Re: Hi from the UK & what about a z600 Honda, would it su...

[zinc2u]

Hi Greg,
    Quite the project you are wanting to take on.
Living in the UK,  I would think a Mini-Cooper would have been your choice for a mini-car good restoration project.  If you are going to use a Honda 600,  fitting 2 adults into the back seat will be a problem and you will need to lengthen the car.  These cars are uni-body in construction and there is no frame under the chassis.  The cars are front wheel drive and they have a 2 cylinder engine under the hood.  You will not have much room in the existing engine compartment and will probably need to do some major modifications to fit your diesel engine and transmission.  The Honda 600 engine and transmission were contained in one integral housing.
     The 600 sedan would give you a little more room in the engine compartment while the Z600 coupe with its sloping hood reduces the available room.  If you take on the project with a Honda 600,  keep us informed of your project and post pictures.
Good luck,
Dale

> 1) be
> as small and light as possible, while fitting 4 adults. Front > seats to fit > 6'4 tall person, rear seats to fit 5'10 person. I can > lengthen the body 6" > if a suitable car is appropriate but just > doesn't have the rear legroom - > no problem.
> 2) Mechanicals don't matter as I'll likely be fitting a modern > small > diesel engine and automatic transmission.
> 3) it has to have two
> wheels on the front for handling (I quite like
> or would consider modifying
> to single rear wheel, but must have two
> front wheels)
> 4) it's a bit of
> a fuel economy project therefore aerodynamic
> potential (the basic outline
> of the shell, or the ease at which I can
> make it aerodynamic) is
> important, as is frontal area (smaller the
> better) and weight (lower the
> better).

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[Greg]

Hey Dale,
A mini, yes it did cross my mind and I had one once.
However I am not keen on the basic shell of the mini, the windscreen is near virticle, the bonnet has little slope and there is really nothing to commend it aerodynamically, it even has external scemes which are awful from an aerodynamic point of view.  Also it’s heavier, wider, higher, but no longer (no more room in the back seat) than the Z600.  Take a look:
Mini: approx 650kg.  z600: approx 550kg – that’s 20% lighter, even accounting for the lighter engine it must have a lighter shell.
Mini: 1400mm wide x 1350mm high, z600 1295mm wide x 1280mm high
So I was thinking the z600 has a flatter, cleaner lines with a fair rakish windscreen and a reasonable bonnet slope, coupled to lighter/narrower (important for frontal area reduction, to be as narrow as I can) and lower, throw in a ‘proper’ interior with a proper dash compared to the mini which pretty much just has a speedo bolted to the bulkhead and it did look a lot more attractive.
I have had a look under the bonnet and there is ample room for the type of engine I’d put in, it’s cleaner and better laid out than the mini bay, the engineering is more modern.  Also being Japanese it’s RHD designed from ground up, so highly suitable for british roads.
If I stretched one, faired in the bumpers a bit and converted it to single rear wheel it might look a tad like this…..
http://www.britishvegoil.co.uk/images/3 ... tretch.jpg
I read on the reviews one of the main complaints of the z600 was a harsh ride and too little rear seats.  Going 3 wheels and longer wheelbase would considerably address both of those issues, 3 wheels pitch and buck less than 4 as a triangle always has perfect balance, unlike in a 4 wheeler when one rear wheel goes over a bump it tries to force the opposite front wheel down and vice versa, causing the pitching about, a 3 wheeler with a single rear wheel when it goes over a bump just raises the back of the car a touch and doesn’t alter the balance of the front wheels.
Aerodynamically the rolling resistance is reduced by 25% and the drag by a considerable amount as wheels and arches are one of the main areas of drag, probably a 20% reduction.  That equates to probably a 30% overall reduction from those things (and there is much more I can do) meaning it will take 30% less hp to propel it at 70mph than it did before, and it would do that before on around 35hp so now it will do 70 on 24.5hp.  Being longer helps with aerodynamics too and something could be done about the rear end/hatch to make a better air transition, as well as the fairly easy task of a flat underbody all the way down the car.
The other car that caught my eye was the mazda carol.  It’s 4 door but in particular it’s angular roofline sloping down leads to an extension at the rear making a ‘kamm back’ like on the new Citroen C4 coupe, which is a very good way of ending airflow at the rear.  The roofline is perfect for it, just needs some work at the rear to extend it back and make it look like a sporting ‘estate’ lol.
http://faimg1.forum-auto.com/mesimages/ ... aCarol.jpg
Anyhow just crazy thoughts.
Greg.

[Richard Clark]

Hi
If you are interested in a Z600 in the UK. I have one that is currently
completely dismantled but complete.
It has a V5 etc. If interested please contact me.
Richard

[Greg]

Hi Richard,
Can you let me have your address, or drop me a mail to greg AT gregandsarah DOT CO DOT UK (sorry, anti spam or I get swamped)
Cheers, Greg.