Elio Type Vehicle Resurection --- AKA the BEX

[JEBar]

Mark BEX has just released another design difference from the original Elio .... "I was considering to have fixed windows on the right front and left rear, but not now, it is a must that all 4 windows go down." .... as I recall, with the original Elio the only windows that rolled was the driver's ..... with the rear windows fixed in place, the rear seat area tended to be a bit claustrophobic .... couple that with having 2 doors, instead of only 1, and the open atmosphere will be greatly improved

[JEBar]

UPDATE :

designing and building the BEX prototype continues .... he's well into the design and fabrication of an engine compartment to mount a well proven Toyota 1.0 KR1 engine and 5 speed .... being front wheel drive making sure this part of the vehicle its understandable this phase should take some time .... he hopes to have it on the road for real world testing within the next few months

[JEBar]

Per Mark Bex :

Getting through the front chassis frame and strut mounts a bit at a time.... Don't worry that it's a but ugly and messy at the moment, lots will be trimmed back, some lasered plates rather than tubes, and some removed later.... I have to use some bolts at the moment because I can't know at the moment how the engine and driveline weight will ultimately affect the ground clearance, so may have to move the strut mounts up or down later accordingly. I spent time today designing the upper strut mounts, worked them out, and ready for a first run as soon as they are laser cut tomorrow. Will look a lot nicer.

The hardest part is working out all the tabs and slots so that they are self aligning without the need for setting jigs.

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :

My strut top laser'ed parts weren't ready until late afternoon, but done none the less.

You can see how effective the tab and slots are for jig'less alignment, fit perfectly together for welding later.



My comment :

Mark's experience in designing and building are clear .... I'm not only enjoying following his build while my appreciation for his methodical approach is growing rapidly

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :


I was drawing up a fancy eng mount for the right hand side, the left seemed simple enough, arrived at the factory this morning, was staring at it, and thought "Why not just use some 2" angle iron?".

Seemed too simple, but gee, it was simple! triangulates and increases shear strength, I'm happy.

I like that left and right sides the same, with the right side requiring some simple box tube risers.

It will get me going for now ..

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :

The brown part is what i had drawn up, flat sheet requiring laser cutting, then folding, then the 4 gussets welded in ....

..... and now the green is the angle iron with 2 short lengths of box tube welded on.

Night and day which one is faster and cheapest.

[JEBar]

the link below is to a YouTube video made by Mark BEX showing the motor mounted as per his design and build


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4nu_2tfy-k

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :

Today was about getting the new strut top mountings together, and you can see it's all much neater looking now up there, as per the CAD drawing ...


I put the CV shafts in and had to move the engine/gearbox 12mm/0.5" to the right, which was fine as I had already provided for that possibility.

[JEBar]

Per Mark Bex :

A minor milestone, first chance to test the suspension with the engine mounted, after I made a temporary dogbone mount bracket underneath t size it, to design a proper one.

Here's the video ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNM2WJ3eXt8

[JEBar]

Per Mark Bex :


Things went good today, and I had a few good win as well!

I managed to sort out the new steering knuckles that required different lower ball joints that fitted into the same 2 holes in the lower control arm that was my first win.

The new steering knuckles required nothing but for the ball joint hole to be enlarged (clamp type, not taper), that was easy enough.

As I predicted, there is some 4" difference now for me to play with the car's ride height, as you can see by the red line comparison. Note if the hubs are higher (left) then the car is lower. That was my second win.

see picture 1

I believe I will be able to tuck the struts further into the bodywork with this new setup, there's a 3rd win. They will not be mounted at the same place as in the picture.

But the BIG WIN, is these new hubs are about 25 mm wider at the wheel flange, that means without doing a thing, I have just increased the front track (the distance between the centers of the front wheels) a further 50mm/2", that's great!

I think I will now have closer to 1600mm/63" wide track now, rather than the 1550mm I estimated. A wider track is more stability, though I consider the Elio at 1700 as being too wide, you also have to drive the car around car parks, cities and other tight spaces with convenience.

There's still a bit involved now to make up more new strut mounts, but it's not exceptionally difficult.

I also tacked on a CV inner end to the left CV inner joint/shaft to extend it to test lengths.

see picture 2