Fab guys, ever built a street car?

Gmachine

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2005
Given all the fab work I've seen around the area I was wondering if anyone has built a street car in the style of the open cockpit tube chassis? Not for everyday driving, but a fun vehicle. I think of the Atom. Something light, maybe a FWD V6 mounted behind the driver. 260 HP in a light car would be a blast! I guess safety & getting it tagged may be an issue. I can't imagine an AC Cobra would be much different. I see the dune buggies a lot, but those don't seem to be very well engineered.

I think the closest thing that will quench my speed obsession will be a ls1 swapped fox body. Who knows when that will happen either. It's just the cheapest quick car combo I've come up with.
 
I want to build something similar to an Atom, but haven't as of yet... Just an idea I had was to use Corvette rear suspension with a Honda engine/transmission. Or even take a whole Corvette and change it over to a mid-engine tubular chassis. I don't know much about Vette's, but I think the newer ones have the transmission in the rear, with a driveshaft mating it to the engine. One of the toughest parts would be finding a cheap, useable, wrecked Vette... Another idea, as bad as it might be, would be to use a Northstar V8 out of a Caddy, they are already FWD, not sure if a FWD manual transmission could be adapted to it though (cause who want's a fast car with an automatic?)

If you want fast, get a streetbike, nothing comes close (unless you have BIG $$$)...
 
I've got this book "how to build a cheap sportscar" http://www.amazon.com/Build-Cheap-Sports-Motorbooks-Workshop/dp/0760322872 (how do you hyperlink now?) and the guy builds the uglyass car that's on the cover, has a lot of good tips on what you're looking at doing though. Anyway, you're welcome to borrow it and all the rest of my chassis engineering books if you like. Corner-carvers.com is the no dumbass/pirate4x4 of track car chassis building/tech
 
Yes, manual trans would be the only way to go.

Thanks for the book & website suggestions. I'll have to check those out!

I'd love to have another fast car, I'm just not willing to sell my jeep to get one. Greedy, I know!
 
Miatas still bring decent $$ to consider a cheap body to start with. I don't mind some of the newer ones, but the stock engine would have to go!
 
Me and Joe put a LS1 in a Miata last year with the 6spd and 8.8 independant rear. Lot of work, but it was fun to drive. He bought a kit for the rear and crossmember. You cant get enuff rubber under the car to use the power and g forces it wants to make. That same engine was faster in the donor camaro because you had way more traction. Ultra lightweights like the Atom have the opposite issue, they are too light to plant themselves on the ground and too slow for any real aerodynamics to come into play. You can buy a 200 hp motorcycle and get the same feeling, only the bike will corner better since you lean it into the curve.
 
nctom said:
You can buy a 200 hp motorcycle and get the same feeling, only the bike will corner better since you lean it into the curve.
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Not to argue, but an ultralight track car such as the atom like he's talking about can and will outcorner a 200hp couch bike any day. Or even a typical sportbike. And as much as I like to ride bikes, I would have a whole lot more fun in a glorified gocart.
 
back in 1995 i built a tube chassis,camaro snout,I put a 1956 VW bug on it,350,turbo 350, 10bolt..all street legal..was a blast,got rid of it in 1997.had a baja kit on it with 33s
 
Lot of difference between drifting and cornering. If you want to burn tires to the cords and cut figure eights like Tanner Foust, gopher it!
I love to slide 'em around too! As far as real performance goes... Other than a million plus dollar F1 car, all things being equal under the helment, you can cut any road course faster on a hot bike than in a ultralite overpowered experimental car. It's far too inefficent to beat the bike. Been proven over the years from Baja to Daytona's Road Course. Not judging just quantifying. Build whatcha' like and like whatcha' build! Hell, I built a 250cc 2 stroke 5 speed go cart once. It would peel your eyelids back and make your heart pump piss! I felt like I was cheating death everytime I rode it. My oldest son Mark flipped it and broke his arm. I cut it up for scrap and went back to things with full roll cages.
 
I've thought about building a 2 seater, large go cart/small sand rail with a 1000cc motorcycle motor on it. I think that would be cool
 
I'm not talking about drifting, and I'm also not talking about a motoGP bike and rider. There are plenty of non f1 cars out there that will outcorner a stock literbike and rider and there are the videos to prove it...
 
