Help me out, fellas.... ZC SOHC??

[Bitchin LS1]

Nope, the Honda Civic is gonna get pilfered for the engine, transmission, suspension components, steering rack, maybe seats for now... that's about it. I'm gonna scrap the rest of the car, which is kind of a shame because the body is in excellent shape. Not too big of a market for a 4-door DX shell though. (trust me, I checked.) I'm basically building a vehicle to defeat the mighty Ariel Atom, but for about $40,000 less than the Atom's base price of $49,500 American. So seamless tube steel chassis custom built by yours truly, motor and tranny by Honda, and suspension by Bilstein most likely. After that... sky would be the limit if the purse wasn't. It's gonna be Frankenstein as all heck, but with proper steps taken along the way to keep it professional enough to sell, I should be able to open a market for it.

 

[Bitchin LS1]

As for the challenges, 0-60 in 3.3 is pretty reasonable in a car that weighs less than a ton, so I'm not too focused on that one. The 60-0 in 75 feet... slightly more tricky but with proper disc brakes all the way around, a good proportioning valve, and again a car that weights close to nothing, still do-able. The doosie is of coarse the lateral G test. The Corvette ZR-1 ($98,000) will do just over a lateral G, but the suspension in that car is some next-level nonsense that Ferrari has been too lazy to copy thus far... I fear I may need to go in a different direction. Hence unequal length double wishbone. Stiff enough to hold the acceleration, soft enough to get the lateral G, and hopefully simple enough to avoid huge expense. Now, TIG welder? You think that'd suit my purpose better than the MIG I have?

 

[phunky.buddha]

Given the light weight and enough tire, 1.0G really shouldn't be that difficult to hit.

 

[ricksautomotive]

yeah i do think the chassis at least will require a TIG for stronger welds. this will be crucial in the control arms. basically a TIG welder has a much smaller heat affected zone near the weld. you plan on using bilstein shocks with custom fabed suspension components right? my designs will use any shock but adjstible coil overs will give the best adjustment availibility for making that 1 G happen. what would you sell that 4-door for? i might want it. do you have the interior? minus the seats of corse. and as to the suspension parts you wont need most of it for my designs. brakes maybe. and steering rack and column but not much else. let me scan a quick drawing of the rear suspension for you real quick

 

[ricksautomotive]

 

[ricksautomotive]

 

[ricksautomotive]

well hell dude i cant post stuff from my scanner i guess. maybe later when the computer tech guy gets in

 

[Bitchin LS1]

I dunno. By scrap weight I can sell the shell for about $360 bucks. I guess I can't really be too upset with that. The interior is pretty well clean. The carpets are a bit dirty but other than that I'd dare call it mint. I've never dealt with TIG welding before. I reckon it's time to do some readin...

 

[newb]

Im just gunna go ahead and say it. Sell what youve got and buy a GSR, then put a lil boost to it and youre done. Dont hafta open the motor up all, still should tune it and itd be reliable as all hell (with a tune).

 

[Bitchin LS1]

Yeah, while making my extremely skinny lady into a considerably fatter lady. Light weight man, otherwise I wouldn't be on this forum, I'd be building a P.O.S. Chevy 305 with a bent crank and two dead cylinders and still pull 300 horses out of it. The ZC sits on my engine stand (with transmission) at less than 400 pounds. Granted, it is dry and the scale at the yard only does 100 lb increments, but even still 300 horsepower powertrain at 400 lbs... argument won. Not to mention that Acura parts are ALWAYS going to be more expensive in the military town I am in.

 

[newb]

Not to mention that Acura parts are ALWAYS going to be more expensive in the military town I am in.

Wait, what?

Honda and Acura are the same thing. Or did you mean somethin else?

 

[TurboRex90]

Getting that kind of power out of a single-cam will require forced induction, upgraded fuel system, a really really good tune and probably upgraded internals. 300 wheel horsepower isn't a small feat with a single cam.

Agreed, With those on my D16Z6 SOHC, i make 250 to the wheel, and its so much more jaw dropping when you tell people that you have a single cam.

Buy reliable parts and find a skilled tuner and your set, atleast for this challenge you will be.

 

[ricksautomotive]

so youd be happy with 360 then huh? where do you live? shipping cars is expensive during the summer and the summer is almost here. gas prices rise raising the shipping costs. last year i shipped my rides to south carolina from california. costed 1100 bucks each car regular but i got all 3 rides shipped for 3 grand. i'm hoping youre closer. can you send pics to my e-mail? rickmartinez@rock.com

 

[Bitchin LS1]

Once I get the rest of the stuff I need out of it, I'll let ya know. I'm in North Carolina, near Wilmington. Jacksonville, or Camp Lejeune... Whichever I guess.

