Building "Thor"
Discussion
RoverP6B said:
I must admit it's looking unlikely 'Thor' will ever get built. All this talk of modern-ish cars as donors for the project - it'll end up looking like a ghastly caricature of a 1930s car. Either do it properly or don't do it at all. I'm sure someone else could use those Meteor engines...
RoverP6B said:
I'm not offended at anything, I just wonder if this thing will get built and also what it will end up looking like. Not sure why modern windscreens are suddenly being discussed.
Because to be road legal it will need to pass an IVA test.To pass an IVA test it will need a homologated (is that the right word?) windscreen.
There are two ways of doing that:
1) Pay a small fortune for a one off screen to be built and tested.
2) Take a screen from an existing car.
The later gives many sizeable advantages, not least, spares are easy to come by and you can take the doors, door frames and roof and get production car levels of weather proofing, fit and finish at the same time.
It is *very* common for low volume builders, both amateur and pro, to use off the shelf screens.
hedgefinder said:
in fact why not just buy a plymouth prowler and lengthen it to fit the meteor and then build on the existing body structure......it looks like a prime candidate to me - if a little on the small side currently.
I think a prowler would break in half with a meteor up front!Big strong ladder chassis, off-the shelf windscreen and frame makes an awful lot of sense. Look for no-sounds thread on his scratch build car, he's using the roof, a-pillars, screen, wipers, scuttle panel etc from an xjs and it looks wonderful.
hedgefinder said:
in fact why not just buy a plymouth prowler and lengthen it to fit the meteor and then build on the existing body structure......it looks like a prime candidate to me - if a little on the small side currently.
Had a quick look to see if they are available and 
a 15 year old one is between £25k and £30k. God knows why!Still want the 3 axles too.
Going to see Charlie and his Rover while his Meteor engine and transmission are out of the car next week. Hope to get plenty of information, some drawings and pictures for the layout and all the components I will need to make.
Paul
RoverP6B said:
What glazing does Bob Petersen use for his specials?
He buys old Rolls Royce Phantom II's or Bentleys with a V5 and registration number.This was the route I was going to take but there are a number of limitations on what modifications you can make. It is also something I think the DVLA are trying to stop as it is no longer the same car.
It is also a very expensive build too.
Paul
Storer said:
Had a quick look to see if they are available and a 15 year old one is between £25k and £30k. God knows why!
Still want the 3 axles too.
Going to see Charlie and his Rover while his Meteor engine and transmission are out of the car next week. Hope to get plenty of information, some drawings and pictures for the layout and all the components I will need to make.
Paul
looks for something in the U.S. with a salvage title or something in a salvage yard .....pretty sure I saw a few before christmas listed with flood damage online a 15 year old one is between £25k and £30k. God knows why!Still want the 3 axles too.
Going to see Charlie and his Rover while his Meteor engine and transmission are out of the car next week. Hope to get plenty of information, some drawings and pictures for the layout and all the components I will need to make.
Paul
Mark Benson said:
Closest roof & windscreen I can think of to this....
...is (and I'm ashamed to even know this) looks like the Plymouth Prowler, although it doesn't extend so far back it's got the low roofline and small windows. Though given the scale of your project, it might be a bit small.
And where on earth you'd find one in the UK is anyone's guess (you'd be doing the world a favour if you were to chop one up though).
.... Oooouuuucccchhhhh, they do say beauty in in the eyes of the beholder!...is (and I'm ashamed to even know this) looks like the Plymouth Prowler, although it doesn't extend so far back it's got the low roofline and small windows. Though given the scale of your project, it might be a bit small.
And where on earth you'd find one in the UK is anyone's guess (you'd be doing the world a favour if you were to chop one up though).
This one is mine, and it is in the UK, but I'm afraid I'm using the windscreen in it at the moment. From the side view you can clearly see the screen angle.
They do have an aluminium box chassis that would be easy to extend but there is no way it would be big enough to take a meteor engine size or weight (Prowler is less than 1300Kg in total). They are also a little rare and expensive to chop up, but I guess that depends if you have enough money to hate them that much!
I love this thread and this was my contribution back at page 11, with very much less windscreen rake. Can't wait to see what it ends up like when finished.
hedgefinder said:
Storer said:
Had a quick look to see if they are available and a 15 year old one is between £25k and £30k. God knows why!
Paul
looks for something in the U.S. with a salvage title or something in a salvage yard .....pretty sure I saw a few before christmas listed with flood damage online a 15 year old one is between £25k and £30k. God knows why!Paul
http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/5378891809.ht...
I really do hope you go with an old classic look Paul.
Take a "holiday" to Tenerife Paul - you'll be amazed at whats lurking on many of the scrapyards there.
PM me if you want any locations.
There's quite a few Prowlers circulating there along with allsorts of very very old stuff.
I had a little sideline for a while sending Santana's back here as the bulkheads don't rot there.
PM me if you want any locations.
There's quite a few Prowlers circulating there along with allsorts of very very old stuff.
I had a little sideline for a while sending Santana's back here as the bulkheads don't rot there.
