Equinox Bodywork

[Jeff01]

A full bodywork set arrived from Equinox this morning. Easily the best mouldings I've seen and all carefully wrapped in cardboard and bubble wrap. Dave is very helpful and actually carries through on his promises - a bit of a novelty these days. My car is MX5 MK11 powered, actually Phil's prototype Mx5 chassis, and I am hoping that Dave will build a mould to fit that installation without the small modification currently needed:) . Would be good for most other twin cams too. I am pretty hard to please but Equinox have made me smile! (No, I am not in the pay of Equinox!)

[SeriesLandy]

Pics we need pics. It's not true unless there is evidence.
You seem to be cracking on with your build.

[Ben_Copeland]

Excellent. If you need any advice on fitting/cutting don't hesitate to ask!

[Ste W]

So what are the modifications needed to the bodywork? I'm fitting a mazda engine and box into a standard(ish) chassis and going to order my body next week from equinox

[Ben_Copeland]

I wasn't aware there were any tbh.

My Vauxhall twin cam fits in with loads of space, plus now fitted my turbo engine and there's still plenty of space.

It might be that the mx5 engine has a deep sump which should really be shortened anyway so the engine sits up high.

I cant really see any other reason?

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e0JMbx2RzE0/T_NbxRqDSpI/AAAAAAAAIdA/QVEnzYwc0Zk/s1600/intake_side.jpg

Doesn't seem to large an engine.

[ayjay]

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

[Ben_Copeland]

Pah.. my turbo engine has much more in the engine bay !

[beardydave]

As will mine. I'm expecting my turbo to be sitting where that battery is! :D

Anyone have any problems with massive gearbox bellhousings?

My Saab sump could be shortened quite considerably (esp. if I dry sump it as planned), but the lowest part of the engine and gearbox is the bottom of the bellhousing, even vs an unmodified sump pan.

Anyone found a way around this?

I'd like to use standard bodywork but at the moment i'm having to add 50mm to the height of the scuttle and nosecone to lift the top of the bonnet up, and add a big bulge to the bonnet!

[Ben_Copeland]

What gearbox have you got on it?

[Jeff01]

I don't have access to a Mk1 engine but looking at pics. of both it does seem that the MK11 injection set-up is a bit more bulky. My engine has it's sump 40mm below the bottom chassis rail and sits further back in the chassis than standard, which also means that that the standard Mk11 exhaust manifold exits very close to the passenger footwell requiring some fancy pipework to get outside the chassis. Looking at the bonnet/nosecone combination last night, it does look as if a small bump will be needed. I am in the workshop later today and should be able to confirm go/no-go later. Pics. when I can get my ruddy camera to talk to the PC! Thanks Ben for your kind offer. On a more general note, I used Vauxhall engines in race cars for a while and memory suggests that they were a lot less bulky than the Mazda lump. The other thing is that I think most people are using the Mk1 engine as in the Saturn car,perhaps without clearance problems, and in some ways this engine would seem to be a better choice. For example, I am not using the OE ECU so a way has to be found to overcome the fact that the ECU controls the alternator in the MK11, although I believe I have solved that problem. I have a feeling that the MK11 MX5 is going to be the most popular donor for a variety of self build cars in future, primarily because they are well engineered, cheap, have bullet proof engines and the fact that they are already sports cars! Maybe when I get really bored I will set out with my tape measure and conduct a survey of all available twin cams engines! One last point is that all of our cars are different in some way, which is one of the principal reasons for doing what we do, and it follows that my engine might not fit under your bonnet..............etc. End of lecture.

[Ben_Copeland]

Look forward to seeing some pictures of it fitted and what you think might be need in a way to modify if necessary.

The equinox bodywork is taller than Saturn/gilham I believe so your heading in the right way at least.

I cant have a chat to Dave once I see how you get on, possibility of making a mould for a "bump" to fit on the standard bonnet. I doubt it would end up moulded into a full bonnet tbh.

[Jeff01]

I mentioned Vauxhalls in my last post; I should also have mentioned that they were dry sumped so were comparatively squat. So, I have fitted the bonnet and it does indeed need a bump as I expected. For anyone else going down the route of installing the Mk11 engine, here are the details of MY installation:
The front face of the crank pulley is 14" from the front of the chassis bottom rail.
The engine sits on standard mountings.
The sump is approximately 1.7" below the chassis bottom rail.
The bonnet touches on the front of the cam cover and the oil filler but the worst offender is the air pipe from the cam cover to the induction plenum.
A cut out measuring 12" wide X 11" deep clears all of the obstructions but the induction plenum is still only just clear.
The throttle butterfly cam is very close to the bonnet and may need modification for safety's sake.

If asked, Dave at Equinox will provide the dims. of his bonnet (can't seem to find mine) and you should therefore be able to calculate the nature of the problem, if any. Dave does do a scooped version of the bonnet but I reckoned that would not have cleared my engine either.


Some of you blokes have very busy looking engine bays!!

[beardydave]

What gearbox have you got on it?


I've got the box from a BMW e36 328i, modified to take a gm/saab bell housing, the box is pretty compact and fits well in the MT-box chassis I've got, but the bell housing is huge to fit around the large flywheel and clutch.

I could probably chop the bottom of the bell housing and plate as close to the flywheel as I can, but I don't want to weaken the box.

[skov]

That engine bay photo looks familiar. I hope you got permission from the copyright holder to re-publish it... :p

It was a bit of a squeeze, but I just managed to fit that lump under the Saturn/Gillham widescoop bonnet.
Wasn't really the height of the engine, but the height/width of the inlet manifold that I had trouble with.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PNGV3xMWLOI/Tq-9a_-Id1I/AAAAAAAAH74/eAJx5cYZYWE/s640/S5033121.JPG

[Ben_Copeland]

I've got the box from a BMW e36 328i, modified to take a gm/saab bell housing, the box is pretty compact and fits well in the MT-box chassis I've got, but the bell housing is huge to fit around the large flywheel and clutch.

I could probably chop the bottom of the bell housing and plate as close to the flywheel as I can, but I don't want to weaken the box.

Did you think about using the omega r28 gearbox and bellhousing?

Skov, google images ;-). How low in your chassis does the engine sit?

[beardydave]

Did you think about using the omega r28 gearbox and bellhousing?

Yes, but it has the same bellhousing bolt pattern so wouldn't gain me anything, and they aren't renowned for their strength. The saab 2.3 engine is a torquey lump even before its tuned.

Plus this modified bmw box came up at a bargain price with a lot of other drivetrain bits, and it's bullet proof.