Midlana: First "Book" Build

Edit: Nevermind I'll have to measure the car.

Height 440 mm or 17.500"; Width top 740 mm or 29" and Width bottom 580 mm or 23"; Thickness 60 mm or 2.375"; Air entry and exit internal diameters are both 57 mm or 2.250"; with outside diameter to suit a hose of 65 mm or 2.575". Core tube width is a narrow 28 mm or 1.125"

Those might work, do you know the inlet/outlet sizes? I'm looking to fit the intercooler on the side of the car infront of the rear wheel:

Something like this is what I have found so far on ebay:

For a rx7, $90 shipped

Edit:

Daytona cooler has 2.25" OD inlet/outlet.

It's 15" H x 6.75" W x 5" D (core is 3" Deep).

Volvo cooler has 2.625" OD inlet/outlet.

It's 17.5" H x 23-29" W x 1.5" D

The Volvo unit is too big for me, the other might work. Any idea how many HP they are usually good for?

Last night I welded up the plate suspension bracket.

Today I hit the swap meet and scored some deals.

A kirkey seat that matches my other one for $50, some aluminum tubing and a coupling for $5, and a bunch of VDO gauges for $75 total. There are one two that I don't need and can sell off. I still need a speedometer.

Good score!

Here's some info on intercooling with those coolers:

http://www.thedodgegarage.com/turbo_intercooling.html

Above 15psi the pressure differential starts to rise above the "ideal" of around 2psi. Though they still continue to work even at 30psi I doubt they cool too well at that point. With a good ducting solution it could work pretty well.

I played with my swap meet finds this evening. My $5 VDO clock was noisy at first but it quieted down after a few minutes and seems to keep time. The tachometer I got may not work for me. It's intended for a 6 or 8 cylinder engine. I thought I could get it to work with my 4 cylinder by playing with settings in megasquirt, but it looks like I was wrong.

The car looks good with two seats!

The new one I got is a 10 degrees lay back. I thought that my old one was too, but it turns out that it was a 20 degree. The 10 degree seat will be used for the driver's seat, it will do a better job of supporting the driver's legs.

I also spent some time setting up the suspension bracket jig so that I can mount the other rear lower bracket. I also met up with turboswede today and he loaned me an intercooler to try out. Thanks!

Do a search for VW side mount intercoolers. Those are pretty compact. Used OE 1.8t versions can be had for a song and are good for 200 hp or so.

This one doesn't look too bad. I might pick up one if/when I start my TDi FSP build: http://www.ebay.com/itm/VW-GOLF-JETTA-MK4-GTI-AUDI-A3-BORA-1-8T-TDI-SIDE-MOUNT-INTERCOOLER-99-04-/291099437359?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43c6e0e92f&vxp=mtr

In reply to Ian F:

I looked at those, but the inlet/outlet orientation isn't great for where I have to squeeze this thing into.

Gotcha. They are kinda weird there, but it makes sense for where they're mounted. I happened to be staring at the one in my TDI as I'm working on it, which is what reminded me when I saw the discussion about intercoolers.

If the 1.8t intercooler was a mirror image it would be perfect.

I was browsing the Miata forums and found this beautiful custom interior that I am going to draw inspiration from when I make the midlana's interior.

I almost finished up the second front LCA and mount yesterday. I put together the ball joint box and fully welded it together, then noticed that I had forgot to mirror it from the first one. I made a new one up, but that cost me a few hours.

That Miata interior is insane! I love it.

Looks great apart from the quilted pattern on the doors & trans tunnel...I'd use suede there instead (or something with a similar look).

I like the quilted leather.

I like the quilted look too. Reminds me of an old Lamborghini:

Or a new Lotus:

Tonight I welded a doubler washer on a suspension bracket. That's it. I know, pitiful progress, but it's something. Between working 11 hours today and the teething baby waking me up all night, I'm beat. It's 9:30 and I am going to bed.

I got the lead out and finished up the other front LCA and mount last night.

Gettin' Jiggy with it:

Mounted up:

I was looking at the book this morning and realized I had forgotten about the reinforcement gussets. I need to think if I want to do a boxed gusset like is shown in the book, or something else. Since I have offset my shock mount from the ball joint I will have some twisting force that the arm needs to resist. I also don't want to make it too strong so that the A arms will fail in the event of a wreck before the chassis or mounts do.

This is what the book arm looks like. (thanks to a Midlana forum member for the awesome render) You can see that I altered the design slightly.

Still debating on the box vs flat gusset. My shock will be mounted just aft of the tab that forms the edge of the ball joint box creating a twisting force on the arm. Cons of the box type are harder to make, more un-sprung weight and possibly "too strong" in the event of a crash. Here are cardboard templates of each. Thoughts?

Box:

Flat:

I would think the weak point would be by the rod ends and that area would deform first. That's my semi-educated guess.

I decided to buck up and box those bad boys. Turned out nicely. (I have yet to finish the rear box portion)

My wife also "test drove" the car.

I added the box gussets to the other A arm yesterday. Hopefully I can make the back part of the box tonight and check "front lower A arms" off the list of things to do!

I got one of the rear "box walls" made last night...it takes a long time to get the curve and fitment just right. I'll try to knock the other one out tonight...I'm ready to move on to the upper arms!

finished up the boxed gussets last night. The welding of the curved rear plate caused the arms to warp and contract a surprising amount! Since my rear point is fixed due to my bracket design, the front leg of the A arm is now sitting almost at the back side of the front pickup point. At least they still fit, and they warped evenly!

Here are the arms with one fully boxed and the other without the curved piece welded in yet. Note the misalignment of the legs.

Here are the arms after welding the second curved piece...now perfectly aligned again!

Purty!

Looking good!

I have to admit, a-arm fabrication is one of the areas that has always scared me away from building a locost. Looks like you don't suffer from the same fears.

I like to think I'm only a few years away from a project of similar magnitude, so I'll be picking your brain at some point.

You can always get a head start now with the book