Let's design a body for a Rhoades Car

[APL]

OP; 2 posts since 2014. I think the next one is in 2020?, so we have a while.

I think lockH finished it with that last picture. Except, I think I'd rather walk. He said neighborhood right?

"Nice looking and relatively economical faring" is like oil and water, they don't mix easily. Economical is relative.

I vote for the Golf Cart body, and were done.

Now were free to fantasize.

I'm thinking birdcage frame, with dual mid drives, one for each rear wheel. Dual controllers, tied to one throttle.
And about 2000 watts going to each motor. Plenty of room for batteries in a NHV car. 8)

Full suspension!!!

 

[LockH]

^^ "Now we`re free to fantasize"...

Oh Goody...

:lol:

 

[Dauntless]

I'll take birdcage. Old or new?

 

[LockH]

^^ I LUST. ... very "aero". :wink:

 

[APL]

Ain't going to be walk'n, thats for sure!

Can't decide on that.. both I guess. Old 60 looks doable!

But can't stop look'n at the smooth and silky coupe.

 

[APL]

The Maserati has the classic spoke wheels, easy enough to reproduce.

The frame wouldn't take all that much to make, for a light E car either, and the body just sort of hangs on it, so you could
even have a collection to choose from.

 

[Dauntless]

So it was called the birdcage because of the impossibly complex frame. Dan Gurney, Ken Miles, Sterling Moss, there were drivers who won with one.

Maybe a Terrapin frame instead. Might be easier.

 

[APL]

Yea, Terrapin, sort of. A step into box, but with lower sides, and the long A arms.
Easy to get in,.. but might be hard to get out of.

Need more seats though. At least one more? (wider) Gotta have somebody to scare.
More would be 'correct' but then it's croud'n 'my' fantasy.

Need a top? Not exactly a rainy day car.







More Mini;
http://www.wikiwand.com/en/List_of_Mini-based_cars

 

[Dauntless]

The frame I put up there is the 2 seater. I have the plans for both. The book too.

Step into box. Hmmm. Sounds like what a recumbent should be.

http://maximummini.blogspot.com

 

[APL]

Well, step into frame.

Fair weather car,..low speeds, step in, whats the body for? Most of them look worse than the frame.

You know,..if it went a little more in the dune buggy direction, you could go off road also, where there ain't any rules...
and leave the body home for Sunday.

 

[Dauntless]

If we could figure out how they took the basic clubman Se7enesque design and created the lowline version, we could have a lowline pedal bike.

 

[APL]

Thats Low! not sure theres room for pedals in the lowline. But the more normal version just might.

Maybe in a full recumbent position? The cars have a lot of space up front. Otherwise everything else works out.
The bodys are fairly simple.






Also;

 

[APL]

Just because,...


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[Dauntless]

Pedals only take up the room you design for them to need. You could fit them in here.

Or you could build something large enough that there's just plenty of room for most anything.

 

[1JohnFoster]

pedals only take up the room you design for them to need. You could fit them in here.

Rotating heels and toes take up more space than you would think before you measure them. Velomobile guys are always talking about adding "toe bumps" and "heel cuts". I could only fit 100mm cranks in my 'mobile, and I found pedaling in tight little circles a pain because I didn't have really large overall gear ratios (with a 2nd passenger who wasn't as strong, plus weight of the 'mobile.) Knees take a lot of space too.

I always planned on "linear pedals" but various versions turned out to be cantankerous, loud and hard to gear. Currently it has a four foot at once "monopedal" swing pedal. It works surprisingly well! But I hope to upgrade it to separate sets of synchronized left-foot right-foot swing pedals some time before I die. Swing pedals in a pedal car really resonate best with my childhood memories.

Or you could build something large enough that there's just plenty of room for most anything.

I think tall hoods fit better on a Rhoades retrofit than a super 7.

 

[Dauntless]

Assuming "Swing pedals" mean what I think you mean that's exactly what I meant. You need more than a foot of height but I like 9" cranks or the like and you don't need your feet going up and down.

