Lachlan's MightyBoy

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Zuffen
Posts: 72
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2017 2:45 pm
Location: Warrawee NSW

My youngest son Lachlan wanted a MightyBoy to play with.  He has an Mitsubishi Evo Vii and a bike so this is just atoy.  He found one on Facebook for $300.00.  This was January 2017.
The car came almost completely dismantled with plenty of rust and no engine, gearbox, radiator or driveshafts.

What to do?

Firstly I’ve built cars for the last 50 years and have an ICV under my belt and plenty of engine swaps, plus race and rally cars, so I wasn’t too afraid to get in and have ago.
We decided it was pointless keeping it standard and thought an F8 would be the way to go.  The problem was they aren’t easy to come by and most likely would be well worn and still didn’t have much power.

The solution was use a Daewoo Matiz engine and transmission as we had read Arklan’s build thread it looked pretty straight forward.

However we thought we would be a little more daring and use as much of the Matiz as we could.  After all once you buy the car the bits you use are free.
In the end after a lot of measuring and discussion we opted to use the Daewoo floor, firewall and complete front structure.  This would allow us to use the Matiz front suspension, all the wiring, complete unaltered power assisted brakes and we didn’t have to worry too much about making engine mounts etc.  Another advantage was we could cut out the rust. 
 
As the Matiz was built in 2004, it’s fuel injected and I would rather work with electronics than carburettors.  Additionally the car is a lot more structurally stronger than the MightyBoy.  The floor even incorporated side impact protection.  The airbags had to be deleted.  They could have been retained but the Engineer wasn’t very enthusiastic about that.
 
We figured if we stuffed up we didn’t stand to lose much and we could salvage some money by selling off the body panels as rough as they were.

So this is the MightyBoy we started with.
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Then the Matiz arrived home on the trailer for $400.00.  1 months’s rego and a blown clutch.  We did find a small bag of ice under the driver’s seat, but that was flushed down the toilet.

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We commenced working on it late February 2017.

A day or so of stripping and cutting and we had the Matiz looking like this.  I guess there’s no going back for the Matiz.

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Another day and MightyBoy looked like this.  Same deal as the Matiz, there’s no going back.  I don’t think this car could have been saved as the rust in the plenum was just too extensive so we haven’t ruined a good MightyBoy, rather we’ve saved the body of one.
 
Funny we didn't get a photo of the MightyBoy chopped.
 
Hmm, they don’t fit together all that well.  No trouble, just turn the floor of the Matiz up to lower the floor level by 45mm and all should be fine.  We left as much of the Matiz as possible to allow us to fold sections over each other so we could both seam and plug weld the parts together.  The main issue was maintaining the wheelbase and keeping the two parts aligned to ensure the caster remained within reason and that the wheels lined up.

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After a bit of welding the two half-cars were one and it looked workable.

 Our first real problem was the scuttle height on a Matiz is over 100mm higher than the MightyBoy.  We gained 45mm in dropping the floor and simply sliced the top off the Firewall and figured we would sort it as we went.

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Jeo
Posts: 115
Joined: Wed Jul 15, 2015 10:42 pm
Location: Canberra

Well that's not what I expected when I saw the first Matiz photo. Hell of an effort but keen to see how it progresses!
Zuffen
Posts: 72
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2017 2:45 pm
Location: Warrawee NSW

A bit more of the story.

The whole MightyBoy plenum assembly for the heating/fresh air was junked, leaving just the upper skin of the scuttle intact.  We made up a new bottom for the scuttle to fill in between the bottom of the windscreen and the Matiz scuttle so we still had fresh air entering the vehicle as Suzuki planned but joining up with the Matiz heater system.

We had to make provision for the wiper spindles to pass through this panel but remain watertight, as wet feet weren’t on our agenda.  Rainwater drains out the side of the scuttle using the original MightyBoy scuttle end under the bonnet hinges.  The bonnet hinges had to go so we had to sort out how to attach the Bonnet.

Once we had the air intake sorted we mounted the wiper mechanism with a modification that allowed us to use the Matiz wiper motor (so it would plug and play with the Matiz loom) on a fabricated bracket.  This looked pretty good but had poor access should it ever go wrong, and it did.  After we had finished the car and installed the wiper arms we found the wipers parked in the upper position instead of the bottom of the screen.  Dumb not to have seen it coming.  A bit wrangling with a 12mm spanner had the drive arm off the motor, rotated 180 degrees and tightened up again.  All good the wipers park where they should.

The original idea was to use the Matiz dash and support structure once it was narrowed by 52mm.  This didn’t work out as the dash would then have been too high and the steering wheel would have been where the windscreen would like to go.  We spent days getting it all looking good then Lachlan pointed out this problem.

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I wonder if we could put a bulge int he windscreen?

We pulled all the support assembly out and mounted it 65mm lower and about 50mm rearward.  This allowed everything to fit.  Our aim was to retain the air-conditioning so the car would be a Matiz in a MightyBoy body.

The dash needed cutting on the ends (and plastic welding together) and the front to make it fit the windscreen.  We did get it all to fit without too much trouble.  The middle section of the dash is a pig to fit and isn’t 100% but you need to know where to look to spot it.  We originally tried vinyl wrapping the dash, but this was way beyond our meager talents. In the end we stone guarded the dash and sprayed it grey so the join lines were covered. 

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The bodywork wasn’t the prettiest we’ve seen and there was quite a bit of rust to contend with.  We originally purchased a bonnet from QLD (together with a replacement front bumper and canopy for very little money) and fortunately my Mother lives in Tweed Heads so I collected them on a visit to her, well she thinks it was a visit to her!

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We decided the bonnet was too good to ruin so it; s in storage.  We ended up doing what real panel beaters do and hammer and dollied the original bonnet into shape.  We did the same with the very ordinary NSF guard and tailgate.  We cut a hole into the tailgate to allow access and welded the piece removed back in.  The car had been hit in the OSR 1.4 and pushed into something on the NSF corner so it was a bit average.

By using the Matiz front architecture there was nowhere to mount the MightyBoy front panels.  To overcome that we grafted the inner mudguards and radiator support panel from the MightyBoy to the Matiz inner guards.  Once assembled everything lined up as it should.

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The stone tray needed some modification and as the front of the Matiz hung below the stone tray we added a rubber chin spoiler off a Honda Jazz.

Once we had the body fairly straight, it will never win any awards, we primed it.

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We then refitted all the Matiz mechanical components but, just as Arklan did, we found the bonnet hit the top of the throttle body.  We removed the alloy block from the top of throttle body and gained about 25mm.  We still needed more so we spaced the engine down by 19mm by using spacers on the side mounts, and modified the front mount.  The rear didn’t need modifying as the torque reaction arm allowed it to drop and roll the engine forward slightly.

One thing we couldn’t fit in was the original Matiz air filter assembly.  It’s almost as big as the engine!  We ended up using a pod filter mounted behind the NS headlight and enclosed in an acoustic box.

The bonnet now closed but when we started squeezing in the radiator, air-conditioning condenser and fan things got a little tight.  We had to get creative to get it all in.  Eventually we had everything mounted to our satisfaction and when the bonnet is closed you would hard pressed to know it was modified.  Everything is so tight we couldn’t use the bonnet lock so small alloy bonnet locks are let into the bonnet.   Even the grill needed some material ground off the rear of it to fit properly.
 
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As the Matiz track is 100mm wider than a MightyBoy we needed to work out haw to legally widen the rear track.

The answer is simply bolt in the Matiz trailing arms and Panhard rod.  We removed the spring seats and shock mounts from the Matiz along with the Panhard mount and simply installed them under the MightyBoy.  The dimension of the front of a MightyBoy rear spring and a Matiz trailing arm to the axle centreline is the same so the wheel base remains unaltered and we have the same bolt pattern each end.  Plus it all clears the fuel tank, but does force the deletion of the spare wheel.

Using the Matiz suspension gave us bigger brakes on the front with struts we can get spares for.

We lowered the front of the car by cutting the welds on the bottom of the lower spring seat and rewelding them 80mm lower.  The front suspension is stock Matiz in all other respects.  The caster bar/sway bar is more than twice as thick as the MightyBoy one and you can feel this when the car is driven.  The rear suspension was lowered by using shorter springs.  We installed new slotted rotors and Brembo pads to ensure it would stop.

