I'm building a car - Rubex 919Kleine
Discussion
For those that don't know me, I am James / Blown_Imp / The_Rote_Engineer. I have a reasonable amount of engineering experience, mostly automotive in OEM car and motorbike design, calibration, and data analysis; also motorsport at all levels, from Shell Eco Marathon to classic formula cars right up to F1.
I have been wanting to take on something really big, something all consuming, for some time. All prior projects have been engine / electronics / suspension based. The bit that has always been a limiting factor, causing consternation and compromised solutions is the chassis.
I built my imp up to the point where the chassis was the limiting factor, and my Celica where the chassis is always the road block.
Because of this, I have always wanted to build my own car, something unique, but also familiar to many of you reading this. I am a child of the 1980's, growing up on VHS tapes that I used to watch at my grandads house; Murray Walker commentating on rally cross at Brands, Group C cars and into World Sports Cars, turbo F1 and into the 3.5 era, Group B, and on and on. This was the era of exploration, new technologies, and pushing the boundaries.
The one thing that tied it all together was the revelation that was composites. They have fascinated me as they have developed from folded sheet monocoques, to the early pre-preg tubs up to productionised mass market solutions like the BMW i3; one of which resides on our driveway.
Getting to the point, I am going to build my own car. To those close to me, they know this has been brewing for a long long time, the boundaries and envelope has been ebbing and flowing however. The problem is that without any fixed limits, the car could be anything; a saloon, a coupe, a speedster, front engine, rear engine, mid engine, 600hp V6, 100hp i4, literally anything.
Skipping back a bit, I think we need to acknowledge what is required to build a car; a space to do so. We moved into a house during lock down that had been abandoned for four years, and neglected for ten.
This is what the garden looked like when I viewed it. I say I, because it was just me, my wife didn't see the house in person until the day we moved. Have I mentioned she is rather brave?
There was a garage, two bay in the middle of the garden, odd position. It was also wetter on the inside than out, with water coming through the roof, the walls and also up through the floor. This was due to a cracked slab, no foundations to speak of and single skin walls. It was dangerous at best. Long and short, we knocked it down.
There was also four walls of a very odd building next to the garage. No windows, one entrance which was garage door width, but only 1m high and had a 50cm drop into the building. This one did however have foundations. We chose to use this extending to a three bay size from two, and build a timber frame garage on the space.
I will say that we are not well off, we are careful with the money we do have and are very resourceful. So I chose to build it all myself, for better or for worse.
Our location means that we cannot get things delivered, no materials, no concrete, nothing; we cannot even get concrete pumped up to us due to the access road. So I sold my V12 7 Series BMW and bought a 3.5t Cabstar tipper truck, something I have completely fallen for, it is such a little work horse!
Anyway, we dug extended foundations, mixed 18,000kg of concrete with a spade and little barrel mixer, poured foundations, poured slabs, built block walls, set the frame and roofed it.
We clad it, put in windows, insulated it, and even built a bridge to get things into the loft. The floor of the main space was a point on contention, as I chose to tile it. It is finished in high grip porcelain tiles, and it was one of the best decisions. Incredibly they were also the cheapest finish too, cheaper than epoxy, click together plastic etc.
The result is a warm, dry, hard wearing space that I can stretch my creative legs. Still not totally finished, it need the walls sanding and painting, and workbenches putting in. But functionally it is there.
I am going to do the next instalment in a weeks time, hopefully keeping up the pace as we move through the project.
Laters taters.
J
I have been wanting to take on something really big, something all consuming, for some time. All prior projects have been engine / electronics / suspension based. The bit that has always been a limiting factor, causing consternation and compromised solutions is the chassis.
I built my imp up to the point where the chassis was the limiting factor, and my Celica where the chassis is always the road block.
Because of this, I have always wanted to build my own car, something unique, but also familiar to many of you reading this. I am a child of the 1980's, growing up on VHS tapes that I used to watch at my grandads house; Murray Walker commentating on rally cross at Brands, Group C cars and into World Sports Cars, turbo F1 and into the 3.5 era, Group B, and on and on. This was the era of exploration, new technologies, and pushing the boundaries.
The one thing that tied it all together was the revelation that was composites. They have fascinated me as they have developed from folded sheet monocoques, to the early pre-preg tubs up to productionised mass market solutions like the BMW i3; one of which resides on our driveway.
