Slow progress but progress (DIY two seater tadpole trike, 9hp Honda diesel)

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Xist

I have heard of cars where they piped some of the exhaust back into the engine to burn the fuel more completely, but I do not know what other techniques there are.

I was just thinking that it would be silly, you have a tiny, yet efficient engine, putting out a fraction of the particulates of a standard engine, but since its airflow is so low, it fails. Could someone install a blower ahead of the muffler to pull in outside air and thin out the exhaust?

Am I a bad person for thinking of this?

I'd rather get forced induction (or some combustion enhancement supplementary injection with water+ethanol) instead of that exhaust oxidizing pump trick.

[Beau]

I am dying to see an update on this project.

[user removed]

Sorry, no updates for a while now, but that gave me some time to sell all but one of my motorcycles which went a long way towards paying the cost of this project. There porbably will not be a lot of progress before the end of this year. I might get some of the mechanical things sorted out before the end of the year.

regards
Mech

[damarble]

Very cool build. I've wanted to do something in this vein for a while. Have you ever looked at the locost forum? There are a bunch of bike based cars/trikes on there.

As far as a reverse gear on yours, how about something like the Honda Goldwing uses? The starter motor actually powers the bike in reverse. I'm assuming they switch polarity and are able to cut spark/fuel to the engine while cranking.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

Sorry, no updates for a while now, but that gave me some time to sell all but one of my motorcycles which went a long way towards paying the cost of this project. There porbably will not be a lot of progress before the end of this year. I might get some of the mechanical things sorted out before the end of the year.

regards
Mech

I've had a ton of downtime,healing from the hernia repair surgery and have been grinding a bunch of numbers.
The Honda solar racing folks published a paper on their Dream series of cars.
Cd 0.10 and frontal area a little over 12-sq-ft.600-700-pounds.
The motors are rated at 1,500-watts but it looks like DC motors can peak momentarily at over 300% power.
In a worse-case-scenario,we're looking at 79-mph on 6-bhp,and 166-mpg on gasoline at this velocity,with a conservative 0.45 lbs/bhp-hr BSFC.
With the diesel engine,the tadpole really excites the imagination.
Thanks for doing all this!

[CFECO]

Very interesting project you have here! The front is much like the car I designed for the Auto X-Prize competition. I am starting to work again on my car using a VW floorpan and front axle, starting first with plastic model kits. The body will start with a new Beetle, with the rear facing forward as it comes very close to the Template. There are aluminum axle tubes made for sand cars, which can save quite a lot of weight on a light car.

[freebeard]

The front is much like the car I designed for the Auto X-Prize competition. I am starting to work again on my car using a VW floorpan and front axle, starting first with plastic model kits. The body will start with a new Beetle, with the rear facing forward as it comes very close to the Template.

Have you posted anything about this? I'm curious why you would use a reversed New Beetle body. I don't believe you can use the rear glass and the cowl inner structure is missing. An older Beetle body would have less frontal area (but it wouldn't have the pop-out windshield). What scale are you working in. I'd love to have a floorpan and engine in 1/12th (dollhouse scale, 1"=1')

There are aluminum axle tubes made for sand cars, which can save quite a lot of weight on a light car.

I mentioned the aluminum axle beams in Permalink #52 but it got lost in a discussion about anti-roll.
________

EDIT: I've been thinking about how the front wheelwell openings are pretty locked down, what with being part of the perimeter frame; and the articulated skirts.

The 2014 BMW X5 has what they call air curtains to control wheelwell turbulence. They use vents at the front and rear of the wheelwell.

The page won't load at this time in this location, but I think i was reading about it here:
http://www.bimmerfile.com/2010/12/13...detail/‎
So maybe it could be as simple as a convergent duct that necks down to 3/4" times the height of the wheelwell outside the frame in front, and a 3/4" radius in back to mimic the 1st gen Insight. And forget the skirt.

[CFECO]

I have not been on here for a couple of years, as my project got put on hold. I had posted what I was doing and how the car was going to be put together, materials, engines, etc. The X-Prize Car did not generate enough interest
(funding) around here at the time, so it was not finished in time for the competition, although it would have been much more "User-friendly" than the winning car. Now I am going to just continue on myself, slowly. I have no shop to work in, but am putting up a metal carport on some rural property I have, "The Ranch". I was going to buy a VW chassis and start cutting, but I decided to start with the models, 1/24 scale, and get get it built to scale first. I may even be able to do some leafblower wind tunnel testing.
The New Beetle back window will not be able to be used as it it not DOT glass. When full scale build time comes, I can use the rear half of the Beetle body as a form to make a fiberglass mold off of.

[freebeard]

I had posted what I was doing and how the car was going to be put together, materials, engines, etc.

I checked here, there's only 4 threads started and the're all about Tundra's and Rabbit Diesels.

How many miles to the property? I have space in a barn that's 17 miles from this keyboard and it sucks. Are you going to have half you tools in each location, keep a minimal set at home, or have a towable toolbox? I get it with the fiberglass. Female mold? The body or mold would need to be pie-cut so the body sides taper the other way.

I think a lot about the old Beetle chassis as a development platform. If you want to discuss that we should probably take it to an appropiate thread. Suggestions?

[CFECO]

I'll try to find where my project was located.
My property is about 15 miles from home, 4 miles of mountain dirt road, 4x4 required in Winter. I lived there 15 years, it's totally off the grid, so propane, solar, and wind provide the power. I have a Lincoln gas powered welder for those needs. Most tools are up there, our HOA will not allow car-building at the Residence. The "tractor shed" will be a dirt floor, but I have a flatbed trailer I can use for a level work surface.
The plan is to pull a female mold off the VW body, if it works out, and then build the true body shell from the mold.