John`s New Project (Title Page)
Morris Minor 16v Fiat Engine Race Car
I HAVE DESIGNED AND BUILT THIS VEHICLE IN A SMALL SINGLE
GARAGE WITH BASIC EQUIPMENT (SMALL LATHE, PILLAR DRILL, TIG WELDER AND
HAND TOOLS) PLUS LOTS OF SKILL AND INGENUITY.
A Morris Minor convertible for race, rally, and hillclimb use, featuring
2 litre 16v engine, space frame chassis, double wishbone suspension and a
178mm widened body.
Design Brief ...... I require reliable car for high performance road use that
I can hillclimb and tarmac rally. It will also be a demonstration of my design
and fabrication skills.
Basic Specification......
A Morris Minor was decided upon as a base vehicle for a variety of reasons
1).......Long term association with Morris Minors
2).......Many panels bolt on and are easily available so crash damage will
be easier to repair.
3).......I have a good working knowledge of Minors.
4).......The car has a good club following.
The Fiat engine was chosen for its strong compact design and my knowledge
of the engine. I also have a large stock of engines and spares. Double wishbone
suspension is used as this offers the best performance.
A space frame tube chassis will connect all the components together. The main
consideration during design and construction of the vehicle will be reliability.
This overriding consideration will compromise the weight of the vehicle. But
I do not wish to spend time checking and replacing components during the life
of the vehicle. Therefore fatigue will not be a factor in the life of components
and many parts may appear over engineered but are actually meeting the design
brief.
The build of the car is detailed in the following sections and then later
in my regular updates HERE So
to follow the build of the car go to each section below then to the update
page HERE
These pages cover the design and build of the space frame chassis, from wooden model, suspension mounting points, templates for the tube bending, how to shape and fit tubes the easy way, to engine and gearbox mounting. As well as all the other smaller brackets that are required to make a bare chassis into a finished car.
Design and build of double wishbone suspension. The wishbones have spherical bearings held in with circlips, the uprights are alloy and the mounting method to the chassis enables very accurate positioning even if the chassis is not absolutly true. The mounting points are also very easy to alter if required.
The engine is a 4 cylinder 2000cc Fiat 131 block with a 16 valve Lancia Integrale cylinder head. Lubrication is dry sump and induction will is electronic fuel injection. See the complex oil system and sump pan, steel flywheel ,the worked required to fit the 16 valve cylinder head and building the exhaust manifold and system.
These pages cover the restoration, widening and mounting of the body to the chassis.
Four pot aluminium calipers and vented discs front brakes on unique mounts, specially made steering rack and column, rebuilt gearbox with concentric integral clutch slave cylinder and release bearing.
UPDATES
A detailed specification of the whole vehicle including many part numbers, material specs., tube sizes etc.
