Off Road SHO

KB, Yeah we have some of the straightest, most boring interstates in AZ, but our local state highways are superb for seven drives. In fact, I might do the Highway 89 and 89A from Wilhoit to Prescott this weekend. It's our version of the Tail of the Dragon. Tom

Ah, I'm always pining for the good ole days... KNOT!

More like to counter the G-suit he is wearing that constricts the legs and torso area, he was "straining".

Wow, that thing is quiet AND quick. Which engine do you have in it? Tom

Scott, Why does your shifter wander all over in turns? Very soft engine and tranny mounts? Tom

Mine do not look anything like that. I must have a later model. Tom

Cast iron blocks are weldable, just need to find the right guy. My wife's Uncle, Dick Smith, introduced me to a guy that cut up 3 four banger model T engines and made a 6 cyclinder out of the pieces. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes (the running engine in the Model T) I never would have believed it. He also cut and welded the three cranks together. All by hand, mind you. Cast iron can be welded, find an old hot rodder or go to your nearest Metal Meet and ask around. Tom

Croc, I'm not sure what you mean by these last sentences. A car does not have to be registered in all states, just the one the owner lives in. The other 49 states will accept it as a road going car and allow it on their own turf. Kit cars are built by their respective manufacturers and assembled by their owners. The are quite a few more people that can assemble as opposed to those that can build. Or did I misunderstand what you meant? Tom

Yes, And the high cost of the supply will keep the demand low. Build an inexpensive frame, earn your profits on change orders/options. Tom

I have a slightly different view of this discussion. We have a lot of kit car makers here in the States, they just don't specialize in road cars. They build offroad cars (dune buggies, sand buggies or rails) and most States have an exception that allows them to be registered and licensed for street use. These fabicators have all the CNC this and CNC that with all the tools to make small pieces of steel out of large ones and the other tools to assemble them back into "cars". The problem lies in the cost to do this versus how much someone is willing to pay. My first buggy frame cost me 900.00 in 1972 and used all of the parts off of a 64 VW that cost me 400.00. I didn't custom order anything to keep the cost down to where a recent high school graduate on telephone man wages could afford it. Nowadays, it seems like everyone want to be unique in a car that only costs 5,000.00. Not going to happen. What we need to do is talk to one of the low volume buggy builders and see if they could put out a frame kit that used a Miata drive train and you could have rolling asap. The incidentals can come later when you are all fired up with that first drive enthusiasm. IMHO. Tom

Sent an email for the mirrors. Tom

Paul, Yes, the bed raises up quite a bit and I was going to add a flip-over ramp lip anyway to smooth the transition from 3" thick ramp to ground, but my big problem lies in the built-in beaver tail that is about 2' inside the trailer. Not visible in the pictures and under a roll up carpet. If it wasn't for that 12 degree bump, I'd be designing a longer ramp and be done with it. As originally built the trailer's ramp was in the same plane as the sloped beaver tail of the trailer. With the axles flipped there is an additional ~8 degee angle at the ramp hinge. I can fit two Rhinos and two dirt bikes in the trailer and still cook, sleep and eat in the front. I picked up four different tires for this invention and should have the welding done tomorrow. I should be able to report success or comedic material one way or the other. I have a grand total of 120.00 in parts in them so far so if nothing else, I can fix four flat wheelbarrow problems and two tongueless trailer problems with my failure. Tom

Let's see if this works.

How do post pics here? By linking? Tom

It's hard to explain how big this trailer is. I will try and find a pic of it. David, Nice Roll bar BTW. Any more pics of how it's mounted? Tom

So what is the HP/Torque rating of the SVT Focus engine? Tom

Who pays whom? Do other countries pay the BBC? And I agree with the PC thing. It seems as though everybody is trying to be the most indignant or offened. Tom

Hahaha, that would be me. My trailer weighs 13,000 lbs empty with a tongue weight of about 2,000 lbs. Tom

Yes, I investigated that but would need another set inside the trailer because of the beavertail. Once on top of the inside ramps I thought the car would be too high to anchor securely. I also don't like backing out onto the ramps with such limited visibilty to the rear. The beauty of my idea (if it works as planned) is that I am basically just installing taller tires in front, without having to use a lug wrench and torque wrench, I can still drive the car. Tom

I've got an idea on how to solve the problem of scraping the bottom of my Superformance S-1 on the ramp transitions on my car hauler/Motel 6 trailer. My wifes likes to ride in the car in cool climates, but not the ride through our Southwestern deserts to get to them. I figured out two sets of ramps would be a lot of work, heavy and hard to store in transit and while parked. My trailer is a 40' fifth wheel with a drop down ramp in the back. The floor of the trailer has a beaver tail slope at the very back to lower the floor a little. Those two transitions, one 8 degrees and the other 12 degress, in effect form humps in the path of loading the 7, which only has 3" of ground clearance. My idea is to use a modified tongue jack from a trailer, attached to each front wheel with 2 nylon ratchet straps, with a thick piece of foam between the powder coated wheel and the body of the tongue jack, to keep it from scratching the wheel. Follow me so far? A tongue jack is securely fastened to each front wheel. The top part of the jack has two downward facing, angled legs with curved plates welded to them that "cradle" the tire. Like two hands getting ready to lift the tire. One in front of the contact patch, one behind. The bottom "foot' of the jack has a large flate triangular plate attached to the outside side of the jack with u-bolts. At the front and rear points of this triangle, are bolted two pneumatic hand cart tires. And Voila', I can slide the two "hands" under the tire, strap the cushioned jack to the wheel's spokes, crank down the two hand cart tires until it lifts the car's front tires 6" in the air, then drive the car under its own power into the trailer where I would then lower the car back down for strapping purposes. With these strapped tightly to each front wheel I should have a slight modicum of turning ability to align the car with the trailer's tie-down points. Well? Am I crazy or missing something? Tom

Wow! Whole cars on pages 6,7,14 and 18. No engines or transmissions though. Tom

I wish other benefactors would step up and go get the rest of the squadron. Tom

Both of my breaks were in the horizontal stay, not the near verticle one, and both broke right at the end of the flat mounting plate. I inserted a solid piece of 1/2" steel rod (2" into each side), with 2 rosette welds per side and then a bead at the original break (after grinding the ends to 45 degrees first of course).

I got it back together tonight and went for a blat to test it out. I don't suppose anybody here would need to see how I fixed it, but if you do, shout out and I'll upload some pics I took along the way. Incidently, I found a round tag with my build number, 55, stuck on the underside of the fender. I wonder how many other parts have the build number on them. Tom

No, Mine is a superformance S-1, and they welded the round tube stay to a flat plate that is bolted to the upright. The tube stay vibrates with mass of the fender moving it easily, but the flat mount does not. They should have used oval tubing in my opinion. Tom