Lexus V8 with NOS in a Renault Espace - yeah lets do it !
Discussion
problemchild1976 said:
Redonkulous - love it!!
(and i get nagged if i go up to the garage to even look at the car!!)
JJ
Oh i get nagged too ! But my selective deafness comes in handy .....(and i get nagged if i go up to the garage to even look at the car!!)
JJ
The first set of bracing bars are in , next set are cut and awaiting welding , and yet more measuring has taken place.
Conclusion : The Lexus as expected really is a lot wider than an Espace !
I kind of knew this anyway but still comes as a surprise when you see exactly where and how much
Well i've done it and simple it was too , this pic is roughly how the Lexus looked this morning ..
and this was a few hours later ...
I am very happy with how it went , especially when i first cut the top of the 'A' pillar with a hacksaw and could see daylight through the cut, gives me confidence the strengthening bars are doing their job
and this was a few hours later ...
I am very happy with how it went , especially when i first cut the top of the 'A' pillar with a hacksaw and could see daylight through the cut, gives me confidence the strengthening bars are doing their job
Had a few hours with the grinder today , it took quite a bit of measuring , marking and re-measuring to decide on the best place to cut , I don't think you can really see on these pics but the plan is to weld 2 bars in- 1 down each sill , to add a little strength and to give locating points for the espace body to er ...locate .
The shots show before and after where I have removed the 'A' pillar and about 3/4 of the upper sill
I know work is going to be busy over the next few weeks so my hope of getting both body's together by the end of June is looking very slim - in fact I know it's not going to happen but hopefully it won't be too much longer
The shots show before and after where I have removed the 'A' pillar and about 3/4 of the upper sill
I know work is going to be busy over the next few weeks so my hope of getting both body's together by the end of June is looking very slim - in fact I know it's not going to happen but hopefully it won't be too much longer
Hi everyone who's interested , sorry but I have no real updates to add , I have spent a good few hours looking , measuring and pondering and looking and measuring again , oh and a bit more pondering but basically been lacking in available time to do any proper work , I have a good idea of what's next and I think it only required a good weekends work to be ready to "mate" the cars together ,here's hoping I get the chance soon !!!
kentlad said:
Anything to Report??
Not really , had to assemble car a little to take some measurements , put side skirts , wings and bonnet on to enable me to work out where the front axle centre line is , I slipped 2 wheels under to get an idea of looks 
The wheels will stick out much further and will need wide arches adding but it gave me an idea of how it will look
I just need some time to crack on with it now
Managed a few hours in the garage earlier , I have finally got 2 pieces of box section welded into the lexus sill area , now if I have my measurements correct they should be in the exact place for the matching box section on the espace body to sit straight on top of them when I lower the body on - in theory anyway !!
You can just make out the box section in this pic -
This is easier to see them now the remaining sill has been removed -
And you can see how much wider the lexus track is on this pic -
I have some more cutting on the front to do but it's not a great amount , a little more welding and tidying of joints and cut lines to do and then it should be 'body on' time , it's getting interesting !!
You can just make out the box section in this pic -
This is easier to see them now the remaining sill has been removed -
And you can see how much wider the lexus track is on this pic -
I have some more cutting on the front to do but it's not a great amount , a little more welding and tidying of joints and cut lines to do and then it should be 'body on' time , it's getting interesting !!
Today Jupiter was in alignment with the 3rd moon of Uranus !!
In other words , a rare day where everything went to plan , a nice dry sunny day , a day off work , no children and the Mrs away !!
I got started at 8 this morning trimming the front arches of the Lexus
and some trimming round the front of the engine bay
That left the Lexus pretty much ready !
Work then turned to the Espace bodyshell, I removed the tailgate and doors , and had just a couple of other bits to do on it , then it was time to try out the 'lifting gear' which i must say worked an absolute treat , no heavy lifting - all done electrically by remote control
Then just slip the Lexus rolling chassis underneath .......
and carefully lower it down ...
a little bit of trimming here and there , not much tho , i surprised myself how smoothly it went , then clamp the important bits together and some more welding , then release hoists and hey presto , 2 cars are now 1 !!
I fitted the doors and they open and close fine with good shut lines, and just a little trimming round the wheels
I then needed to fit the correct wheels to get an idea of how it will look
here's a few more pics
There is plenty more welding to do , in fact there's plenty more work to do but i feel like i have taken a giant step today , i will check the calendar for the next time the planets align - maybe on that day i will get her running again .....
