Sharing My Knuckle-Dragging Neanderthal Side with My Cruising Friends

[deckofficer]

Originally Posted by tropicalescape

Met a man at Lake Norman that builds what he called the best RIB on the market, it is a cat I think and he wanted to do some R&D with one of my wings ..will contact and pass on info...Whats a "smart car" ?...DVC

A Smart Car is a micro car, very small, and in all markets but US, you can order one with a 800cc DFI turbo-intercooled diesel. Very light engine that is potent and fuel efficient for my intended use in a flying RIB. I have a Smart EV, fully electric.





And this little death trap of a scooter is my own creation and can outpace my Corvette to 40 mph.


And if you need 60 miles of range, it has more than enough power to pull a 500 lb battery trailer.

[dacust]

Originally Posted by deckofficer

A Smart Car is a micro car, very small, and in all markets but US, you can order one with a 800cc DFI turbo-intercooled diesel. Very light engine that is potent and fuel efficient for my intended use in a flying RIB. I have a Smart EV, fully electric.

I see Smart Cars on the road here in Georgia all the time... No diesels, though...

-dan

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Dame.n.Jess

I built a rotary Ute, I used a 69 Mazda B1600 shell, dropped it 9 inches, changed the back end suspension to allow grip with horsepower and added a 300hp naturally asperated 12a rotary. ace it a few times came second in my class at the nationals before I sold it and became responsible.

I sure was fun though, 141db at idle, 7 gearboxes in a 6 week space (we got it down to 45min drive in drive out with a new gearbox).

Damien

Awesome, I've always done rotaries, I love a Wankel. I'm on my 4th RX-7, there's just something about them. Present mod is a gen 7 '98. Also do bikes, currently a V-Strom 1000 w/touring kit.

[dwhatty]

Well, it isn't a gazillion hp, black stripes down the road vehicle, but we are still having fun this car and me. MGBV8

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Its a Bond Bug... produced by Reliant Motors UK... specialised in 3 wheelers...
The Logo for the bug was a play on Henry Ford...
"You can have it in any colour as long as its Orange..."

Sometimes I wonder why the UK (owned and managed) car industry died a death ...........at other times the answer is fairly clear

Any 17yo who has not had one of these as a first car has been deprived



Engine size don't really matter (stirring the gearbox to keep the revs up is all part of the fun) - but gotta have plenty of rust . Rust makes 'em go faster

The BMW version is only a pastiche. Admittedly it does everything better / faster and with more reliability - but (just like Beneteau ) they forgot to include a soul............

[nigel1]

The deal with the GF when I got the boat was that this wee beastie had to go

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by nigel1

The deal with the GF when I got the boat was that this wee beastie had to go

Ouch!

I hope that GF is still around - and goes faster

[nigel1]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

Ouch!

I hope that GF is still around - and goes faster

Not as fast as she used to be, but better at scraping and anti fouling than the car could ever be, still, after 15 years of ownership and countless hours restoring, it was sad to see her go (the car)

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by minaret

Awesome, I've always done rotaries, I love a Wankel. I'm on my 4th RX-7, there's just something about them. Present mod is a gen 7 '98. Also do bikes, currently a V-Strom 1000 w/touring kit.

I used to know a guy in Seattle who was a Mazda rotary fan and also a genuis when it came to electronics repair.
He would fix things other shops couldn't fix.
He had a license plate which was a pretty cool pun.
When pondering the electronic problem while fixing stuff he would say "hmmmm".

His license plate was also 'HMMMMM'

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by deckofficer

A Smart Car is a micro car, very small, and in all markets but US, you can order one with a 800cc DFI turbo-intercooled diesel. Very light engine that is potent and fuel efficient for my intended use in a flying RIB. I have a Smart EV, fully electric.





And this little death trap of a scooter is my own creation and can outpace my Corvette to 40 mph.


And if you need 60 miles of range, it has more than enough power to pull a 500 lb battery trailer.

The little car is way smart..the little scooter is way crazy..is it a Schwinn base?and the brace from the seat to the fender looks like the front forks off of a BMX bike.I make tow whinchs out of Honda 250 scooters for my hangliders,wonder if an elec. set up like you have would hookup to a torque converter from the Honda and pullup 2 people to 1500 ft. agl?...not the trailor deal just the scooter part. thats some cool engineering you have done there.....DVC

[deckofficer]

Not Schwinn, but China "Rad to go". Started life as a 1500 watt motor, 36 volt, 50 amp controller. As parts failed I would upgrade to what would be the final level. 1st item to die was the controller, so replaced with a 48 volt, 400 amp unit. Being able to draw that amperage, it wasn't long before the terminals of the battery just melted off, so then upgraded to (4) PC680 AGM batteries. This in turned caused the motor to die after awhile, so now the BIG upgrade, since everything new downstream could support it, and that is the famous Etek PM motor rated at 15 hp. The above pictures still show the upgraded 48 volt, 400 amp controller, but even that upgrade has been upgraded to a 72 volt, 700 amp controller, which now will beat the 'Vette to 40 mph.

To answer your hang glider tow question, the Etek has more power and all available torque at 0 rpm, so yes it would work and you could dump the torque converter. For mulitple launches, just have a bunch of solar panels for the batteries of your tow mule. Here is a picture of me looking for my Subie so I don't have to carry the glider too far.

[tropicalescape]

Thanks for the info..No mistaken a Seagull..that black kingpost and curved leading edge says it all...do you remember when sex was safe and hangliding was dangerous?...DVC