Mid Engine Caddy

[theman53]

Nice.

[CrazyAndy]

x2 on said niceness.  Where will you be running your radiator?  and will you turn your old engine bay into a front trunk?

Can't wait to see this thing power-sliding around roundabouts!

[Henk]

thanks  
Radiator and charge cooler radiator will be up front still, as with the fuel tank, water pump(s), chrome spare wheel and all the other important bits to try and keep some weight over the front.
Not sure about roundabout drifting yet! considering it'll probably be maybe 40/60 weight distribution, with 225 tyres on 16x9's on the back, getting the tyres loose will be a bit of a challenge.
Really struggling with getting the engine running though, got to try and source the other half of a ALH pump pulley for my landy pump. then i have no idea what i'm doing really as far as timing/setting it up goes  
But hoping to see at least 200HP 350-400nm with the built AHU (one day)

[Henk]

kinda promised myself to have the engine in and running by the end of the year.
Certainly won't get it fully mounted yet as i'm short 2 engine mounts and a gearbox mount, and also no idea what i should use either
Anyway my biggest problem is that i have no idea what I'm doing as far as timing up, well any engine really, but especially not with this M-TDi pump
Crank timing by lining up the arrows in the bottom pulley? or on the flywheel - where?
camshaft with a piece of 4mm plate i believe
Now the pump is where i'm having trouble. I'm going to have a go machining a 3rd hole in the landrover hub as i'm having no luck finding an ALH hub. but becuase the LR hub has no slot for the key, how do i know where it's supposed to go?
And I'm also struggling understanding the timing, using a DTI in the end of the pump. I have a standard DTI gauge, am i right to assume that it's supposed to be a fuel pump specific one that threads in?

New wheels arrived from germany anyway, 16x7.5 & 16x9  so had to mock them up. 5x100 though unfortunately

[Henk]

Must admit i'd forgotten about updating the build on here!
It's had quite a few different plan changes so far




new daily, 110hp ASV Octavia. getting a real irritating limp mode problem off it


top wishbones TIG'd to take poly bushes


camber adjusters


painted a few engine bits


angle grinder and a plasma cutter are dangerous tools!




making a complete new tube chassis, as i'm sick of working around unibody crap. this will have top and bottom wishbones for the front and rear, as well as the steering, suspension and be built into the cab with mounting for the roll cage too (probably)

[trent77]

What is happening? Is the Caddy still being built? Love to see progress. Very cool project

[Henk]

quite a lot...!
The GRP arches have gone, they will be replaced.
A lot more of the shell has gone


a month or two ago, the 'plug' for the fiberglass. very much not finished yet!
The sharp eyed might notice it's a MK2 front on there


Rear end modified for being a fair bit lower. cutout for the diffuser underneath

car will now be fully tube chassis (bar the box section i guess!), one piece GRP front end, GRP rear bed panels, will be remaking probably all wishbones as i've learnt a lot about setting up a car to handle recently!


start of the first iteration, wasn't happy with it


as of this weekend. new lower chassis cut and part welded. main hoop and a-bars bought, got the hoop and a diagonal tacked on.
put the engine in place to get an idea


Got to work out what wheels i want, then work out suspension geometry for front and rear.
Fronts are Mustang II Wilwood ProSpindles with hubs made in work. rears will be Octavia hubs on self made uprights, probably billet ally