Lexus V8 with NOS in a Renault Espace - yeah lets do it !
Discussion
keefr22 said:
What a barking mad thread!! Brilliant!! It's just what we need when these bloody eurocrats appear to be trying to ban us from even changing the tyre valve caps on our cars!! Love to see this thing registered & running!!
Cheers
Keith
hi , i blew mine up to see what it was like , as for resposible disposal - i dont know ?? lexspace said:
airbags + various trim 8 kg
Can I ask how you disposed of the airbags? The only advice I can find on the net involves blowing them up! I don't think the household management will let me do that to the two bloody things that my son has left in my garage following his abortive attempt at rally preparing his Ibiza Cupra...!!Cheers
Keith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjuJMSQMMLI&fea...
Well things have'nt gone to plan but nevermind, plan B !
Originally I intended using our family Espace a 2.0 4 cylinder, the 'race' edition, then a few months ago a impulse ebay buy got me a 3.0 litre V6 Auto Grand Espace, a much better donor car - or so i thought , the only things i really wanted were for it to be silver and to have xenon headlights , both cars had both -woohoo!!
Over the last few months the V6 car has been in daily use and it has been great , almost faultless i would say (forgetting fuel cost that is !!).
As my project is now in a 'good to go' situation i took the 'old' Espace for an MOT,so i could chop up 'new' Espace - thats where it did'nt go to plan
The 'old' one failed and its problems were :
Broken rear spring MOT
Front brake judder and imbalance MOT
Cracked exhaust manifold MOT
Lambda Sensor MOT
Driveshaft judders like crazy
Clutch seemed to be slipping
Forgot how difficult getting some gears was
I've never changed the cambelt so its due
It must have a leak , windows a condensation nightmare
It smells of dog
Overall it has far to many problems and combined with the fact the V6 one is so good means i am going to use the old one for this project
A couple more points are : the v6 has sunroofs - don't want them !, is longer thus heavier !, would have a much longer rear overhang - not good for handling
Now the one only real drawback is its wheelbase - about 6" shorter than the Lexus - do'h !!
Will deal with that one later !
The build quality of the Espace is well....lets just say its not quite Lexus !!
Originally I intended using our family Espace a 2.0 4 cylinder, the 'race' edition, then a few months ago a impulse ebay buy got me a 3.0 litre V6 Auto Grand Espace, a much better donor car - or so i thought , the only things i really wanted were for it to be silver and to have xenon headlights , both cars had both -woohoo!!
Over the last few months the V6 car has been in daily use and it has been great , almost faultless i would say (forgetting fuel cost that is !!).
As my project is now in a 'good to go' situation i took the 'old' Espace for an MOT,so i could chop up 'new' Espace - thats where it did'nt go to plan
The 'old' one failed and its problems were :
Broken rear spring MOT
Front brake judder and imbalance MOT
Cracked exhaust manifold MOT
Lambda Sensor MOT
Driveshaft judders like crazy
Clutch seemed to be slipping
Forgot how difficult getting some gears was
I've never changed the cambelt so its due
It must have a leak , windows a condensation nightmare
It smells of dog
Overall it has far to many problems and combined with the fact the V6 one is so good means i am going to use the old one for this project
A couple more points are : the v6 has sunroofs - don't want them !, is longer thus heavier !, would have a much longer rear overhang - not good for handling
Now the one only real drawback is its wheelbase - about 6" shorter than the Lexus - do'h !!
Will deal with that one later !
The build quality of the Espace is well....lets just say its not quite Lexus !!
A little more stripping of the Espace reveals the floorpan and hopefully how easy it will be cut out and removed
Now a small setback with the lexus - i removed quite alot of wiring , and now it wont fire - do'h
it turns over but wont fire , will have to just recheck what i've disconnected and hope to sort it but there is definitely lots of wiring that can be removed , im hoping to retain most of the Espace dashboard but possibly with the lexus dials replacing the digital display in the middle
Got the starting problem sorted, the fuel sender unit i disconnected was also the fuel pump unit connector , simples !
I weighed the Lexus today on a set of corner weight scales, the results were surprising and generally disappointing , I think this car - much like its owner , needs to go on a diet !!
I weighed the Lexus today on a set of corner weight scales, the results were surprising and generally disappointing , I think this car - much like its owner , needs to go on a diet !!
so 2580 lb in my language = 1172 KG
Thats for a car with no interior whatsoever , no doors , no bonnet , no boot , no bumpers, no lights, no windscreen , no rear window , no wiper motors, not much at all really only a bodyshell with running gear , quite surprising i thought, i know it has a big v8 and auto box with big heavy brakes and suspension but i did expect and hope for a little less.
