NITROUS OXIDE ( nos / n2o ) advice forum

Well my son, Toby, will soon be coming up to his 5th birthday so I thought it was about time to introduce him to my hobby My wife has very different views, but that is something completely different!

So, towards the back end of last year I built myself a new shed/workshop and it soon became apparent that it needed something in it!



I then stumbled across this on Ebay

without further ado I turned my attention to the drivetrain

You will notice that there is an electric motor rather than a 'proper' engine!

Whilst it is only electric it still puts out about 7kw.......or 10bhp! With this in mind I thought I ought to fit some brakes!

After scouring Ebay I also got hold of a kart steering column and wheel which was soon fitted. At this point I had a rolling chassis.......and it worked under its own power! With me sat on it it was a bit laboured, but I am 130kg!

With the famous BDA ingenuity I managed to mate some mini quad lever calipers to the discs previously fitted and I now had stopping power! One per rear axle (as it has a diff!)

The chassis was a bit flimsy for my liking so I decided to beef it up a bit



and while I was at it I added a floor

I had been convinced from the start that the car was actually big enough for me to drive, so after I built it back up it was time for a test...........



While I do fit, I cant actually move and I had to put the body on while I was in situ.........it is either smaller than I thought or I am bigger than I thought!

To finish off teh interior panelling I made a seat back and also added a roll bar.......the roll bar is for decoration as it is too low for actual use!

With the bulk of the mechanicals done and a free day at the Mother in Laws I decided to turn my hand to the interior. With plywood, foam and leather in hand I fashioned a rather comfy bench seat

Here is a link to an early motor test video on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/user/bigdaveakers#p/a/u/0/CSsnSKPp840

Again, watch this space for updates........his bithday is at the end of May so I have a bit of time yet

What motor is it Dave?

Seen lots of wheelchair motors used but they could do with 24v

It is a brushless Radio Controlled aircraft motor. It will run on anything from 12V to about 40V. The speed of the motor is proportional to the voltage (the RPM is 170 times the voltage)

I will be running it through a 200A RC speed controller and with RC batteries (to start with, may switch to lead acid due to cost!)

The motor was $100, speed controller $200 and the batteries ~$150

Interestingly the same combination I will use on my electric turbo I have 2 sets of everything for some reason!

Great looking car crying out for satin black paint and old skool red and yellow flames on front , LOL he will ne grining from ear to ear

So you giving him the full 40v or are you setting it up with a 'Dad' Key and 'Kiddy' key?

(40v for you and 12v for him)

Matt black with rainbow gold flames The same material as used for the WON stickers

40V may well be a bit too much for him.......around 40-60mph!!! I will start him on 12V, but you are correct.....to move me will need the full 40V and perhaps another motor

As that is not much smaller than my car - it has possibilities.......

The original plan was to use 4 in a Fiat 126

Then I thought of putting 10 in the MX5 where the prop is............ 100bhp in a 10kg package!

However, battery technology isn't quite capable enough on my budget at the moment. Each motor draws 200A at full chat!

Eventually I will build a full size electric car, but the £10k required for batteries is a bit silly!

Yea - we were looking at something like that as Rob (my 'little' brother with the Fabia) is a teacher and has been involved in the greenpower challengehttp://www.greenpower.co.uk/about/ (meaning the rest of the family too.

We were looking at turning the spare body shell into an electric drag car for the alternative energy events (and RWYB) Then we saw the price of some of the kit and decided we need to do the lottery!

I will have an Electric Drag Car at some point, but its range will be about half a mile!!!

That could easily be done on a budget of £3-4k depending on the base car