Mitch's build v1

[gremlin]

Thought I'd start a thread for my project, might not be everyones cup of tea (ruining a poor boy), but anyway. 
My first few cars were mightyboys, including an f6a swapped one i sadly pranged (2007).
Ive owned a good few cars since, mostly nissans and toyotas (have been heavily involved in drifting), but always had ideas for one in the back of my mind. 
Mid 2017 a tidyish complete but disassembled car popped up cheap, I couldnt help myself.



Not much happened, between starting uni and working away between semesters, free time is limited. A couple of weeks ago an engine came up for a good price so i jumped.
It's a Rotax 1503, supercharged 1.5L 3 cylinder from a seadoo jetski, although i bought it sans charger to turbo charge it. Aim is 200whp low boost, e85 fuel.
I immediately got carried away trying to attach it to the car

gross photo sorry
at this point i was kicking myself for using this engine over the comparable na 900cc rotax, which would fit significantly more easily. 
but no replacement for displacement or something *grunt*
cue firewall cut



Plan is mightyboy or ke70 corolla steering rack, s13 silvia knuckles and brakes, fabricated lower control arms and tension arms to suit.
Given its a ski engine, a traditional flywheel clutch combo won't go on the back, i also cant imagine fitting a trans tunnel and 2 adults with legs. To overcome this i'm going to build a transaxle using a compact longitudinal gearbox (havent yet settled on anything) and something similar to an r160 assembly from 90's era subarus mixed with s13 rear hubs to retain 4x114.
This rear setup idea is the main reason I gave myself a pass for cutting firewall as I doubt any engineer will touch it. none the less i'm trying to retain as much factory metal and as many original mounting points as possible.

I dont really intend it as a regular street car, but it definitely will be registered to some degree (lol) and street driven.
This build is intended to be the first version, on a low budget. kind of a proof of concept. (basically im expecting to do a bunch of stuff wrong)
I've just started studying engineering and i'm hoping i can revisit parts in future as part of my degree for version 2

[Jeo]

Well that's something different. Good effort and I hope it all goes well.

Particularly like the square box tube front subframe

[JB]

Awesome, it's an ambitious project, look forward to seeing it come together.

[Brayden]

This kind of thing is what motivates me to keep our MightyBoy community going. I mean what other vehicle attracts the same range of crazy and creative builds as an MB?
All the best for the build, I'll be watching with interest.

[Zuffen]

Can you legally street drive it?

With it being swapped to RWD I would think it would become an ICV and they are scary hard to register.

Do you plan on trying for Engineering or just keep it registered and drive on?

[gremlin]

Thanks for the kind words guys. 
Brayden it was very cool to come back after almost ten years and see a forum still alive, and find a heap of creative and inspiring builds to read!
I have an engineer that has been quite lenient in the past, when I get closer to starting the rear I will talk to him. I think though because it will have non original subframes (part of the reason for using shs instead of tube - doesnt stand out so much) it will probably fall under icv like you said, and that definitely falls outside of budget
worst case will be to register as standard and be cautious about driving it around.

[gremlin]

Back from work again. Have the next week and a half off, hoping to have the front together enough support itself in that time.
Last few days i made the cross piece with rack mounts and internal braces, and mocked up tension arm mounts.
Ended up using ke70 rack, hoping i can shorten it a little to suit the lca lengths.



Next i'll get ball joints, tie rod ends and heims to make the arms. And a splined universal joint to suit the ke rack so i connect the column

[gremlin]

Front end supports itself on s13 knuckles now. Finding I definitely underestimated the time involved in each little step but I'm enjoying trying some new things.
Few things im not totally happy with but overall I think its coming together ok.







apologies for poor quality photos
unfortunately this will probably be the last big step in progress until next uni break 

[zacmul]

Love this project!
Keep it up!

[gremlin]

DIY transaxle idea didnt pan out so I spent some time researching and the best I could come up with was an 012 from audi.
Manged to buy a whole '98 A4 for 350$, ripped it out, degreased it (sorry local car wash) and did some rough mocking.



Looking like i will cut 50mm or so off the top of the bellhousing and move the gearbox back so the driveshaft angles are acceptable (might not be logical but i don' want to intrude into the tray). Otherwise seems ok.
Pretty keen to get a rear subframe and some floor/strut tower bracing done over the uni break thats coming up

[Matty]

I like this mate

[gremlin]

Didnt get as far as i would have liked during uni break due to working and other distractions. Made a driveshaft support plate. Both machined pieces o-ring to the engine, the upper is filling the original supercharger shaft thru-hole, for a turbo oil return. 
please overlook the poor tig welding, excuse excuse, im getting better haha


Also started floor bracing. side extensions were a mistake, will get chopped and redone. Ive started the rear subframe, just need to finish removing the leaf spring mounts, bump stops and other little brackets under the tray. drilling spot welds is major buzzkill.
Bought myself a new tig welder for work, really keen to get some flanges cut and start building inlet and exhuast manifolds!
also sorry about the pic situation. i'll reup photos on a proper host and edit later

[Brayden]

You can upload pics directly to the forum.

I'm amazed that you're doing all of this without a hoist!