Mark (smokey mow) Posted April 4, 2023 Share Posted April 4, 2023 I’ve been away from competitive motorsports for far too long so for 2023 I’m making my long overdue return. The Westfield was the last car I raced and that was sold 3 years ago. Neither of the single seaters are quite close enough to finished for racing yet so a different plan and car is required for this year. It needs to be cheep and most importantly competitive, racing where there’s no silliness with expensive engines or won by the size of your chequebook. If I’m honest the search was quite brief and having wasted too many evenings in the past watching reruns of the red bull soapbox derby on the TV I had the urge to do something similar so in a moment of madness I’ve signed up and entered the Colchester soapbox rally. Race day is on 17th September so that gives me just 5months to design, build and test a car. https://incolchester.co.uk/soapbox-rally So far I have no team, and only some CAD sketches and a pile of old moped parts. What can possibly go wrong! Wish me luck! Mods: if you think this thread would be better in “Speed series Hillclimbing and racing” feel free to move it 😄 8 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted April 4, 2023 Share Posted April 4, 2023 Looking forward to following this with interest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted April 4, 2023 Author Share Posted April 4, 2023 6 minutes ago, Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman said: Looking forward to following this with interest! As you'd expect from me it will be over designed and over engineered 😄 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted April 4, 2023 Share Posted April 4, 2023 Perfect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted April 4, 2023 Author Share Posted April 4, 2023 There’s not much to show yet but these are the concept drawings I’ve been working on. The basic dimensions for the driver are not dissimilar to that of a Westfield. Chassis will be 25mm mild steel box with an aluminium floor. Most of the mechanicals such as the wheels, hubs and brakes are from a Peugeot Speedfight moped whist the narrowest steering rack I could source was from an MC2 Microcar. finished weight of the rolling chassis should be 55kg. The bodywork I’m loosely basing around the 1949-51 Ferrari 166 F2. I haven’t worked out how I’m making this yet but if time it’ll probably be fibreglass. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted April 4, 2023 Share Posted April 4, 2023 From what I know, one of the tricks is to design it with loads of negative camber front and back to reduced the tyre footprint and rolling friction on the paved surface to increase the speed of the soap box. We expect pics and videos you know! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR.C Posted April 4, 2023 Share Posted April 4, 2023 The hero's of the red bull soap box, are the losers not the winners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenton Posted April 4, 2023 Share Posted April 4, 2023 I built a cart for my local race. Entered for a few years, now my creation sits looking for a new home. Won. Fastest over the course, fastest through the speed trap and longest distance rolled after the finish line. Please with the result considering I built it for less that £150, most expensive bit was some rod eyes from Mc Gill for the steering. Will find a pic if your interested. Happy to pass on FOC to someone who will use it. Kenton 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted April 5, 2023 Author Share Posted April 5, 2023 Over the next few days I’ll try to catch you up with all the prep work I’ve completed to date. All the donor parts have been bought and are boxed up ready in the garage, most of which I’ve also cleaned up and refurbished so they all look shiny and like new again. in the next week I should be ordering the chassis steel but for now I’ve been working on some of the smaller parts. The front suspension is going to be fully independent so last weekends job was to turn on the lathe a set of nylon bushes and stainless steel tubes for the upper and lower wishbones. There’s still another 8 nylon bushes to make 😀 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanD Posted April 6, 2023 Share Posted April 6, 2023 I have always fancied having a go at this as well. the building more than the driving. wish I was closer. Good look and watching with interest Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhutch Posted April 6, 2023 Share Posted April 6, 2023 In for the watch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted April 12, 2023 Author Share Posted April 12, 2023 All the steel has now been ordered so with the drawings finalised today I knocked up a very crude jig for welding the front upper and lower wishbones. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted April 12, 2023 Author Share Posted April 12, 2023 Suspension bushes all now completed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted April 12, 2023 Author Share Posted April 12, 2023 A couple more jobs; firstly the steering rack was cleaned up with a fine wire brush to remove the road grime, just the rubber gators to refit but I won’t do that till I’ve cut down the arms to the final length. The rack was sourced from the French Microcar MC2 and is surprisingly narrow at just 320mm between the pivots. second job was the rear axle. This would have been too large to make in one piece on my lathe so I cut down a pair of stub axles from the moped which are 17mm diameter and then welded these inside a length of 25 dia x4mm wall steel tube. For belt and braces I’ll also be fitting a roll pin on the hole to ensure that nothing comes loose. I don’t want a wheel falling off! 😀 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit Car Electronics Posted April 12, 2023 Share Posted April 12, 2023 57 minutes ago, Mark (smokey mow) said: I don’t want a wheel falling off! 😀 That'll be the last of your worries when you're upside down in a hay bale 😆 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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