Bonneville Dreamer

[KLZE Porsche]

How are you sealing the bearing, or is it a sealed bearing

surely the fit of the bearing on the bolt is a tad loose as it is not a precision shoulder bolt, Over time the bolt will wear and there will be minute movement even new (from how i am picturing the design)

Shouldn't you have a bearing or two which press in the cartridge and have a sleeve tube press through the bearing ID so the inner race is locked tight on something. Once installed in the car the sleeve tube is locked in place by being pinched in between the frame slot.

Jason,

The cartridge design also includes a spacer on each side of the bearing that have 45 deg back cuts so that when you put one on each side of the bearing -they center it. The spacers are close tolerance on the shoulder bolt. The spacers butt up against the inner sides of the K-frame where the arm pivot bolt goes through.

The next attempt I am going to try -involves boring the arm barrels to 1-9/16 for the next larger size up bearing and making bushings for it that are a close tolerance fit on the stainless pivot bolts. It could also be very expensive to do this because two different machine shops gave me a price of $200 per arm because they said it is a near impossible task for them to do -as the only way of doing it with their machines would be to jig it on a vertical mill. This requires a custom jig for the one job and thus makes it expensive as hell.

So my gears are turning again. I purchased a 1-9/17 shell reamer and I can chuck it up in my lathe. So then all I have to do is to make my own custom jig to bore the arms -using the Lathe. I just need a way of feeding the arm while it is torque secured to keep it from swinging loose to kill me.

If this method works then it is only the cost to make the bushings for each side of the bearing and some mild steel tube collars to put on each side of the bearing to make sure it doesn't move in the bore. They can either be welded in place after the bearing is installed or I could probably drill a few holes, tap them and then -thread some Allen set screws in to retain the collars so that the bearings can be changed out if they ever go bad.

[Mr.Jason]

Looks good though... I assume you are also making rear ones?

[KLZE Porsche]

Looks good though... I assume you are also making rear ones?

I haven't messed with the rears yet. I am thinking they would be easier to make than the fronts.

[Zepticon]

I approve of this thread!

Is there any reasons why you are still going with a FWD car at this point? I mean, with the dedication you show on mechanics, i would think that a RWD conversion would be a piece of cake? And once you go down that route the Getrag V160 (Supra trans) should be both bulletproof and relative cheap?

[KLZE Porsche]

I approve of this thread!

Is there any reasons why you are still going with a FWD car at this point? I mean, with the dedication you show on mechanics, i would think that a RWD conversion would be a piece of cake? And once you go down that route the Getrag V160 (Supra trans) should be both bulletproof and relative cheap?

Did you read the portion of the thread about the transmission I have built? It will handle a lot more horsepower than the stock KL trans will. And if the stock trans has handled as much as 500 hp then I am sure this transmission should handle more.

Part of the reason for not doing a swap to RWD is because of what I am doing. To maintain a stock car class at Bonneville -the car has to remain FWD. If I were to go to RWD then I would be completing against all of the ultra-modifieds. And there is no competing in that bunch with a KL. You don't take a knife to a gun fight!

The Probe offers many advantages in it's stock form. One advantage is the weight of FWD vs RWD. Most of the weight will be located over the drive wheels and at the front. I want to keep my front end on the ground and not somewhere over LAX looking for a landing (crashing) spot. Also with RWD -you have a lot of added weight in transferring the power to the rear.

The stock Probe also has a very low drag coefficient. So I plan to run it -mostly the way it is -but with increased power and higher gearing. So I should do fairly well in the stock class.

[Zepticon]

Did you read the portion of the thread about the transmission I have built? It will handle a lot more horsepower than the stock KL trans will. And if the stock trans has handled as much as 500 hp then I am sure this transmission should handle more.

Yepp, thats partially why i asked why you went that way, with alot of custom work and not just go full RWD while at it. When i first read the posts (at your website) i started to think if it could be replicated "easily", since its used in Saab, and since the other parts are either euro or custom of origin. But then again, if there is that much HP in my car, the extra month of cutting and welding to make it RWD would be better for my use.

Part of the reason for not doing a swap to RWD is because of what I am doing. To maintain a stock car class at Bonneville -the car has to remain FWD. If I were to go to RWD then I would be completing against all of the ultra-modifieds. And there is no competing in that bunch with a KL. You don't take a knife to a gun fight!

The Probe offers many advantages in it's stock form. One advantage is the weight of FWD vs RWD. Most of the weight will be located over the drive wheels and at the front. I want to keep my front end on the ground and not somewhere over LAX looking for a landing (crashing) spot. Also with RWD -you have a lot of added weight in transferring the power to the rear.

The stock Probe also has a very low drag coefficient. So I plan to run it -mostly the way it is -but with increased power and higher gearing. So I should do fairly well in the stock class.

