Pete's Porsche/VW Based Build

[Pete Gossett]

I thought it was about time I check in here & say "Hi".

I've had the book & been contemplating a Locost for several years, but just recently decided to really pursue this.

A little personal background: I've been autocrossing since '98 - mostly in a variety of FWD/AWD cars, though I've driven a few RWD cars in events thru the years and always seemed to come away from the experience smiling more than usual. Honestly, I decided I want an Elise(who wouldn't )...but that's going to have to wait at least 10-yrs until the kids are out of the house/college. So I figured a Locost will give me 90%+ of an Elise for less than ~5% the cost.

I've tried to set some goals for the overall project:

First - it must be true to the "Lo-cost" name. There's a time to spend money for what you need, but if there's a way I can do something myself and/or for less, I'll give that full thought before spending any $$$. I'm a tightwad, so the more $$$ things I need to buy, the longer it will take my build.

Second - the car needs to be both road-worthy, and autox-able. I'm not planning any cross-country trips or national championships with the car, but it needs to be able to make the 60-mi round-trip to the local autox & back.

Third - I know there will be times when I won't be able to spend more than an hour or 2 per week working on this. I wouldn't be surprised if it takes 3-years or so for me to finish it. I can live w/that.

The frustration of finding a suitable donor car is one reason I had put off a project like this for so long. However, when my neighbor asked me to help clean out his garage, I couldn't pass up on the offer. It may not be the ideal donor, but I think I can make everything fit & work in a Locost.













It's a 1977 924. The motor is siezed - I'm in the process of dissasembly now. It's the 2.0l Audi engine & 4spd trans, and I have a friend who's letting me steal whatever I want from his 83 Rabbit GTI parts car - including the engine - so I think I can get something running using parts from the two.

The present plan is to use the 924 engine/torque-tube/transmission, fab some upper balljoint mounts for the front uprights, use either the 924 or the GTI steering rack(I believe they're the same)& column, 924 radiator & fan, pedal assembly, and whatever small bits I think I can use(horn, gauges, parking brake lever, mirrors, etc). I'm still not 100% sure of how to do the rear suspension, right now I'm thinking of copying/adapting the miata/locost design, but I need to lay out the frame & see how things will fit.

Right now, I think I'm going w/a book sized frame, but I want to get the drivetrain out of the 924, set it up on the floor & start mocking things up for size first.

Know anyone who wants a 924 for a SBC swap??? Amazingly, it's pretty solid in the tub(I took pictures of all the bad spots), and all the glass is good.

[Dave]

Welcome!

If you can make the torque tube work I think the 924 would work great. As far as front suspension goes I don't think I'd bother mucking around with those struts - I believe the wheel bolt pattern of the 924 is 4x4.25" which the same as the Pinto/Mustang II or the Ford Cortina/Hyundai Stellar. I'd use Pinto uprights or I can put you in contact with a guy who has a couple extra Stellar front suspension assemblies (same as book Cortina) - that way you could use the 924 wheels (they'd look good I think).

[Pete Gossett]

I looks like I'll probably have to cut down the torque tube about 8", but I think it will work.

Dave - Thanks for the offer...but that would probably cost money. lol. And it wouldn't take much at all to fab up an upper ball-joint bracket with scrap steel I have lying around. I'm just going to build a reinforced, inverted "L" that attaches to the 2 stock strut mounting holes. I'll let you know if I change my mind, though.

I pulled the head off today, I'm definitely going to need to soak this one in ATF for a while.

[AlexPfeiffer]

I hope you dont think I'm a pric for saying this but you need to find another donor car. That motor is toast and from the rest of the pictures, it looks like it would take way too much effort to rebuild and use any of the parts of that car. In the long run, it would be cheeper to find a running car to start with.

[derf]

I agree, find a cheap donor and start from new, the engine will need some major work, and from the looks of the car if the rest of the parts are in the same condition then you are in for alot of extra work

s10's can be had real cheap if you look hard, and they are pretty much a 1 stop shop donor

[chetcpo]

Hopefully that VW motor is in a little better shape. If not you could always go the S10 route as mentioned above. You could probably pick one up for less than it would cost to get that thing running. (gaskets and machine work etc) That way you would be starting with a running vehicle and there would be no suprises.

