Fat rear wheels

engmpoll · Post by **engmpoll** » Wed May 16, 2007 9:14 pm

Saw this pic on Eliots website, sorry for poaching it, how do you go about converting the back end of your motor to look like these two beasties. Wasn't sure where to post this item as it kind of covers, suspension, drivetrain, brakes, chassis and bodywork!! Is it a job that can be carried out by a competent home mechanic or is it specialist? i'm not saying I want drag tyres on my road car but I do want fat rubber at the back, and instead of going silly with a wide arch body kit I was looking to this as real alternative when I get my grubby mits on my car. Any help or experience then do tell.

cheers

engmpoll · Post by **engmpoll** » Thu May 17, 2007 5:46 am

Suppose what would really help is if I posted the link, then you could see what i'm wittering on about!!

http://www.mez.co.uk/dcam/DSCF1713.JPG

Eliot · Post by **Eliot** » Thu May 17, 2007 6:01 am

I dont mind you linking to photo's like that, because it's not inline (i.e. it doesn't automaticly load, thereby chew tons of bandwidth everytime someone opens this thread)

Anyways - if you want your rear-end fattened (oh-err missus) speak to John Sleath - who seems pretty good at it:

http://www.john-sleath.com/

Those cars are the CCSE - class, which are street legal drag cars.

IainB · Post by **IainB** » Thu May 17, 2007 7:26 am

engmpoll,
Typically its called back halving a car, possible to do DIY but personally I would go to a chassis shop to get it done, Websters, John Sleath, Hausers, Andy Robinson, CRAP Racing etc etc etc

plastic orange · Post by **plastic orange** » Thu May 17, 2007 10:01 am

If you have the facilities and can weld, have a go yourself. It's not a particularly cheap option though as you have to narrow axle etc.
Here's a pic of my minor chassis - wheels within bodywork.

Pete

engmpoll · Post by **engmpoll** » Thu May 17, 2007 11:25 am

Did you build the whole chassis yourself? what did you use for jigging the chassis to keep it true, i'm not familiar with the moggy minor details so i'm not sure what part of your chassis is original and what is extra. It looks very impressive and is probably exactly what i need to do. Whats the best starting point??

engmpoll · Post by **engmpoll** » Thu May 17, 2007 6:12 pm

I suppose also, if you didn't want a whole chassis doing you could go along the lines of the 'v8 mini pie van'? I'm mainly thinking of doing this for cosmetic reason so a full on street legal drag racing chassis is a little over kill for this application, the furthest i'm going to go is to a rung what you brung!! I suppose doing it this way would just require a subframe being made up and securely attaching to the chassis, you could use a 4 linkage style set up or how about a jag irs system? any thoughts??

plastic orange · Post by **plastic orange** » Thu May 17, 2007 9:25 pm

Chassis was built from scratch and was done for me by my mate who is into hot rods etc. (I built a previous one myself, but he was due me a favour - and he is a craftsman) It is a bit more complicated than it needs to be, but it shows you what the back half needs to look like if you want to keep the wheels within the wings.
Coincidentally, my other Minor (Blue one) runs a Jag IRS which is built into the rear structure of the car, so this is obviously quite feasable. The down side is that they are pretty heavy and absorb a fair bit of power, and would possibly need narrowed to suit your car.
There is loads written about the jag rear end, and installation info can be found here:

http://www.uk-hotrods.co.uk/v2/tech/

Pete

engmpoll · Post by **engmpoll** » Fri May 18, 2007 5:53 am

I'm assuming the body drops on over the top of the chassis then? Did you cut the floor pan out of the body to get it to sit low enough on the chassis, otherwise I would imagine you would end up with a Range Rover Classic type arrangement, where by the body sit on top of the chassis on rubber mounts?? Maybe that is the way to do it, I dont know!!
What I like about the whole chassis deal like yours is its not overkill like the street legal drag cars for day to day use, plus you still get the benefits, inboard fat rubber and you can mount the engine further backwards if required!

kiwicar · Post by **kiwicar** » Fri May 18, 2007 9:38 am

I would grab a couple of books on chassis design and have a go, go to amazon and search chassis design. You need a good flat work area be able to set up a chassis table but you could do it. The locost book from haynes shows what you can do at home with very little.
Mike

ian.stewart · Post by **ian.stewart** » Fri May 18, 2007 1:01 pm

What car do you have, you may be able to squeeze BIG tires under the with a bit of carefull measuring and perhaps a bit of trimming, and measuring what wheel offset can acheive this

