Stupid Ideas
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2018 4:50 am
Stupid ideas. They tend to evolve over time. And, for me at least, they become more refined to meet the realities of what I'm capable of doing, what I can afford (or am willing invest in a car... I still have a HUGE mental block about putting too much money into a vehicle), and what I'm willing to live with.
One of my earliest stupid ideas was to stuff a V6 engine into a Triumph Spitfire. A project which I mostly completed at one point back about 1990, in spite of having nearly zero idea what I was doing, and little more than standard hand tools, a hack saw, and a hand drill at my disposal. I actually had that car up and running and drove it a few times (120+ ft/lbs of torque in an 1800 pound car is kinda fun). But, there was some kind of problem with the oil system in that engine that I never had time to sort out. (in hindsight, I'm certain that *I* did something wrong somewhere) It would run for about a half-hour, then the valvetrain would start getting noisy, binding up, and it wouldn't run right. Combine that with a divorce, and that car went away for about 1/6 what I had invested in it.
I had a similar stupid idea with another Spitfire that I owned in the mid 2000's. It started out innocently enough. I had the engine properly rebuilt with some choice upgrades, and converted it to throttle body injection and electronic ignition. (it was my first Megasquirt ECU project) That all went great, but damned if that engine didn't have a problem, too. And it took me so long to get it installed in the car that the warranty was expired before the problem appeared.
At that point, I decided to cut my losses (I'd already put over $3k into rebuilding that stupid Triumph engine) and drop in a $500 Ford Focus engine. (the 2.0 Focus engine is the same as the NC Miata engine) There's a proper 5-speed available that fits in the car, and an outfit that makes a bell housing to mate the engine to the trans. How hard could it be? Well, when you have a really nice example of a Spitfire, and you really want to KEEP it nice, it turns out it's pretty hard. I was actually paying a friend to do the job, but he ultimately flaked out on me and it ended up sitting in my garage for nearly 2 years, hardly touched. Sold it for about 1/4 of what I had in it to someone who wanted to finish it, and had the skills to do so. (he still has it, and it's still not finished... but, he greatly expanded the scope of the project to include a full Miata suspension swap, and a Thunderbird diff)
I've had my share of stupid Miata projects over the years, playing with suspension (up to and including developing one with NO swaybars), and playing with shedding weight. And I had the Yaris project for a couple years, which was actually a pretty simple and basic project... but, taught me that a silly lightweight FWD car can be a hoot to autocross.
More recent stupid ideas include the FASTiva, which most of you are familiar with. That one wasn't so bad. Between Ben and I, we probably dumped over $4k into that car (original purchase price was $500) over the course of 2 years. So, $1000 per year per person... we got a lot of entertainment and experience (good and bad) out of that. I ain't complaining. That was a simple suspension and brake swap, major lightening, and Megasquirt tuning autocross project. It was still quite streetable (not comfortable, but streetable), and was a little 63 hp autocross beast! But, it lacked in the reliability department.
My S10 with the 383 is another stupid idea. Seemed like a good idea at the time. It's not a horrible idea, I just don't have the motivation to do much with it.
And, of course, the whole notion of autocrossing an extremely underpowered top-heavy econobox like the Mirage is a pretty stupid idea. But, man, that's been a fun project! And continues to be!
So, the latest stupid idea. And it's just an idea at this point... very likely to stay that way.
I like the idea of a kit car. But, I drove Spitfires and Miatas for... at least 10-12 years of my life. Top down all the time. Hot, cold, sunburned, windburned... and I'm certain it's a major contributor to my chronic tinnitis. When I quit daily driving an open top car, I realized that I don't really miss the experience. There's something to be said for a car with a roof, tinted windows, and air conditioning. So, I'm not going to build a kit car, nor am I likely to buy another convertible... without the intent of leaving the top up and pissing off the top-down purists. (of which I used to be one) And I'm far too cheap to ever build anything more expensive than a Locost... which rules out a full-body kit car for me. Which is sad in a way, because I think I finally have enough experience and fabrication skill to pull it off! (coupled with the fact that I know my level of skill won't deliver a car that LOOKS perfect, and I'm OKAY with that)
Y'all know that I absolutely LOVE the idea of a LIGHTWEIGHT car. If I had money, I'd most likely be driving an Elise... hell, maybe even an Elan.
