Loxus Eclat V8

[Nickp1]

Just had a bit of a revelation today regarding my gearing issue. A mate asked if I'd looked at the earlier E30 bmw 5spd gearbox. I hadn't even considered it tbh but turns out it's very similar size wise to the later 5spd but does have an overdrive 5th at 0.81 which looks ideal for what I need. So i can at least give the Salisbury diff a chance to start with but I'd still prefer a 3.7 rather than the 4.1 i have, if anyone has one they want to sell or swap?

[Dunc]

doesnt that one have an integral bellhousing to mate to the E30 engine? You would need some sort of adaptor plate. The beauty of the earlier BMW 5speeds (getrag 265) was the removable bellhousing for which there are a number of options available. I suppose your gearbox choice would probably rest with whats easy to attach to that Lexus V8?

[Nickp1]

The adapter plate from Poland does fit this gearbox apparently as one of the options is the M20 engine bolt pattern 😀

[Nickp1]

Bit of progress-

Picked up an M20 gearbox locally last and collected the V8 this week, it's a big un!! 😮🤣

Both seem to fit into their respective spaces individually, just need to separate chassis, bolt them together and see how they fit then......

[Painterdave]

that looks like it was made to fit in this perfect

[Straker]

Looking forward to the next set of posts

[mikeeech]

10 hours ago, Painterdave said:

that looks like it was made to fit in this perfect

Of course that was the original intention... It was designed for a V8. A slant 4 looks a bit lost in the space.

[Nickp1]

I'm about to try lifting the body off and want to make sure I've removed all the bolts first.

So I've removed-

2 at front on chassis extensions.

2 on front inner wings

4 (or 6?) along spine of chassis from underneath

2 under rear seat

2 through boot floor

Is that it, or have I missed any?

[Nickp1]

Found them!!

One either side of fuel tank into suspension turret.

Bloody seatbelt mounts!! Through body into chassis, never thought of them 🤣

Body now successfully lifted clear of chassis 💪

[Nickp1]

Would make a pretty cool monster truck 😎🤣

[Nickp1]

Chassis now dragged from underneath and seems nice and solid. No sign of any previous repairs and doesn't look to need any 😀

Looks like it's been removed before and given a coat of Hammerite which has probably saved it.

My mate has a sand blasting firm so it'll be off there to be cleaned up once I've made the engine / gearbox mounts.

Body has to be higher than expected to roll the chassis out!! 😮

[mikeeech]

Maybe it's just the light but it could have been galvanized at some point or was it painted silver?

[Nickp1]

Silver Hammerite by the looks. There is surface rust but I'm really pleased how solid it is 😀

[oilmagnet477]

Looks great. Loving the ceiling 'sky hooks' 😁

[silverfrost]

Awesome Job getting it out,  Good luck with fabbing up the mounts , look forward to the progress 

[mikeeech]

On 03/05/2019 at 14:21, Nickp1 said:

Would make a pretty cool monster truck 😎🤣

There was a monster truck elite conversion on eBay a few years ago as an unfinished project and the pictures appeared on this site if you want to search for it. I thought it was quite cool myself too and could have looked good as part of a set...

[Nickp1]

Sorry for the lack of updates but there's been very little happening over the whole summer tbh, life etc getting in the way 😎

But I'm back on it now, moved my kit car off to a mates to give me some space a couple of weeks ago. I've made the engine and gearbox mounts and got it all sat in the chassis. Front crossmember has needed a section out of the middle to get the engine low enough but I'll be strengthening that and boxing it back in once done. I then tried dropping the body back on. That wasn't happening due to the width of the top of the heads. So plan B, pulled the engine/box back out, dropped the body back on. Engine and box then went back in as one unit at a pretty extreme 45deg angle. Needed to trim the engine bay in both back corners and take a section out of the heater air intake. But with a bit of fiddling it's now in on its mounts 😁

I've also stripped out the rear suspension / diff etc and am currently trying to get hold of a Jag XJS diff to try in there.

 

[Nickp1]

Oh, and the bonnet still shuts which was one of my main aims 😎 #sleeper

I may even be able to shim it all up slightly to get a bit more sump - ground clearance. The sump is a fair bit below the crossmember so will be needing a substantial guard making to protect it.