Getting to the point, I am going to build my own car. To those close to me, they know this has been brewing for a long long time, the boundaries and envelope has been ebbing and flowing however. The problem is that without any fixed limits, the car could be anything; a saloon, a coupe, a speedster, front engine, rear engine, mid engine, 600hp V6, 100hp i4, literally anything.
Skipping back a bit, I think we need to acknowledge what is required to build a car; a space to do so. We moved into a house during lock down that had been abandoned for four years, and neglected for ten.
This is what the garden looked like when I viewed it. I say I, because it was just me, my wife didn't see the house in person until the day we moved. Have I mentioned she is rather brave?
There was a garage, two bay in the middle of the garden, odd position. It was also wetter on the inside than out, with water coming through the roof, the walls and also up through the floor. This was due to a cracked slab, no foundations to speak of and single skin walls. It was dangerous at best. Long and short, we knocked it down.
There was also four walls of a very odd building next to the garage. No windows, one entrance which was garage door width, but only 1m high and had a 50cm drop into the building. This one did however have foundations. We chose to use this extending to a three bay size from two, and build a timber frame garage on the space.
I will say that we are not well off, we are careful with the money we do have and are very resourceful. So I chose to build it all myself, for better or for worse.
Our location means that we cannot get things delivered, no materials, no concrete, nothing; we cannot even get concrete pumped up to us due to the access road. So I sold my V12 7 Series BMW and bought a 3.5t Cabstar tipper truck, something I have completely fallen for, it is such a little work horse!
Anyway, we dug extended foundations, mixed 18,000kg of concrete with a spade and little barrel mixer, poured foundations, poured slabs, built block walls, set the frame and roofed it.
We clad it, put in windows, insulated it, and even built a bridge to get things into the loft. The floor of the main space was a point on contention, as I chose to tile it. It is finished in high grip porcelain tiles, and it was one of the best decisions. Incredibly they were also the cheapest finish too, cheaper than epoxy, click together plastic etc.
The result is a warm, dry, hard wearing space that I can stretch my creative legs. Still not totally finished, it need the walls sanding and painting, and workbenches putting in. But functionally it is there.
I am going to do the next instalment in a weeks time, hopefully keeping up the pace as we move through the project.
Laters taters.
J
This has the makings of an excellent project.
Chassis is always the drawback and it is the biggest let down on my own project car. It's far from a performance car but there's lots of room for improvement. I might do some mods at some point to try and improve it and reduce some of th chassis flex.
I was quite taken with the Chevron made TOCA junior cars i saw unvieled at brands hatch this summer. Worth a look out if youre unfamiliar.
Chassis is always the drawback and it is the biggest let down on my own project car. It's far from a performance car but there's lots of room for improvement. I might do some mods at some point to try and improve it and reduce some of th chassis flex.
I was quite taken with the Chevron made TOCA junior cars i saw unvieled at brands hatch this summer. Worth a look out if youre unfamiliar.
Jasey_ said:
This could take while.
Good luck.
Yes, it will. I have experience of complex projects and the time they take, fortunately I am also a 'get up and go' type of person who is happy to make things happen rather than wait for them to occur.Good luck.
I think this project will take around 4 years. I this is down from 7, as three were taken to get the garage in order.
Bill said:
Oh yeah! Me too. 
I hope it is a thread to enjoy, there will be twists and turns along the way, as you will be learning at the same time as me.Ambleton said:
This has the makings of an excellent project.
Chassis is always the drawback and it is the biggest let down on my own project car. It's far from a performance car but there's lots of room for improvement. I might do some mods at some point to try and improve it and reduce some of th chassis flex.
I was quite taken with the Chevron made TOCA junior cars i saw unvieled at brands hatch this summer. Worth a look out if youre unfamiliar.
Thank you for the tip, I shall take a look. Chassis is always the drawback and it is the biggest let down on my own project car. It's far from a performance car but there's lots of room for improvement. I might do some mods at some point to try and improve it and reduce some of th chassis flex.
I was quite taken with the Chevron made TOCA junior cars i saw unvieled at brands hatch this summer. Worth a look out if youre unfamiliar.
I cut my teeth on Hillman Imps, with the special saloons being of particular interest. The Davrian and Clan are simple fibreglass monocoques, very elegant in their design and robust construction. So inspiration is being taken from them, plus that of the Chaparral, Elite etc.