Well there you go... I can tell you factually, video or no video, You cant hang with a good rider on a Busa with a LS powered Miata. 2K spent on tuned Ohlins coilovers, sticky rubber, stiff chassis, 6 speed, 420 hp to the rear wheels. The Busa walked us bad. I am not talking about a perfect vacum sealed race track senario. I am saying that in general a shit hot bike will walk on a lightwieght overpowered car. Now if you want to prove me wrong, and video it, bring your car over to 1347 Mistletoe Ridge in Concord and show me how to do it, cause I cant get it done. The Busa is 3 doors down and he loves to run.
 
I think Top Gear put up a sportbike (600cc I think) against the 4cyl Atom, IIRC, the Atom won on their road course test, but I could be wrong. A liter bike may do better on the straights, but you can only go so fast around turns on a bike, regardless of engine size.... That said, I am on my 4th motorcycle right now, and I'd feel ALOT more comfortable going fast around turns with 4 wheels than two, that probably applies to most any 'normal' motorcycle rider (maybe not some of the track day guys).
 
This is something I've always wanted to do, but..... It's hard to find a guy willing to drop the coin it would take to do it right. I've spent lots of time around suspension on road and off. Over the years I've come up with a way I'd like to do an unequal length a-arm set up. It's sort of an outta the box way to do it but I think it has potential to be the "next big thing" in road racing. The only problem is finding someone who's willing to let me do it. I'd like to do a mostly aluminum chassis with a mid mounted aluminum LS based engine. 98"-104" wheelbase, 65" or so track width, Probably 2" or 3" wider in the rear.

The problem with the Atom is thats it's plain ugly. I mean it's like they tried to make it look cool with the whole exo-skeleton thing but it actuality it looks like a street sign hanging over the freeway with two racing seats in the middle. I want the whole package. A car like would be a blast to drive but you'd look like you drove your little brothers go-cart to work to 95% of the population. So hang a 80lb aluminum body on it with some nice lines and give it the sound of a turbo'd LS and now you're talking.
 
I'll come help build it so long as you let me borrow it every once in awhile Chris :D

I've been trying to tell my mom that a custom built car would be much more fun (and safer) than her BMW convertible, I think she likes the creature comforts too much though.

You are right about the Atom being ugly though, I like the open wheel look, but that car is ugly as sin. At least do some sort of a body on it. There is someone around Kernersville that drives their Nascar Modified on the roads sometimes, I probably couldn't resist doing the same if I had one...
 
I agree, the Atom is ugly, but I was thinking of it in the form of a high rev JDM motor, mid mounted with a light chassis would be a blast. Thats really all a Acura NSX is. They were just too heavy to be much fun. If the balance was off & it didn't handle I wouldn't bother. I love Some of the kit cars out there & just wondered if anyone had applied the same skills I've seen used to go over stuff to hit some pavement.

Mars Fab would get my coin if I had it to build one! You sir, build some sweet stuff.
 
Tom the way the wheeling places are closing down these days I might just have to take you up on that offer. We're gonna have to hit the asphalt cause all the dirt is gonna be gone.
 
Gmachine said:
I agree, the Atom is ugly, but I was thinking of it in the form of a high rev JDM motor, mid mounted with a light chassis would be a blast. Thats really all a Acura NSX is. They were just too heavy to be much fun. If the balance was off & it didn't handle I wouldn't bother. I love Some of the kit cars out there & just wondered if anyone had applied the same skills I've seen used to go over stuff to hit some pavement.

Mars Fab would get my coin if I had it to build one! You sir, build some sweet stuff.
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Thank you!

I love to build stuff especially stuff like this! I have so many ideas in my big ass head that I just don't have funds/time to hammer out of some metal that I can't sleep at night. Most people go crazy when they've had all they can take. I just build stuff! Thats my release. You drop off a motor to my shop and a little cash and I'll have a breakdown for ya LOL. Might come out cool, might come out like a piece of hammered metal.
 
I've been running CNC's for 16 years & have made some cool stuff, but a full day of it is enough to not have the drive to build something myself. Still there are lots of ideas floating in my head as well.

The shop I'm @ is in Troutman. We've got several lathes & mills. We build quite a bit if suspension components. We've been ding quite a bit for JRI shocks. They build some cool custom stuff, but I don't know about prices.
 
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