[Nickp1]

Chassis stripped completely bare ready for blasting. Happy with the position/ mounting of the V8 now moving onto the Jag XJS diff next. Picked up the holy grail 2.87 powerlok type, which is nice but I've had to rethink my gearbox. The one I intended to use (with the original diff) now gave a theoretical top speed of 211mph 😳 So I've swapped from the E30 one to the E36 so it'll top out at a much more sensible 171mph now 😉😂

Edited November 28, 2019 by Nickp1

[mikeeech]

Nice job. Keep at it.

[Straker]

Great work, Looking forward to seeing the next steps.

Is the E36 box the same dimensions as the E30.

just a few rambling thoughts below about the rear suspension.....

Are you going to retain the rear hubs? As I assume you’ll need new top links and need a hub mounting point

Spyder  used to make rear top links, I’m not sure how their arrangement worked with the existing hub.

ive a spyder price list from the mid 90’s but unfortunately no diagrams or images.

It might be worth working out the hub path / test fitting the links before test fitting the new Diff.

I’ve not seen a car with the Spyder top links but there are several threads on here where  people thought there was a problem with their solution, hence to suggestions above about mocking up the links 1st.

the standard rear geometry can be adjusted using shims and washers and the suspension might not be correctly aligned at the moment so it’s probably worth including some additional adjustment in your design.

Edited November 29, 2019 by Straker
Poor spelling!

[Chillidoggy]

What’s your E30 gearbox 1st gear ratio? I ask because I used a Jag 2.88 PowerLok in my Dax Cobra and found it too tall for the M21 gearbox I installed, which was 2.2-1. Getting it off the line was a real struggle until I got it moving, although it would do 65 mph in 1st. But I soon got fed up and fitted a different box with 4.06-1 1st, which worked nicely with that rear end ratio.

[Nickp1]

No, first looks OK with both boxes tbh, shouldn't be an issue. Here's the speeds in each gear with the 2 boxes I have a choice off. 

All speeds at 7krpm- E30 -1st 44mph 2nd 78mph 3rd 122mph 4th 171mph 5th 212mph E36- 1st 41mph 2nd 70mph 3rd 106mph 4th 145mph 5th 177mph

On 29/11/2019 at 20:11, Straker said:

Great work, Looking forward to seeing the next steps.

Is the E36 box the same dimensions as the E30.

just a few rambling thoughts below about the rear suspension.....

Are you going to retain the rear hubs? As I assume you’ll need new top links and need a hub mounting point

Spyder  used to make rear top links, I’m not sure how their arrangement worked with the existing hub.

ive a spyder price list from the mid 90’s but unfortunately no diagrams or images.

It might be worth working out the hub path / test fitting the links before test fitting the new Diff.

I’ve not seen a car with the Spyder top links but there are several threads on here where  people thought there was a problem with their solution, hence to suggestions above about mocking up the links 1st.

the standard rear geometry can be adjusted using shims and washers and the suspension might not be correctly aligned at the moment so it’s probably worth including some additional adjustment in your design.

Yeah both boxes are very similar in size and design, which is handy.

I'm looking to use the stronger Jag shafts which means I will probably have to use the Jag hubs and therfore the Jag bottom arms. I'm probably looking to make a custom trailing arm with a bit of adjustability in it to allow for toe changes via the Jag bottom arms (shims on diff mounting).

[Chillidoggy]

From memory, the Jag has a pressed steel, in-line trailing arm with metalastik bushes?

I fitted a triangulated trailing arm, the forward bush had virtually the same centre as the inboard diff pivot shaft, so virtually no toe changes. I remember those diff shims are a pain to get right, it only needed a small adjustment to multiply up on the wheels. I think they had conical bolts which were a complete pain to get to as well.

I’m watching with interest, it’s a fascinating project!

[Nickp1]

20 hours ago, Chillidoggy said:

From memory, the Jag has a pressed steel, in-line trailing arm with metalastik bushes?

Yes I believe it does. I'm looking to use the original Lotus mounting point on the chassis but fabricate my own trailing arm to triangulate it all.