I recently found a fantastic source of detailed pictures of an XJR9 being recreated from scratch, showing the entire tub build in detail; invaluable information.
I'd also look at the GTM Libra.
According to one owner I spoke to (whod owned both), a well set up Libra would run rings around an Elise and was generally much easier to live with.
The TOCA junior cars are a full tube frame race car with a grp body. I think the dreivetrains are Mazda MX5 derived but not 100% on this.
I suspect touring cars will go this way as more and more auto makers are now not developing ICE cars and the platforms are not suitable for ICE conversion and racing. A spec tube chassis with front and rear clips would be easy to implement but would need some careful thought to allow enough freedom for teams to make it interesting and also basic design and simple manufacturing or it would be cost prohibitive.
According to one owner I spoke to (whod owned both), a well set up Libra would run rings around an Elise and was generally much easier to live with.
The TOCA junior cars are a full tube frame race car with a grp body. I think the dreivetrains are Mazda MX5 derived but not 100% on this.
I suspect touring cars will go this way as more and more auto makers are now not developing ICE cars and the platforms are not suitable for ICE conversion and racing. A spec tube chassis with front and rear clips would be easy to implement but would need some careful thought to allow enough freedom for teams to make it interesting and also basic design and simple manufacturing or it would be cost prohibitive.
ChocolateFrog said:
We've been promised scratch built cars before, you better not be stringing us along 
Garage looks great. I too was surprised to find that porcelain was the cheapest garage floor finish (well after just painting it anyway).
Ah yes... there was one that got quite far and then dropped off the face of the earth (NoSound). The skills implemented were absolutely sublime and all the panels were hand hammer formed.Garage looks great. I too was surprised to find that porcelain was the cheapest garage floor finish (well after just painting it anyway).
Edited by Ambleton on Sunday 17th November 21:54
Cracking looking garage, loving the tiles, wish I'd have bit the bullet and tiled mine before I filled it with stuff!
As for building a car from scratch, personally the mechanicals are the easy bit, to do a nice looking body is a huge amount of work, I'd be tempted to find a body that you like from someone else, maybe one that you can develop to put your own mark on it.
Have a look around the kit car market and see if anything takes your eye..
As for building a car from scratch, personally the mechanicals are the easy bit, to do a nice looking body is a huge amount of work, I'd be tempted to find a body that you like from someone else, maybe one that you can develop to put your own mark on it.
Have a look around the kit car market and see if anything takes your eye..
Ambleton said:
I'd also look at the GTM Libra.
According to one owner I spoke to (whod owned both), a well set up Libra would run rings around an Elise and was generally much easier to live with.
GTM Libra, good call. I will go chassis picture hunting later.According to one owner I spoke to (whod owned both), a well set up Libra would run rings around an Elise and was generally much easier to live with.
macron said:
Ace garage, what floor tiles did you use?
I used Everton Glass, the tiles were called Jupiter Sand and they are a rectified porcelain tile. I needed 48m2 and it ended up being £540 delivered, well, nearly delivered. Like a lot of things here it ended up about a kilometer away where I then collected them in my little truck and drove them up the hill EddyP said:
Cracking looking garage, loving the tiles, wish I'd have bit the bullet and tiled mine before I filled it with stuff!
As for building a car from scratch, personally the mechanicals are the easy bit, to do a nice looking body is a huge amount of work, I'd be tempted to find a body that you like from someone else, maybe one that you can develop to put your own mark on it.
Have a look around the kit car market and see if anything takes your eye..
Yes, being patient is really tough. For many years I just had a gravel driveway to work on, the prospect of a flat hard surface with a roof was almost irresistible, but I did refrain and managed to get it actually mostly nearly finished before building cars As for building a car from scratch, personally the mechanicals are the easy bit, to do a nice looking body is a huge amount of work, I'd be tempted to find a body that you like from someone else, maybe one that you can develop to put your own mark on it.
Have a look around the kit car market and see if anything takes your eye..
The body is still not confirmed, I have a few options though. I can get a Lola Sports 2000 panel set for a reasonable cost, but I am not set on the looks, it would need to be chopped about to get it where I would like. The Davrian Imp saloon shell is still available, but again, it isn't quite where I would like it to be and would need chopping about. Or I could build my own, something I have done on a smaller scale before but is still daunting. Let's see where things take us.
One thing I can promise is that we won't be needing a Crapi axle
essayer said:
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff