This frame ain't a Ron Champion, and definitely will cost more than $250. ;)

The important points to note about the frame are the following:

a) It was designed by a builder whose frames have won the Paris Dakkar rally and countless off-road desert races. Strength and light weight works on the street too.

b) When the car has its unibody removed, this frame is engineered to drop right on and bolt right up.

c) The bottom of the car is a single sheet of aluminum, even enclosing the driveline. Even so, it will be relatively easy to remove for service. There are two secondary aluminum floors in the foot well for safety.

d) The seats have been moved back about 1.5" from a stock Miata. This will help with the long hood GT look, and put the driver's butt closer to the rear wheels for a better driver feeling.

e) Safety first--There will be options for driver only or dual street hoop, or driver-only or dual race cage. The "single driver roll hoop is actually two hoops, so they are functional.

Is that enough information about the frame?

If you don't mind sharing it, what is the estimated torsional rigidity of the frame?

Don't know yet. CAD figures don't mean much because it doesn't take into account the engine/drivetrain as a structural member (we don't have the engine drawn in the frame), and we just went through a pretty big frame change this week that you'll see later.

When we get everything done and buttoned up, we'll do an old fashioned measurement on the car.

In order to bracket the suspension, we've decided to start with Bilstein B46 shocks with Swift springs. Bilstein's are great shocks, and seem to be one of the most used and reliable out there. The springs range 380-504lbs at the front to 224lbs out back, limited somewhat by stock on hand. This should give us a good idea of where to start.

We've made our own adjustable spring perch kit, along with a new style shock top mount that we're testing.

Pics when it's installed.

So, I'm reading this and getting all hot and bothered, and I'm wondering... you are up to what, frame #3? Is the idea to build these as a frame kit and sell them to us poor peasants? (If you covered this in one of the other threads, my apologies, I must have missed it)

Next order of business: Where do I send my deposit check to get on the waiting list? :yippee:

Amazing effort, this probably just became my favorite build thread. I would seriously rip apart my NB to build one of these things.

Thanks for the input--I appreciate it! To your question--there's good news and bad news.

The good--I was not planning on selling this car when I started, but as the build went along it started to make sense. I've shown a few people the final renderings, and there's already double digits lined up on the waiting list.

More good news--I'm not planning on price gouging. I've had people guesstimates in the $35k-$45k range--even one North of $60k. It will be much less, unless you're trying to build a Flying Lizard killer. ;)

The bad news is that since it's not 100% finished, I don't have a figure. Don't ask me to guess at a price, as there are still too many variables.

The other issue is that I have an issue about having people buy this car and want to put spinners, flames, neon running boards or other crap on it. The first few cars will be built by a couple of race shops and known builders, and be sold fairly complete.

I'm going to be "soup nazi" with this car, and be picky about the purchasers. In other words, don't ask if your used Mitsubishi Eclipse wing fit the car. :vash:

Hahahaha! Great response! I agree with your reasoning 100%

Back when Factory5 started releasing there Cobra Roadster kits, I was driving a 90 5.0 Mustang GT and had delusions of building one someday. After finally seeing one in person and finding out just how incomplete the "complete" kit was, and how much fit and finish went into it, and how much it COST to complete, I was over that mess for good.

When I saw your "catfish" I was instantly excited again. While the Caterham ($10,000) and Westfield ($14,590) look like they could be fun, they are just too damn expensive and generally look like ass. If you can keep costs under control and keep these things cheap they would sell like gangbusters. I'm not sure how you would accomplish that with a full body...

After I write the check to the insurance company to buy back my "totaled" NB (knock on wood) I'm looking you guys up. I'd even call PPG and start looking for some Evolution Orange :rofl: CA-DMV SB100 would be next...

I just don't see how this "kit" could come in cheaper than a lotus 7 kit. The frame looks like it will have more manufacturing hours before sale, and the body, well, it is one vs. the panels for the 7 kits. I am always open to being wrong though. ;)

I like this build, but for any potential buyers here that have ever said a $29K Flyin' Miata turn key build was ludicrously expensive even though it has a brand new LS1 and T56, you are going to be seriously disappointed.

I don't see this being a any less than a $24,995 "kit" or $35K turnkey car.

Just my opinion, I hope I'm wrong.

Lets not clog up the thread with price speculation, especially when cord's specifically mentioned that even he wouldn't be willing to even guess at this point. Just enjoy the build and fap over the fantasy of being able to build your own someday. :-P

Looks awesome, sir. And, like others, I'd love to see this as an alternative to some of the other kitcars that are out there for us with less engineering and fabrication skills than yourself.

+1! Sorry, had been drinking. I should have know better than to ahve done that.

Added the concept body shot to my wallpaper rotation on the work machine :)

I must admit that work has slowed a bit on the car, but that's mainly due to my massively blown disc. As is, work from bed with some really psychedelic drugs are making life interesting. I probably wouldn't be showing you guys the stuff below unless I was a little loopy anyway.

Since I can't show you the final car renders, I thought that I'd show a couple of other "secret stuff" that I've been working on. This is my "day job" stuff.

1) LED lighting screw--this is patent-pending M5, M6 or 1/4-20 screw. The screws are machined, gun-drilled, and then a slot is milled under the head. A tiny (TINY!) printed circuit board is then installed, which includes not one but two micro-LED's. You can see the result when lit. The cool part is when you install them on glass or a motorcycle windscreen, as the edges light up. When done right, you can't even tell the light source.

I intend to use these on the Catfish as accessory lights. Wait till you see some of the performance-oriented parts we've made for the car. :)

More to come...



2) ReadyRamp--I

ReadyRamp
 

I'm pretty proud of this part. It's got seven utility patents, and has been well-received in the truck and motorcycle market. It's a bed extender that opens to become a ramp. When not in use, it folds closed. E.Z. P.Z.

This is the new ramp design we've just finished. The two biggest new features are that is customer-assembled--in other words, it ships in a 3" x 9" x 44" box, and you can customize it to match your bike or truck (paint, etc.) before assembly. If a part breaks, it can also simply be replaced.

It has been FEA optimized (Finite Element Analysis) to the point that a 19lb ramp will hold over 1,200lbs at the center point before breaking. Think about that! We went through dozens of profile iterations before finding the lightest option with the best build characteristics. In other words, this ain't no ramp that was made by pulling square tube off the rack and welding it together.

Guess I've got to give you guys another peek.

Still interested?

I certainly didn't cancel my sub to this thread ;)

Good luck with the disk, I watched my father go through something similar when I was a kid. Take it the ---- easy man

Subbed, this is epic.

I can't tell if it's trying to be a lotus or a Z4.

The rendering looks extremely cool, however you should know that most of us are they type of people who prefer to DIY and don't tend to drop $20K on this sort of thing, but then again some do. It defiantly looks like quality.

I'd daily that. It'll be street legal as a kit car right?

Hmm.. Slap some lights, mirrors, and a license plate on it and I'll drive the damn thing daily like this:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...9&d=1331252000

I think when you have good looking cars of the same size and configuration, it's tough not to share some features. The overlay shows that it's obviously damn close to the Miata too.

Still, when you see the final renders there is no doubt about the original "Catfish" design.