Project: The AeroMetro

[Smurf]

It appears you are lengthening the wheelbase overall, correct?

Another idea would be to make a fiberglass copy of your front end (fenders and hood). Wouldn't be too difficult, likely save a good amount of weight, and you could encapsulate the front wheel wells. And you could bubble out to start a taper, continuing on the door, and then to your tail. Like:

 

      /|\
       |
       |
  ___________
 / |       | \
 |W  Motor  W|
 |W         W|
 \ |       | /
  \| Seats |/
   \_______/
    \     /
     \   /
      \ /
       V
(Not quite that extreme, but you get the idea)

Would the negative aspect of the extra frontal area outweigh the benefits of a more complete teardrop shape? And that Code drawing took way more time than a simple Paint/upload/link would have..

[albyneau]

Originally Posted by HydroJim

albyneau- Thank you for the concern scott, but this isn't just any stainless hardware. it was specially put together by a member on the geometroforums so everything is all spec'd out correctly. headbolts aren't part of the kit though so I'll be using some head bolts from a guy named "Geo Glenn"

At the risk of being argumentative, and I humbly apologize for sounding so, don't trust your motor's livelihood (and your wallet's) to another's opinion. Just cuz they got the size/length/pitch right does NOT mean they're *application-specific*. You can buy SS bolt kits all day long @ eBay/amazon/etc., but the bottom line is it's YOUR motor, and your wallet. If you bought TRUE graded SS bolts, then- given the pic you posted- you spent about $2.00-4.00 per bolt.
At the risk of sounding prideful~ I've been doing this for well more than twice your age~ and the true sign of wisdom is the ability to learn from mistakes that are not your own. You don't have to trust me, but you shouldn't trust ANYBODY with your own wellbeing. Nobody will take better care of you~ than YOU.


Peace~
Scott

[HydroJim]

smurf- I think it will end up being lengthened a little bit, but not too much. I'm trying to keep the weight down. I think front wheel skirts can achieve a similar drag number with much less frontal area. I like the fiberglassing idea, but what is on these right now is well and working so I think I'll stick with it. Keep the ideas coming though.

albyneau- The guy who assembled the fastener kits did it because he was using them on his turbo build. a few guys on the forum asked him to put together some kits. He did it and sold it at cost to a few guys on the forum. One of the guys ended up liquidating all the parts that he was saving up for the build and I scored the fasteners for cheap enough to justify the price. I believe the whole kit was 168 pieces and it cost about $1 per piece originally. So I'd say the pricing matches your 2-4 per bolt. The guys have been using the hardware no problem. I thank you for your advice though!

[HydroJim]

More parts have arrived!







Everything pictured:

• Control arm boots
  
  
• inner tie rod ends
• outer tie rod ends
• CV axles
• NGK spark plugs
• Heater Core
• Distributor case gasket
• Geo Glenn head bolts
• various O-rings
  
  
• 2 new front rotors
• 2 re-manufactured and loaded calipers
• 1 distributor cap
• 1 distributor rotor
• PCV valve
• Spark plug wires
• 2 front brake hoses

[euromodder]

While I applaud your courage to launch such a project, I'd advise against any reverse-trike conversion, especially when starting from an already short-wheelbase car with a relatively high CoG.

These things lack stability.

[solarguy]

You can somewhat improve stability by lengthening the wheelbase. This may help the aerodynamics as well.

Fiddling around with the center of gravity by relocating some movable components may also help, like the battery and gas tank.


hth,

troy

[HydroJim]

Parts keep rolling in:









What is pictured:
2 Front Strut mounts
2 Front strut bellows
2 Front Wheel bearings
driver's side door handle
2 front struts
195 degree thermostat
air filter
right control arm
4 Bar Rod End

Not pictured:
Left Front Control Arm

What still has to come in:
camera set-up for side view mirror
2 more wheel bearings
cylinder head

Thanks for looking! more to come in the following weeks and the actual work will begin sometime in summer.

[elhigh]

Euro, I wouldn't worry about this trike being unstable.

Tadpoles - two wheels in front - are generally considered as stable as four wheelers so long as most of the mass is kept close to the wide end. Since that's the case, no worries. And as he modifies the original vehicle's mass distribution by removing a wheel, a lot of heavy glass up high at the rear and an unwanted seat, that simply means more of the remaining weight is biased forward and lower over the front wheels. Even less worries.

Europe in particular has had some history with three wheelers, both tadpoles and deltas (one wheel in front), and the Brits can tell you that the latter can be a handful if not designed properly. The Reliant Robin, for example, spends nearly as much time upside down at the side of the road as it does right side up, on the road. I was especially amused to see a Reliant represented in the animated movie Cars 2, and the character's name was Tomber. That's French, it means "to fall down." Very apropos.

But the Brits also have the Morgan three wheelers, and if you've spent any seat time in those you know you'll just about peel your own face off around corners before you get it to flip over.

Also: I was very amused at the picture of the new axles in their boxes, marked "performance drive axles." On a Metro? Sure, okay...

[LeanBurn]

What about rear suspension? Isn't that needed?

[elhigh]

Originally Posted by LeanBurn

What about rear suspension? Isn't that needed?

But the OP says that picture isn't of his project. Let's hope he has one on his. It isn't that hard to do, the rear suspension of any largish touring bike has enough oomph to hold up the light end of a tadpole trike.