Elio Type Vehicle Resurection --- AKA the BEX

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :

With the heat that has made it impossible to spend very long in the factory the last week (it will pass), I have been at home primarily turning the prototype parts into pre-production manufacturer'able parts in computer CAD. Here is the firewall for example, 4 tubes and a sheet, turned into laser'ed and folded sheets.

[JEBar]

response from Mark BEX when asked how soon he anticipates being able to go into production :

"I will start making them when I can confirm there is a minimum of 100 orders. That has always been my absolute minimum.

The difference in numbers makes changes in how I would approach production of them, for example, at 100 units, I will be making them 100% myself in my town."

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :

I have been in serious talks with an American kit car company to do the assembly, servicing, parts etc.

That way gets a few American jobs going, likely higher QC, local people to contact etc.

All still up in the air though.

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :

Quite pleased that I found a small company locally, 40 mins from my home, who I feel can at least construct my frames for me.
They build small electric rubbish pickup trucks, and I know of them because a good friend of mine who has been doing my fiberglass for over 10 years, builds the fiberglass bodies for them, and he took me to visit this factory today.
I was quite happy with their welding in general, that has been the single largest pain to me here, finding good welders is like finding rocking horse poo ... I am yet to have discussions with the Owner, as he is away for a few days .....

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :

I had to stick it all back together so as to have a more complete look to show the potential production Partner.

Remember this is a PROTOTYPE, a development car, and it's a bit rough around the edges, and not representative of a final product.

You would be amazed at how many people don't understand that.


LINK TO UTUBE VIDEO ---- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKJxY-oyM0w


Been (trying to) welding for 40 years, and I am still rubbish, it's very frustrating.

I want to make it clear that it's convenient for me to weld as I go along doing the prototype, but I will have nothing to do with the welding of further vehicles, other than strictly approving them, and only if they are to a Western standard.

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :


Chipping away at it Folks, meeting today, and the potential production Partner is all for it in principle, and wants to build a chassis for me ASAP to prove they are capable, and the what, where, who and when's of it all.

First steps are for me to change and redesign the tubing sizes I am currently using, to suit the ample stock they have on hand for their current rubbish truck production, this is just logical, and keeps it low cost and low risk for that company.

Please don't mistake it as a production start, it's not, it's a start on a, or a few, pre-production models to sort things out with the target of sorting foundations for production.

I still have plenty to do on the current prototype.

[Cofisher]

Thanks Jim. This is fun to keep up with.

[JEBar]

its been fun for me as well .... for those who may not be aware, Paul Elio built up a tremendous following as he was working to put his reverse trike on the road .... the bottom line is, he embittered many, if not most, of the 65,000+ people who paid up to $1,000 for a spot in line to buy one of his trikes if/when it went to production .... it never did and I don't believe ever will .... I've come to the point that I believe there is a very high probability that Mark Beckman will get his into production sooner rather than later ... when it does, we will most certainly be in the market

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :

Working hard on the next big step in the background guys, it's not always about working on the car itself.
I am currently considering which bodyshell to go with, that the doors and door parts are "off the shelf" available in the USA.
Hyundai Accent is still a hot favorite, there's a Chev in the running as well.

[JEBar]

​Per Mark BEX ....

I have been thinking and researching hard this week, and made a decision to base the pre-production car on the 2017-2020 Hyundai Accent body parts, doors being the key element. Today I ordered the sides and 4 doors (4 for the moment for development, 2 for production). The doors are in stock, but the sides will be 5 days.

The reason is very simple, it's the right size, I can get the parts dirt cheap, and most importantly, so can you! Example: https://www.carid.com/hyundai-accent-doors/ But more thinking, ok in 10+ years time, someone runs into your car, or the electric window stops working, no problem, go to a car junkyard, and buy the parts. There's plenty been and being sold in the USA right now, it's a current model, and likely to continue to be sold in Mexico for many more years also.

picture 1 The Accent you can immediately see why the basic shape was high on my list

pictures 2 & 3 an approximation of what it may look similar to ..