You could have a look on here to see what can be bought to convert your car, http://www.cachassisworks.com/cac_catalogs.html
Please don't think I am being negative, but I have been witness to many cars that have been built to get the look, And its a fairly final conversion to do to a car, if you don't like how it handles, or you don't like the look when its done, or even if you run of skill, make no mistake its not cheap to do, there is a member on here who has paid over 4k to get his axle narrowed/made to suit his car, and I don't think there was any chassis work involved either, It can be done cheaper, but don't expect much change from 1k for the axle narrowing, wheels and tires are a variable due to what size and wheel design you go for, Chassis work and fabrication , depends on how good you are with a welder and sheet metal work, how you intend to locate your axle is also another big variable and what quality items you use, Rose joints can be horrendously expensive, and then there is the bodywork, if you tub the car to get your tires under the arches, they have to be fixed to the outer skin, this normally involves welding to the wing to secure the new arches, and go too big, you have to make the wheel opening bigger so the wheel can be fitted or removed, or narrow the axle more so there is enough clearance to wiggle the wheel off the car, but going this route tends to in my opinion, make the car look very odd with 3" of clearance between wheel edge and rear wing.
Again, please don't think I am being negative, I am just trying to outline some of the many pitfalls
,

Ian

plastic orange · Post by **plastic orange** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:28 pm

Here's the link to the build up of my Minor.

http://www.minormania.com/smf/index.php?topic=278.0

I've done nothing to it since before Christmas as the body shell is still waiting to be media blasted, and I am getting mucked around a bit (told him I wasn't in a hurry - expecting a month

). Still, I have plenty other things to be doing anyway.
On the topic of chassis construction, I built the previous chassis with just a hacksaw, drill, angle grinder and electric welder - oh and lots of measuring - took about a full week to get to rolling stage with engine /box mounted. I then decided i didn't like it and sold it on about 10 years later. My mate built one the same (at the same time in my garage) and his car (green V8 splitscreen Minor) got finished and has been sold a couple of times on Ebay recently,so concept was good.

Pete

engmpoll · Post by **engmpoll** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:45 pm

Pete thanks for the link, some wild cars on that site. I'm going to do as previously suggested and get myself a book on the subject bmatter, seems a few good ones to choose from on Amazon. Also i've had a a look at all the websites of the people suggested and I must admit my understanding of the subject matter has vastly increased, had the monitor at some very strange angles mind to get my head round some of the pics.

Ian, I dont have any car yet, I am building up a knowledge base while I still decide on what vehicle to go for. I've decided on the engine I want to run, i'm just looking for the ideal donor to take it from. Car wise i'm probably looking at something like an Alfa GTV, and with the Lexus V8 and its size i'm most likely going to have to create a front subframe and attach to the existing chassis and bulkhead and also a rear subframe to convert to rear wheel drive. The reason also for the fat rubber is i'm looking for 600 horse plus and want to get as much of it down as possible. Thats what I would like but if sense and the miss's gets hold of me it will probably be a converted estate, dare I say it a vectra!! I quite like the angled lines of the mk2.

plastic orange · Post by **plastic orange** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:51 pm

In my experience, you are far better (much cheaper) buying a finished car and then personalising it to your taste (I should listen to my own advice). There are loads to choose from out there, just have a look around.
I just passed on an Alfa kit car (2l twin cam) for free about a month ago - it would have done you fine as a start - Reanimation took it down south as a project - good man.

Pete

engmpoll · Post by **engmpoll** » Fri May 18, 2007 4:29 pm

I know what you are saying with regards to getting a finished project as it is cheaper and easier. But if were honest we accept that our hobby is a financial black hole, we do it because we love it not because we want to see a return in investment and also if it was easy everyone would be doing it!! agreed?? I work offshore so get quite a bit of time off and by the time you've done the diy, walked the dogs, been the gym etc you start to run out of things to do, so i'm looking at this project as a hobby to spend my time on, i'm not intending to complete it in a matter of months, if it takes 12 then fine, if it takes 24 ok, I will progress it as fast as money permits. I'm at the stage at the moment where I dont really know which car to start/work with, all I know is I want to do one, I just never realised trying to choose a car with some cool/ shabby chic factor was so difficult!!