That being said, don't let my comments or the ones from others stop you if you know what you are getting into, have thought it through and made up your mind. I know how I am when I start something, often if it's pointed out to me that I'm not necessarily doing it the best way I will continue to do it my way. Sometimes I look back and think I should have listened but most of the time I have no regrets.

Welcome to the site!

[Pete Gossett]

Lol, yeah thanks for the comments - I've thought the same thing, but I'm an opportunist by heart, and to me that's what a locost is all about.

To me, an S10 is just too big/heavy to follow Colin Chapman's mantra of "adding lightness"....and I have been looking for a suitable & cheap S10, 1st-gen RX-7, Mighty Max/D-50, etc. for some time w/o any luck. I would have paid $300 for a good running, local donor that I could source almost everything from; but around here, any barely running rust-bucket seems to be worth a grand or more, and I'm lucky if I find an engine that supposedly "ran when it was pulled" for $300.

I know of a Pinto race car w/a(supposedly)built engine for $400...but the car's been sitting outside for years & the engine has been siezed about as long.

Don't worry, the VW is a good running engine, so I'm safe there. And from what I've seen so far, the bottom of the 924 engine is in much better shape - as is the transmission/drivetrain. Besides, an Audi 5cy is a direct bolt-in, and those are plentifull and cheap. And as luck would have it, it turns out that some of the more valuable 924 bits are still good on this car, so I'm making friends over at the 924 forums.

I'm still money ahead on the 924, so even if things don't work out for the drivetrain, at least the steering & front suspension bits are useable, and I haven't lost anything else in the process.

[derf]

At least youre looking at the positives...

on a different note I came up with an idea for a fwd car, weld the fwd diff so that both output shafts spin equally, then run the 1/2 shafts to a diff in the rear and another on the front, not sure how well this would work, but in my head it seems like it would be a viable way of using a fwd donor and getting 4wd. The biggest problem I see is that you would have to change the direction of spin on one of the 1/2 shafts, or can you just flip the front diff around and that would solve that problem.

[datz510]

Too bad you're not closer.. I have a complete but rolled suzuki samuari in my backyard.

[ShaunR]

Pete,
This is the most popular Porsche forum. You may have some luck there.
http://forums.rennlist.com/

Shaun.

[Pete Gossett]

Too bad you're not closer.. I have a complete but rolled suzuki samuari in my backyard.

I almost bought a rusty/running Sidekick, but it was 4wd, I didn't think there was much cheap potential for even 120hp from that engine, I wasn't sure about LSD availability, and I couldn't talk him down to $500(the back of the body had litterally rusted off the frame)....and he's my finace's uncle!

[hometwnskater13]

correct me if im wrong
but the transfer case on the samuri's and trackers alike, for 4wd are connected by a small drive shaft
so it is really easy to take off the transfer case and sell it for monaie
while your left with a perfectly good 2wd doner with mostly aluminum parts. great for your light weight builds
ben

[datz510]

Yep.. the sammy has a divorced transfer case, so you can use the engine/tranny/rear axle in a locost, and sell off the front axle, tcase, and other parts for extra $$. That was my original plan, but I ended up going with a Nissan drivetrain instead.

They arent much on power stock, but are about as close as you can get to a bike engine in an easily useable longitudinal layout & reverse gear. There are lots of upgrades out there for them.

[Dave]

correct me if im wrong
but the transfer case on the samuri's and trackers alike, for 4wd are connected by a small drive shaft
so it is really easy to take off the transfer case and sell it for monaie
while your left with a perfectly good 2wd doner with mostly aluminum parts. great for your light weight builds
ben

Yes!

Not sure about the rear axle on the Samari but the Tracker the rear axle is offset quite a lot. Also the bolt pattern is odd. But the Samari transmission bolts up the Swift GTi motor - super light and 112hp or so.

see link: http://www.ado13.com/dohczuke/dohc.htm

[calvin]

To me that sort of implies that the DOHC Swift engine might just be the best choice for a locost wanting to build a lightweight and prepare for Solo II to fit in the rules of an automotive (as in not bike) engine. It looks like there might be a lot of potential with that engine and trans. Also where he superimposed it on the 948 BMC engine, that was one of the original Louts Seven engine choices that fit comfortably under the hood, so you might be able to fit this engine without raising the hoodline from the Lotus nose.