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :

This is a screen shot from my messenger talking to the supplier a few hours ago. These parts should arrive tomorrow.

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :

Parts arrived at the transport depot, got my regular 3 wheeled motorcycle pickup man, and now safely in my factory ...

After my hassles I had with the first sides that were in 4 pieces, boy am I glad I could get these one piece sides

So the fun begins again

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :

I was just asked in the FB group "Am I starting over again with these new panels?".

The answer is simple:

Most of the hard work is done now, now that I have all the critical measurements to work directly from the prototype, with the relevant minor changes to suit these panels of course, so we are talking just a couple of weeks to get to the same level as the prototype again, not many months

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :

The comparison here is, it took me weeks to decide and design around how the sides would mount to the chassis, and of course that time included variations and modifications of the chassis design to suit as well ...

This afternoon, took me just a few hours to cut the sills off the new sides, and (temp) rivet the new chassis rails on, simply because I had it all worked out on the prototype, and literally just copied it today, with some minor alterations such as changing to the same size rail tubes as the (potential) Production Partner uses.

Just an example of how much faster this pre-production car will happen, and the weather is finally stating to cool, thank goodness for that ..

I must admit I grimace when I start cutting brand new parts up! first picture


Well she's up on the bench ... second picture


Imagine my surprise when the temporary crossbrace I made up to hold the previous 2 sides together, fitted straight onto these sides! I pulled the fuel tank out of the donor car, you can see it's rear raised in the background, and it's an excellent fit, that's one more thing "off the shelf", and one less headache for me ....third picture



The measurements looks to be 1000 exactly from the bottom front corners of the front doors, and 800 from the bottom front corners of the rear wheel arches, as per the arrows. .... fourth picture

[JEBar]

I asked Mark --- any clue as to how many gallons of gas that tank holds ..???


to which he responded :

"30 liters/8 US gallons.

At 84.1 mpg, that's 672 miles range.

Yeah, nah, I don't believe it either"


my comment

cut the MPG in half and that still ain't bad at all ..... you'd still have a considerably longer range than I can handle with out taking a break or two

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :

Mapping out the beginnings of a slightly different firewall area to make production easier,

..... and some crossmembers to mount the fuel tank ..

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :

As I was de-structuring the prototype today, I took a picture because it reminded me of those cars cut in half for display at motor shows.
I also sat the new side on the chassis looking at differences and various measurements ....

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :

Going to be a bit quiet for a few days while I map out the next step. The car build, that I have all the important information for, isn't that important as the direction to take it with, so don't fret with sparse reporting the next number of days. I have a willing steel chassis manufacturer, I have a willing fiberglass manufacturer, and I need an assembler. If the chassis shop wants to assemble, then there will be more design emphasis on steelwork, same for the fiberglass shop, if I assemble myself then I will design to suit my shop's capability and facilities. The next few days I will be running back and forth between the 3 balancing it out. The basic prototype layout as seen to date is not going to change dramatically.

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :

Sometimes I have big wins that don't look so obvious.

The footwell is the area under the dash where your legs and feet go, of course where the pedals are.

I have been on the computer all afternoon, and moved tubes around to figure out how to make the footwell literally a 5 sided box, that can be built on the bench, and simply slid into place from the driver's area.

It's a real win to make life easier. The theoretical "box" is shown in purple here, though in real life it will need some holes, humps and bumps to mount various components, not least the brake master cylinder.

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :

Well I created the bulk of the new forward frame today, and you can see from the driver's seat point of view, that I have create the flat sides internally just as I wanted. This will make life a lot easier to design and build the new footwell box.

Also the new frame is a lot faster, easier and cheaper to build.

Remember that when you save an hour here and there on a production run of many items, it all adds up to, no, not more cars produced, but the Wife finding new useless things for you to do around the house ... sigh ....