Project Ernie

Hello, I'm Ernie  

I'm a 1997 Daihatsu Hijet 1.3 16v Pick Up and i've had two owners.

Here I am  





Some one has put silly wheels on me and made me look like like i've got swollen ankles  

Good bye for now.

Ernie

Oh my! I've only been here at my new home for a couple of days and he's already messing with my bits. It is nice to feel the fresh air round my rear for the first time in years.

I know i'm showing my age again.......

But i reckon it'd look good with a stepside body

Stepside body? Educate me old timer.

Stepside, young 'un

This lingo is new on me, but now I can impress the lads with my extended hot rod era knowledge.

But just NO, not in a million years.

If you did that to a hijet the flat bed would barely fit one milk crate in it.

What next, a roof chop? or maybe a flat head?

go on do a 6" roof chop it means less weight and better aero so more fast

rich the mechanic wrote:go on do a 6" roof chop it means less weight and better aero so more fast

A man with taste.

Yep thats me I put a pair of VW recaros in my escort and now I'm obliged to do a roof chop by at least 6" as now the sun visors are permently down and don't actually keep the sun out of your eyes unless it's midday.

I put buckets in my Hijet, now i never need sunvisors

If you roof chopped a pickup I'd look at stupid as one of those gimpy chopped down mini's. Plus it would need an SVA to be legal.

Ernie's having a these at about 1.8kg's each:-

If you fit two engines you won't be road legal anyway.

Why?

I don't know but from the gods of all creation scrap heap challenge which do not allow transfer boxes one team got round it by fitting a second engine in the back but to drive it on the roads on scrappy races they had to remove the drive shaft as the sva wouln't pass it

As you have made me question the legality of my project, I have just-read through the applicable sections of The Road Vehicles (Construction & Use) Regulations 1986 and there is nothing applicable to outlaw multiple power sources. Which is pretty obvious really as the Toyota Hybrid Synergy cars have 2 power sources - One motor and one engine, and both can be used at the same time.

Tiger Z100 - was a twin engined SVA approved kit available till 2008 http://tiger.nasealbum.cz/Pages/Bestiar/tiger_z100_mk_2.htm

The below are before the C&U Regs, but they are still road legal today:-

Citroen did a production run of twin engined 2CV's called the until 1971 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_2CV
And then there was the twin engined Scirocco which they only made 2 of http://www.driversfound.com/scirocco/history/bimotor/
Then who could forget the 1960's Rallying Twini, and the Twini Moke

Although I do have one issue, on the V5c form there is only one box for engine number I might just get it changed to "NOT KNOW" like my zzr's v5c

Read about that SVA episode from scrap heap challenge, and keep in mind my vehicle is SVA exempt due to no alterations to the monocoque structure. I think the reason goes that all available propulsion devices must be running at the time of the SVA emission test, and that you will not meet the idle and fast idle CO2 and HC levels if both exhausts are close or joined to one tail pipe - and also the noise requirements will be very difficult to meet.

There is a long discussion thread on locost builders, you can SVA twin engined cars, even if it powers each axle separately. And the scrap heap thing comes up often, I can only think that taking the prop shaft off just allowed them to not have to keep one of the engines running to pass the above emission and noise tests.

I hadn't looked into it but I remember Kryten sorry Robert saying that it wasn't allowed and as I had no plans for a twin engine hadn't looked into it but as far as someting like the electric hybrids are concerned it's not two engines just two different power supplies. I also didn't know you could have a vehicle registered without an engine number and yes the fact that there is only one space for the engine number on the V5 is not a suprize as very little has more than one.

You can SVA the Tiger Z100 so it must be legal, but as i'm not wanting spend £4000 to build something I cant compete in TOTB with its a good idea that I'm not in breach of any laws so I have emailed VOSA to ask them about the legal situation. I'd hate to win TOTB then get my trophy taken away for not actually being a road legal vehicle.

HighlyJetted wrote:You can SVA the Tiger Z100 so it must be legal, but as i'm not wanting spend £4000 to build something I cant compete in TOTB with its a good idea that I'm not in breach of any laws so I have emailed VOSA to ask them about the legal situation. I'd hate to win TOTB then get my trophy taken away for not actually being a road legal vehicle.

Right I think I'm being thick but whats TOTB?

Right now having looked at a tiger z100 the engines are connected at the crank by the look of the picture to create a straight 8 and then through a gearbox? where as the scrappy races was one engine with box to a axle then other engine with box to a different axle maybe this is difference but I haven't looked any deeper.

I also now know that you want to run in ten of the best.

Found this interesting post on another website, someone has already contacted vosa:-

http://www.strathycruise.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=42589&highlight=&sid=28a1549171c7205ea22b895abad5cc3a

But I may be waiting for quite some time for a reply as it gets passed from desk to desk! I've re-read the C&U Regs properly this morning (yawn..) and I can't find anything to outlaw it.

I've seen a couple of twin engined kit cars (legal or not I don't know), one had a prop shaft attached to each sproket, this then went into a transfer box, then to the propshaft - I think, I wasn't looking at it with the attention to detail.

The one I looked real hard at earlier this year, they each came straight off the sproket with a chain onto a common prop shaft which then goes to the back diff. It had solenoids to fire the motor bike shifter lever and you could keep either engine in neutral and run either engine or both.

Yep, before I die, I must get a TOTB trophy on my shelf!

Also on my list is to do the Mongal Rally - anyone fancy joining me in a Hijet for 8 to 20 weeks?

HighlyJetted wrote:Yep, before I die, I must get a TOTB trophy on my shelf!

Also on my list is to do the Mongal Rally - anyone fancy joining me in a Hijet for 8 to 20 weeks?

sounds good except I wouldn't get a pass out from work or home

really want to do the mongal rally, have been talking about a drive to morocco in a hijet.

Where do you live ash? Maybe if we had a bit of mutual character evaluation over a few pints we could consider teaming up maybe?

But only if you don't snore and you can fix things, and you have a "can do frickin anything attitude"

I CAN DO FRICKEN ANYTHING as long as its safe, and can be sterilised and won't rip my disposable medical grade gloves. oh and I kind of freak out when there's more than one person talking at the same time and sometimes when people look at me I start sweating and occasionally wet myself...I've looked you up on google be around in a bit.

It sucks being on the sex offenders register

How much is the membership this year?


But seriously, I'm Norwich so can't pop for a pint but always interested in rally plans. I know of 2 other friends who after seeing my Hijet camping luxury and a few beers (alot of beers) we came up with the morocco thing. Maybe a Hijet snake through europe should be on the cards.

I'm not sure, but i'm sure its worth every penny.

I'd be up for Le tour d'jet - as long as its not till 2012 - mid to late 2012

Maybe we should do the nurburg ring, and through the alps

And the rules being - you bring it, you sleep in it

HighlyJetted wrote:
And the rules being - you bring it, you sleep in it, you roll it

edited for if we reached the ring.