ive had an idea to build a buggy for a while, so this week ive started a little work on it.
the idea is to take a front wheel drive motor and box, mount it north south and run driveshafts from the front wheel drive diff to a set of 4x4 diffs.
last week i picked up a toyota corolla 4afe engine +auto trans, im no good with computers and stuff so ive removed the fuel ingection and built a manifold for some GSXR1100 motorbike carbs i had using the old intake gasket and a local profile cutter and some exhaust tubing flared out to 41mm (same as the bike carbs)from the muffler shop.
a few months ago i bought a lwb mq patrol without an engine and trans and stripped the body off the chassis- this will be the test rig to see if it will work.
so today ive half mounted the engine/trans into where the driver would have originally sat in the patrol making sure to keep the lowest part of the engine/trans as close to the height of the bottom of the chassis rails as poss.
its going to look a little mad max for a while but it should give me an idea on performance and gearing - biggest problem i can see so far is im pretty sure a normal transfer case low ratio is 2:1 and the corolla engine runs 3:1 diff gears but i figure how much time do you spend int he upper gears in low ratio anyway.
tomorow i will sort out a bit more engine mounting and get the radiator mounted then start to sort out some adaptors from corolla cv shafts to patrol diffs, then start looking at brakes and engine controls and a seat
i will upload some pics soon
somthing a little different
i was thinking of sitting right out the back-or right up the front away from my home made driveshafts...no im going to keep it lwb for now..
like i said, its gonna be a little mad max looking , but its only to test if the idea will work. if it performs well i will take out the engine and diffs and start on a tube frame
like i said, its gonna be a little mad max looking , but its only to test if the idea will work. if it performs well i will take out the engine and diffs and start on a tube frame
How about like the american rock crawling buggies and offset the motor and sit next to it ....
Trust me don't set the seat infront of the front axle
my old man built a farm hack that was like that and it was very disconserting to drive 
especially on drop off's !!
If your worried about your drive shafts build some rings for them (same as the drag boys do incase they blow UJ's, just to stop them flailing if they go....
Lookin pretty crazy 
more more...
Cheers Reece
Trust me don't set the seat infront of the front axle
my old man built a farm hack that was like that and it was very disconserting to drive especially on drop off's !!
If your worried about your drive shafts build some rings for them (same as the drag boys do incase they blow UJ's, just to stop them flailing if they go....
Lookin pretty crazy more more...
Cheers Reece
Absolutely love it!
These kinds of home built buggy's are right up my alley.
The lower gearing won't be a problem, it will probably be an advantage as the Corolla engine will only have about a third of the torque the original engine put out. And most of that torque will be fairly high up the rev range. The automatic is a good choice as it will make up for the lack of low down grunt somewhat. I would definitely do the "Lincoln Locker" thing to the differential in the auto box.
Keep the pics coming
These kinds of home built buggy's are right up my alley.
The lower gearing won't be a problem, it will probably be an advantage as the Corolla engine will only have about a third of the torque the original engine put out. And most of that torque will be fairly high up the rev range. The automatic is a good choice as it will make up for the lack of low down grunt somewhat. I would definitely do the "Lincoln Locker" thing to the differential in the auto box.
Keep the pics coming
I love it... keep up the good work, and the frankenbuggy look is in this year so go fashionable and keep it how it is well another night on it tonight,
used the angle iron as a giude and stuck the shafts togeather, this is the back one, ive used the longest corolla one i could find and added 300mm and welded a flange to the last cv
the front ones were a little harder, since its already beed modified, there was still a carrier and cv shaft attached to the front diff so i had to weld these in place
just like a bought one..
done
mounted the radiator
then the fun bit, i couldnt be bothered putting it up on axel stands so i drove it back and forward -looks straight enough- hopefully tomorow i will get some sort of steering organised and start looking around for a pedal box, then all i have to do is tune the carbs (way too lean at the moment) and hook up the brakes
used the angle iron as a giude and stuck the shafts togeather, this is the back one, ive used the longest corolla one i could find and added 300mm and welded a flange to the last cv
the front ones were a little harder, since its already beed modified, there was still a carrier and cv shaft attached to the front diff so i had to weld these in place
just like a bought one..
