and have got some fairly trick ideas for it. As has been said the idea is to spaceframe it with 1" steel square tube to get the track equal to height minimum, drop the body over, mid mount a motorbike engine (currently thinking about a built 600cc with turbo, 6 speed sequential, 15-16000 rpm here we come, run a sickening amount of boost through it, 200 bhp is possible with low enough compression, intercooling, optimax and balls of steel!!) Independant front and rear suspension, 13" minilites, wide as fook wheel arches, etc etc etc. I'm almost moist at the thought.
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Aug 18, 2008 20:24:50 GMT
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fook the bike engine, you can get a 200bhp granny cossie lump for curse word all and it will have a reverse gear and be much more usable and reliable on the road with potential for much more power if you want it, if you got lots of money spare i'd fit a fook off big V8, bike engines are for cars with no room in em and bikes.
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Volvo back as my main squeeze, more boost and some interior goodies on the way.
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bortaf
Posted a lot
Posts: 4,549
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Aug 18, 2008 20:30:45 GMT
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The later ones had bloody great weights bolted above the rear axle to help the hadling, maybe some lead sheet on the floor ;D
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R.I.P photobucket
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Aug 18, 2008 20:39:14 GMT
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I know what your saying popuptoaster, i was just getting excited with the high rpms and sequential box!! Car options are the cheaper way to go, the saab 2.3 turbo is a pokey engine and is easy to tune, all i would need would be a transaxle gearbox of some description, then theres volvo/bmw straight 6's, lexus v8 (will go to 600 hp on stock internals), the madness is endless!!
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stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,841
Club RR Member Number: 174
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The thing that will ruin the handling is the seating position. You can mount everything else as low as they do on a Westfield, but you're still gonna be sat way up high at the front so you can see out of the screen. I was trying to think of a way round this last night, best I could come up with was to section the body (chop a slice out all way round, drop the top half down and weld together) but it would be a lot of work.
Matt
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