HammyUK said:
Take a "holiday" to Tenerife Paul - you'll be amazed at whats lurking on many of the scrapyards there.
PM me if you want any locations.
There's quite a few Prowlers circulating there along with allsorts of very very old stuff.
I had a little sideline for a while sending Santana's back here as the bulkheads don't rot there.
Interesting. PM me if you want any locations.
There's quite a few Prowlers circulating there along with allsorts of very very old stuff.
I had a little sideline for a while sending Santana's back here as the bulkheads don't rot there.
A Plymouth Prowler is not a real contender!
However, the other (much) older stuff may be. Any more information or pictures?
Paul
Taken from Holy Grail cars?
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
3 axles, curved screen 8 litre twin turbo may stand up to your engine maybe! Problem is only 2 made and think a few people would be hunt you down for using it a donor car! I'll keep think BG
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
3 axles, curved screen 8 litre twin turbo may stand up to your engine maybe! Problem is only 2 made and think a few people would be hunt you down for using it a donor car! I'll keep think BG
Just reading through a bit, haven't looked through the thread for a while!
If you're still looking for ideas for a windscreen, I'm wondering whether the likes of a windscreen from an older TT, Z3 or an MX5, used with their respective quarterlight windows might work?
No idea size-wise if any would be suitable, or if they would look daft. Just a couple ideas that came to mind!
If you're still looking for ideas for a windscreen, I'm wondering whether the likes of a windscreen from an older TT, Z3 or an MX5, used with their respective quarterlight windows might work?
No idea size-wise if any would be suitable, or if they would look daft. Just a couple ideas that came to mind!
Thanks Ian
Due to the size of the car it will need a larger side area of glass to look right IMO. I had one of the early TT's so know a bit about them.
Spent an interesting few hours with Charlie Broomfield today. He is not far from having his Rover SD1 Meteor back in one piece. I am not going to post any pictures as he works with a magazine, Practical Performance Car ( www.ppcmag.co.uk ), so I feel that they have rights to that type of thing.
We looked at all aspects of my car and how he had overcome some of the issues with his. His engineering work is impressive and I hope to achieve something similar (probably with more of his help).
My next step is to sort out the gearing of the car.
I need to find out what the differential ratios are (or what the one's I am going to use are). I now have an idea what the wheel size will be, know the engine revs at WOT, the gearbox looks like it will be an Allison auto box.
Depending on the diff ratio will determine if I need to speed up the input shaft speed into the gearbox.
Tick over engine speed is important so that the auto can 'stall'. The input stall speed is about 600rpm. Engine tick over will be around 300rpm so if I can avoid speeding up the gearbox input speed too much would be good. The big wheels should help this. The Allison will take the torque (the wheels will spin first) if it is a straight input from the engine.
Even if I need to increase the input speed it will be by about 1.6 x whereas Charlie has increased his by 2.77 x (his wheels are 620mm dia and mine will be 880 to 920mm).
I hope to get the body off the chassis next week but will spend a bit of time trying to sort the axle ratios. Also sorting the Allison.
Paul
Due to the size of the car it will need a larger side area of glass to look right IMO. I had one of the early TT's so know a bit about them.
Spent an interesting few hours with Charlie Broomfield today. He is not far from having his Rover SD1 Meteor back in one piece. I am not going to post any pictures as he works with a magazine, Practical Performance Car ( www.ppcmag.co.uk ), so I feel that they have rights to that type of thing.
We looked at all aspects of my car and how he had overcome some of the issues with his. His engineering work is impressive and I hope to achieve something similar (probably with more of his help).
My next step is to sort out the gearing of the car.
I need to find out what the differential ratios are (or what the one's I am going to use are). I now have an idea what the wheel size will be, know the engine revs at WOT, the gearbox looks like it will be an Allison auto box.
Depending on the diff ratio will determine if I need to speed up the input shaft speed into the gearbox.
Tick over engine speed is important so that the auto can 'stall'. The input stall speed is about 600rpm. Engine tick over will be around 300rpm so if I can avoid speeding up the gearbox input speed too much would be good. The big wheels should help this. The Allison will take the torque (the wheels will spin first) if it is a straight input from the engine.
Even if I need to increase the input speed it will be by about 1.6 x whereas Charlie has increased his by 2.77 x (his wheels are 620mm dia and mine will be 880 to 920mm).
I hope to get the body off the chassis next week but will spend a bit of time trying to sort the axle ratios. Also sorting the Allison.
Paul
Paul, nice choice on the gearbox! The Alison unit are used in all the big US trucks so should be able to handle well over 1000lbs of engine torque.
On that note, have you looked into a truck rear axel? They don't rev that high (around 4500 rpm) and you can probably get teller gears for them.
If to do need to step the engine speed before the gearbox to get the rear axel speed a different torque converter is all that will be needed with a slightly higher stall. Plenty of people in the US building them.
On that note, have you looked into a truck rear axel? They don't rev that high (around 4500 rpm) and you can probably get teller gears for them.
If to do need to step the engine speed before the gearbox to get the rear axel speed a different torque converter is all that will be needed with a slightly higher stall. Plenty of people in the US building them.
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