[flipped]

Hello! Great website and forums here, I've been going through a few of them and found the replies really comprehensive, so I thought it'd be ideal for me to ask something that's been troubling me for a bit.

As a part of a college level project, me and a few friends are ripping apart an old Maruti 800, removing the engine, transmission, wheels etc and placing them on our own chassis, made of MS rods, and modelled to be along a race car, low CG et al. The idea is to create a race car with a weight one fourth of the maruti but running at a great power. Now we've decided to shift the engine from a front wheel drive to a rear wheel drive, as is the case with most racecars. We have a manual for the 800 and intend to use that as a reference on how to say, remove the engine, or work out the wiring etc. However some problems still remain which we haven't gotten over yet. Thats what I need help on.

In the 800, the gear box is located on the left side of the driver, with a gear stick mechanism used for adjusting the gears manually. The problem we're facing is, when the engine is mounted at the back of our car, the gear shifting mechanism shifts behind as well, well out of reach of the driver, who will be sitting in front of the engine.

I guess this is a really specific problem, so anyone with prior experience will probably be able to give me inputs on this. I'll be able to put up photos in a couple of days, by when the gear box and engine is out. Till then, any questions are welcome..

[vikram_d]

Are you making the chassis out of MS solid rod or tubes? The rods will bend & buckle in no time and they will be very heavy. I hope you are using round tubes.

[flipped]

Originally Posted by vikram_d

Are you making the chassis out of MS solid rod or tubes? The rods will bend & buckle in no time and they will be very heavy. I hope you are using round tubes.

Round MS tubes indeed.. We're doing structural analysis and stuff too, like real engineers are supposed to..

Yes, Mild Steel tubes is the plan. We're working out stresses in each member and everything, accordingly figuring out the size we're buying.

[NOS Power]

@flipped:

while ripping the 800 you must have noticed that there is a long rod sort of linkage which stretches from the gearshift column to the gearbox. you can use the same setup for your racer. moreover the shift sequence and shifter movement will also remain the same (i think).

[S@~+#0$#]

@flipped: IMO, the simplest way to achieve this is to use the gearbox, differential and other parts from a Maruti Omni Van since the Omni is rear-wheel drive and uses the same 800cc engine.

If you have not gone too far, rip apart a Maruti van instead and get disc brakes of Maruti 800 Car(discs on all four wheels will be good on a racer) from the local scrap yard.

[nitrous]

This used to be run as a racing series called FISSME.
Acronym for Formula Indian Single Seater (with a) Maruti Engine.

[Cyrus43]

There is a member here, (jalsa_77) who has done a brilliant Formulae SAE car. Contact him for the shifter queries.

[PAVAN KADAM]

Since you are mounting the engine at the rear, you get the direct advantage of 5% increase in power.

Mounting the engine and the gearbox is not too complex. just follow the matiz method of connecting the gearbox.

lot more things can follow later, Headers.. on and on.

Best of luck on your project.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Why dont' you try stainless tubes for the chassis? Better strength, lower weight?

[vikram_d]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

Why dont' you try stainless tubes for the chassis? Better strength, lower weight?

SS tubes and MS tube weigh the same. Thanks to the almost identical specific density. Moreover SS is 4 times more expensive.

[prabhuav]

How about aluminium? A good tradeoff?

[vikram_d]

Originally Posted by prabhuav

How about aluminium? A good tradeoff?

Even more expensive in tube form.

[Cyrus43]

And not as strong as compared to MS. Also remember, Alluminium is a Pain to Weld! Whereas, MS is not.

[speed0mania]

Originally Posted by Cyrus43

And not as strong as compared to MS. Also remember, Alluminium is a Pain to Weld! Whereas, MS is not.

totally agree aluminium is a total pain to weld! MS is the best option specially on a college project where the budget is a major factor.

I think your problem can be solved with a little imaginative design of a simple lever mechanism. let me see if i can manage a basic diag of the same.
if you need any help you can PM me even though im in Delhi, but i just finished my mech engg. last year and had made a hybrid GO-Kart for my final year project so got to learn alot about these kind of problems and how to find solutions or a way around the problem what many may refer to as Jugaad ;-)
best of luck!

[vikram_d]

Originally Posted by Cyrus43

Also remember, Alluminium is a Pain to Weld! Whereas, MS is not.

Originally Posted by speed0mania

totally agree aluminium is a total pain to weld!

Not really. You just need to use the correct procedures.