Introducing...

[Dramatica]

G'day everyone!

Just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Luke and I am a long time reader, first time poster.
I am fortunate enough to live in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; although I was originally from a small town called Bundaberg. During my highschool years I built and offroad buggy in my lunchtimes in the design tech room. The expericance of building something from an awesome set of plans set me on a journey I am still on today!
I work as a design draftsmen/structural modeller. Most recent projects have been military training facilities and some train stations. My passion has always been, and always will be, cars; building them, drawing them, modelling them, driving them, thrashing them, racing them.

I have always wanted to build something for the road, and I think the time is getting near. I have love the Lotus 7 (and its many offspring) design philosphy; Less is more! The choice of what to build has been easy.
Goals for my build will be to do as much of it myself as possible, Hayabusa powered with dry sump modification, Quaife reverse box, custom made front and rear uprights and big smiles at the end of it!

I have begun the suspension design in Inventor, and as it progresses, I will provide you with some screen shots!

Looking forward to chatting with you all!
Luke.

(PS: Not sure if you guys have heard of the Australian Company Elfin, but they are worth a look. These are not kitcars, but production vehicals, and they are insane! http://www.elfin.com.au/elfin/2008/)

[ozzy1]

Are you intending to get your car road registered or track only as i think you will need to check with an engineer or Dpi that you will be able to road register it with a bike engine as i know they were looking at closing this loophole(??).

[Dramatica]

Hi ozzy1.
For the most part I intend to use the car as a bit of a track day weapon, but I would love to be able to register it. I have spoken to an engineer at DoT and he seems to think the biggest hurdle with the bike engine will be complying with emission laws. For this reason I was planning on running a newer fuel injected model, along with standard airbox, emission controls and exhaust system. Perhaps I should investigate further!

[aerosam]

Welcome Dramatica!

Sounds like you really know what your doing when it comes to designing and building your own car. i can't wait to see the results of your hard work.

Good luck!

Sam.

[HandyAndy]

A warm welcome to the forum Luke :)

Your build sounds like a very nice project indeed, :cool:

Keep us all posted on your progress, piccies.....we like piccies :)

cheers
andy

[Bonzo]

Great to have another member from down under on board :)

Sounds like you have your build plan all mapped out & I look forward to following your build progress :cool:

[Dramatica]

Thanks for the welcome guys!
As far as knowing what I am doing, well I am a novice, but willing to learn. I can model/draft anything on a computer, its just a shame I can't press print and have my Roadster sitting in the driveway!

[Bonzo]

Thanks for the welcome guys!
As far as knowing what I am doing, well I am a novice, but willing to learn. I can model/draft anything on a computer, its just a shame I can't press print and have my Roadster sitting in the driveway!

That woud be fantastic :)

Imagine all of the funky stuff that would be out there :cool: :D

[spud69]

Welcome Luke,

You must have some great roads and obviously the weather, we are getting quit a few builders in Australia and New Zealand. You fortunate people.....;)

All the Best....Andrew

[Twin]

Welcome Luke,

sounds like a nice build :)

[Tilly819]

welcome to the loony house

sould like you have a good background.
thanks for the elfin link, quite an intresting site

best of luck
tilly

[JakeH]

welcome luke,

you wont go wrong here, people on here are more than helpful!

quick question, whats is like for the motor sport industry down under? thinking of moving there once iv done my degree.

good luck with the build!

Cheers

Jake

[Dramatica]

...quick question, whats is like for the motor sport industry down under? thinking of moving there once iv done my degree...

The motorsport industry is a little bit hit and miss in Austraila. There are some fantastic categories here, but the major Championship series is unquestionably the V8 Supercars (see www.v8supercar.com.au (http://www.v8supercar.com.au)). It an incredibly big business over here in Australia, and it is quite often said it is the largest championship behind Nascar and Formula 1 (not quite sure how true that is however). It's a hard gig to crack into, I have been trying for years.

I would encourage everyone to check out the Supercars at Bathurst on youtube. The Bathurst 1000 is the Holy Grail of Austrailan motorsport, and is truly a unique and spectacular track. The changes in elevation are done no justice in videos, coming over 'Skyline' and droping into 'The Dipper' is getting close to feeling like freefall :eek: !

[ozzy1]

thinking of moving there once iv done my degree.

Not quite that easy.Best bet is to check the government site and have a look at the trades currently required and apply when yours is listed.Getting to the point where if you have a trade not listed its pointless applying.Also its worth paying the fees to a migration agent to sort a lot of the bullshit required etc.

[JakeH]

i see, like i say im thinking about it at the moment, depends what happens in the next 5 years (not started degree yet) so will look into it a bit more then.

Cheers

Jake