Formula 500 engine conversion project

[F500]

History: I picked up a 1984 Zink Formula 500 car two years ago so my son and I could compete against each other in autocross. A F500 car is powered by a snowmobile motor (mine was 440cc) and a constant variable transmission (CVT). This particular car was hand built by John Zink who also built two Indy 500 winning cars in the '80s. My car had numerous SCCA road racing victories including Daytona and Sebring. My son and I had a ball running the car in autocross, but the two-stroke motor really didn't like the extreme temperature and humidity swings in the deep south.

Project: About 18 months ago, several of us SCCA members began exploring ways to liven up the F500 roadracing series. Following in the footsteps of the DSR and FB classes which use 1000cc motorcycle engines, we proposed to the SCCA that we be allowed to experiment with using 600cc motorcycle engines in our cars. Thus began my project.

The rules for our class are unique in that the rear axle must be solid and shocks are not allowed. Instead we use a 1" thick, 2" diameter rubber puck for suspension dampening. The car must weigh 800 lbs with driver, so they are relatively light. A current F500 car will top out at about 135 mph. Here are some pictures of the before and after stages. I will update the thread as I progress. Testing is expected to begin in a couple of weeks.

Car at purchase


Snowmobile motor


New motor - 2007 Suzuki 600cc, four valve/cyl, eight injectors


Cutoff back of car

[F500]

I had to design and machine all of the bearing carriers and other suspension add ons. The car is converted to a modern 4-link suspension with a unique h-bar axle locator setup as opposed to a standard panhard bar. This h-bar design is a collaboration between a few folks including the ex-head of Ford NASCAR suspension development.

Bearing carriers


New rear clip and beginning of 4-link install

[Supe]

Looking forward to seeing the rest of this one!

[rode2rouen]

Looks pretty official, so far. The 600cc Suzi should give some serious OOOMMPH!!

Are you still limited on rear suspension, or will the car have shocks with the 4 bar set up?

One of my go kart racing buddies, Doug Marsh, won the SCCA F500 Championship a few years ago. He was talking about building a D/SR, but his son is getting real fast in karts.


Rex

[F500]

Rex, we will still have to follow the F500 suspension rules. Believe it or not, it is questionable as to the competiveness of the 600 motor compared to the CVT driven cars. We are pushing the F"600" package to appeal to the karters.

[riceburner]

you need to turbo charge it also.

[F500]

Originally Posted by riceburner

you need to turbo charge it also.

Although appealing and already investigated, it would be illegal for the class.

[Tractapac]

AN interesting project on an interesting formula car. I may be suffering from "domestic blindness", but where does the suspension damping puck go, please?

[dabar39]

I'm working on a project involving one of these Formula 500 cars. The customer wants to keep the cockpit area forward but my job is to install a Honda 750 crotch rocket to the rear to make it a reversed trike. I'll be starting my own post on the project here in the near future, but here are a few pictures of how it arrived to my place.

[F500]

Originally Posted by Tractapac

AN interesting project on an interesting formula car. I may be suffering from "domestic blindness", but where does the suspension damping puck go, please?

Here is a puck setup similar to mine from a sister-car build.

[F500]

Dabar39, I'm not sure that is SCCA legal!

[elvergon]

Great job F500 and please post your ow Dabar39 seems great!

[dabar39]

I haven't made very much progress on my project as of yet, when I get something substantial done I will start my own thread. Til then my thread hi-jack is done.

[mat]

This is what we call a Formula 500 here in Australia, a mini version of a sprintcar with a 500cc bike engine on the side, the only thing faster on clay is a sprintcar.

[F500]

Motor has been installed.

[F500]

Axle ready to be finalized:

[rode2rouen]

Lookin' pretty official, Lee.

What range of travel does the rear suspension give you?


Rex

[F500]

Originally Posted by rode2rouen

Lookin' pretty official, Lee.

What range of travel does the rear suspension give you?


Rex

About 2.5".

[F500]

Suspension setup:

[mellowyellowcj7]

Originally Posted by dabar39

I haven't made very much progress on my project as of yet, when I get something substantial done I will start my own thread. Til then my thread hi-jack is done.

I was just curious if you had moved forward on the trike. There are a few I see on my commute in the Santa Clara area.

[SpyGuy]

MellowYellow, I believe the one you've seen in Santa Clara, CA, was an actual three-wheeler made back in the '80's called the Harley-Davidson TriHawk. (I could be wrong, of course ... but I knew a guy back there who owned one, and let me look it over.)

F500, how's the rest of the build going? All set and running?

Dabar, any progress? Where's the thread? I'm especially interested in your build - reverse three-wheelers have always been interesting to me.

[KENLUDE97]

Very cool.

The FM champ is "local" to me, and have run with him, He is SO fast! It BLOWS our PAX way out of the water when he shows up! LOL

I've also been Solo'ing for a few years, and i ran a 1997 Honda prelude in STX Locally. it did ok, but i maxed out the car, and i have sold it and am now building a DM Lotus 7. It will be a little wile before i get it done but im working on it. I will be interested to hear how the 600CC bike engine will work.

keep up the good work!
ken

[gbmetcalf]

I too am converting a F500 to MC power. I have an older Red Devil F440 and a ZX6 motor. I have thought about this conversion for a couple of years and now everything has fallen into place where I am able to move on with the project. The one sticking point was the roll hoops on the old girl were 1.25O.D. So I had new ones made of 1.5O.D. And am in the process of replacing the old ones. I will be doing a complete chassis re-design, as my son and I are not the same size as the previous owner.
I will post photos as the project progresses.
Brian

[rode2rouen]

Brian,

You ought to start a fresh thread when you get to posting pics.


Rex