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One problem with the 100mm wider track was flaring the guards to cover the tyres.  We found a set of flares that look good, fit well in Lithuania and purchased them  It was a good decision as they were perfect for the car.
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Brayden
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Joined: Sun Apr 11, 2004 3:09 am
Location: Canberra ACT
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This is brilliant! Thanks for sharing.
If I get time I'll download the images and reattach them directly to the forum so they don't disappear in the future.
F8B EFI turbo - Three pots and a snail.
Zuffen
Posts: 72
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2017 2:45 pm
Location: Warrawee NSW

Thanks Brayden, it is a bit out of left field.

The fuel system gave us the most heartache of all the things we had to deal with. 
 
We tried to use the Matiz fuel tank but it just wasn’t going to fit.  We needed to use the Matiz fuel pump, gauge and FPR (all contained in one unit) for everything to talk to one and other and work.
We ended up using the MightyBoy fuel tank, after cleaning and patching it with POR15, with a 5litre surge tank mounted behind it.  Into the surge tank we installed the fuel pump unit and fed fuel to it from the original MightyBoy drain hole in the tank.

This hasn’t been perfect but we’re confident we will get it all working as it should.  Currently the fuel gauge works when it wants and we suspect the float has jammed against side of the surge tank, so a little investigation is needed.

Early in the piece we thought a tacho would be nice but not an add-on rather in the dash like any nice car.  A little research showed some Matiz’s were fitted with a tacho in Romania but trying to get one proved a bit difficult.  More searching found the Chery QQ has a nice looking dash, so a bit of Googling and I ordered one from China and a matching electronic speed transducer.
To install this dash means I need to re-pin the loom in that area but it looks do-able.  The Chery dash fastened in the same way as a Matiz, after all the QQ is a clone of the Matiz and has been a subject of a Court Case in China for copyright infringement.

We'll post up if we ever get around to installing it.

We solved the bonnet hinges issue by folding up some 3mm stainless so it would bolt to the bonnet and it has a leg that runs between the scuttle and guard that hinges on a 6mm bolt in a rivnut insert in the side of the scuttle.

Once we had what looked like a car that would function we blew it apart for paint.  This is where it became interesting.  The car needed something different in the way of paint and we went back and forth quite a few times between Gulf Wyer colours and Martini Racing colours.  We already had a real Martini car and thought another was a bit silly but Lachlan pointed out we once had a 911 Porsche in Martin Colours (without the light and dark blue stripes) so he got his way.

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After painting the car a base white we spent a day and half masking it up and painting the unmasked area dark blue.  We then masked the dark blue and painted the light blue.  Lastly we masked that up and painted the red stripes.  Lots of work but it does look good.

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The wiring was done in a few hours as the Matiz loom fitted where it did originally and all the holes in the firewall were in the right place.  We needed to extend the wiper motor wiring, as it was now inside the car rather than under the bonnet and delete the rear door curtesy light wiring, Rear window demister and wiper, but that’s about it.  Factory wiring is so much easier than what you do yourself.
 
Upgraded (new) headlights with 90/130 Halogen bulbs means you can see past your nose.  We would like to upgrade the taillight to LED as they are pretty feeble.

Once this was done we trimmed the interior in two variations of grey vinyl so that all interior metalwork was trimmed.  We then installed the rear window then the carpet out of the Matiz.  This fitted the floor perfectly as all seat mounts etc. were left stock Matiz.  We used the Matiz seat belts as they activated the seatbelt warning light on the dash.

The seats are from a Nissan S13 and whilst tight they work well and are very comfortable.  The steering wheel is a Sparco one we picked up for $100.00.  Actually the wheel has a bit of a story attached to it.  One day whilst working on the car a young bloke rocked in and said “Wow a MightyBoy, I used to have one” and he left his number in case we needed any machining done as our lathe isn’t the most modern or accurate, but neither am I.  Anyway Lachlan spotted the Sparco for sale and agreed a price.  When we went to collect it the seller was none other than the young guy who wandered into our garage.  A small world!

We re-installed all the mechanicals and fired it up and test drove it in the garage.  We have a Highway Patrol Officer living 100metres away so no quick lap of the block!  We’ve already had words with this slime-bag.  One issue we had was we couldn’t get it to give spark or fuel pressure.  We searched for a day but couldn’t find a blown fuse, plug disconnected or any reason for the problem.  Our OBDII scanner wouldn’t talk to the car and we finally surmised there was something wrong with the ECU.  Close inspection revealed it wasn’t even plugged in!  Once that was rectified the little car sprang into life.

