Here is my SpitfireBusa 1968:
http://www.johannsson.net/Xodus.aspx?id=96&MainCatID=14
Awesome Markus! The conversion looks really good. What type of transmission came with the motor? Could you post some photos of the engine and transmission before it went into the car?
Cheers
Byron
Thank you Byron very much.
I used the Hayabusa engine with all, i.e. the transmission as well, on my web side down there is a picture:
"Drive shaft fitted to the Hayabusa engine" there you can see the engine and drive shaft.
But here is a picture of the engine where I am starting to build the engine mont.:
IMG_0006Small.JPG
I hope you can see how small the engine+gearbox is. But it was surprising how wide the engine was. I also had a lot of thought on how to turn the engine, but this was in my opinion the best solution. I also did all I could to lower the engine and as far back as possible, this will hopefully give better handling and I did not have to cut a hole in the bonnet!
I hope this answer your question, feel free to ask again for any information.
Markus
From the photo it looks like the transmission is mounted on the side of the engine, If this is the case did you have to offset the engine to one side to get the drive shaft attached?
What sort of horsepower and torque do you expect from this engine?
I was surprised to see that there is a hotrod culture in Iceland. American muscle cars seem to show up in places you would not expect!! I know some European countries are very strict on the modifications you can do to cars.
Cheers
Byron
You are right Byron, the engine has to heel over to one side as it is a standard Hayabusa engine for the oil pick-up. And because the engine is wide comparing to its size, this mean the driveshaft is not inline with the diff, but it seems to be okay. I just had to make sure the driveshaft was in very good balance and I also had to make some modifications to the body.
This engine is good for 178 hp and 138 Nm, at 9800 rpm the old 1300 cc engine had appr 110 Nm from new, so I hope the diff and axles will hold. Max rev is 11000 rpm, so that is just fun!
When I went to inspection last time, I asked if there would be any problems if I swap the engine for "another 1300 cc engine" the answer was: "No problem." ;)
We have quite a few old modified USA cars here, but after 2007 crisis we have unfortunately sold many abroad.
Cheers
sigurjon
Hi Sigurjon,
You may find you will have troubles with the driveshaft at higher revs. Standard u-joints aren't designed to run at extreme driveshaft angles. This table shows the relative acceptable angles by shaft rpm:
u-joint_angles.jpg
If you do encounter issues, you might try adding a doublecardan joint at one or both ends. This is what the 4x4 crowd does.
doublecardan.JPG
Double Cardan Joint
Great conversion by the way. How about some higher resolution pictures?
Regards,
M.
"When I went to inspection last time, I asked if there would be any problems if I swap the engine for "another 1300 cc engine" the answer was: "No problem." ;)
LOL!
George
For those that are not familiar with a Hayabusa (or 'Busa as we call it), it is the world's fastest production motorcycle manufactured by Suzuki. It is capable of speeds near 200mph stock with 150-160 hp. Probably works great in the smaller lighter LBCs such as a Spitfire or Bugeyed Sprite.
So what did you do about reverse?
Jim
Reverse gear... excellent question lol. The Flintstones....
I think the dif will be OK. It's low-speed torque that destroys diffs.
It will interesting to see what sort of drivability it has. A light flywheel and a not so light car makes hard work for the clutch.
Ivor
I think there was a mod where they belt a starter motor to the driveshaft, you might want to look into it.
Jim
They've been building smarts with busa motors for awhile now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE4kqBT8dWo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5S1NAMnYKM
Yes I hope the diff will hold, I just removed the diff , axles and the driveshaft, took it to a special workshop and all reconditioned, new UJ (heavy duty), new bushes etc the driveshaft balanced and back in to the car again. Boy, removing the diff and installing it again, that was not an easy job!
As for the clutch, I did replace the springs with heavy duty ones. They use those in turbo Busas, but if that is not enough I can get springs even stronger, my brother has a turbo Hayabusa and he just bought very stiff/strong adjustable springs, I will go for them if I have any problems. It only takes about 30 min to replace the clutch, which is nice.
As for the "reverse" I am running on "the Flintstone method" for now ;), it is okay as the car is so light, but I will use starter and a sprocket. I have a custom made sprocket placed between the diff and driveshaft. There is some space for the starter by the chassis there, but I have not yet finished this part. I need a lift for this work. This will be done early in the new year. Some motorcycles uses this method like Honda Goldwing so there was no need for me to discover the wheel again. There are others solutions for the reverse, like a small reverse gearbox but they are expensive and in my case there is simply no space for such solutions, and the starter/sprocket solution is fine, many Smarts with Hayabusa engines uses this solution. For those who are interested, the Smart car is heavier then Spitfire, the engine in Smart is very light appr. 80 - 90 kg, the engine in Spitfire is relatively heavy (180 - 200 kg), the cars weighs almost the same in total, so just looking at the car (minus engines) the Spitfire is lighter.
Video:
On a "out-off-the-way" road outside the city, a little test of the setup:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4gMG2QVHc0
Wow, the sound reminds me of the special on TV for 20th anniversity of Aryton Senna life ending crash. The car has a similar rev range to the F1 cars, however maybe a few thousand less :-)
That's just awesome Markus!
I was in Reykjavik doing winter testing for Volvo back in the 90's.
Met some of the nicest, most friendly people ever.
Even when they got me nice and cozy in a sauna and then made me jump into a frozen river!
Was just wondering though, are you Icelanders born crazy. Or can I learn it if I move there. :)
Cheers
Fred
Thanks guys.
Kstevusa: I rev the Hayabusa up to 11000 rpm, when going for max. It is really a wonderful feeling for us motorheads and what a engine this is!
DiDueColpi: Thank you very much, I am glad you have met some nice people here like the ones who made you jump into a frozen river ;)
We are probably rather crazy, just look at me, converting a Spitfire to Megabusa, as the first in the World (as far as I know...;)
Hope you will visit our beautiful country again soon.
Cheers,
Markus
Wow! You finished it !!
Well done. So many people give up on their projects.
Hope you have much enjoyment.
Love to see a pic of you reversing - do you wear special shoes?
Ivor
That is fantastic! Congrats.
Very Cool! There is a guy doing a Midget with Bugeye front end on the MGexperience Midget board. I would switch the U joints to Porsche 930 CV joints.