[toddshotrods]

So, some of you may remember my Tailfeather Project, which was suppposed to be a stablemate for the Inhaler. Well, a lot has happened. One, the Inhaler no longer resides in my personal "stables". It is now a joint venture (I'm still majority owner) between myself and my partner Alex (Columbus Idea Foundry). Two, I kind of lost interest in my Honda, and couldn't see committing myself to a project halfheartedly. We are developing a line of kit cars and products, based loosely on the Inhaler, and the first prototype kit is my personal car - giving me a project to express myself with, now that the Inhaler is all grown up and has moved out.

The hybrid concept of the Tailfeather Project is going to live on in my kit. In fact, that very Honda powertrain is being transplanted into the back of the car, and electric drive is moving up to the front wheels. This is literally the reincarnation of that project, with a twist. Without further ado, here is Schism (the art anyway ):

As you can see it has more than a passing resemblance to the Inhaler, and the art is based on old Inhaler art. This isn't a dream, I am ordering parts and materials now, and we intend to have the car at least together in March, and fully functional by summer.


Instead of relying on electric for racing power, and ICE as a sort of range extender, this car will rely on ICE for race power, and electric will be the supplement. I haven't done any calculations yet to determine what kind of range it will have, but it will be possible to drive on pure electric. The ICE will eventually be turbo, and Ethanol and/or gas burning - we're shooting for 800hp. I would like to have about 200hp of electric power up front, but that will depend of what type of motor I end up with; completely undecided on that right now. Everything will be there ready for the motor, when I find it. I am building the front suspension with Honda FWD wheel bearing hubs, and I have the diff, so it will just be a matter of coupling the motor to the diff. Right now I am planning on direct drive, and gearing it for speeds up to maybe 35mph. I'm keeping the speed range of the electric drive low now to have brisk acceleration, without a large motor. That will allow me to launch with AWD, when racing, and continue to accelerate with turbo ICE power. It also helps with lag issues, and allows me to run a bigger turbo.

[toddshotrods]

In the beginning there were two Jeg's seats, a Speedway track nose, and a Toyota Celica GTS rear differential...

It's hard to see in this blurry cell phone pic (forgot my camera), but the input shaft is forward, inside the track nose, at the front of the car. The motor will be mounted on top of the diff, and drive it via a belt, chain, or gear set up. That will allow me to fine-tune the ratios, and the stacked arrangement saves space under the hood. Those who have been following my antics long enough may remember that from a previous bright idea I had for building a second EV hot rod. One reason I love pursuing ideas is I usually end up using the designs somewhere, someday.

After seeing the seats together, taking some measurements, and building the *cockpit* a gazillion times in my head for the last eight hours, I think one of the regular production Jeg's roll cage kits is perfect - it's for a 49-53 Anglia/Thames!?! - so I may be able to order it and swing by and pick it up next week (Jeg's main retail store is right around the corner from our shop). That and a few sticks of square tubing and I'll have a chassis soon.

[toddshotrods]

Picked up the roll cage kit from Jeg's today and did a quick mock-up to check the dimensions. A couple need tweaked, but it's going to be nice. I need to make some final decisions on the frame design so I can order the steel for it, and start building a hot rod.

The Appleton steering rack also came today, and it is positively sinful! Very well made, and extremely quick - it's 1.5 turns lock-to-lock! Better not sneeze!

[toddshotrods]

Nothing major today, I just got the cage main hoop and halo tweaked a little, which makes the cage fit together much better. The bottom of the main hoop tucks in to the width of the (forthcoming) frame rails, and the halo is a bit narrower in back, which lets it hit all the way up on the main hoop.




Here's a close-up of my little rack, and the front differential that the electric motor will drive.

A pause to celebrate the New Year, and next we purchase the rectangular tubing for the frame, and start building...

Happy New Year guys!

[DavidDymaxion]

Neat stuff, I really enjoy reading your design threads.

Do you have a bogey for the front/rear weight balance? How do you gear the front low but not over rev it when the gas motor winds out? A one way sprague? Any hopes for regen?

Originally Posted by toddshotrods

Nothing major today, I just got the cage main hoop and halo tweaked a little, which makes the cage fit together much better. The bottom of the main hoop tucks in to the width of the (forthcoming) frame rails, and the halo is a bit narrower in back, which lets it hit all the way up on the main hoop.




Here's a close-up of my little rack, and the front differential that the electric motor will drive.

A pause to celebrate the New Year, and next we purchase the rectangular tubing for the frame, and start building...

Happy New Year guys!

[toddshotrods]

Originally Posted by DavidDymaxion

Neat stuff, I really enjoy reading your design threads.

Do you have a bogey for the front/rear weight balance? How do you gear the front low but not over rev it when the gas motor winds out? A one way sprague? Any hopes for regen?

Thanks David!

Ideally, would love to come up with 45/55 (f/r) weight distribution, but I haven't done any number crunching to verify that yet - just a hunch/wish. I'm aiming for around 40/60 with the regular kits (not hybrid - no electric drive system up front), and figure a small electric motor and the diff should get me a few points on mine.

I'll use some type of clutch, or one-way drive, on the electric motor to disengage it at a specified rpm. There are little 4.5" racing clutches that would be ideal for this, because they're made for high horsepower applications, and work best in an on/off environment.

I really want regen, but it will depend on what I end up with for a motor. My first thought on this was the HPEVS/HPG systems, but they don't have the power I want. A Warp motor could supply the power, but no regen...

[toddshotrods]

Happy New Year!

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on art with this project (like I did with the Inhaler) but needed one quick revision to check something. To achieve the desired body-to-roof ratio, and make sure that average-sized people can fit inside the kits, I needed more body. Rather than vertically stretch the body, I decided to add rocker panels, which are rolled under the tub a bit. The original Model Ts have running boards which extend down from the body (and to the fenders, of course), and roll out a bit. This is an artistic swipe at that, which keeps the distinctive shape of the shallow bucket body intact, but gives me enough surface area. The real shapes and details will be worked out as the car is built, according to the real needs, but this is probably close.

[toddshotrods]

I know it's not your cup of tea around here, but we got the drivetrain pulled from the donor (the former Taileather Project). Now, we're laser focused on getting Schism on all fours next month. I'm still searching for motors for the electric front drive. I need an immediate solution for right now to get everything sorted out, and need to figure out what I really want up there.

DIYEC member CT Freeman (white EV Fiero-based concept) came out to help yesterday, and saw a wide open, liberated, engine compartment at this point - ready for an electric conversion.

[Woodsmith]

How many projects are going on here?

It's good getting the oily bits ripped out. Is that the engine that is going in the back of Schism?

[toddshotrods]

Originally Posted by Woodsmith

How many projects are going on here?...

Haha! They're building up, but only because I have such a great team beside me. Our new female team member worked ten straight hours with me yesterday, and worked as hard as I did.

The Inhaler is a company project now, so not really my burden, other than design and project supervision. Schism is mine, and I still plan to build Scratch, so I actually have two personal projects.

Originally Posted by Woodsmith

...It's good getting the oily bits ripped out. Is that the engine that is going in the back of Schism?

Yup, that's Schism's engine now. I can't wait to get all that crap cleaned up - yuck! It'll stay clean from here on, because I'll actually be able to reach everything and see when something's leaking.

A guy on another forum posted this link - pretty cool, and fairly similar to the basic concept we have.