It makes you realise how much of an achievement something like the McLaren F1 is weighing in at about 1000 KG
As i had the scales out i decided to weigh the Espace as well out of interest
3016 lb = 1370 KG
Had a good couple of days stripping the Espace , got the engine and gearbox out eventually after a small trolley jack 'moment' , i just had to weigh it 429 lb or 195 KG , i have removed all the front and rear suspension , fuel tank , exhaust and all the brakes .
I have a few more interior parts to remove and then i would like to weigh the shell again , im still in shock at the weight of the Lexus , so will need to look at how much weight can be removed from both cars.
I have a few more interior parts to remove and then i would like to weigh the shell again , im still in shock at the weight of the Lexus , so will need to look at how much weight can be removed from both cars.
A pic from today showing the emptyness and also vastness of an gutted Espace , the bulkhead is totally standard with the 2 holes showing where there was a steel panel bolted that housed mountings for pedals etc
The Espace body now weighs in at 585 KG which considering it is bare of all running gear leaves it quite heavy i think, there is lots of glass though.
Hopefully within the next couple of weeks (work depending) i will get started on the 'chopping' of the body , and some serious structural work .
As im now committed to using this Espace im left with a little dilemma of wheelbase , I could shorten the Lexus floorpan so the rear axle line is in the correct place and the Espace will continue to look 'standard' from the outside OR as in the photoshopped pics below (forgive me for the quality) move the rear axle line backwards and have a really short rear overhang.
I think i quite like the look of the second one now
The Espace body now weighs in at 585 KG which considering it is bare of all running gear leaves it quite heavy i think, there is lots of glass though.
Hopefully within the next couple of weeks (work depending) i will get started on the 'chopping' of the body , and some serious structural work .
As im now committed to using this Espace im left with a little dilemma of wheelbase , I could shorten the Lexus floorpan so the rear axle line is in the correct place and the Espace will continue to look 'standard' from the outside OR as in the photoshopped pics below (forgive me for the quality) move the rear axle line backwards and have a really short rear overhang.
I think i quite like the look of the second one now
paulrussell said:
lexspace said:
After seeing a 'body' transplant on a tv show where the running gear and floorpan of a new car had the body of an old car transplanted onto it , this route has been favorite (thanks rhinochopig)
Would that of been Custom My Ride, where they got an old Dodge Charger and put a new Dodge Charger floorpan and running gear on to it? If so I watched that aswell and thought it was a brilliant idea.Well not really much of an update im afraid , my time is being consumed by work and family commitments so my 'project' has to wait,i have spent some time on the espace shell getting all the remaing wiring sorted and marked up ready .
The headlights, front indicators, side indicators, rear lights, fog lights, high level brake lights, number plate lights, heated rear screen,door open switches,all 9 !! roof lining interior lights and finally boot lock solenoids now have lexus connectors on them to join straight into the lexus loom.
Next up really are all the door motors and cutting back of extras that are not needed in the lexus loom (heated seats etc).
Once these next electrics are done i can get properly started on chopping both cars, hopefully over my xmas break , thanks to everyone for the words of encouragement and hopefully then the next set of pictures will put some peoples mind's at rest on the subject of whether i know what im doing.
It may appear that im 'just pulling cars apart' but i dont think i could start at any other point, and it will NOT be 'held together with baler twine and chewing gum'.....
but on the other hand i WOULD 'be gobsmacked if it goes as planned' !!!
The headlights, front indicators, side indicators, rear lights, fog lights, high level brake lights, number plate lights, heated rear screen,door open switches,all 9 !! roof lining interior lights and finally boot lock solenoids now have lexus connectors on them to join straight into the lexus loom.
Next up really are all the door motors and cutting back of extras that are not needed in the lexus loom (heated seats etc).
Once these next electrics are done i can get properly started on chopping both cars, hopefully over my xmas break , thanks to everyone for the words of encouragement and hopefully then the next set of pictures will put some peoples mind's at rest on the subject of whether i know what im doing.
It may appear that im 'just pulling cars apart' but i dont think i could start at any other point, and it will NOT be 'held together with baler twine and chewing gum'.....
but on the other hand i WOULD 'be gobsmacked if it goes as planned' !!!
small update - had some time working on the espace
cutting at the front and rear is pretty much to where i want it to be for now , but i still have a good amount of cutting around the sills to do . I took a few measurements and on the whole its looking ok , its just a matter of looking at both cars and deciding where and what to cut/not to cut.
The weight was 437 kg (as it stood in last pic) ,I intend to do a little more cutting of the body before starting cutting on the Lexus
I trial located a Lexus wheel in the wheel arch and as i suspected - it looked huge and will require some bodywork mods - but that's way in the future and not entirely unexpected. I was never really intending for it to look completely standard on the outside anyway.
I do like the look of the F1 Espace and the wide low stance that it has (not so keen on the colour or roof spoiler though), its the kind of look i will be going for when finished
cutting at the front and rear is pretty much to where i want it to be for now , but i still have a good amount of cutting around the sills to do . I took a few measurements and on the whole its looking ok , its just a matter of looking at both cars and deciding where and what to cut/not to cut.
The weight was 437 kg (as it stood in last pic) ,I intend to do a little more cutting of the body before starting cutting on the Lexus
I trial located a Lexus wheel in the wheel arch and as i suspected - it looked huge and will require some bodywork mods - but that's way in the future and not entirely unexpected. I was never really intending for it to look completely standard on the outside anyway.
I do like the look of the F1 Espace and the wide low stance that it has (not so keen on the colour or roof spoiler though), its the kind of look i will be going for when finished
I know there are a lot of doubters out there(my friends and family included!!)but this build is by no means impossible and lots of similar builds have been done before , check out this one for example:
http://www.sxoc.com/vbb/showthread.php?219069-MadM...
Im very open to changing plans as i go along because quite simply i cannot plan exactly for something that's never been done before
http://www.sxoc.com/vbb/showthread.php?219069-MadM...
Im very open to changing plans as i go along because quite simply i cannot plan exactly for something that's never been done before
Tony427 said:
Here you get the b'stard love child of a Lexus and a Capri......
http://www.lextreme.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14...
Cheers,
Tony
OMG - I don't really know what to say about that one ...........http://www.lextreme.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14...
Cheers,
Tony
Moving on
Here's my most simple way to explain the basics of this build and why i'm cutting in certain places
There is obviously a little bit more to it than that but i hope you get the idea , with regard to road usage its a matter of getting it finished first then getting it IVA'd , once the shells are mated together i will probably strip off all the suspension and brakes to give them all a good overhaul and replace as necessary ,so getting it on the road is not on the list of priorities , having said that i cant really foresee any problems when the time does come.
SystemParanoia said:
OP.. have a read of this thread 
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=20&...
similar to your project.. but at the same time different
Hi , yes thanks I have seen that , it's as you say same but different - looks lots of fun though !!http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=20&...
similar to your project.. but at the same time different
There is a website called build threads which I'm sure some of you will have seen , thee are quite a few "chassis swaps" as they call them on there , a yellow mustang is particularly good
http://www.build-threads.com/tag/chassis-swap/page...
This mustang is very high quality , some other interesting ones in here too the Morris minor in particular
This mustang is very high quality , some other interesting ones in here too the Morris minor in particular
I have eventually finished all the wiring that i wanted to get done, and cut out quite a lot of the wiring that i did'nt want, the loom in the next pic is the loom that goes from the passenger/drivers footwell going rearwards as removed from the car , then the pic after is the same loom after about 3 hours of cutting and chopping , in the pic its not quite completely finished but i did finish it and forget to take a pic -do'h
I cut quite a lot from the main car loom and engine bay loom as well and im happy to report all the things i want to work - still work , and the engine starts and runs as sweet as it ever did - PHEW !!
I have only really managed a couple of other jobs this week because of work but as my work has consisted of opening and fitting lots of shiny new bits - i dont feel so bad
The manifolds are for a Renault V6 , they are not the absolute finest exhaust work i've ever seen but they are pretty good.
Beneath the rear bumper on the Espace was a rather sturdy mounting bracket/towbar mount, as it had been leaning up in my way for a few weeks i took the grinder to it , i will still need it to mount the rear bumper and retain a degree of strength so did'nt go too silly but have made a weight saving of 4KG
The other job i got started on was a rear strut brace , i'm basically making it to assist in holding everything straight and true whilst i cut the roof off, but it won't hurt to keep it on the finished car
I cut quite a lot from the main car loom and engine bay loom as well and im happy to report all the things i want to work - still work , and the engine starts and runs as sweet as it ever did - PHEW !!
I have only really managed a couple of other jobs this week because of work but as my work has consisted of opening and fitting lots of shiny new bits - i dont feel so bad
The manifolds are for a Renault V6 , they are not the absolute finest exhaust work i've ever seen but they are pretty good.
Beneath the rear bumper on the Espace was a rather sturdy mounting bracket/towbar mount, as it had been leaning up in my way for a few weeks i took the grinder to it , i will still need it to mount the rear bumper and retain a degree of strength so did'nt go too silly but have made a weight saving of 4KG
The other job i got started on was a rear strut brace , i'm basically making it to assist in holding everything straight and true whilst i cut the roof off, but it won't hurt to keep it on the finished car
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