In other words , a rare day where everything went to plan , a nice dry sunny day , a day off work , no children and the Mrs away !!
I got started at 8 this morning trimming the front arches of the Lexus
and some trimming round the front of the engine bay
That left the Lexus pretty much ready !
Work then turned to the Espace bodyshell, I removed the tailgate and doors , and had just a couple of other bits to do on it , then it was time to try out the 'lifting gear' which i must say worked an absolute treat , no heavy lifting - all done electrically by remote control
Then just slip the Lexus rolling chassis underneath .......
and carefully lower it down ...
a little bit of trimming here and there , not much tho , i surprised myself how smoothly it went , then clamp the important bits together and some more welding , then release hoists and hey presto , 2 cars are now 1 !!
I fitted the doors and they open and close fine with good shut lines, and just a little trimming round the wheels
I then needed to fit the correct wheels to get an idea of how it will look
here's a few more pics
There is plenty more welding to do , in fact there's plenty more work to do but i feel like i have taken a giant step today , i will check the calendar for the next time the planets align - maybe on that day i will get her running again .....
Hi and thanks to everybody for the positive comments , there is for sure a long way to go but working on one car has to be easier than working on two !
In response to working on the engine - well .........er ........ they are very very reliable and I can just about get to most of it , but i will deal with problems if and when they arise , if the engine needs to come out one day , then so be it - I'm sure where there's a will there's a way .
Its funny how many of you mentioned the lexus wheels , the day I posted all the pictures on my computer - I thought to myself how good it actually looked on those wheels in my pictures , but in the same afternoon I had thought how bad it looked on those same scabby lexus wheels and how much better it looked on my shiny new ones , the pictures make it look better than it did in the flesh , most probably because of the poor condition of them .
If I had not already bought the new ones I may have looked into getting the old ones refurbished and using them.
As for the steering wheel , the position it is in now - held in by a ratchet strap , is not the final position , that will all be decided
When I have the seat and pedals sorted
As for the seating , well , as much as I would love 3 seater with central driver , the transmission tunnel just makes this unworkable , so standard 4 seater it will be , well standard is probably not the correct word ....
Thanks again for all the positive comments
In response to working on the engine - well .........er ........ they are very very reliable and I can just about get to most of it , but i will deal with problems if and when they arise , if the engine needs to come out one day , then so be it - I'm sure where there's a will there's a way .
Its funny how many of you mentioned the lexus wheels , the day I posted all the pictures on my computer - I thought to myself how good it actually looked on those wheels in my pictures , but in the same afternoon I had thought how bad it looked on those same scabby lexus wheels and how much better it looked on my shiny new ones , the pictures make it look better than it did in the flesh , most probably because of the poor condition of them .
If I had not already bought the new ones I may have looked into getting the old ones refurbished and using them.
As for the steering wheel , the position it is in now - held in by a ratchet strap , is not the final position , that will all be decided
When I have the seat and pedals sorted
As for the seating , well , as much as I would love 3 seater with central driver , the transmission tunnel just makes this unworkable , so standard 4 seater it will be , well standard is probably not the correct word ....
Thanks again for all the positive comments
Got a bit more done today to secure the body on the chassis , it seems much more stable and connected now which i'm much happier about
This 1st pic shows the height difference in the Lexus and Espace rear structures, which can't really be seen in the later pics
This was one of the easier areas to do , the next parts around the inner rear quarters will not be very easy !
Hopefully I might get chance this weekend
This 1st pic shows the height difference in the Lexus and Espace rear structures, which can't really be seen in the later pics
This was one of the easier areas to do , the next parts around the inner rear quarters will not be very easy !
Hopefully I might get chance this weekend
DanielSan said:
Has the 'with NOS' part just appeared in the title or is it me?
And if so more info needed
Hi , no , the NOS was always in the title and it was used in the lexus and will be refitted and rejetted when I get chance once the car is roadworthy , it is a wizards of NOS system , which has maximum capacity of adding 150 BHP , it was very simple to fit and look forward to using it in the future . I will be interested to see exactly how much BHP it adds in the real world and not theoretical numbers , although I'm not entirely sure it can be measured on a rolling road ??And if so more info needed
skene said:
What do you do for a living OP? I only ask cause some of your fabrication, like that bit in the last photo, is bloody impressive!
Hi , thanks for that , I don't think it's any better than a lot of fabrication work posted on here , but I try my best .I work for a Motorsport team and have done for 15 years now , in which time I've seen a lot of great cars so I try to take inspiration from some of them .