 

[APL]

Spinning cranks have long been associated with ergonomic efficiency, but usually with the bicycle positions.
A sitting position my be a little different. Perhaps linear is better? Certainly rotating cranks are easier as far as
parts are concerned. Most of these body's can accommodate.

I would also recommend a front wheel drive system,..stub axles, and CV joints, to keep all the mechanicals up front,
with no long chains going to the rear. AWD. (sort of)

I like the '20's car concept, they have narrow wire wheels, simple body's, and people are used to them being slow.
I still like the Dauntless/ REO Speedwagon 'Truck' concept. It's useful,.. as well as transportation. And can use wood
for a body.
Hard to suspect them as Electroped's (EP's?)

Certainly a lot of 20's style cars to choose from, Bugatti racers are some of my favorites, just for starts...


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In a two seat...



Always seem to go for the race cars,.. but the streeters are cool too...

 

[APL]

Edit; Front wheel drive system for the pedal system,... Motors drive the rear wheels.

 

[Dauntless]

As something to build yourself it seems really neat once you have it. To just buy something so wimpy on the market takes the fun out of it.

They have some other cheap electric NEV's kind of cheap, before shipping.

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/2017-New-Version-2-Seats-Mini_60704082273.html?spm=a2700.details.maylikever.6.74192d9bsv64vC

 

[APL]

The classic Euro sports cars are a good choice for conversion, I like the Porsche, and it reminded me of the MG Midget
I used to drive as a youngster. Now thats a small car!! And might be the perfect choice.
Although your Maserati '60' is still topping my list.

I looked it up, and see theres lots of fiberglass body parts for it, as well as Sprites an Austin's.

A body part can be used as a mould for a lighter material as well. (foam?)


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Heres a picture of the actual car as it sits today,...just needs a battery and some gas,...


View attachment 1

 

[APL]

Body parts.
https://www.preformresources.com/Spridget-Body-Parts.htm

 

[The Toecutter]

Spinning cranks have long been associated with ergonomic efficiency, but usually with the bicycle positions.
A sitting position my be a little different. Perhaps linear is better? Certainly rotating cranks are easier as far as
parts are concerned. Most of these body's can accommodate.

It really depends on the person doing the pedaling. Their unique measurements and preferences will determine optimum crank position and crankarm length.

That being said, in a recumbent, more often than not, cranks that are shorter than normal tend to allow for more efficient pedaling, higher continuous power output, and less strain on the knees. For someone of roughly average measurements, for a recumbent, crankarms around 150mm are ideal. Typical bicycle crankarms are around 170mm in length.

This sounds like a fun project, even if the donor vehicle leaves a lot to be desired.

I think mimicking The Munster Mobile would be the way to go for this one.

 

[LockH]

Hehe... Not sure we may be drifting away from OP/original design criteria...

I just got a 4-wheel, 4-person electric assist Rhoades Car!! I live in the Oakland/Berkley CA area and would love create an incredible looking body/fairing on this thing and use it to drop the kids off at school and other neighborhood stuff.

... Watts OK. As humans, "drifting off course" is watt we do. :lol:

 

[Dauntless]

Well, a Roman/Egyptian Pananquin would fit the OP, While that's okay it's not as fun as what we're discussing.

Besides, if he wants us to stick to his idea, he's just gonna have to come back and stand up to the ogre. Or I guess he's a troll in this case. If the OP is gonna wuss in the face of so minor a threat, why should we talk about his idea? Or let him marry the princess, for that matter.

 

[APL]

OP is Rip-Van-Winkle, we could go back to the Rhodes concept, but were just taking the long way home.

Not a lot of other poster's on here, so it gets a little omni-directional. Everybody's welcome,.. show us what you have,
or think.

OK, we'll go in another direction, theres so much out there, we haven't even started.

Personally, I say give the kids all electric bikes and be done with it, I'd rather ride my Cruiser anyway, but if you
MUST incase yourself in a body, and add wheels, and tons of extra weight,.. then fine, read on...