Urba Centurion #4

[changzuki]

Subscribed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
~CrazyJerry

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Would you eventually consider to go even further and also get a composite valve cover? It has been used by Cummins and Clatterpillar.. err.. Caterpillar, in order to provide not just a better thermal management but also some noise suppression.

[GreenHornet]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

Would you eventually consider to go even further and also get a composite valve cover? It has been used by Cummins and Clatterpillar.. err.. Caterpillar, in order to provide not just a better thermal management but also some noise suppression.

Yes I did think of that and I believe it would be pretty doable. On the Z482 this would be a very small part

It would not cost much dinero to fabricate this part up.

[GreenHornet]

Here are a few pics of the Triumph 1300cc gas engine next to the Kubota Z482cc diesel Centurion. I can actually pick up the Kubota and carry it around no need for the engine hoist on this little guy LOL.

I have posted these pics in another thread but I thought it would be appropriate to post them again here in this thread so that you can see the difference between the original Spitfire engine vs the Centurions Diesel Gladiator

Ecomodders for the win once again

GH..

[cowmeat]

Lighten the Flywheel.

If you lighten the flywheel on the 13 hp motor, would it pull the car up an incline?

[GreenHornet]

Some Pictures and info of three key components to Centurion #4 High Mileage ability.

#1. The Kubota Z482 2 Cylinder diesel engine
#2. Triumph GT6 3.27 Rear Differential
#3. Laycock de Normanville D Type Overdrive

What I love about the Z482 is the weight or lack there of I should say. This is one of the few liquid cooled diesel engines you will see that the average Joe could pick up and set on the table with his own bare hands

The GT6 3.27 differentials are more robust than the Spitfire units to handle the 6 cylinder lumps under the hood. Not that the Centurion needs the extra beefy ness but what I was after was the taller gearing as 3.27 is numerically the highest differential gearing that can be had with the Triumph Spitfire and GT6 cars. The good news here is that many of the Spitfire and GT6 cars have interchangeable bolt on ready parts and it just so happens this is one of them so no need for fabrication with this modification. Just bolt it up and off you go

Triumph through out the years offered various overdrive units for there cars. The Spitfires came in the D type and the J type units. The D type was offered in the earlier cars and later upgraded to the J types. These were also found in the GT6 cars. The J types were more robust and could handle more power than the earlier D type overdrives. The sole advantage to the D type was taller gearing. One easy way to tell them apart is by which side the Solenoid is on. The D type is on the right side and the J type is on the left. The gear reduction on all of these overdrives are denoted as the first two numbers on the Face Placard where it says Serial Number.

The Spitfires offered a few different gearing options. 22% and 25%. The thing about these little overdrives are that they were not just made for Triumph cars but also could be found in Austin Healey, Morris Minor, Sunbeam Alpines and Volvo 120/1800 to name a few. For a good history lesson on these overdrives here is a link = Sheffield Yorkshire providers of overdrive units

The overdrive unit that will be used in the Centurion #4 is a D type overdrive found in a Volvo 1800. Since I will not be pushing more power with the Centurion vs the Spitfire my choice was simple go for the overdrive that would give me the greatest gearing advantage not the one that will allow the most power potential such as the J type. Granted there is a little bit of modification needed to get the Volvo 1800 overdrive to work with the Spitfire but for the most part it will bolt right up These overdrives were the same out of the factory they just made adapter plates for the various makes and models.

I will go into greater detail in regards to the overdrive and modifications needed to get it to work with the Spitfire drivetrain in a later post.

The main thing to note that you will see in the pictures is the Overdrive gearing of 32%. This is the tallest gearing they made and is roughly the equivalent of a .75 top end gear ratio.

Centurions FTEW

GH..

[GreenHornet]

Originally Posted by cowmeat

If you lighten the flywheel on the 13 hp motor, would it pull the car up an incline?

This car will have no problems climbing the steepest of hills once I am done with it

[GreenHornet]

I have been putting a lot of thought into the cabin airflow and cooling options. This past week it has been really hot for Oregon so my thoughts are this summer is going to be a real scorcher.

When I look at the Centurion the first thing I noticed was all the windows in relation to the size of the car. The next thing noticed was there was only a few small openings on either cabin window to let fresh air into the car. These windows with in a window have been used in the past with the Delorean as well as presently with the VW XL1. I like the idea of the window with in the window I just think the window that opens needs to be a bit larger and have roll down capability. So part of my door redesign will incorporate larger opening windows with in a window that can be rolled down manually also like in the VW XL1.

