Building a car from scratch- how would YOU do it?

[solarguy]

I guess I should ask that question out loud.

I have to have a diesel. I make biodiesel. It's enviro friendly, etc etc etc. Plus, the diesel engine is inherently more thermodynamically efficient. I have hunted around a lot to find a diesel that meets all the criteria, size, weight, max power around 25 hp, water cooled, electric start, parts are available, etc. I really like the Isuzu b/c of their very good durability. But this group has access to a lot of knowledge. Am I overlooking the ideal power plant?

But I would be open to suggestions if somebody knows of either a 4 cyl (less vibration) or some boxer configuration diesel (inherently balanced, no extra efficiency robbing "balance shafts") for lower center of gravity. Not too spendy would also be good. <3,000 bucks would be my price range.

Finest regards,

troy

[solarguy]

"As an ex-silversmith, I'd love to be beating out a nice copper bottom for a car, but for the weight, aluminum gives even more heat transfer, and you can solder it easily with zinc based rod."

I totally believe you could easily solder aluminum. I'm not totally convinced it would be easy for me. In my (admittedly very limited) experience, conditions have to be imaculately perfect for that to work. I'd also be worried about long term galvanic problems if I stick copper tubing to aluminum plate, and/or I'm not crazy about aluminum tubing in an environment with a lot of vibration.


Finest regards,

troy

[Coyote X]

Originally Posted by ATaylorRacing

I would use a dune buggy and put the drive train from a Metro XFi in the back....keep the wt under 1000 lbs with me on it would be easy and with less wt comes better FE.

Why build one when someone already has one



They are around 5000 bucks and if you had a titled geo metro you could use that since the engine in it is a slightly smaller G10 motor, just swap your motor and vin number onto the buggy, add lights and you are set.

Then just add a big fan on the back and you have what is possibly my next project

[Otto]

Foam and fiberglass sandwich structure, sculpted into aero shape a la Hucho.

Maybe do a knockoff of some of the German pre-WWII designs, which were hyper-efficient.

If a two-wheeler is suitable, use Battle Mountain HPV designs for guidance. After all, the latest of these got ~83 mph on equivalent of <0.5 hp.

The more aero the shape & lighter the vehicle, the less power and therefore heat needed to propel it.

[Kaneda]

im just curious as to where i can get one of those 600KLTs ???!!!!

[solarguy]

Originally Posted by Kaneda

im just curious as to where i can get one of those 600KLTs ???!!!!

Hayes Diversified Technologies originally said they would sell a civilian version of the diesel kawasaki once they met their obligations to the U.S. Marines. Never happened. The military buys every machine they build.

THAT would be a sweet ride at almost 100 mpg.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/au...=1&oref=slogin


The availability of that type of motorcycle is the only thing that will entice me to get a bike again.

Finest regards,

troy

[Unforgiven]

Sadly, the ideas I have are not allowed on the road as a licensed vehicle. But the reverse trike idea is one of the better ones, and have shown a lot of potential. Would be interested to see if a double trans option (a cvt + a geared manual) would perhaps allow for decent flat ground work from micro type engines (micro in this case being things 500cc and lower) I could see where hilly terrain would be a problem though. I believe there is a simple 1.0L diesel generator application that could allow for some interesting savings, having the cvt spin the final gearing, while the manual could allow for a range setup... parking, city block, back road, highway cruise... (just a strange idea) I did a conversion once of a pedal powered quad "bicycle" (four wheels, extra frame for the outriggers of the wheels) and added a used weedeater engine to it, but could not really get it quiet like I wanted (angry bumblebee on speed comes to mind)

[Unforgiven]

Heh, it could be worse, look what Mother Mopar came up with a few years back...

Dodge Tomahawk motorcycle concept car in review

Now this does not really fit the eco idea, but it is an Interesting idea all the same. lol

[NachtRitter]

Wonder if that'd be considered a "car" since it has 4 wheels...?

[bennelson]

I know that in my state, a vehicle can be considered motorcycle-class even if it has four wheels, as long as it's below a certain weight limit.

This allows for vehicles such as those little garbage collection cars and university maintenance carts that have to run around on public roads.

Part of the popularity of home-built trikes is that they tend to be easier to get the DOT's stamp of approval because hey, it's not a car!