But, I still like creature comforts like air conditioning. And for a dual purpose car, I'm almost as enamored with good fuel economy as I am with speed. Big power is fun and all, but it often comes at the expense of weight. And both power and weight are the enemy of fuel economy.
These are all reasons why I love the Mirage.
The Mirage. I paid $6800 for mine with low. But, they continue to depreciate. There are perfectly good 80-100k mile 2014-15 Mirages being sold for $3-4k. That's not a lot of money for a 2000 pound car that's reliable and has great new and used parts availability, and can be pretty easily made "fun" to drive, even if it is slow. And if good running ones can be had for $4k, surely a crashed one could be had for under $2k? Hmmm...
Ready? You see it coming, right?
What if I bought another Mirage... perhaps one with a smashed rear end... got it to about where the current one is... 1900 pounds with decent suspension... and then... gave it the pickup-truck treatment? The rear glass alone would be at least 80 pounds. Sheet metal another 100-150 depending on how much is removed. All the rear interior removed, of course. Lightweight aluminum panel to block off the back of the cab.
Would be modded all to hell at that point, M0. Might as well add that cute little supercharger and get the power up to 95-100 hp.
Now I've got a reliable car with nearly stock components, with full interior and AC that weighs 1700 pounds and has 100 hp... and gets 50 mpg. And I could do it with less than $4k. Less than $2k if I used the suspension and other parts from the current car. Or, I could wait a few more years, and just do it to this car! I've kinda already accepted that this car is more or less expendable. The more years I have it, the less it's worth. 1.5 years and counting...
Stupid idea. But, probably less stupid than building a kit car. And less expensive than the notion of buying a Scion iQ and doing a manual trans swap on it... which would be cool as hell, but still weigh 2100 pounds.
One of my earliest stupid ideas was to stuff a V6 engine into a Triumph Spitfire. A project which I mostly completed at one point back about 1990, in spite of having nearly zero idea what I was doing, and little more than standard hand tools, a hack saw, and a hand drill at my disposal. I actually had that car up and running and drove it a few times (120+ ft/lbs of torque in an 1800 pound car is kinda fun). But, there was some kind of problem with the oil system in that engine that I never had time to sort out. (in hindsight, I'm certain that *I* did something wrong somewhere) It would run for about a half-hour, then the valvetrain would start getting noisy, binding up, and it wouldn't run right. Combine that with a divorce, and that car went away for about 1/6 what I had invested in it.
I had a similar stupid idea with another Spitfire that I owned in the mid 2000's. It started out innocently enough. I had the engine properly rebuilt with some choice upgrades, and converted it to throttle body injection and electronic ignition. (it was my first Megasquirt ECU project) That all went great, but damned if that engine didn't have a problem, too. And it took me so long to get it installed in the car that the warranty was expired before the problem appeared.
At that point, I decided to cut my losses (I'd already put over $3k into rebuilding that stupid Triumph engine) and drop in a $500 Ford Focus engine. (the 2.0 Focus engine is the same as the NC Miata engine) There's a proper 5-speed available that fits in the car, and an outfit that makes a bell housing to mate the engine to the trans. How hard could it be? Well, when you have a really nice example of a Spitfire, and you really want to KEEP it nice, it turns out it's pretty hard. I was actually paying a friend to do the job, but he ultimately flaked out on me and it ended up sitting in my garage for nearly 2 years, hardly touched. Sold it for about 1/4 of what I had in it to someone who wanted to finish it, and had the skills to do so. (he still has it, and it's still not finished... but, he greatly expanded the scope of the project to include a full Miata suspension swap, and a Thunderbird diff)
I've had my share of stupid Miata projects over the years, playing with suspension (up to and including developing one with NO swaybars), and playing with shedding weight. And I had the Yaris project for a couple years, which was actually a pretty simple and basic project... but, taught me that a silly lightweight FWD car can be a hoot to autocross.
