Gordy

I looked a bit into it and the miata 1.6 has been crammed in a midget. It requires the transmission tunnel and footwells to be remade and a few other things but otherwise fits nicely. The MGB is a nice car too, and I'd settle for one of I could get ine for a good price.

That's not a bad option. I was more thinking the 1.6 Miata engine. There's tons of wrecked Miatas around I can get for cheap. From everything I've seen the engine is easy to wire up and I can swap to dual Webber carburetors. I really don't mind if I need to do a little bit of a cowel hood or a hood bulge in it either.

I don't want a big engine, just something a little more modern with a bit better power.

The dream is a MG midget or a Triumph GT6/ MGB GT. Any of them I'll settle for, but I am more interested in the midget. I'd probably settle for an MGB too. Basically the smaller the better. The midget I would likely keep stock for a while with just a webber carb and 5 speed triumph transmission swap until I get all the parts gathered to swap to a modern 4 cylinder and 6 speed transmission (probably a Miata engine still). That's a build I've had brewing in my brain since I discovered the MG midget in the hot wheels bin at the local M&W years ago. I fell in love with those tiny little cars but sadly have never been able to get my hands on one. I get the engine swap is ambitious, but it's doable. But I figured money would be better spent on one of those cars to drive and enjoy. It would be a nice car to put my MAC Tools monster tach in. The tach is probably too big for that car lol

Well I put some thought into it. As much as I would love to build a car from scratch, I just don't think a 7 is a good option for me with the assurance that it won't get finished. I'll stick to my original plan of buying my dream car and building it up with the parts I want as that will be a much more satisfying project to spend a few years perfecting. Thanks for the help.

So basically he used a miata to put suspension and brakes around a kit car? Well that's kinda what I had in mind, just without the kit.

I planned to use mostly Miata parts. I would like to stay close to original size. And I will get that reading material soon. I'll look more into the effort. However I really don't like the idea of going into debt for anything. If anything I would just buy a Miata for cheap and make it into a fun car rather than buy a premade car and pay it off.

So I wanted to build my full frima as a tube chassis and just put bends in them. I don't think it would be all too much more work and it would look really nice. Plus I wouldn't have to do math for compound cuts, just use my tubing notcher. What's your take on that approach?

Sweet, thanks! I figured that would be the case.

So I would like to build the chassis woth round tubing. Would this bender do the trick or should I get an Eastwood bender? https://www.harborfreight.com/tubing-roller-99736.html

That Cortina is a wicked little car. How much would you be asking? I'd definitely be interested but it would take me a while to get to that point.

It's all of it really. I would love to build one, drove one, and of course be seen in one. Not that there's anyone I can think of in particular that I'd want to see me in one, but it would still be cool.

Well, my answers to all those qustions but the disposible income are yes. Which I am waiting for a time when I have a good job, I am just in the planning stage so I am ready to start after graduation. Dad and I have a 42x100 auto shop. He doesn't care if I get a parts car as long as I have it fully dismantled and the parts I'm keeping in one spot and the rest of it heading to the scrap yard within a month. That's a fair agreement. But he doesn't mind if I use the space for my build, and I have all the tooling except a bender, but am able to get one.

I have looked alot into this. I am honestly completely on board with KISS. Why design my own fron suspension? Everyone else has done so several times. It might not be perfect, but it's good enough for me! A rear suspension from a Miata would make the rear end a breeze, and the front tubular copied from someone else will do just fine. I know that there's good parts there, but I can't afford even a bag of bolts, let alone the whole project or the gas to get to Maryland. That's an 8hr ish drive there and back, and that's alot if fuel in an old V8 truck. I honestly would be interested in alot, if not all of those parts, but I haven't got anything to offer for them or a way to get them here. I'd be all for a prefab frame for the right deal. Maybe if she has them come graduation I'll see what I can do. But I did alot more reading last night. I came to the conclusion that although a bike engine would be wicked, it's not really something I should take on. Any reasonable 4cyl and 5 speed will be easier and more practical. Besides, it's more about the handling than the HP. Any amount of HP would push this thing down the road. I'm all to aware of getting burnt out on projects if they don't have progress or end goal in sight. But I'm confident I can at least build the frame, and if I lose interest it wouldn't be too hard to get rid of. I'm honestly never overly concerned about "getting my money back" outta something that I've had my fun with. Besides, if it's just sitting there it's way less useful than whatever someone will give you for it.

