97 Van Diemen

[eospeed]

I just picked this 97 Van Diemen FC up and I am converting it to Honda Fit power here are some pics of the first mockup. Should be ready for the spring after a frame up rebuild with new bodywork and widetrack.

Seeya at the track

Erik

[Matt King]

What's the plan for the upper rollbar bracing mods?

[eospeed]

The car it going to Eric Langbein's to have all the chassis mods done so to be continued in about 2 weeks.

E

[RussMcB]

Nice. Good luck with the remainder. Keep us posted.

[eospeed]

[eospeed]

[eospeed]

This just to show the placment of the roll hoop brace witch will make this a much safer car. There are still a few more tubes to be added\removed but making strong progress.

[blackbmwk1200r]

This just to show the placment of the roll hoop brace witch will make this a much safer car.

Hi Erik,

Mr Langbein has been teaching me to weld. I don't know if this is where I should be starting out but got to go with what he tells me. I'd thought I'd post when I saw that bit about "a much safer car". Hmmm, might want to rethink that. And good news, next week he's going to let me light the torch.

Sid

[ericlangbein]

Sid- you're not allowed in my shop anymore when there's a camera around, and you're even more banned when the welder is plugged in!!
-Eric

[starkejt]

Nice try, but everyone knows the Langbein Welding Technique features the torch pointing the other way.

[ericlangbein]

Hey All,
Here are some pictures of the finished frame modifications. From here the frame is to be stripped, and re-coated, and a new floor will be installed. My intentions with the frame mods were to fit the Honda engine, while adding a rearward facing roll hoop brace for safety, and maintaining the torsional rigidity the 1997/98 (FF) Van Diemens are known for. Erik O is planning on making the upper front motor mount, and adding a lower mount to tie into the Honda oil pan. Please keep in mind that I'm not a professional photographer !!

Thanks,
Eric

[problemchild]

Question: Why was the original tripod discarded? That seems to be an integral part of the chassis on all the VDs of those times. Was it not possible to modify it and keep it .... or did you consider its removal as desirable?

Not chucking ..... just wondering .... as I contemplate a similiar project. Thanks!

[ericlangbein]

The Honda engine is rather large up top- large intake manifold, integral exhaust manifold, multi valve cylinder head, individual coils mounted atop each spark plug- each of these make the engine wide and tall. Therefore there wasn't enough room for the "tripod" above the engine. All of these items also make it hard for there to be almost any useful structure above the "beltline". I had an engineer friend run a few tubing configurations through an FEA model, and this seemed to be the most effective, given Erik's requests.

Thanks,
Eric

[starkejt]

Who bent the roll hoop?

[RussMcB]

Hey, this isn't a knock either (I think the mods look great, and it will be great car), but I'm wondering why a couple of bars like this weren't included. Seems like they would add a lot.

BTW, I was never really impressed with the original VD odd triangle structure. It just didn't seem to have any real support in the back. But, what do I know? :-).

[Jean-Sebastien Stoezel]

This just to show the placment of the roll hoop brace witch will make this a much safer car. There are still a few more tubes to be added\removed but making strong progress.

Hello,

Out of curiosity, how does a second roll hoop makes the car more secure, is this required by FC? I sense that the more metal the better but... Isn't one hoop sufficient enough?

I'm not familiar with FC rules. I run FV and I know that a few cars have 2 roll hoops (BRD being one).

I'm not trying to pick on this design, I'm just wondering if I would rather have a second roll hoop on my car!

[BWC54]

Hey, this isn't a knock either (I think the mods look great, and it will be great car), but I'm wondering why a couple of bars like this weren't included. Seems like they would add a lot.

Probably for clearance to remove the no.1 & 2 coil packs. Look at pic 007 for more of a top view of clearance.

[SOseth]

Who bent the roll hoop?

Josh;

Eric L. bent the rollhoop

[SOseth]

Hey, this isn't a knock either (I think the mods look great, and it will be great car), but I'm wondering why a couple of bars like this weren't included. Seems like they would add a lot.

