BMS Bullet V8

[tomrabold]

Started this project in 2009 and the aim was to find everything left over from the Bullet Cars production days and build a Salt race car. Sounded good, cheap, easy.....
you guys have all heard it before. Well after lots of stops and starts.... a factory move in 2010 and the GFC followed by the PFC (personal financial crisis) there is some light at the end of the tunnel.
I am hoping to post some images over the next few days, but a quick overview follows.
The start point is an MX5 body with a full role cage, Bullet chassis and shortened 9" rear end. Soarer front suspension with 4pot RX7 calipers front and back which fit inside 15" steel Camry wheels.
Cortina manual steering rack is coupled to the MX5 column.
Engine is Lexus V8 with 8.5:1 forged pistons, Forged rods ARP fasteners , Ported heads, Supercharger cams with shim under bucket followers.
Transmission is a 6 speed VE box and I'm currently making the all steel bellhousing/scattershield, quite some project but with cad files and a welding jig this will be repeatable for others in the future.
Supercharger is a Harrop HTV 2300 with 4" throttle body on an Air water intercooled Bullet manifold with 1.75 extractors feeding 4 x 2.25" pipes jammed between the stainless steel full undertray and the floor.
The whole car has been pre assembled and a new fibreglass front made which is longer and has a bulge to accomodate the supercharger.
4 weeks ago we fully dismantled the car as it needed to have the chasis and underbody sand blasted and painted.
This is now done and the long and final assembly has begun.

[tomrabold]

This is a Bullet Car as produced from 2002 to 2007

Bulletwheelspic.jpg (141.61 KiB) Viewed 2246 times

[momec3]

G'Day Tom
Welcome aboard and good to see your progressing on your project. You planning on trying to make March or is it a next year objective?

Be good to see you back on the salt.
Chris

[tomrabold]

The plan was to have this car on the salt this year. I have accepted that time especially for testing and money for safety gear and tyres is just not there but I am over the moon that i've reached a point where the car is real and a lot of the hard work, design and re-design is done.
I need to work out how to put this diary together and get some photos up, some will be interesting, computers have never been my strong point so any advice will greatly appreciated . Thanks to Bob Ellis who has visited and given good feedback, It's always good to fix something before it's complete and painted as was the case with the roll cage.
I work on the car every Saturday and anyone is welcome to visit and have a look, chat, coffee or after 4 something more stimulating.

[tomrabold]

The chassis is RHS and is a replica of a Bullet Chassis only 250mm longer and with provision for Soarer front suspesion, leftovers from a half cut and also modified for a Ford 9 inch shortened rear end.
The body was gathering dust but it already had a cage and was originally to be a Targa Tasmania Rally car.

This is an original Bullet Chassis. We found a reject and replaced the front section with a design to suit Soarer wishbones.

Salt bullet build 002 LR.jpg (38 KiB) Viewed 2127 times

[GeeTee]

NOICE!

[tomrabold]

I have been working on making a scattershield bellhousing to put the VE comodore 6 speed behind the Toyota V8. This has been quite a challenge.
Step 1 was to get the cad file for the back of the engine and the front of the box. Found a guy in Sydney that had the info and was willing to swap for a discount on a supercharger manifold, That worked.
We cut some 10mm steel plates, set the box and engine up with clutch and aligned it then just welded steel rods to hold it together.
Now test was to fit the engine and box into the car and amazingly it just cleared everything except the reverse detent, this had to be removed and the chassis modified and gets refitted through a 5" hole in the tunnel.
Have since made a jig to weld the final plates together. This happens after working out the shape of the 6mm plates that form the 360deg sides I precut these in carboard then made a drawing and just waiting on the laser cutting.
The final weld is next week.Will post some photos tomorrow, it's beer o'clock.

[Dr Goggles]

I have been working on making a scattershield bellhousing to put the VE comodore 6 speed behind the Toyota V8. This has been quite a challenge.
Step 1 was to get the cad file for the back of the engine and the front of the box. Found a guy in Sydney that had the info and was willing to swap for a discount on a supercharger manifold, That worked.
We cut some 10mm steel plates, set the box and engine up with clutch and aligned it then just welded steel rods to hold it together.
Now test was to fit the engine and box into the car and amazingly it just cleared everything except the reverse detent, this had to be removed and the chassis modified and gets refitted through a 5" hole in the tunnel.
Have since made a jig to weld the final plates together. This happens after working out the shape of the 6mm plates that form the 360deg sides I precut these in carboard then made a drawing and just waiting on the laser cutting.
The final weld is next week.Will post some photos tomorrow, it's beer o'clock.

Nice work Tom. I proposed exactly what you did a few years back and was met with the sound of air being sucked through teeth and much knowledgeable chin rubbing and head shaking.Good to see you've pulled it off even if it might need some facing off when finished, it's a logical solution that seems to stump many people. It was one of the reasons we ditched the Alloytec we had, no separate bellhousings available to mate the motor to anything else....I like the car btw.

DrG

[tomrabold]

We did the original test bellhousing with 10mm end plates but the jig is designed for 12mm plates allowing for 2mm to be machined off each one, and the dowel holes at this stage are not drilled on the gearbox side as we may yet have them done in a CNC to ensure everything is aligned,

[tomrabold]

The jig is a bolt together set up that can probably be modified in the future to attatch the T56 to other engines.

[tomrabold]

As far as the car is concerned I've attached a picture taken a year ago while the body was being formed, A lot has changed including a full stainless steel sills and underbody more photos soon.

[momec3]

So Tom are you running hardtop or open?
And stainless, what don't you like rust?
Chris

[tomrabold]

hi Chris.. The car will be closed, we havn't made the top yet but I have the molds and that will be the last step before body prep and paint. I can't wait.
the engine is assembed, tappet covers went on yesterday, I have a choice of Twin C38-81 Rotrex superchargers, the drive system is complex and uses a double sided 7 rib belt, I've had it in a car and so far its hung together, three quick test laps. the other is a Harrop HTV 2300 on a Bullet manifold with air water intercooler, that will be good for 700plus HP and probably the more reliable choice.
I'll post a few more pics next week.

[tomrabold]

Here is a photo of the mock up 1UZ fitted and the extractors kindly fabricated by Damo from Boost Obsession with 3.5 inch pipes out the side.
It was at this point that I realised that building a car for the salt meant turning everything you know upsidedown. Confusion set in.

[tomrabold]

the fibreglass front was time consuming and thanks to Ken Streeter we were able to come up with a design that was in keeping with the original Bullet car styling while accomodating the larger supecharger and hopefully having reasonable aerodynamics. The front air dam is yet to be completed.
Other changes include a complete redesign of the exhaust, this one goes under the car, jammed between the floor (now ceramic coated both sides) and the stainless undertray.
The pipes will also be ceramic coated and muffler glass matting used as an insulator in the hope that the heat can be contained.
Now it's January 21 and the car is fully dismantled. The chassis is fully welded and body holes welded shut before painting.
It's now I realise that making the salt this year is slim.