rongaudier wrote:
Well, I have the book, had it for years actually. At this point I'm thinking a book chassis. I want something simple. Don't want to reinvent the wheel here. What would you guys suggest as a good donor for such a project? Again, I want to go as simple as possible and use as much off the shelf stuff as I can.
Simple is good. When folks here say, "The Book", they mean the original Champion book, so I'll assume you meant that traditional Locost design. Here are a couple of things you might want to consider.
The McSorely variations are often better suited to more modern donors as they are larger in various dimensions, which can include chassis height and cockpit width. Chassis height helps with taller engines and wider cockpits help with those of us with larger physical dimensions, plus larger engines/transmissions/rear axles. They are built the same way as the Champion design. Also, 3D models and/or drawings of them are free, so there's not economic penalty for using them.
If you go with a live rear axle, the donor pool will be generally be older as most cars have been front wheel drive since the 80's until recently. One notable exception category has been the small trucks like the S10, Ranger, Toyotas, Nissans, etc. Of course there are the Camaros, Mustangs and a few others, but they tend to have larger engines and transmissions and will require some adaptation and customization of the chassis and front suspension, which you may not want to do.
If you decide to go with a donor that has independent rear suspension, the Miata and various Ford products (T-bird, Explorer, Lincoln) IRS systems have received the most attention on this website, and probably represent the best developed choices for an IRS within the Champion chassis design.
If you have some buck$ to spend, something like the Solstice or Sky would be nice choices, but would also require some rework of the chassis.
Cheers,