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

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX

Today's task was assembling and installing the left CV shaft, steering knuckle etc and making some test templates to position the strut, red arrows. I am happy that the strut is not just lower, but further inside the bodywork than previously.
You can see the old strut top mount, blue arrow, and that the new position is no where near it, include that the strut top will need to be some 50mm/2" lower than that when the spring compresses under car's weight .... see picture 1


For the technical minded, I already had a little too much caster for my liking, and the new packaging has increased the caster beyond reasonable. But if I move the strut top in front of the frame vertical tube, green arrow, left picture, there is too little caster. So there was no choice but to remove the vertical tube, replace it with a horizontal tube, green arrow right picture, and start developing the new strut top mounts from there, with the correct amount of caster ... see picture 2

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX

While I wait for the laser cut parts for the new strut top, that won't be cut until tomorrow (Don't they know who i am!!!), I am starting on the rear arm and wheel.

I am happy to be able to use the rear beam off the same donor the steering knuckles are from.

It's just a straight tube, as can be seen in the picture, and the hub stub axles are centered to the tube, how much more simple a foundation to work from can you get. So I got it up in the air today, and another pleasant surprise, it uses a load sensing proportioning valve, red arrow, as I am going to be using. I like it when many parts are from the same car

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :

Got my laser cut strut top mounts back today, very happy to have a long, flat edge to work with, makes life easy. As you can see, the edge lines up with the vertical frame member, so again ease of design and implementation is at hand.

Removed the rear axle beam, 5 minutes later it was cut up, and now designing around it to make the rear wheel swingarm.

Had one of those bad hand days, skinned knuckles, numbers of cuts and scratches, worst of all a squashed thumb, right on the nail, some days are like that. I had 2 friends there at the time, Margaret and Tina, they felt really bad that I was in pain, but I told them: "Don't cry for me, Marge and Tina" .....

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :

Working out a rear swingarm, for the rear wheel of course.

Couldn't be a more simple design really, a couple of lasered extra brackets for the 2nd swing arm,

... which are simply 2" box tube, and another 2" box tube up front across the chassis.

Just working out the hard part, swingarm bushes, hoping some Toyota HiLux ones are going to work out

[JEBar]

PER Mark BEX :

Had a good find today for the rear swingarm bushes, and for many projects into the future.

I have wasted countless hours looking for a good bush for control arms and trailing arms over the years, there is so many of them, and the manufacturers seem hell bent on not using standard sized tubing for the casing, and that's the issue, the casing.

Well, here is my answer, the Chev Colorado, 2004 to 2012, 2WD upper control arm bushes. Perfect.
My tube here is common 48mm x 2.5 wall, one of the most common sizes around, also the next thickness up, 3.2 mm, is a World standard for scaffolding tube.

My tube is only a light hammer tap fit, which is too loose for a bush, but after welding the casings into place, the welding will shrink it to a press fit.

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :

This is roughly what the rear end looks like, a bit blocky looking in this 3D though.
I don't need "Ohh, pretty!" at this stage, so bear it

It will be pivoting on the rear roll cage legs, pink here.

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :

I spent a surprising amount of hours today in CAD getting a bracket/mounting setup for the rear swingarm that I was happy with. Took the file to the laser shop, and their computer was down, so hopefully tomorrow they will be cut.

Note the front of the swingarm is very wide, this is to stop it coming forward into the passenger compartment in the event of a vehicle hitting it up the rear. I will try to design it so the wheel goes under and lifts the BEX up the taking impact energy away.

The rear suspension strut should be something like this:

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :

From a real world perspective though, based on vehicle type, demographic and real world usage, I am far less concerned about twist/loss of contact area being an issue due to very light loads expected, and had intended to use a camera during testing to view what the rear wheel will be doing under various load conditions to see what additional bracing might be required, if any.

Also note that basic triangulation has yet to be added in the CAD drawing there, and is most certain

Note that race and sports motorcycle swingarms have been braced in this pyramid method for decades

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :

Today I got the laser parts for the rear swingarm mounts and did the front strut top mounts.

The strut mounts are finished, but able to be moved if need be after I check ride height later.

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX :

Sadly I hurt my lower back on Wednesday afternoon, been laid up for 2 days now, just starting to walk almost straight, not overly concerned as it's clearly muscle/nerve as painful as it is, so hope to be back into it tomorrow or Sunday ....