Dwarf car project

I've been hunting around for something to replace the F500 with an upright driving position,just bought a dwarf car chassis on the cheap and putting together a plan.Might need some help from GRM,I'm not a fan of the look of a dwarf so I'd like to rebody the car to enclose the wheels so looking for cost effective means to do so.I found this 1976 civic and I think the dimensions may work for the dwarf.http://youtu.be/jcmiFiDkHog Would anyone know of a place that may offer such a fiberglass body as I think the roof and rear quarters are glass on this one but not sure.I've sent an email to the owner of the car via youtube and to Jamie Housman autosport as he has a 1st gen crx body-I much prefer the old school civic though.The dwarf starts out as an 80" wheelbase,the '76 civic is 87" as is the 1st gen crx.I need to locate the body as far rearward as possible to fit the engine behind the main hoop and fit the diff without having too much angle on the cv's. Since I'm not going to be running in a spec class I'm free to do what I want within reason limited only by funding.I'm planning to install a late model bike engine in the back with chain drive,use a civic diff/axles and to same money use the complete suspension from probably EF civics in the front and rear.Saves me from having to fabricate everything and the oem stuff works very well and a million different suppliers to pick from for upgrades.I can build adjustable pick-up points for even more tenability.Afterwards I can always build lighter control arms etc if I wanted. Fuel cell and rad can go up front,hope to remove the existing driveshaft tunnel to locate the seat in the middle,use a center steer rack from a dune buggy-probably the same I used in the scratch built car I did as it was a little over 1 turn lock to lock. Thoughts,suggestions?

Forgot to say I was also thinking of something like a DSR legrand body,kinda like the roof and full windshield a little more however.

Well if all you want to do is to have fenders, you can put some from a Legends car. If you want to keep it bike powered, it has to be as light as possible, so I don't think a full body (even in FG) is a good idea. Also, with the amount of modifications that you want to do, Why not just start with a clean sheet? You want something completely different than what you bought. I mean, just look at the modifications you want to do:

No fender to full body
Wheelbase stretch
Switch from front-engined to rear-engined
All new suspension front and rear
Relocate the driver position

What will be left of the original car?

I don't mean to be a downer, I just don't get it.

Geez! Wall of text. Break it up some so it is less annoying to read.

Actually using the fenders from a legend will require buying the complete body as they are made as one so I might as well make it look like something a little more interesting.With the parts I can sell off this car I won't need the chassis will cost less much less than the steel to just get started building another.Moving the seat a few inches to the right is really not a make it or break kinda amount of work.Building a few suspension pick up mount points is far less work than building an all new chassis.

As for the wall of txt blame the forum itself,as an older fellow I typed it out with proper punctuation and used paragraphs(3 if memory serves,did I mention I'm older?) to define the structure/thoughts but the forum jammed it all together.

I thought I was on the GRM site,not the reply I was expecting.

The wall of text is difficult to read. To avoid it, put two spaces at the end of a line where you want a paragraph break. Like " " - hit the space bar twice.
I don't have any input on where to find a fiberglass body for something like that. Usually the trend is people going the other direction - like the exocet. Best of luck, I always find your builds amazing.

Please don't get your feelings hurt by the wall of text comment, a self professed long time lurker with over 500 posts should have thicker skin. I'm old also.

I like your idea, but a Honda driveline has more power than a 'Zuki 1200, so even a lighter body would be underpowered. Given the same position, I would take a hard look at a Fiat 500 or older Morris body on your frame.

Style, classic, Sleeper.

Of course pictures are required.

Dan

Haha,not hurt just explaining is all.

No race car of mine anytime soon will have a car based drivetrain,even with bodywork I wouldn't expect this to weigh more than 1100lbs as it loses the solid rear axle and driveshaft from front to rear along with the current steel body the dwarfs use.Bike engines don't make much tq that's for sure but that's what the close ratio gear box is for,the engines on my short list are all 180hp or more.

As a comparison the R1 engine in the ice racer makes 150ish hp and that car weighs at least 1600lbs I expect with full cage and steel body and even with it geared for close to 120mph(to get the speed in 3rd gear I require)its far from a dog.

As for pics I'll do my best,I need to get the chassis home soon and fine tune some measurements.

So you want to shink wrap a car body onto a dwarf chassis? Seems like something like a Honda 600, or NSU Prinze sized body would work. Or a sectioned Fiat 500.

My buddy has a Classic Lites, which is a 600cc Dwarf spec they run in New England. I think weight is 1200# with driver, and he runs some ballast, and weighs about 180#. So even a CL spec car, with a very robust chassis and heavy steel wheels, and the toyota rear end weighs right at 1000#.

I'm betting you could get it down to 950# pretty easily.

Also, I have no idea why you wold want to try and build one using Civic/CRX front suspension parts. The Dwarf industry is very strong, and control arms, hubs, brakes, shocks etc., are all cheap and readily available.

His car:

Thanks for the info,when I looked at the prices for the dwarf front end parts(mine is missing everything)the cost can get up there pretty quick.$300 for a pair of spindles,$300 for a pair of hubs,about $400 for all control arms,approx $400 for rotors,calipers and pads.

Easy to find the complete civic front end parts for cheap at the wreckers,lots of upgrade/replacement part options.They are heavy but also overkill to survive off track excursions and the brakes should handle the light car with no troubles even lapping all day.

any time i see dwarf car stuff all i do is waste the next week looking for cheap ones for sale, street legal ones and i dream of all the fun i could have...