done
mounted the radiator
then the fun bit, i couldnt be bothered putting it up on axel stands so i drove it back and forward -looks straight enough- hopefully tomorow i will get some sort of steering organised and start looking around for a pedal box, then all i have to do is tune the carbs (way too lean at the moment) and hook up the brakes
tonight ive run the steering shaft up beside the motor to the back of the gearbox, the seat will end up just infront of the rear axel, so im going to fit a driveshaft loop (incase the join breaks)& im thinking about sorting out a sheet of steel to put under the seat for added protection, not much work on the old girl this weekend as im headed off for the long weekend and the following two weekends are pretty much rooted as well so it will be evening work only
i spent a few hours on the beast today, welded in the seat,sorted the steering and connected a makeshift shifter to the trans
then it was on to the carbs, ive read up a bit latley about how you can re-jet the CV carbs by lifting the main needle with washers so here we go
carbs come apart easy enough- ,
just a circlip holding it all togeather
this is the original needle, see the grooves for the circlip
and this is where i moved the clip to
and they now run real sweet, maybe a little lean , but it revs real clean and hard
so i figure i need to take this thing for a spin, who needs brakes and a gas pedal anyway.. so i rig up a h20 bottle as a gas tank and mount it up a pole i welded to the chassis , then i hook up an accelerator , just a bit of wire hooked on the throttle wheel and tied off to the top of the pole i just welded for the fuel, ive also hooked up the ignition and starter circut to the light switch on the wheel so i can kill it easy enough....
and it hauls ass, 1st gear is a bit low(good for a crawl gear) and 2nd and third pull really strong, i figure i will have a little fun with it over the next week or so , then pull it down and start the real build up with a tube frame
then it was on to the carbs, ive read up a bit latley about how you can re-jet the CV carbs by lifting the main needle with washers so here we go
carbs come apart easy enough- ,
just a circlip holding it all togeather
this is the original needle, see the grooves for the circlip
and this is where i moved the clip to
and they now run real sweet, maybe a little lean , but it revs real clean and hard
so i figure i need to take this thing for a spin, who needs brakes and a gas pedal anyway.. so i rig up a h20 bottle as a gas tank and mount it up a pole i welded to the chassis , then i hook up an accelerator , just a bit of wire hooked on the throttle wheel and tied off to the top of the pole i just welded for the fuel, ive also hooked up the ignition and starter circut to the light switch on the wheel so i can kill it easy enough....
and it hauls ass, 1st gear is a bit low(good for a crawl gear) and 2nd and third pull really strong, i figure i will have a little fun with it over the next week or so , then pull it down and start the real build up with a tube frame
Damn, kicking myself..... :scratch:
Spend big dollars a couple of years ago on a drag car trying to get the fuel pressure right. Electric pumps, fuel regulators, surge tanks.......
And all I really had to do was mount the fuel tank up a pole
Instant infinitely adjustable fuel pressure on a budget. Vary the length of the pole to increase or decrease the pressure.
Now why didn't I think of that
Absolutely love it :salut:
Spend big dollars a couple of years ago on a drag car trying to get the fuel pressure right. Electric pumps, fuel regulators, surge tanks.......
And all I really had to do was mount the fuel tank up a pole
Instant infinitely adjustable fuel pressure on a budget. Vary the length of the pole to increase or decrease the pressure.
Now why didn't I think of that
Absolutely love it :salut:
ok, the fuel pole idea was a little rough but the bike carbs dont seem to handle the pressure a pump provides , i figured that in a bike its only gravity that feeds the carbs so gravity i will give it, will have to figure another way round this - a loop fuel system or replacing the float springs in the bowl
maybe today i will pick up a pedal box and get some brakes , or properly sort the fuel problem
maybe today i will pick up a pedal box and get some brakes , or properly sort the fuel problem
:thumleft: great work I can't wait to see some action shots!!
Had a comp grass kart that had fuel problems tryed alsorts, electric pumps, crank case pumps different float valves, springs etc .... and in the end the pole trick was the only thing that worked reliably
Hey how'd those welds spin on your axles, I was a bit slow in saying watch out for warpage .... all good ???
Cheers Reece
I can't wait to see some action shots!!
Had a comp grass kart that had fuel problems tryed alsorts, electric pumps, crank case pumps different float valves, springs etc .... and in the end the pole trick was the only thing that worked reliably
Hey how'd those welds spin on your axles, I was a bit slow in saying watch out for warpage
.... all good ???
Cheers Reece
well , i can get all fours spinning quite easily, and ive been using reverse as a brake so the shafts have taken a hiding. the shafts arnt perfectly straight and i can see a wobble (down through between my legs) but they apear to work well . ive got a 9lt s/s fire extinguisher thats been converted into a fuel tank , so i might get some brackets welded on and mount it above the head and use gravity- ive really got to sort out the brakes though
You could always have a sensible low-mounted main tank with a pump feeding a header tank over the carbs, with a return line back to the main tank so its always full but theres a gravity pipe in the bottom feeding the carbs all they need.
It would only need to be 500ml or so, so could be very compact... saves making the buggy look like it just escaped from the emergency ward at the local hospital
Steve
It would only need to be 500ml or so, so could be very compact... saves making the buggy look like it just escaped from the emergency ward at the local hospital
Steve