TR5 and left hand chassis

[Brad20j]

I'm getting set up to build a left handed Haynes Roadster in NY. I obviously have the book, and I've seen the drawings posted on another thread about the left hand drive chassis.

I'm wondering, however, what's the purpose of TR5 (the diagonal that extends on one side of the engine bay)? Should this tube get switched to the left side of the car in a LHD setup? It looks like it should extend from TT12 (the top longitudinal tube on the inner side of the passenger footwell), even if TT12 were switched over to the left side.

Is the position of TR5 dependent also on what engine is used? Would it interfere with certain engines if repositioned to the left side?

Thanks,
Brad

[londonsean69]

I believe (and stand to be corrected) that TR5 is basically another brace, just to give a bit of rigidity to the engine bay.

Makes sense to put it on the drivers side, so you should be able to swap it no bother.

Some people on here have waited until the engine is in before welding in TR5, this would obviously give more room for installing the engine, but you must make sure you can get the engine out afterwards! Although it is possible to drop the engine from the bottom of the bay.

Welcome to the forum, what sort of engine and tranny are you thinking of using? Would be interesting to know what you plan on using as a donor. MX5? (I think you lot call it a Miata?)

[Chris Gibbs]

Welcome Brad!!

As Sean says it's the engine bay brace and it's not a problem to switch it to the other side.

Cheers

Chris :)

[Brad20j]

Welcome to the forum, what sort of engine and tranny are you thinking of using? Would be interesting to know what you plan on using as a donor. MX5? (I think you lot call it a Miata?)

Thanks Sean and Chris!

Re the donor, I understand that the Miata is an easy donor to find in the US. I haven't decided yet though. I think I'd like a slightly more powerful engine than is available in the older Miatas, and in any case, I'm still perplexed about how to design the suspension to take on different donor IRS setups. For one, the mounting points of the Miata differential look like they'd be very different than in other donor cars (the housing has a long support arm on each side). Also, I'd like to understand what I have to play with in terms of suspension geometry to accept a non-Sierra car.

I know it's been done before, but I'd love to see plans for a build based on a Miata, or a methodology for designing an appropriate suspension to accept different donors in general. I'm still hunting around online for this, but haven't come across it yet.

Best,
Brad