Foggies ZX14 Cudax

[Foggy]

How is this going to be different to the rest of the Barracuda builds I hear you say? Well I am putting in a extra 100mm in the engine bay as well as the cockpit so that is a total of 200mm stretch. Why? I want to allow room for a larger engine like a Kawasaki ZX14 I have sitting in my garage, as well as have plenty of room in the cabin, so I am not hunched over the steering wheel like a forklift driver! Next I will be making my roll bar wider and a little lower than the normal cuda to give it a more sleek look. (Barracuda with attitude! )
 I know that doesn't seem much but what I have found if you make one little change it throws out a lot of you measurement and angles according to the instructions.

First of all I made a dolly to sit the chassis on then I made the lower chassis. I didn't make a jig for it, all I did is made up the middle section and made sure it was completely square, This is were I added the extra 100mm for the cabin stretch (801mm instead of 701) then I attached the front section to it as that was per plan so it was easy. Next I lay it all on the ground and marked around it so I could get all the angles rite for the rear section. As I am adding another 100mm to that as well I had to make the total length of that section 616.80. Once I cut it all up I got out the trusty old laser level and used it to make sure it was all square before I welded it up.









This is pre welding the rear section on!



All done!



Well that's about all I got done on that weekend because my missus dragged me of to a 40th birthday on Saturday :roll:  Oh well you gotta keep them happy!!

Cheers,
Foggy

[Foggy]

Next a good mate "Reg the legend" kindly donated some of his time and gave his new lathe a good work out and turned up some parts for me as well. Thanks Reg your a top bloke!!



I made a trip down to see my old mate Raymond at Pine Rivers Bearings Brendale to talk to him about my new buggy and he grabbed me and said come on lets go shopping! So out the back we went and he has loaded me up with all the nuts and bolts I need plus more!! We substituted all we could for stainless socket head cap bolts.



I have thought about the problem of limited peddle room in the Cuda, so what I will do is use only one peddle for the back and front brakes, two master cylinders or one larger one?? The way I will regulate braking is by putting one of these in-line with the front brakes.



This way I can dial out fronts as I need them!   I will just mount it on the dash next to the wheel for easy access. Not that you will be playing with the bias that often because once its set up you will probably forget its there. We have a few tracks but so I dare say it might change from track to track, also My wife is much liter than me so she may have to give it a tweak as well.

Cheers,
Foggy

[Foggy]

OK after a pulling my hair out trying to get someone in Brisbane to bend the bars for me, I decided that it was starting to become a really bad joke! :evil: ....... So, I gave Tony a ring and put in an order for my custom bar work, because I am also helping DeRat build his at the same time it made the shipping cost a lot cheaper.
I have used the Hypersprint roll bar to give it a wider body and a chop top look as it is a little shorter than the standard bar. Because I put the extra 100 in the cockpit and also the engine bay all the other bars had to be modified as well!!

After a bit of a wait for them they finally arrived at my place!   You beauty I can finally turn my 2 dimensional base frame into a 3 dimensional chassis and start building upwards!!
But as my normal luck would have it my wife had to work all bloody weekend so I was stuck with the kids :x , so I didn't get as much done as I wanted!

Anyway here are some photos so far!

Bar work.














Cheers,
Foggy

[Foggy]

This was the next stage, a few little hiccups but overall was happy with progress!






Cheers,
Foggy

[Carlriddle]

Looks like a great start.  You just need some more alone time with the welder.   Your building this buggy faster than I can type, ever time I try to post there is a new picture.  Blazing fast.

[Foggy]

This was the next stage!








Cheers,
Foggy

[Foggy]

yeah I don't muck around!!   I did all this a little while ago obviously so I thought I would try and bring you all up to date! Yeah my welding has come along way since then, they were good welds just not the prettiest!
Cheers,
Foggy

[Foggy]

More progress photo's!!!







The Kawasaki ZX14 as I picked it up!















Cheers,
Foggy

[Yummi]

Great write up - that will look low and mean.   Keep us posted. 

[fabr]

Great progress. Looking very good. I do wish you guys would learn to build without square tube tho! LOL!!!  I'm sure you will have a blast with those toys. 

[fabr]

iF USING A BIAS VALVE YOU WILL ONLY USE 1 mc FOR THE BRAKES. Caps lock-sorry. 

Also Are you concerned about cooling with the radiator placed where it is?

[Engineer]

I like the look of your stretches.  Are you doing both the same?  It looks like you lowered the roof a bit, but it just must be the stretch.  Do you plan to move the motor as far forward as possible to get a longer chain length?  Also, now with the motor set in place, would it have fit without the stretch or was it necessary?  I am just curious how much bigger the ZX may be than a busa or other motor.  It seems they are all similar, but I am starting a build and want to provide room for any in line 4 MC powerplant.

In that last picture the output sprocket on the ZX seems a bit high, but it may be an illusion of the photo.  Is there clearance for the chain or will the front bulkhead need to be modified?

Your doing an impeccable job of documenting the build.  Thanks!

[Foggy]

Don't panic guys that was not were I left the engine or radiator!! I just put them in there to see how it was all going to fit!! Engineer I think the 14 is about the same size as a Busa maybe a little bigger but not much. It probably would have fit in a standard engine bay but you would be shoe horning it in! I just like heaps of room so you don't have to worry about running out of room when running exhausts and so on. These next photos might clear a few things up!

My mate Ian came around just before Christmas and we got stuck into the engine mounts.









He cant help him self!!!




Cheers,
Foggy

[Foggy]

Sorry I forgot to mention that yes the main roll hoop is lower than standard, it is the roll hoop they actually designed for the Edge Hypersrint. By memory I think it was about 3.5 inches lower than normal?? By the way don't take to much notice of the welds as I have only tacked most of them in. I will have about a days work on the welder once I have got everything in place!
Cheers,
Foggy

[Reidy02]

Hey Foggy that guy found his way into ya photo again