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lightweight buggy

  • Baloo
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20 Sep 2021 09:45 #238816 by Baloo
Replied by Baloo on topic lightweight buggy
2 things influenced my engine choice,  cost and weight  im trying to make it as light as possible  so ideally an alloy block  and a common engine so as the info about wiring it up is floating around the internet some where,   so l went with the rover K series 
l know l know head gaskets  but thats curable  and it has some plus points, its a common engine countless metros have had engine swaps and there are forums like metro power where there loads of info,  i find forums much friendlier places to look for help as they are full of like minded folk who have an interest in the same things as yourself and are more than willing to help with advice  where as facebook is full of keyboard warriors looking to attack/make fun of,  anyway the engine and box i have which was free so thats a good price is from a 1996 1.1 metro  very basic single point  injection, its also got a cvt gearbox so thats another plus,  but theres plenty of scope for alteration with this engine  a year early model and it came with no electronics  just an SU carb and a distributer   so if i get into trouble  i can always swap to a carb  but  thats a backward step really as carburettors  have a float bowl in them which relies on the vehicle being somewhat upright where as injection will work upside down,if you need it to    then there is the opportunity to go larger later with an engine and box out of the mgf  1800 vvc  has a very flat torque curve that would suit a rockcrawler   so although this is an  automatic box i will probably build in a clutch pedal for future upgrades,    so im starting on stock axles stock springs and shocks to get a base line of what it can do  then start modifying  such as plus 4" springs shock to see if its better or just falls over easier

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20 Sep 2021 20:18 #238834 by LesNewell
Replied by LesNewell on topic lightweight buggy
I quite like K series engines. I used to have a Rover 200VI. The 1800 VVC engine was a hoot in such a light car. The bottom end torque was amazing. I did buy it with a dead head gasket but this was probably caused by a dodgy radiator. Even then it had done over 120K miles on it's original gasket. I still have the engine, ECU and loom tucked away, waiting for a suitable project car to drop it in to.

It will be interesting to see how the CVT handles off road use. I used a 1.4 Corsa auto in my buggy which has a similar engine layout to what you have in mind. The auto works pretty well. With the extra 3.9:1 in the diffs, shifts do tend to be a little harsh but otherwise it works great. The buggy is documented here . The suspension is very different to what you have planned but it may give you some ideas.

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  • Baloo
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20 Sep 2021 21:41 #238839 by Baloo
Replied by Baloo on topic lightweight buggy
Hi Les
           just had a quick look at your buggy,  it looks very very interesting,  will dig out my laptop so I can see the pictures  better,   funny corsa auto was on my shopping list but I couldn't  find a cheap one
Where abouts in the country are you ?
Cheers Andy 

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  • Newell
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21 Sep 2021 11:12 #238855 by Newell
Replied by Newell on topic lightweight buggy
Hi Andy,
I'm in Devon. Whereabouts are you?

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  • Baloo
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21 Sep 2021 20:15 - 21 Sep 2021 20:17 #238864 by Baloo
Replied by Baloo on topic lightweight buggy
Hi
   im i a place called alvechurch  its just below birmingham

ive just read your write up on your Chinese buggy, excellent  stuff  i take my hat of to you  must have been loads of work  i have a Chinese buggy too and can confirm they use chocolate where metal would be more suitable  but will rebuild it from scratch one day,

l also built one using an mgf as a donner it worked well apart from the suspension travel was far to limited for using off the road  but the drive train held up just fine,

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im interested in air shocks  i need to investigate them as i would like to build a long travel  buggy after this jimny based one
Last edit: 21 Sep 2021 20:17 by Baloo.

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21 Sep 2021 20:24 #238865 by Baloo
Replied by Baloo on topic lightweight buggy
my china buggy,  was originally 650cc 2 cylinder  but that kept breaking and when it did get fixed it promptly ate the gearbox  so it wasent long before it became home to a nissan micra engine and box

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