Ya know, that's a really cool car! I plan to use coilovers with a tunable rode height. Of course this car isn't gonna venture on some(most) of the roads out here. Fortunately Ky Route 3 (south) is the main highway I live off of and it had been recently repaved. That and US23 is where I'll be driving most, so I won't need that. I live up on a hill from the flooding I posted. That's near the bottom of my driveway. Unfortunately our auto shop is down there too, however the car will probably spend most of its time up by the house under the carport or maybe even in the garage up here if I can talk the old man into it. But that is his wood shop and he tends to do his wood working more during the winter season, so it more than likely will be the carport.

Ha, very tempting.

But I don't have anything but time right now. Historical flooding in the area makes it impossible to leave the house so as long as power stays on I can do all the research in the world...

Ah I hadn't seen the second bit there. I was actually looking at that yesterday. Unfortunately I don't currently have any job, and the old man's in enough debt to make one's head spin, so there's no help there. Fortunately I have a decent truck and don't olan to waste my money on college. I've already got a job lined out for after I graduate and turn 18. The fellow who owns the Fab shop in town is eager to get me on there for a decent wage. But building this car from scratch is what sounds most fun to me, so that's where I'm starting. This project is less about the money than it is the experience just building it from scratch. But I seriously appreciate the suggestion!

Thanks! I'll definitely sign up to those.

Thanks! That was a good read and answered a few questions.

TLDR: I'm graduating in May, and getting a job in fabrication. I wanna build a replica and have the tools and facilities to do so. Looking for tips and opinions on my plans. little background: my name is Gordon, but my friends call me Gordy. I'm a SR in high school, graduating in May. I've been around cars all my life as my dad used to be a mechanic and has always been fixing cars, and I picked up on it along the way. Although the old man likes cars, he's not really much into them. I however have been fascinated (more of obsessed) with cars for as long as I can remember. By this point I've already owned over a dozen different classics. I recently moved from the desert landscape and open roads of the west to eastern Kentucky. The roads here are alot curvier and fun to drive. I've been debating on buying an old Triumph or MG roadster, but I really love welding and fabrication. I've been in shop classes all throughout high school and have built several motorcycles, buggies, and such from scratch. Here's where the Lotus 7 comes in. I saw one at a car show a few years ago. It was really neat. I think I have a picture somewhere. I talked to the fellow and found it was a kit car. I looked into them, but at the time had nothing but a gravel driveway to work on cars in so discarded the idea and continued rescuing old cars. Well fast forward to last week I was chatting with my best friend and he sent me a video. He was wondering if I knew what car was in the video as I tend to know a lot of old cars or at least be able to figure out what they are. If you hadn't already figured it out, that car was a Lotus 7. We then started talking about them and I informed him there are kit cars available, and they can be built from scratch. we then got into dreaming about building our own and racing them against each other. But I remembered from my research a year ago they are very simple cars. So I got into looking at the chassis. IMO the chassis looks quite simple, and I could build a tube frame chassis pretty easily. I have the space and equipment to do so now (other than a tubing bender, but I plan to get one). I also have access to a full 4x8 CNC plasma cutting table. So the base chassis is very doable for me. Now I got into looking at what parts I wanna use. A motorcycle engine seems very appealing to me for this car, or maybe a rotary. Something not typical for most cars. And for rear suspension, I really like the workings of independent suspension, and I think using a Miata rear subframe and corresponding components would make for a nice rear end. A wider track width than the original, but I do want to run wider tires with a more inward offset so that will be closer to original. Not sure how much the track width matters, maybe I can get some help with that. Why a series 2? If my research is correct the series 2 was made between '61 and '67. IMO the best cars ever made were made in that time period. So far this is just an idea overall. If some ideas of mine are stupid, feel free to say so. Yes, I am a kid, but no I don't get easily offended. But please offer your reasoning and a better solution. There's no real time limit on when I want to have this car built by. I just want to get it started sometime before the end of the year. So here is my build idea... Tube chassis (not sure exactly what diameter. probably inch and a half? That's what I've used on offroad buggies). Miata rear subframe Series 2 basic dimensions. Superbike Engine Pretty bare bones car Here's my question.. 1. Any recommendation on tubing diameter and thickness? 2. Is the Miata subframe a good idea? 3. Should I offset front and rear track width? 4. Does anyone have some chassis drawings of basic dimensions? The more detailed the better. 5. Any tips for when I get around to the bodywork? I'm thinking fiberglass the nose cone and probably rear section and fenders, but the rest with aluminum. 6. Anything else? Thanks guys!