More recent stupid ideas include the FASTiva, which most of you are familiar with. That one wasn't so bad. Between Ben and I, we probably dumped over $4k into that car (original purchase price was $500) over the course of 2 years. So, $1000 per year per person... we got a lot of entertainment and experience (good and bad) out of that. I ain't complaining. That was a simple suspension and brake swap, major lightening, and Megasquirt tuning autocross project. It was still quite streetable (not comfortable, but streetable), and was a little 63 hp autocross beast! But, it lacked in the reliability department.
My S10 with the 383 is another stupid idea. Seemed like a good idea at the time. It's not a horrible idea, I just don't have the motivation to do much with it.
And, of course, the whole notion of autocrossing an extremely underpowered top-heavy econobox like the Mirage is a pretty stupid idea. But, man, that's been a fun project! And continues to be!
So, the latest stupid idea. And it's just an idea at this point... very likely to stay that way.
I like the idea of a kit car. But, I drove Spitfires and Miatas for... at least 10-12 years of my life. Top down all the time. Hot, cold, sunburned, windburned... and I'm certain it's a major contributor to my chronic tinnitis. When I quit daily driving an open top car, I realized that I don't really miss the experience. There's something to be said for a car with a roof, tinted windows, and air conditioning. So, I'm not going to build a kit car, nor am I likely to buy another convertible... without the intent of leaving the top up and pissing off the top-down purists. (of which I used to be one) And I'm far too cheap to ever build anything more expensive than a Locost... which rules out a full-body kit car for me. Which is sad in a way, because I think I finally have enough experience and fabrication skill to pull it off! (coupled with the fact that I know my level of skill won't deliver a car that LOOKS perfect, and I'm OKAY with that)
Y'all know that I absolutely LOVE the idea of a LIGHTWEIGHT car. If I had money, I'd most likely be driving an Elise... hell, maybe even an Elan.
But, I still like creature comforts like air conditioning. And for a dual purpose car, I'm almost as enamored with good fuel economy as I am with speed. Big power is fun and all, but it often comes at the expense of weight. And both power and weight are the enemy of fuel economy.
These are all reasons why I love the Mirage.
The Mirage. I paid $6800 for mine with low. But, they continue to depreciate. There are perfectly good 80-100k mile 2014-15 Mirages being sold for $3-4k. That's not a lot of money for a 2000 pound car that's reliable and has great new and used parts availability, and can be pretty easily made "fun" to drive, even if it is slow. And if good running ones can be had for $4k, surely a crashed one could be had for under $2k? Hmmm...
Ready? You see it coming, right?
What if I bought another Mirage... perhaps one with a smashed rear end... got it to about where the current one is... 1900 pounds with decent suspension... and then... gave it the pickup-truck treatment? The rear glass alone would be at least 80 pounds. Sheet metal another 100-150 depending on how much is removed. All the rear interior removed, of course. Lightweight aluminum panel to block off the back of the cab.
Would be modded all to hell at that point, M0. Might as well add that cute little supercharger and get the power up to 95-100 hp.
Now I've got a reliable car with nearly stock components, with full interior and AC that weighs 1700 pounds and has 100 hp... and gets 50 mpg. And I could do it with less than $4k. Less than $2k if I used the suspension and other parts from the current car. Or, I could wait a few more years, and just do it to this car! I've kinda already accepted that this car is more or less expendable. The more years I have it, the less it's worth. 1.5 years and counting...
Stupid idea. But, probably less stupid than building a kit car. And less expensive than the notion of buying a Scion iQ and doing a manual trans swap on it... which would be cool as hell, but still weigh 2100 pounds.
It's hard to find a good review of the Mirage... or its engine.
