1988 Festiva LX 'Red' (diesel conversion)

[Christ]

Originally Posted by skyking

Seriously, I would some day. Just not till I finish everything in front of the pile first

They're probably not going anywhere. I have uses for a few of them, but I have more than I need and can probably get even more as time goes on. I kinda collect them when I see 'em come through.

One of them is slated for my John Deere 400 loader, actually. Near perfect fit in place of the Kohler K582 that's on it now.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Christ

... left over from a bike that got trashed by my house falling on it.

There's a Wicked Witch of the West joke in there somewhere...

Just FYI: ForkenSwift has a peak rating of around 19 hp and decent torque. It does not like hills. Though, (A) current is intentionally cut back by easing up on the go pedal on said hills to prevent damaging battery voltage sag, and (B) at 2070 lbs post-conversion, it's significantly heavier than you could make the Festiva.

So, I think 18 "real" hp is doable in your driving environment.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

I've forgot to inquire you previously, but is the engine air-cooled, right?

Originally Posted by Christ

I'm good at 18HP, honestly. There's so little traffic around here in the areas I need to go 45 or so, acceleration is just one of those 'gotta do it eventually' things.

If you can work around to improve the gear selection, it might help to overcome the issues brought by such low power. Anyway, if a BMW 120i only needs 20hp to cruise at 60MPH at its taller gear, you might find your way with 18hp into the Festiva...

I do plan on lightening the car up

Lightening it up is essentially a must for such project. Well, you could eventually get some custom-made fiberglass panels to replace the stock tailgate, doors, front hood and fenders, and to get a slightly better aerodynamic profile on them. A single-piece front clip without gaps between the hood and fenders, with some built-in aerodynamic inserts, and a tailgate with a built-in spoiler, might be a good way to save a few pounds while also improving its aerodynamic profile without making it look like a space shuttle.

[MetroMPG]

Confused!? ^^ Your last sentence suggests there's something wrong with making your car look like a space shuttle.

:P

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Confused!? ^^ Your last sentence suggests there's something wrong with making your car look like a space shuttle.

:P

It's not my cup of tea to ride something which looks like a space shuttle. Otherwise, I'd go to NASA

[Christ]

I like the stock look of the Festiva. It's /fairly/ easy to make big improvements with it's shape without making huge obvious changes, too.

As always, with every project I try, there's a problem.

The '20HP lombardini' that I was supposed to be getting isn't a 20HP engine at all. It's a 14HP single cylinder, which is a bit lower than I suppose will work effectively without prematurely grenading due to running around at max load for extended periods, which was not in the design plan.

The 18HP briggs was supposed to be used a more of a 'mockup' engine to get things set up and eventually switch over to a diesel, but it's really not an ideal engine to use because it's air cooled /and/ splash oiled [i.e. no oil pressure and huge load on the crank bearings during acceleration]... So I'm having a bit of a moment over here.

Started doing research on a sekrit option last night. Will advise as research continues.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

I actually like the air-cooled layout, altough the splash-oiling is far from decent for a car, unless you would drive it only in plain areas.

[Frank Lee]

The low compression flat head is the worst efficiency drawback for the B&S. An OHV B&S of similar size would be much better on fuel. P.S. and it would have full pressure oil lube.

[Christ]

Yep Frank, but I don't have one /laying around/ as yet, at least not in the proper configuration.

I'm still scratching my head about another avenue this may take that's still diesel, but I have to find the time to go take things apart and rudimentarily smash them together to see if they stick.

Thor is getting angry. Time to get out the Hammer.

[Jasen]

What about a Kabota D902 @24hp. They can be found in commercial gennies, search lights and probably older Bob cat's plus other commercial equipment as well.
I was eyeing their D1105T @32hp for a future project, but as the norm for diesels, they have a price tag compared to gas engine's. I think my project will have a Metro 3 banger, at least to begin with.