Popular Post 98cc Posted March 9, 2018 Popular Post Posted March 9, 2018 I have been extremely lucky and fortunate to have been at the right place at the right time to now own a very special piece of kiwi engineering. It was built by a very clever engineer called Dennis Smith in 1969 and is powered by a 1.5L Johnson V4 2 stroke outboard motor. Dennis built every part of this car apart from the basic engine block and gearbox casing. He made his own wheels, suspension uprights and components, brake calipers and discs, designed and built a mechanical fuel injection system, the list goes on.... About 25 years ago it had a slight accident on track which resulted in the front of the body being damaged and it has sat untouched since then. I brought it of Dennis last year and have set to work fixing the body. It is very important to me that it stays as original as possible and is preserved as an historic racing car. The car in Dennis's garage And back at home Got pipes? And the slightly damaged front. luckily we found a large box full of all the broken pieces under Dennis's house, these will make great patterns and will mean i can get the body exactly right. The body construction is plywood with foam glued on for shape and then a layer of fiberglass for the outer shell. The body is extremely lightly constructed and it would not of taken much impact to do this damage. Here are some pics of it back in the day Dennis on the left. If anyone has any pics or info from when it was active i would love to hear. There is so much info and technical detail to write about i will get to it all in the next posts. 46 5 Quote
Popular Post Vintage Grumble Posted March 9, 2018 Popular Post Posted March 9, 2018 Sweet baby Jesus, this is amazing! Its actually a good looking home built, which is rare. And to have the correct amount of strokes is simply awesome. 10 Quote
peteretep Posted March 9, 2018 Posted March 9, 2018 Shit yeah! we will be needing a sound sample 8 Quote
Muncie Posted March 9, 2018 Posted March 9, 2018 Make it run...... the body can be done later more importantly what does a 4 cylinder 2stroke sound like? 3 Quote
Kimjon Posted March 9, 2018 Posted March 9, 2018 Jealous, like seriously fucking green with envy! 2 Quote
Chris.QCR Posted March 9, 2018 Posted March 9, 2018 Amazing !!! Look forward to seeing the ressurection and the sound !!! 2 Quote
igor Posted March 9, 2018 Posted March 9, 2018 This thing is Kiwi ingenuity at its finest. Just being a marine motor in a land vehicle would make it special even if it didn't look amazing as well. 1 Quote
Popular Post 98cc Posted March 12, 2018 Author Popular Post Posted March 12, 2018 Sound sample will be coming shortly.... Yes Dennis managed to get the styling exactly right. Probably a bit of influence from the Mclaren Can Am cars of the period I imagine. After piecing this jigsaw puzzle together I was able to make an accurate pattern to cut out the new top piece for the front structure plywood box Marked out Cut out And the first bits of internal structure in. The air scoop box on top was able to be glued back together, this has the original number on it so i have masked it out to protect it until the painting stage 15 Quote
HighLUX Posted March 12, 2018 Posted March 12, 2018 More pictures of the engine setup please. Has it got radiators in the sides to keep it cool? Quote
Popular Post 98cc Posted March 12, 2018 Author Popular Post Posted March 12, 2018 Here are a couple, Its quite hard to get pics of it as its very tightly packed in. No only one small radiator at the front. The gearbox is a Renault 3 spd trans axle that Dennis made a new gearset and crown wheel/pinion for. One of the very interesting details is the clutch, it is on the RH side driveshaft. The transaxle is bolted direct to the engine which i think is pretty unique. 12 Quote
Vintage Grumble Posted March 12, 2018 Posted March 12, 2018 I'm slightly confused about how the clutch works? Quote
Raizer Posted March 12, 2018 Posted March 12, 2018 1 hour ago, Vintage Grumble said: I'm slightly confused about how the clutch works? I'm guessing open diff, clutch just unloads one axle letting it slip? That doesn't seem right though lol 1 Quote
Vintage Grumble Posted March 12, 2018 Posted March 12, 2018 7 hours ago, Raizer said: I'm guessing open diff, clutch just unloads one axle letting it slip? That doesn't seem right though lol Ohhhhh I see. I can't think how else it could work, so we will go with this hypothesis until further data is accumulated. 1 Quote
kws Posted March 12, 2018 Posted March 12, 2018 Must be a dog box then? Clutch to get started and then just bang shifting the rest of the way? This is such a cool project, look forward to seeing more of it. 1 Quote
flyingbrick Posted March 12, 2018 Posted March 12, 2018 This must be close to being the most rad OS project yet 4 Quote
Muncie Posted March 12, 2018 Posted March 12, 2018 2 hours ago, flyingbrick said: This must be close to being the most rad OS project yet The only way it could be any cooler is if he drove it to work on Fridays. 5 Quote
Mr Vapour Posted March 12, 2018 Posted March 12, 2018 Glad to see a thread started up for it. And a great story as to how you found it. Looking forward to.seeing your progress. 1 Quote
Snoozin Posted March 12, 2018 Posted March 12, 2018 I really really like the sympathetic rebuild to preserve it's originality, I think it's a method more racecar restorers should consider instead of a concours level rebuild. I realise in a lot of cases this is difficult however, but there's something special about the battle worn aesthetic of an old racer. Look forward to following progress, it's a brilliant looking little car. 8 Quote
Roman Posted March 13, 2018 Posted March 13, 2018 This is awesome! I think I saw some photos of this thing and a brief description of it a few years ago. My understanding is that the power to weight is absolutely bonkers. Following this thread with a severe level of interest! 1 Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.