Quote:
Originally Posted by Blister
Unfortunately for me, I'm pretty sure that changing the size and/or horsepower of the engine would bring up problems that I am unable to solve. There's an education/ability issue hidden in there somewhere. Although I operate medium and heavy equipment, I have no mechanic skills or engineering experience. I hate to sound so defeatist but I think the most use I'm going to be in this project is in gathering materials.
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It ain't too bad. The front end would probably need to be a foot or two wider/taller to accept a FWD layout, but all told the changes needed aren't too bad. It would also benefit from being a bit longer, so you could add a small trunk, but there isn't anything impossible about modding it. Definitely learn how to weld, and measure stuff w/in an inch of it's life. I think the easiest thing to do would be like Coyote_X did, except start with a half-cut, weld up the new frame for the engine/trans through the current mounts, cut everything else away, then add the wheels/suspension to that and finally the body to the rear of the new frame.
The problem with such a small engine is going to be speed and hill climbing ability. It would be like driving an overloading semi around, except w/o the proper gearing. In the vehicle as designed, the lithium pack/motor make up for this, but w/o 'em it's going to be slow as hell. Anyway, like Coyote_X told me, the hardest part about doing stuff like this is getting around to it in the first place.