The other thing about the Centurion is that it has a foam core which contributes to its body shell strength. The foam core also helps insulate the Centurion which is great in the winter. However in the summer the foam insulation can help turn the Centurion into an unintended solar oven. My thoughts here are two fold. I will implement a foam core Carbon Fiber roll bar into a new foam Kevlar wrapped bulkhead that separates the cabin from the rear hatch area. This will help strengthen the fiberglass body shell as well as help Centurions safety potential in the event of a roll over crash preventing the hood from collapsing in on the occupants.

The new rear hatch composite reinforced bulkhead also gives us safety again in a crash in the event something penetrates the back end of the car. We now have something to help stop rear projectiles from having a clear path into the cabin space. This will also give us a defined trunk area that is safer to store things into and will be safer again in the event of a crash or having to immediately stomp on the brakes. You now will not have to worry about items in the trunk hitting you in the back of the head lol

The other thing the composite reinforced bulkhead offers is that it helps reduce the space of the cabin in which to heat and cool. It also helps insulate and shield the cabin from all the solar gain that the large rear windows generate. This also gives us a nice place to install louvers into the bulkhead if we ever want to install a small efficient EV style air conditioning system. This will allow us to keep the front dash un modified which is less work and still keeps the Centurion look and feel.

My thoughts on this are that we can replace the rear window hatch with solar cells and a very small opening for airflow. These solar cells can help power the ancillary devices in the car such as the interior cabin lights, radio, and the small air conditioning system. Since we are segregating the car into thirds the cabin area will not require a big deal of BTU in order to keep it cool in the summer months. My thought is coming up with something similar to the Cool blue AC system. Maybe something even a little smaller would be ideal. The Cool Blue system can be configured to only use 500W and reducing EV range by an estimated 5%. I think I can come up with something a little smaller that would give centurion a solid cooling option for the hot and humid summer months.

Here is a link to Cool Blue = Electric Blue Motors Products

So there you go gang a few ideas to help create a safer and cooler Centurion

GH

[GreenHornet]

I did some research into some EV cars running this similar Cool Blue AC system. One in particular was a Dodge Neon in Phoenix AZ. The unit seemed to cool the car very well and kept the interior conditions descent for super hot AZ weather. My thought is maybe just try a similar system with same BTU output.

The reason for this is all the people that used this Cool Blue system or similar said while it did cool well but they wanted something a little more powerful or a system that would cool faster. So with that said all the cars I compared were your normal 5 seat sedans such as the Neon. These are much larger than the Centurion and since I will be only needing to cool the 2 seat cabin I think the 5,000 BTU might be just the perfect balance to cool it down quickly and keep it cool in the hottest of conditions.

So the plan will be to find the most efficient compact AC window unit at a competitive price point and utilize it with little modification. I will have to also purchase an inverter to run it on AC vs the DC battery pack. Maybe a few other odds and ends but the costs should be minimal. This will evolve without doubt but this is the basic starter plan as of now

More to come,

GH

[GreenHornet]

Since I have been on the subject of Cooling I might as well briefly cover my engine cooling plans. The Centurion plans call for using the original Spitfire radiator. In my opinion the Spitfire radiator is overkill for the small Kubota 2 cylinder engine. The Triumph radiator was sized for an engine that was more than double the Kubotas size. So I will downsize and go with a more appropriately sized unit. I have looked into several options and most likely I will go with an all Aluminum dual core unit that are used for Go Karts. They can be found on Ebay for $100.

The advantage of this is 10 fold. I have a radiator that is more compact and light weight. I will also gain the advantage of a dual cores which increases cooling capacity and overall cooling efficiency for the given size. An all aluminum unit typically lasts longer than the newer plastic units they sale for OEM cars these days. There will be less time for engine heat up due to the smaller size. This is one area of a diesel engine that can be improved upon and going with a smaller radiator can help achieve this.

Along with this I will do away with the mechanical water pump and install the electric water pump I have (EWP80). These units are compact and electronically controlled. They control the pump as well as the electric fan. You have multiple set points and the advantage of engine cooling while the engine is off. There are other advantages as well but the main idea is electric efficiency and control. This on a tiny micro engine such as the Kubota Z482 helps preserve its mega 13hp output vs a belted mechanical water pump which robs ponies and is less efficient

Disadvantage to the mechanical water pump is it is running continuously and only when the engine is on. Engine cooling is only really needed continuously when you are in stop and go traffic or being pushed really hard like in racing conditions.

Here is a quick video about the product =

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ia4BQR23r4I