Jawaman said:
Bookmarked this - best thread I've read in a while.
I'm ashamed to say after the first page I was one of the detractors thinking "here we go, another project that will never happen" - eating my hat as we speak.
Just a shame the rear suspension towers wont let you squeeze two seats in the back, 7 seater would be awesome!!
I know its a long way off but how are you planning on finishing the interior?
The interior is so far off I'm not really sure , although I am thinking of a little bit of comfort rather than all out stripped interior I'm ashamed to say after the first page I was one of the detractors thinking "here we go, another project that will never happen" - eating my hat as we speak.
Just a shame the rear suspension towers wont let you squeeze two seats in the back, 7 seater would be awesome!!
I know its a long way off but how are you planning on finishing the interior?
Chunkychucky said:
top work as always, keep the updates coming op!I will be busy for the rest of the week but I have managed to do a little more welding and I have made these little tools to use with a hydraulic punch I have , hopefully to save some weight and add a little strength back in
Europe said:
OP any idea of the weight distribution yet?
No idea whatsoever yet, and overall target weight is still a little sketchy, i had always hoped for 1000KG but after weighing both cars quite far into the stripdown i realised this was an impossible target.Maybe 1200KG i thought next but this too - a little unrealistic, im now hoping for less than 1400KG on the road before i start to do any real weight reduction (phase 1 im calling it now).
BlackGT3 said:
Very interesting build. I have mentioned this thread to a friend who lives in Thailand, as he is heavily involved in the car tuning culture out there.
At one time the Toyota J2 lump was the engine of choice for high-power road racers however, he changed over to Lexus V8 based engines 3-4 years ago and has experienced very good results. The Lexus V8 he is currently running in one of his cars pushes out approx 900 BHP at the wheels. In addition, he is also running NOS on the car. The engine was rebuild with upgraded components 3 years ago, a large turbo was added along with Motec ECU, dog box etc....... The NOS kit was installed last year and so far, the engine has been exceptionally reliable.
900BHP !!!!!At one time the Toyota J2 lump was the engine of choice for high-power road racers however, he changed over to Lexus V8 based engines 3-4 years ago and has experienced very good results. The Lexus V8 he is currently running in one of his cars pushes out approx 900 BHP at the wheels. In addition, he is also running NOS on the car. The engine was rebuild with upgraded components 3 years ago, a large turbo was added along with Motec ECU, dog box etc....... The NOS kit was installed last year and so far, the engine has been exceptionally reliable.
would love to see some pics of this engine and turbo instalation
That would certainly liven things up !! and i wouldnt have to worry too much about my previous post - saving a bit of weight !
Maybe Phase 2 ??
BlackGT3 said:
lexspace said:
BlackGT3 said:
Very interesting build. I have mentioned this thread to a friend who lives in Thailand, as he is heavily involved in the car tuning culture out there.
At one time the Toyota J2 lump was the engine of choice for high-power road racers however, he changed over to Lexus V8 based engines 3-4 years ago and has experienced very good results. The Lexus V8 he is currently running in one of his cars pushes out approx 900 BHP at the wheels. In addition, he is also running NOS on the car. The engine was rebuild with upgraded components 3 years ago, a large turbo was added along with Motec ECU, dog box etc....... The NOS kit was installed last year and so far, the engine has been exceptionally reliable.
900BHP !!!!!At one time the Toyota J2 lump was the engine of choice for high-power road racers however, he changed over to Lexus V8 based engines 3-4 years ago and has experienced very good results. The Lexus V8 he is currently running in one of his cars pushes out approx 900 BHP at the wheels. In addition, he is also running NOS on the car. The engine was rebuild with upgraded components 3 years ago, a large turbo was added along with Motec ECU, dog box etc....... The NOS kit was installed last year and so far, the engine has been exceptionally reliable.
would love to see some pics of this engine and turbo instalation
That would certainly liven things up !! and i wouldnt have to worry too much about my previous post - saving a bit of weight !
Maybe Phase 2 ??
Edited by BlackGT3 on Thursday 29th August 15:31
Edited by BlackGT3 on Thursday 29th August 15:32
OlberJ said:
Seeing as you're going all out on the build, speak to my mate Si about sum flappy paddles for the lexus box.
http://www.gtechnology.co.uk
Hi , thanks for this , looks very interesting , I have sent an email asking for more info but have not received a reply yet . I had already thought about doing something similar but this could make it much easier for me.http://www.gtechnology.co.uk
I am hoping to get some more done soon but have been so busy with work recently that I have done very little to the car
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