Scion_CMM
07-17-2008, 02:25 PM
Hello everyone. I was over on the Scionlife forum and a member here told me I might find a lot more help here than I was there. Seemed no one wanted to contribute information.
My name is Matthew, I live in Boaz Alabama (originally from Bismarck North Dakota). I have a 2005 Scion Xb that I had bought new for my wife, somehow she got knocked up with our 3rd child and it made it a bit too small for 5... (not sure how that happened...) So now it is my daily, from Boaz to Huntsville where I program CMMs for a government contractor.
In the last few years I became interested in designing and making my own bike frames. I made a few that I tested on the Barber track utilizing a turbo charged Ducati 750 Vtwin. I was riding one of these bikes home from work and while sitting in the turn lane to turn on our street an asshat in a full sized Tundra didnt see me and rear ended me at around 50 mph. I walked away with only a few cuts and bruises and of course my life.
To make matter worse, on this past Christmas day someone broke into my shop and stole all my welding equipment, weld jigs, hand tools, tube benders and much more, it totaled almsot $10,000.00. They also stole alot of custom parts that were waiting to go on my Mazda MX3 that I had gotten brand new at the end of '91 from my Grandfather for my graduation gift. (Custom Turbo charged 2.5 V6, Dyno'd 416 hp)
So needless to say I was feeling dishearted and gave up on the bike frames for the time being. The shop was leased and I am sure it was an inside job since the combination lock had been undone and reattached after the act was done. We are in the process of building a home with my own shop now that will have motion tracking machine guys like in Aliens 2 that will head off any such further acts. :muahaha::muahaha:
Which brings me to today. Currently I am working on a project that involves a tube framed car that weighs under 1000 lbs, 200 hp and gets 50+ mpg. My original plan was to use a super charged Metro 3 cylinder but I have had worries about the tranny being able to hold 200hp. Availablity is also an issue since I am not totally sure how much of the electronics I can bypass switching to a MegaSquirt fuel and ignition management system.
Which brings me to the Scion. Good little car, lots of spunk for as small as it is, 103 hp weighing in at about 3300 lbs at 34 mpg. Currently mine is an auto since it was my wifes but I am in the process of trying to find a demolished Xb/Xa with a manual for my experiment.
The information I am really looking for are from those who have modded there Xb/Xas. Around 200 HP should be adequate.
1. Weakness in the setup,
2. Tranny,
3. Crank (forged stock? Can buy forged),
4. pistons and rods,
5. valve train,
6.gearing, etc
7. and can these things be upgrade with after markets,
8. who these sellers are
I am not looking for people to answer these questions here since I havent done any searches yet, I am still at work and writing this from my business pc, but for those wanting to contribute to this project, please feel free to email me any ideas, question or comments. mattbasaraba@charter.net
I have already gotten 14 guys in the Lotus community interested in these for track cars, instead of $65k toy it will be between $20-25k.
Thanks for reading and have a great day,
Matthew
My name is Matthew, I live in Boaz Alabama (originally from Bismarck North Dakota). I have a 2005 Scion Xb that I had bought new for my wife, somehow she got knocked up with our 3rd child and it made it a bit too small for 5... (not sure how that happened...) So now it is my daily, from Boaz to Huntsville where I program CMMs for a government contractor.
In the last few years I became interested in designing and making my own bike frames. I made a few that I tested on the Barber track utilizing a turbo charged Ducati 750 Vtwin. I was riding one of these bikes home from work and while sitting in the turn lane to turn on our street an asshat in a full sized Tundra didnt see me and rear ended me at around 50 mph. I walked away with only a few cuts and bruises and of course my life.
To make matter worse, on this past Christmas day someone broke into my shop and stole all my welding equipment, weld jigs, hand tools, tube benders and much more, it totaled almsot $10,000.00. They also stole alot of custom parts that were waiting to go on my Mazda MX3 that I had gotten brand new at the end of '91 from my Grandfather for my graduation gift. (Custom Turbo charged 2.5 V6, Dyno'd 416 hp)
So needless to say I was feeling dishearted and gave up on the bike frames for the time being. The shop was leased and I am sure it was an inside job since the combination lock had been undone and reattached after the act was done. We are in the process of building a home with my own shop now that will have motion tracking machine guys like in Aliens 2 that will head off any such further acts. :muahaha::muahaha:
Which brings me to today. Currently I am working on a project that involves a tube framed car that weighs under 1000 lbs, 200 hp and gets 50+ mpg. My original plan was to use a super charged Metro 3 cylinder but I have had worries about the tranny being able to hold 200hp. Availablity is also an issue since I am not totally sure how much of the electronics I can bypass switching to a MegaSquirt fuel and ignition management system.
Which brings me to the Scion. Good little car, lots of spunk for as small as it is, 103 hp weighing in at about 3300 lbs at 34 mpg. Currently mine is an auto since it was my wifes but I am in the process of trying to find a demolished Xb/Xa with a manual for my experiment.
The information I am really looking for are from those who have modded there Xb/Xas. Around 200 HP should be adequate.
1. Weakness in the setup,
2. Tranny,
3. Crank (forged stock? Can buy forged),
4. pistons and rods,
5. valve train,
6.gearing, etc
7. and can these things be upgrade with after markets,
8. who these sellers are
I am not looking for people to answer these questions here since I havent done any searches yet, I am still at work and writing this from my business pc, but for those wanting to contribute to this project, please feel free to email me any ideas, question or comments. mattbasaraba@charter.net
I have already gotten 14 guys in the Lotus community interested in these for track cars, instead of $65k toy it will be between $20-25k.
Thanks for reading and have a great day,
Matthew