Mid engined awd geo ice racer

So I've taken the engine from this,a 2002 yamaha R1 running on megasquirt.

And put it in this,a 1996 geo that originally had the 3cyl that was replaced with a 13b with cams,bored tb and chip.That engine has been removed and sold for a sidekick swap.

And this where I put it,

And this is how its being driven,a pair of suzuki diffs sandwhiched between a pair of plates with sealed bearings,lube is held in place with cut down toilet plungers wrapped in that stretchy tape to seal leaks.A jackshaft driven by a pto adapter will hold a dual sprocket thingy to drive each end.

The gearing is chosen to suit our track which is always the same configuration give or take,2nd gear is 107km/h @11,500rpm and 3rd is 127 km/h @11,500 which allows a little cushion as the rev limit is set for 12,000.

that is unreasonabliy cool

Awesome beyond words.

I just giggled. That's sweet! Good luck keeping the lube in the diffs though.

Kudos

Love the ingenuity! Toilet plunger seals FTW

Will you adopt me?

WOW Good luck with the project please keep up with updates

Car projects that include toilet parts are automatically awesome.

VonSmallhausen wrote: that is unreasonabliy cool

It's unseasonably cool...

Are there differentials in there or is it the equivalent of two spools?

I think ice racers usually run locked differentials, but I live in Florida....

I love you.

mike wrote: Car projects that include toilet parts are automatically awesome.

+100

(...and that belongs in Say What)

nice work as usual Kevlar

ya know I'm a big fan of MC powerplants

and as usual... yur gonna hafta post more build pics

Hey thanks guys,the front and rear diffs are left open as the center diff is well...non existant.Yes some ice racers use locked diffs with differing results,I don't want to bind up the car with a locked center and locked front and/or rear diffs.The front and rear wheels will have to rotate at the same speeds but left/right side wheels will be able to spin at differing speeds,I used cv grease in the diffs as it won't run out and might perhaps be thick enough in the cold to provide a minimal lsd effect across the axles. Forgot to mention the rear suspension has been completely sawzall'd free of the chassis to make room for the front end bits from an '88 chevy sprint(what I had that was free and the cv's work with the diffs I had).The diff plates will provide the mounting point for brackets to attach the inner end of the lower control arm,yes both diff plates will require further bracing to the lower portions.Not done yet,just want to get more stuf in place before I put a brace in the way of something unforsee. I'm expecting race ready weight in the mid 1500's,be great if it was lighter but I'm not spending money/effort to get there.

This is the track we run on,its actually in a field and flooded with about 700,000 ltrs of water a week.Vid is from the '91 civic si I won the fwd street stud and overall street stud championship with in 2010,you can't tell but I'm chased hard by a crx and the race gets good with about 3 to go.At about 7:25 you'll see the my wife driving the same geo,I won the race by about a foot.

http://youtu.be/_ycCKikFXyw

Looks like some close racing between you and the crx. fun!

Is the geo going to have a heater? That looks really cold to me.

Seems like the engine right next to the driver seat would be enough heat.

I don't think I'll have a problem with heat other the windsheild,the plan is to use a bilge blower hooked to home depot dryer hose tucked in by the header and feeding the original defroster duct. Rules require the engine to be separated from the driving compartment,it be a big aluminum box over it to radiate heat into the cabin.

Do you have more pictures of how you have the differentials mounted? And more pictures of the build in general? Ice racing looks insanely fun and I'm definitely intrigued by this build.

Sorry not a big picture taker so what you see is what I've got.The diffs aren't very exotic,simply exchanged the open roller bearings for sealed bearings,had a housing machined to accept the outer race of the bearings and welded to the steel plates and pop it together.Removed the ring gear and had the sprockets drilled to match and bolted them on in their place.

Yes ice racing is a ton of fun,great training for all forms of motorsports in fact.

Sorry for the lack of updates,still making progress buts its goofy little things like fabbing the shifter cable holder,support,rocker arm thingy.Takes forever and doesn't look like much when done.I should have the chain tensioner rub blocks and the jackshaft fabbed up by next weekend,I did a rear suspension layout to get the brackets figured out for the inner lower control arm pivot.The metal shop has the patterns for those and the aluminum to skin the chain case to cut for me. The rads mounted and the cooling ducts to it have been sorted out so they won't take long to fab up,the seat back mount has been fabbed and welded,the rear cage braces have been removed as they went to the shock towers and would be in the way of the new strut towers that have to go in.The plates have been welded in for the new brace locations,I will fab the braces and weld in tomorrow. Promise to have some more pics by this time next week.

There is a real elagance to your brutality.

kevlarcorolla wrote: Sorry not a big picture taker so what you see is what I've got.The diffs aren't very exotic,simply exchanged the open roller bearings for sealed bearings,had a housing machined to accept the outer race of the bearings and welded to the steel plates and pop it together.Removed the ring gear and had the sprockets drilled to match and bolted them on in their place. Yes ice racing is a ton of fun,great training for all forms of motorsports in fact.

Word work too. This pretty much told me everything I would have looked for in the picture.

This thing is wicked cool. I'm hoping for videos when you have it running.

kevlarcorolla wrote: This is the track we run on,its actually in a field and flooded with about 700,000 ltrs of water a week.Vid is from the '91 civic si I won the fwd street stud and overall street stud championship with in 2010,you can't tell but I'm chased hard by a crx and the race gets good with about 3 to go.At about 7:25 you'll see the my wife driving the same geo,I won the race by about a foot. http://youtu.be/_ycCKikFXyw

Waittaminnit..homebuilt mid-engine Geo and a fabricated ice racing track?

Dude, Mount Olympus called. Zeus says they've got an open spot on the Council, and he'd like to see your CV/resume.