BTW, I was never really impressed with the original VD odd triangle structure. It just didn't seem to have any real support in the back. But, what do I know? :-).

Eric L should confirm this but I think this could not be done with a straight bar because of interference issues with the top of the engine.

SteveO

[Wren]

That looks really nice.

[ericlangbein]

SOseth and BWC54 are correct. The tube that RussMcB illustrated was actually part of the original chassis, and I would have loved to have left that tube, since it would most efficiently bear load, but it interfered with the #1 coil, and inhibited removal of the #2 coil (I may have those mixed, but point is the same). Replacing that straight tube with a bent tube would have very little strength. I spent a lot of time contemplating many tubing configurations, and the current configuration is the best I could come up with, given the specific needs and requests of the customer (Erik O).
jstoezel- Formula car roll hoops are typically as narrow as possible for aerodynamic reasons, and the GCR requires fore and/or aft braces for rollover strength. There typically isn't a place to mount the lower end of these braces that is the same width (when viewed from the front) as the roll hoop, so these braces will always present a larger frontal area. A double roll hoop, faired in with sheet metal, fiberglass or other, will present the smallest frontal area. It also allows for a significant portion to be gusseted, which adds strength, and is encouraged in the GCR. I hope this is clear, and please keep in mind that this information is as I understand it.
Thanks for the compliment, Wren!

Thanks,
Eric

[starkejt]

Josh;

Eric L. bent the rollhoop

Thanks, I was curious if he bent it himself or subbed it out to someone with a CNC bender.

[starkejt]

Almost forgot. Nice job, Eric.

[ericlangbein]

Thanks Josh!

[Brandon Dixon]

Looks nice and clean. Is a new engine cover part of the plan.

[RussMcB]

SOseth and BWC54 are correct. The tube that RussMcB illustrated was actually part of the original chassis, and I would have loved to have left that tube, since it would most efficiently bear load, but it interfered with the #1 coil, and inhibited removal of the #2 coil (I may have those mixed, but point is the same). Replacing that straight tube with a bent tube would have very little strength. I spent a lot of time contemplating many tubing configurations, and the current configuration is the best I could come up with, given the specific needs and requests of the customer.

Yes, I see now. That makes sense.

Don't you just love it when you think about something for hours or days, weighing all options, come up with the best compromise, then someone glances at a picture on the internet for about 15 seconds and says you shoulda done it differently? :-).

Before I got my Swift, I was salivating over Greg's '97 FF for sale (http://www.apexspeed.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39392). I really like the looks and thought it'd be great Honda-powered.

Good luck with the remaining tasks.

[ericlangbein]

Ha! Thanks Russ!

Brandon, I think a new engine cover is part of the plan, but I'm not sure what Erik has planned.

Eric

[warpspeed]

Eric was going to call you this week to see how your conversion was going and stumbled across it on apex , im impressed talk to you next week on it thanks mike

[R.DeVoe]

Hey Erik,

Any recent photos? I'm looking forward to the final result, looks great so far!

Will you be participating in F1600 at all next year?

-Ross

[Kazis31]

May be after Fit being such a hit (and it obviously is)
Honda will cough up some of their other engines out in amateur and privateer market
Like Atlantic,old Indy ,F3 etc.

Looks very clean and professional.

cheers and keep up the good work.

Maris.

[eospeed]

Hey Erik,

Any recent photos? I'm looking forward to the final result, looks great so far!

Will you be participating in F1600 at all next year?

-Ross

I am going to try to race as many as my $$$ lets me. I may post a few more in a couple weeks dont wana give away all the secret stuff =).

[Beartrax]

I may post a few more in a couple weeks dont wana give away all the secret stuff =).

Like carbon fiber anti-intrusion panels...?

[Joefisherff]

All those Northeast guys cheat....

[Max Power]

Hi Erik, any updates on this conversion? I'm curious if it all came together.

[eospeed]

I will have some more pics in a few weeks. To many projects / work and one two year old little girl.



E