As I declared in my Introductions post, I've got too much on my plate. Four potential modding projects and one has to go to finance another. I'm not going to get into resale value or sunk costs.
I just want to know which one is cooler.
I'll start with the one in my Profile pic. These pictures were taken on a ceramic tile floor with my first digital camera, a Casio QV-11. In 1995.
You'll note the one picture shows the front wheels on trailing arms. This is the default configuration; volksrodders have indifferent success with leading arms. I think the trick is to not lower the front and rotate the arms 180° in the torsion bars. And then use the lowered spindles off-roaders use to raise their front end to pull the framehead up off the ground. As long as the arms move back as they move up it shouldn't bind. I'm looking to get the wheels as far away from the body as is practical. Off-road racers employ trailing arms that are 3 inches longer and 3 inches wider than stock.
The original race-car motor was conceptually swapped for an electric motor sitting where the stock transaxle was, with a sand rail 2-speed transaxle behind it. With a pneumatic shifter it would look kind of like the quick-change rear end from the 40's.
The side view shows interior detail I didn't model. The floor curves up gradually to the rear until it intersects the roof at the top of the backlight, there would be a teardrop divot for the driver's butt. Then there is a U-shaped brush made of hangar door seal to prevent air ingress and where the backlight glass used to be a massive electric fan--or two fans in a V like the sound-off guys do with their sub-woofers. Alternatively, with a stock motor: a generator delete and a shaft that runs forward in the car to a big, honking (literally!) mechanical fan. Engine cooling air would be exhausted into this airstream.
What next? Let's look at that dicey weight distribution. With the front wheels pushed so far forward it will be 40% front & 60% rear, or worse. With short tires out in the air and tall tires tucked under the body, given the same tread width, the contact patch will be biased to compensate the weight. Tread width and tire pressure selected to help.
As I mentioned in the Introduction post, the open front wheels would have cycle fenders. The AA-Fuel dragster tires would become big 'n little LRR. 15" Moon disks on the wheels, and 18-20" Moon disks on the inner side with 1/2" clearance to the tire. It would have a recess hammered into the middle to reach into the spindle and be sandwiched behind the brake assembly; have appropriate vents and scoops, and the bottom would be relieved for tire flexion. The cycle fender would run from 9 o;clock to 4 o'clock (viewed from the right), since the top part of the tire is moving forward as much as twice as fast as the rest of the car. Black carbon fiber would blend in with the tire and contrast with the aluminum. More of a condom than a cod-piece.
The cantilevered airfoil section front torsion bar housings would probably require an inconspicuous connecting rod or plate. Or the air gap between them could become an inlet for oil coolers.
Around 2000 or so I found the donor car, a 1958 Canadian body (big back window and pockets for semaphore turn signals) on a 1971 standard pan.
It was already the right color and the P.O. had already cut the aprons, so I didn't have to feel guilty. It just felt right, but in 2002 the long downhill slide began. (the personal computer industry was fun before the suits came in. I started on the Apple ][)
So, I solicit your comments. Just keep in mind there's still 3 projects to go. This one looks like a lot of work; but as I've hinted, the progression on the motorhome is Class-A brick==>rat-rod flatbed truck==>3-wheeled rat-rod flatbed truck==>The Template.