We loaded the car on the trailer and took it to a Relatives acreage and test drove it on their driveway.  All went well except the steering is a bit “clunky” which we’ve ascertained is caused by moving the dash back and down.  It has put joint of the first UJ in the steering at a horrible angle and it changes the way it rotates.  More research into how to fix is an on-going issue.
One issue with taking the car anywhere is everyone looks and it gets plenty of people taking its photo.

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We had the car Engineered in Queanbyan than took it for its Blue Slip locally.  The car failed as it was leaking plenty of oil.  We took of the sump and re-sealed that and also the cam cover wasn’t quite tight enough.  Once that was done it passed and received rego on the 18th January.

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Distinctive if nothing else.

Here is a shot of the almost finished interior.  Somewhat different to what you expect to see in a MightyBoy!  The dash rubs against the passenger's door so we may insert spacers behind the hinges to give it a bit of clearance.

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So 11 months from go to whoa, but in that time I have been intestate 5 times and overseas twice so we figure we worked on it for around 8 months, probably 3 days a week.  We guess around 1,000 man-hours went into it.

So what did this cost us?  I figure we got out of it for less than $4,500.00 with Engineering and we have a fairly unique MightyBoy that drives like a 15 year old car not a 30 year old car.
 
During the build we installed a new cam belt, clutch spark plugs, leads, cap and rotor.  So it should be good for quite awhile
 
At the end of the day we did everything bar install the windscreen (could have done that but it cost the same installed or uninstalled) and buff the paint when it was finished.

I can post up more random photos f the build if anyone is interested.
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Brayden
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I have to know, where did you get the flares?
F8B EFI turbo - Three pots and a snail.
Zuffen
Posts: 72
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2017 2:45 pm
Location: Warrawee NSW

The flares came from these guys.

http://stores.ebay.com/barntuning
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Brayden
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Joined: Sun Apr 11, 2004 3:09 am
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Thanks again. I just noticed you said it was engineered in QBN. Any reason you went so far for the cert?
F8B EFI turbo - Three pots and a snail.
Zuffen
Posts: 72
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2017 2:45 pm
Location: Warrawee NSW

The Engineer we use is an old Client of our's from when we ran a motor Insurance Company.

We use him as he thinks like we do.
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Brayden
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Ahh. Makes sense!
F8B EFI turbo - Three pots and a snail.
Zuffen
Posts: 72
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2017 2:45 pm
Location: Warrawee NSW

Just some random photos of the construction.

Trying to vinyl wrap the dash.  An absolute disaster!

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A shot of the diffuser we built out of the Matiz rear bumper.  There are 9 separate pieces in the diffuser.

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More than one Matiz died for the cause.  This one gave us lots of spare parts, all for $200.00.

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Stone-guarding underneath.


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My ever tolerant wife put up with the Billiard Room becoming a parts store for about 6 months.

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Rear suspension with trailing arms, coils and panhard set up.


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The Fuel system.

The fuel drains by gravity from the MightyBoy tank to the small aluminium surge tank that contains the fuel pump, fuel pressure regulator and the fuel gauge.

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arklan
Posts: 392
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2011 1:31 am

:O !!!!!!!!!!
is this even real?????
Zuffen
Posts: 72
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2017 2:45 pm
Location: Warrawee NSW

Arklan,

You inspired it!

So far the only problem we've encountered is the low beam headlights are having a rest so I need to look into it.

The little car probably goes as well as your's which is much better than a stock one.
Nissanmaaart
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Joined: Sun Feb 25, 2018 10:35 pm

What a rippa ! good work - and Air Con :D
Zuffen
Posts: 72
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2017 2:45 pm
Location: Warrawee NSW

A bit of an update.

The Matiz engine died during the week.

Very smokey and runs like crap. and fouling number 1 cylinder so it's toast

We have a spare Matiz engine and trans we will fit as a short term and look into something with more grunt.

The car stops and handles very well (a legacy of the Matiz underpinnings giving wider stance and better struts) so it can handle some more grunt.

Thinking Suzi GTi as the rails in this car are wider than any other MB.

As the vehicle is a commercial vehicle engine capacity limits don't apply so I can fit what I can squeeze in and my Engineer will approve.

We're looking for a minimum of 100FWHP.

Have thought about Hyundai Getz engines but think the Suzi engine stands a good chance of the existing driveshafts fitting unaltered as Suzuki designed the Matiz mechanicals. 

I'll update this Thread as we move forward.
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