That explains it! I thought it was "just for fun" and that you where doing it just to see how far you can go. If there is classes and such then i see why you keep it stock modified.


I also love your approach to things. I am a Industrial Designer myself, and stuff like this is the exact reason why i ended up in that field. But unfortunately, the laws and regulations regarding cars here in Norway does not welcome amateur fabrication and modification.

[KLZE Porsche]

I also love your approach to things. I am a Industrial Designer myself, and stuff like this is the exact reason why i ended up in that field. But unfortunately, the laws and regulations regarding cars here in Norway does not welcome amateur fabrication and modification.

Do those same laws apply to cars that are not driven as commuters?

[Zepticon]

Do those same laws apply to cars that are not driven as commuters?

Im not sure what you mean when you say "commuters". We don't have any different levels of approval, except for "motorhistorical registration" (rare cars, like Skyline, Cosmo etc, only a few of each is allowed, and they have to be 100% stock). All the other types of registration needs to follow the homologation documents and approval from the manufacturer.

The Norwegian laws are quite massive and completely bonkers on this field, but i will try and explain how it works.

If you want to drive the car on the road, it must be more or less stock, or you need to document "every" modification. Lowering the car without TÜV documentation on the springs are close to impossible. I have heard about people being accused for illegal tuning because they had changed their coolant hoses from the stock black, to blue silicone.

If i want to do an engine swap, turboconverting, or in general anything that increase your kW, there is a pile of documentation needed, from the manufacturer (almost impossible to get) or from the German test laboratories TÜV and DEKRA (drive the car to Germany and let them test it). The later costs about 15k USD, and only applies to your VIN number. Im running a ZE now, and that is by the law illegal, but the chances of me getting caught, is about 0. If the guy knows the difference between a ZE and a DE, he will be on my side.

But the laws is not the real problem here. There is no punishment for illegal tuning other than a small fine, and that they take your plates. Then you have to show your car in stock form, to get them back. The real problem is the insurance companies. If you crash your car, and its illegally tuned, they will send you the bill. Meaning, if you crash, and kill a guy, and put another one in a wheelchair, you may be looking at a 500k USD debt to your insurance company. A guy i know did a turbo conversion on his MR2, fell asleep behind the wheel, and crashed. he is now living on social security money, and didn't get anything form the insurance, even tho the tuning had nothing to do with why he crashed. He tried it in court, and lost. He was lucky that he only damaged himself and his own property.

Fortunately, in the last few years, the Norwegian Amcar federation have been working very hard to get laws that allow "amateur builders" to modify and build cars. Those laws will be similar to Sweden and the UK, and follow the EU standards. But time will show how far i can get with those laws.

In the meantime, im making alot of plans, building modifications in Autodesk inventor, and reading every bit of info i can find.

[yellow2point0]

Reminds me of German laws too. Thank God that we Americans don't have to abide by them if we're stationed here :-)

[crazycanadian]

Im not sure what you mean when you say "commuters".

KLZE porsche is talking about the type of car that doesn't get driven on the streets... If you do its most likely not going to pass for legal.. It gets built in your garage, put on a trailer and towed to what ever racing event you are running and run there, then towed home...

[Zepticon]

KLZE porsche is talking about the type of car that doesn't get driven on the streets... If you do its most likely not going to pass for legal.. It gets built in your garage, put on a trailer and towed to what ever racing event you are running and run there, then towed home...

Ahh, okay. But then one would usually require either plates, or a tracklicence to be allowed on the track.

[94purplepgt]

Have you thought of using needle bearings on the cams for reduced friction? Roller Lifters would be very cool too!

http://www.4wd.com/aux_incl/images.ashx?i=83506079.jpg

[Mr.Jason]

Oh wow half shell needle bearings... Didnt know they exist...

To put those in the heads you would need to line bore the cam journals to accept a steel bearing race for the needle bearings to ride on though as you cant put it against the aluminum. You also have to have some way to keep the race from shifting side to side.

[KLZE Porsche]

Have you thought of using needle bearings on the cams for reduced friction? Roller Lifters would be very cool too!

http://www.4wd.com/aux_incl/images.ashx?i=83506079.jpg

I could probably do that if I wanted to get completely insane on it (as if I am not so yet) but that would mean line boring the head journals to accept a steel liner (because the aluminum would not hold up) I already have too much to do as it is.

Here is the way I plan to attempt the second set of spherical load bearing modified LCA's:

[trmexrunner]

glad to see your still moving forward on this. i also might end up helping a guy build a rwd probe for bonneville. only he wants to run a nitro methane powered 2.3l ford lima motor. if you need any parts like tires, and other boneville advise let me know i live near a lot of landspeeders, and have a few friends that race and collect bonneville/ el mirage cars and parts. adam