 

[ricksautomotive]

thats not far from my place in columbia south carolina. let me know when youre done stripping it and i'll figure out if i still want it. damn the street races are going on right now outside. i'm gonna cruise over there and see whos out there and just chill a minute. its cool cus i can see the passes go by when i look down on the street below my backyard wall. but i'm gonna take my 5.0 out real quick. maybe use the rest of the nitrous on a pass. or just purge it. i'll check back tomorrow

 

[Bitchin LS1]

Wait, what?

Honda and Acura are the same thing. Or did you mean somethin else?

Not exactly. One is an Acura, and one is a Honda. Price a Nissan 350Z and an Infiniti G35. Same engine, same chassis, same VIN platform. Now price the engine head of each. Surprise! Infiniti is almost $1300 dollars more and it's the EXACT same part number. Same ordeal with Acura/Honda in a town where 85% of the populous is a single male between the ages of 18 and 24. Everyone here thinks they know EVERYTHING about cars. I had a young fella just the other day butt into a conversation between myself and a friend at the bar. We were talking about a car that is available to me for $2,500 about 3 hours away. A worn but still solid 68 Charger rolling chassis that comes with the blown engine (matched numbers, mind you) and a rebuilt transmission. Well dick-smack, as I dubbed him informed me that Chargers are crap and that if I wanted a fast car to go buy a sweet-ass EVO DUDE! When I was about to ask him who the hell actually let him out of school so early on a weekday, my buddy laughed in the kids face. He was 18, a marine (go fucking figure), and a self-professed automotive mastermind (HA HA HA!!!!!) who, while keeping a straight face, told me about his buddy's evo 10 3/4 or whatever the hell evo they're making these days smoked a twin-turbocharged LS1 powered RX-7. I asked what was done to this monstrosity of an evo and he said, and I quote; "I don't really know what he has done to it but he won't let anyone look under his hood and shit cause it's supposed to be his sleeper car. I know for a fact that he has nawwwsss in it though." Anyhow, kid then tried to tell me that he can get 1000 horsepower out of an evo for less than ten grand and when I asked him "One thousand horsepower at the WHEELS?" he replied with a confused look and a "Whadya mean?" That was when I walked off. Anyhow, people like this are absolutely EVERYWHERE here, so imagine what goes through the mind of someone when you tell them you are a marine. Hence, no Acura anything. Too pricie for the EXACT same shit.

 

[Bitchin LS1]

Did I mention that I HATE Jacksonville, NC? Cuz I do. A lot. Really....

 

[ricksautomotive]

i know what you mean. people in columbia get together for runs to jacksonville to buy liquor like its a smokey and the bandit run or somethin worth celebrating. all because the liquor is cheeper there. now as far as shit to do in columbia i havent found shit thats real cool. but i like the scenery and all that stuff. the people are cooler than most in Los Angeles. and i like that there are no emmission laws for cars that i know of. but fuck jacsonville

 

[Bitchin LS1]

I concur. Anyhow, unless I can outsource the chassis this one may get tossed. In order to effectively make the chassis I need I'd have to get a jig table and it would probably take about 8 months. Interest officially lost. Problem is the local weld shop (crooks, of coarse) want "prolly 4 or 5 grand for sum-uhm like that there." Ha ha. I won't pay Buddha 5 thousand dollars to weld me a chassis when I can clearly see all the tools he needs in plain sight and the only effort he has to put forth is about 20 hours labor and 300 dollars worth of steel.

 

[ricksautomotive]

I concur. Anyhow, unless I can outsource the chassis this one may get tossed. In order to effectively make the chassis I need I'd have to get a jig table and it would probably take about 8 months. Interest officially lost. Problem is the local weld shop (crooks, of coarse) want "prolly 4 or 5 grand for sum-uhm like that there." Ha ha. I won't pay Buddha 5 thousand dollars to weld me a chassis when I can clearly see all the tools he needs in plain sight and the only effort he has to put forth is about 20 hours labor and 300 dollars worth of steel.

sounds like you need yourself a few tools. get a TIG welder for your chassis, a descent stick welder with a good duty cycle for constructing a chassis table, a MIG for tac-welds, and some steel and chromoly tubbing. you probably wont need more than 2-inch tubbing and a harbor freight tube bender should work okay. as long as you get your chassis table is square you wan use it as your jig. after you build your project you can probably make a profit when you sell a second one if you dont make a profit on your first one. after you do the first one you might get guys wanting you to build chassis for their own projects and you can just build them chassis. at the cost of used welders these days dont let a couple welders get in your way. cool things and sucessful businesses have been started with less