Body Chassis Drivetrain |
Electrical Interior MegaSquirt |
First Drive Racing Media Daily Driving |
I had a ride in Lotus Super 7 in the very early 1980’s. I’ve had a smile on my face ever since.
After over 20 years of dreaming, I finally started building one. I bought a copy of Ron Champion’s book “How to Build Your Own Sports Car for £250 and Race It!” I picked up an AE86 1986 Toyota Corolla GT-S with the 4A-GE twin cam engine, T-50 transmission, and solid axle, and began building.
This project will not be documented as thoroughly as my others. This is already being done by thousands of people on the internet already, and there is no hole that needs to be filled. Why re-invent the wheel?
Things I recommend:
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- Move the entire cowl back about 4″ to 6″ from the book plans – brings windshield closer, less wind buffeting, and looks less “cartoonish” in proportion
- Raise the rear deck to be the same height as the cowl – looks better
- Use round tube instead of flat bar for the sides of the cockpit by the rear fender – hurts your ribs less
- Use round tube for the transmission tunnel – more comfortable
- Insulate the inside of the transmission tunnel – much more comfortable
- Make sure the pedal box is completely sealed from heat entry – much much more comfortable
- Bend the bottom rear corners of the body to match the top curves
- Make the frame rails under the axle horizontal at least until you clear the axle – more droop travel
- Build the chassis so that everything still clears when the suspension is completely bottomed out – it’s hard to change it later
- Point the steering column at the axle center line – makes more sense to your brain subconsciously
- Run ALL the engine compartment wiring on the non-exhaust manifold side of the chassis
- Use a VW rad reservoir or or some sort of rad fill at an easily accessible highest point
- You’re going to need a lot more rear brake bias
- The fuel filler needs to be on the outside of the car, not in the boot – pain to fill up when you have four slicks strapped to the rollbar
- Daily driving with a 5-point harness gets old, real quick
Oh, converting the brakes to twin masters and a balance was a SIGNIFICANT improvement:
