Scale-Master Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 It’s time for another Super 7... This time in 1/24th using the perennial Tamiya Lotus kit. The first task is to convert it from right hand drive to left hand drive. Here are pictures of the stock kit body: The foot well was excised from the right side and the side wall of it was removed using a PE saw. A wedge was cut from the new body side part of the foot well and cemented to the inboard compensate for the angle from when it was on the right side. The side was cemented back on and the foot well was filed true and is ready for installation…
mrmike Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 After seeing your other Lotus 7, I want to see what you willn do with this one.
sjordan2 Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 (edited) I would love to see someone do KAR120C with the dog-dish hubcaps and headlight stone guards from "The Prisoner." http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&biw=1399&bih=719&q=PRISONER+LOTUS&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=g1g-m2&aql=&oq= Edited April 12, 2011 by sjordan2
Scale-Master Posted April 13, 2011 Author Posted April 13, 2011 The cowl needs considerable modifications to be converted to left hand drive. This is the stock part: Here is the converted cowl/firewall and the modified for LHD pedal mount assembly. The battery and support will likely be replaced with scratch-built items.
Steve Keck Posted April 13, 2011 Posted April 13, 2011 If I remember correctly he spent over 2,000 hours on the 1/12th scale pictured in his avatar. Since this is 1/2 the size should he only spend 1/2 the time?
Junkman Posted April 13, 2011 Posted April 13, 2011 The first task is to convert it from right hand drive to left hand drive. You mean, from right hand drive to wrong hand drive?
Scale-Master Posted April 13, 2011 Author Posted April 13, 2011 A seat from the parts box (don’t know what it came from, but I think it was a Tamiya kit) was modified for the driver’s seat…
Pete J. Posted April 13, 2011 Posted April 13, 2011 Mark - I was considering the drive shaft issue from the other night. How about if you just widened the rear part of the body by about 1/4" to accommodate the bigger seats and a drive shaft cover?
Scale-Master Posted April 13, 2011 Author Posted April 13, 2011 I already have a plan for that, widening would not fit the theme of this one. But a driveshaft loop/cage like we discussed will work.
Pete J. Posted April 14, 2011 Posted April 14, 2011 I already have a plan for that, widening would not fit the theme of this one. But a driveshaft loop/cage like we discussed will work. Cool! Can't wait to see it. These little 7's are one of my favorite Tamiya kits and at the price, even I can afford a bunch of them. Pete
Scale-Master Posted April 14, 2011 Author Posted April 14, 2011 The basic drive train is mocked up here. I am replacing the 1300cc four-banger with a Buick V6. The donor is a very bland AMT unit from the Opel GT. The block has been modified to accept the Lotus engine mounts and transmission, and the oil pan from the four cylinder engine was modified to fit the V6 and make it sit lower in the car. The transmissions were cut off both engines and I am using the Seven’s trans.
Boreham Posted April 14, 2011 Posted April 14, 2011 (edited) excellent.. The 7's Trans is known as (2000e box) and is regarded as the box of choice for that eara car..(in Uk /ireland for road use..) used In all the Lotus Cortina's..Mk1 and Mk2 the Lotus 7 naturally.. Mk1 Lotus escort and naturally the Corsair 2000E ..from which it got it's name.. . naturally the presence of a slave cylinder on the bellhouseing may require plumbing to your pedal box.. (shown below with thew aperture for the clutch fork and slave cylinder hole opposite which I'm sure ye already know.. ) Edited April 14, 2011 by Boreham
Scale-Master Posted April 14, 2011 Author Posted April 14, 2011 The passenger side foot well bulk head has been re-installed on the right side and the motor mount receivers have been lowered to allow the larger engine to fit under the hood. Bosses were added on the bottom to provide depth to lower the motor mounts. They will be thinned out once the location is finalized.
Scale-Master Posted April 14, 2011 Author Posted April 14, 2011 The seats take up more space than the stock drive shaft tunnel allows. I cut off part of it to make room for the seats. First I drew the cut line. And then used a PE saw to make the cuts.
Scale-Master Posted April 15, 2011 Author Posted April 15, 2011 The transmission also had to be lowered so I cut a section of the chassis out and made a new cross member. A driveshaft safety loop was needed since the tunnel was removed...
Scale-Master Posted April 16, 2011 Author Posted April 16, 2011 The rear axle was beefed up with a truss. The drive shaft was removed from the front of the differential.
Bernard Kron Posted April 16, 2011 Posted April 16, 2011 (edited) Nice fabrication work. I'm enjoying the detail your providing to us in this WIP. Thanx! A question: the driveshaft safety loop is very nicely done and something to remember for future use, but if you were to go about fully covering the driveshaft how would you recommend doing it? Edited April 16, 2011 by gbk1
Scale-Master Posted April 16, 2011 Author Posted April 16, 2011 Nice fabrication work. I'm enjoying the detail your providing to us in this WIP. Thanx! A question: the driveshaft safety loop is very nicely done and something to remember for future use, but if you were to go about fully covering the driveshaft how would you recommend doing it? First I'd make/use smaller seats. That could allow the use of the kit's factory correct part. Otherwise I would scratchbuild what fits from sheet styrene or brass tubing depending on the shape.
Scale-Master Posted April 16, 2011 Author Posted April 16, 2011 The heads were cleaned up, trued up and resized. Holes were drilled for the exhaust mounting pins (to be addressed when the headers are made). You can see the beginning of the intake manifold in this picture too.
Scale-Master Posted April 19, 2011 Author Posted April 19, 2011 The headers were made from leftovers out of the AMT ’70 Camaro. Here is what I started with: A new section was added to the left header and one pipe on each header was cut off from the flange all the way to the collector. The right side (cylinder #2) pipe had to be shortened. The flanges were cut off and pins were set into them to help locate them to the heads. The headers were then fitted to the engine in the car and measured and cut to the required length. A set of PE flanges were used on both the headers and the exhaust pipes I bent out of solder. Brass was used to make the brackets.
Scale-Master Posted April 20, 2011 Author Posted April 20, 2011 The intake manifold is coming along. Brass and styrene construction …
Scale-Master Posted April 20, 2011 Author Posted April 20, 2011 I machined a pulley set in 7075 aluminum. The alternator is a slightly modified unit from a Revell Charger. The radiator was modified slightly using part of the upper radiator hose and filler cap from the Lotus. Fine screen was added to the face of the radiator. And the top was beefed up with sheet styrene.
Scale-Master Posted April 21, 2011 Author Posted April 21, 2011 The carbs from the Lotus (and a second set not used in another previous build) were cut apart and mounted to a pair of plugs that fit into the manifold I made. Here is a partial mock-up of the engine parts so far…
Scott Colmer Posted April 21, 2011 Posted April 21, 2011 Cool, Mark! That's going to be one deep breathing V6!!! I really like watching this one. Scott
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