[nikhilv12]

From the day i joined my college, i have dreamt of doing a good project, something related to automobiles. Over the years, i thought of various projects that i could do, but somewhere in my mind i always thought "What if i could make my own sports car ?".

So finally, when i was in my 7th semester, asked my dad about his opinion about making a sports car. He was very positive about it. I immediately made a small report on the idea "Light weight, rear engined sports car platform" and presented it to my HOD, in the college. At first, he was very doubtful about it, but then eventually he gave me the permission to take it up as my project.

The work on the "Light weight, rear engined sports car platform" thus started.

The first step was to source an engine. Team-BHP, as usual, was a big help in this step. I saw a swift engine in the classifields, on sale by viper. I contacted him, and got the engine, down from mumbai.

The next step was to design and make the chassis. Well, at first, i designed a chassis, similar to the one on the Ariel atom, but then found out that no one over here, in Trivandrum, could bend the pipes correctly, so dropped the idea and went in for a simple and sturdy design.

Next, i fixed the engine to the chassis, using the original swift's mountings.
Then i made the supports for the flooring, and the mount for the steering column.

The rough list of parts i used for the car as of now are,

1.3L Suzuki swift engine and gearbox
Rear engined, rear wheel drive
Drive shafts from a zen
Rear disc brakes from maruti 800
Front disc brake from maruti esteem
Steering Rack and pinion ( not power assisted ) form maruti 800
Seats from a maruti 800

Here are some pics.

[abhinav.gupta88]

This seems to be damn intersting.
Gotta subscribe to the thread immediately.

Why no PS on a RWD Rear engined car.?

[nikhilv12]

Do you mean power steering? If yes, i am not adding a power steering right now, because of budget limitations, i might add it later though.

[1self]

I do believe that main chassis frame is rather heavy...you could have reduced weight by having only 1 seat...that way you could have a smaller chassis...less weight? You really should make it more compact if you want performance?

[badboyscad]

Interesting project. Is the project finished or is it happening now? Cant wait to see more pics.

[autopsyche]

Excellent Work! And a very effective approach to the project. All the very best to you. Plenty of people here to support you with all the help you need. Cheers.

PS: You wont need a power steering.

[CaliforniaKnight]

Good Luck with the project. I will keep myself updated with this tread for sure.

[nikhilv12]

Originally Posted by 1self

I do believe that main chassis frame is rather heavy...you could have reduced weight by having only 1 seat...that way you could have a smaller chassis...less weight? You really should make it more compact if you want performance?

I have used 2" square 18 gauge MS pipes. The total weight of the main chassis frame is just 48Kg. And the idea was to make a car that can be used as a every day car also, hence two seats.

Originally Posted by badboyscad

Interesting project. Is the project finished or is it happening now? Cant wait to see more pics.

Thanks. The work is still in progress. will post some more pics tomorrow.

Originally Posted by autopsyche

Excellent Work! And a very effective approach to the project. All the very best to you. Plenty of people here to support you with all the help you need. Cheers.

PS: You wont need a power steering.

Thank you Arush.

[Jayabusa]

This is gripping. I just can't wait to know the progress and see the further pics.

[abhinav.gupta88]

Originally Posted by autopsyche

Excellent Work! And a very effective approach to the project. All the very best to you. Plenty of people here to support you with all the help you need. Cheers.

PS: You wont need a power steering.

Why would that not be required Arush.
Won't it be tough to move the wheels without the power steering?

[greenhorn]

I hope you are planning this project to suceed on the track, and not in front of a crusty prof doing your project ext. evaluation. nothing satisfies them. we did some nice stuff for our project, and the guy who was to evaluate ours was like "meh"

I think even that team that built the hovercraft got shot down by the prof who was like " so whats new/ different about it?"

All the best

[1self]

Originally Posted by abhinav.gupta88

Won't it be tough to move the wheels without the power steering?

The engine is at the BACK of the vehicle. The frame just weighs just 48 kgs, so max weight of the car will be around 500 kgs....one can certainly manage without power steering.

[nikhilv12]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

I hope you are planning this project to suceed on the track, and not in front of a crusty prof doing your project ext. evaluation. nothing satisfies them. we did some nice stuff for our project, and the guy who was to evaluate ours was like "meh"

I think even that team that built the hovercraft got shot down by the prof who was like " so whats new/ different about it?"

All the best

Actually i am least bothered about the project evauation. I am building this car for myself and my aim is to make it a good track car, which i can use on the road too. And as i said, It is my dream.

[VJ_MAVRICK]

Nikhil ! Great Project and now that is an Application an Engineer would like to be associated with. Kudos Brother! All the very best in your inspiring endeavor and dream on. Congrats once again.

[PAVAN KADAM]

Originally Posted by nikhilv12

Do you mean power steering? If yes, i am not adding a power steering right now, because of budget limitations, i might add it later though.

Originally Posted by badboyscad

Interesting project. Is the project finished or is it happening now? Cant wait to see more pics.

Best of luck for your sooooo damn interesting project.

I think Badboyscad, will give you some whacky designs for your project