The Black Brick

[crafty]

EDITED - I probably should have called this thread "Black Brick's Sister"

++++

OK.... here's how it all started...This is the original car, an MNR Vortx. I bought it with a stock Yamaha R1 engine, then started messing with it. Added a Rotrex blower, Emerald ECU…. It was all going well… but then my Mate with a Caterham did the same engine swap into his, and his car was 480kg wet….. mine was 560kg wet.... and so the silliness began



So I bought the "Black Brick" that was advertised here on PH.I bought it as a roller. We’ve had everything in and weighed it (with ballast for fuel etc)… it comes in at 380kg wet.



In the Vortx, we ran the blower at 7psi with stock internals and a custom head gasket to get the compression down to 9.8(ish) and we were getting 180hp at the wheels.... but while moving the engine over into the Black Brick we put forged pistons and rods in it and added methanol injection and a knock control system, with slightly higher compression and we’re going to be upping it to 10psi.... we’re expecting 220ish at the wheels with the new setup…. In 380kg!!


We re-did the footwell and pedal area, stiffened it a bit for safety, steel plate in the floor etc.
We got the engine WAAAAY back there.




The throttle bodies weren’t going to fit under the hood…. And we wanted it stealthy…



… so we made a new manifold which moved the throttle bodies to the other side.
The blower used to be down low, but the oil always drains out of it so we moved it up the top.
The intake is at the back of the blower, it goes under the manifolds and……



… through the bulkhead, with the air box on the passenger side.



… it has a very flat floor!!



And from above!!!!





Im almost laying down in the car, its gonna have a very low roll cage.

We haven’t run the car yet, but my mate has a caterham with the same supercharged R1 and a 3.54:1 English axle…the engine lasted 2 races, he broke the oil chain and disintegrated the engine!! The problem is that the bike engine’s output shaft spins very fast.

We had a company in the UK lined up to do a run of 3.0:1 crownwheel and pinions for the English Axle but after sending a deposit and waiting 3 months they said it would be another 3 months.

So Ive ordered a Winters Quick Change Rear …. The small 7” version, Magnesium Casings, Alloy Tubes, Gundrilled axles. This will give us the ability to get a 3.0 ratio so we aren’t revving the crap out of the engine on the straights

Stay tuned.

Edited by crafty on Tuesday 30th July 00:03

[mickrick]

Yeee Haaa! Now that makes me smile What a great project. Thanks for posting.

[Catey]

What a great project. I look forward to it being a runner.

[m444ttb]

Wow! I'm not sure which bit I'm most impressed with. Probably the weight!

[nigelpugh7]

Looks like a good project!

Is it th black brick that was run by Rob Cox-Allison?

I seem to recall that there were 4 versions of the black brick, so wondered which one it was.

I was also curious as to which 7 your black brick is based upon, the rear suspension and front wishbones don't look like any caterham 7 model I am familiar with?

God luck with the build and we hope to see it running in anger soon!

[crafty]

Not that exact car, but a limited number were built by Dastle using that design, this is one of them.

[Aeroscreens]

I was chatting to the previous owner, Dave Edmands, at Brighton Speed Trials in 2011 and seem to recall that he located the chassis in Germany and rebuilt it himself? Could be horribly wrong though?

Here's a few photos as it was (scroll down to 2011)

[crafty]

Yep - its Dave's old car.

[TeflonT]

Then its a cobbled together "bitsa" not the Black Brick. Zero heritage I'm afraid.

[Chad speed]

TeflonT said:

Then its a cobbled together "bitsa" not the Black Brick. Zero heritage I'm afraid.

Subtle, some thoughts are best kept to yourself.
Keep posting crafty, for every basher there's 50 out here applauding.

Edited by Chad speed on Saturday 27th July 16:15

[PeXy]

TeflonT said:

Then its a cobbled together "bitsa" not the Black Brick. Zero heritage I'm afraid.

Don't think Crafty was asking anything about heritage, how rude are you?

Nicely done Crafty by the way, I put a R400 engine in to my westy( spose it's now a bitsa) and loved the way it came together especially when you get through all those little and to be honest large problems on the way!!

Edited by PeXy on Saturday 27th July 19:04

[mickrick]

TeflonT said:

Then its a cobbled together "bitsa" not the Black Brick. Zero heritage I'm afraid.

A bit harsh!
Spent 5 years cobbling my bitsa together, I don´t care what anyone else thinks.
I say again, great project, keep the posts coming

[crafty]

I couldn't give a rats arse about the heritage of this car, or opinions about its heritage.

I did however look in Mr Teflon's PH garage....only to find that he has a Ferrari P4 Replica which is cobbled together from bits of 355..... so I assume that his comment was meant to be informative rather than nasty.

Edited by crafty on Sunday 28th July 03:04

[Manchestergas]

[Alistair1537]

And we know what the T stands for

[Noger]

Very interesting project...although I must admit to thinking that "The Black Brick" as a post title was likely to cause some raised eyebrows !

[HolbaySS]

TeflonT said:

Then its a cobbled together "bitsa" not the Black Brick. Zero heritage I'm afraid.

Agree wholeheartedly! It ain't a Lotus or a Caterham and it definitely ain't 'The Black Brick', therefore it's a 'bitsa' and shouldn't be on here anyway

[nigelpugh7]

TeflonT said:

Then its a cobbled together "bitsa" not the Black Brick. Zero heritage I'm afraid.

Sadly I have to agree with Arine here!,( always a first for that!)

It seems like a good project, but its not by any stretch a Caterham is it?

So I think the real place this thread should be is in the Kit car thread.

I also think that way you will find many more seven like kit car owners who have mish mosh cars who aspire to be Caterhams,,but are just other seven compatible cars that have bike engines like this one, and can give feedback appropriate to this type of non standard home build seven type car, ie not a Caterham!

[mickrick]

"The" Black Brick was an S4, but who cares. It´s an interesting, and nicely engineered project. Makes a change from the what colour, or tyres threads seen on here lately.
If you don´t think it should be on here, don´t open the thread. Jeez! some people can be arsey!

[jontysafe]

Just popped back I here for a gander and I see things don't change.

Car looks awesome, would love a race!

Jeez there's some rude people, again think if you would be this way to someone's face. Then perhaps type?