Ionos Sport Sedan

January 8, 2022 1 Comment


Sometimes I cannot make a decision. This is the LEGO result of that problem.

You may find free instructions for the AWD and the RWD (my favorite).

At the end of 2020, I decided to make a sport sedan. I find the sport sedan to be my favorite kind of car (see here and here), and it was time to do another one. I acquired a couple of the Defender wheels, which look more sporty than the other 56mm wheels. These would be the center of the build. The car would be long hood, short deck, with faired fenders. Then more questions happened, and I could not make up my mind.

What transmission did I want? What engine would be best? Could I fit all wheel drive? Was that appropriate? As I found myself asking these questions, I began answering “well why not that too?” It was here, the project took a dramatic turn. The car would be fully modular and interchangeable. After playing around with some dimensions and simple structures, I decided on the following setup: Two different transmission and rear suspension modules, one floorplan, one body (in two colors), two engine tubs for all wheel drive and rear wheel drive, and three engines. Demensions were set with a width of 27 studs at the rear tires, and 25 studs at the front tires, and a wheelbase of 33 studs.

Each of the 9 modules were build in constant flux with each other as I managed attachment points, size, and interchangeability. I settled on a 4 speed manual transmission module, and a 4 speed sequential transmission module. The manual is shifted in the cabin, and the sequential has a shift lever on the rear bumper. While four speeds is basic for a LEGO car these days, it kept space inside for four seats. Once the transmission modules were basically set, I was off to another module.

The engine tubs were a lot of fun and took less time than I thought they would. There are two tubs. The first, is built to support the front independent suspension and two different engine designs. The Straight Six is my favorite engine, so I wanted to make this options possible. The steering race for this module is placed far forward to allow for the I-6 to fit. In fact, the front of the engine is two studs from the front of the car. The V-8 fits well, and is placed behind the front axle centerline. The second engine tub features a fixed Flat 6 engine, and two fake electric motors; one for each side of the front axle. This unit is the hybrid and All Wheel Drive engine tub. Each tub attaches to either transmission module with six pins and one axle for steering. Drive connects by a 8 tooth gear off the engine.

Then I built the floorpan. This simple build provides the floor to both the cabin and the underside of the car. It is connected at six points, four to the chassis, and two to the center of the body. These points stiffen the car, and connect it all together. The body took the most time as this is what most people would see. Early, I committed to the sides panels including the doors and the part just behind the front wheels, and the roofline. Otherwise everything else was fair game. The front bumper took some time in order of the two studs of space, but I was pleased with the design. Next I managed to get the A, B, and C pillars to look the way I wanted. The C pillar took some trial and error but finally got a shape that was fast looking without the coupelike lines that seems to be permitting sedan design these days.

The rear took the longest. It was at this point where my focus on the MOC was starting to wain. Over months I tinkered with different trunks, different lights, and different rear bumpers. Eventually, I got to where I am now which could be improved, but I was pleased enough to call it complete. I added a little spoiler, and the body was done.

Ionos Sequential Rear

After everthing was built set, I rebuilt the whole car. As I did, I checked fit and built a Bricklink Studio file. With each step I found improvements along the way, and learned how to make better instructions. The result was a car system that fit together well, and gave for an interesting build. Again, if you are interested in the detail, or building your own you may find the instructions here and here.

This was my most favorite build in a long time. If you are interested, the Dark Azure, Manual, AWD version is my preference. The integration of all the parts was fun to do, and the build, test, rebuild process that went through every stage was a case study in continuous improvement. Both transmission work flawlessly. The suspension is stiff and functions as they should for a car of roughly 2500 parts. The varied engines were a fun inclusion. The design of the car is sporty and keeps the lines and proportions of a traditional Rear Wheel Drive Executive Sedan: long hood, short deck, short front overhang. I hope you enjoyed the car, and if you build it, I hope you enjoy the build. I definitely did, and will do something similar in the future.

Until then, happy building.

Ionos AWD Hybrid
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2C Sports Car

January 1, 2020 2 Comments


3T Sports Sedan was the inaugural car for startup Thirdwigg Motors, and the market requested another, smaller, sportier offering. The board of directors approved development of the 2C to fill this need.

Full gallery including instructions may be found here.

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I wanted to keep the scale and keep many of the best parts of the 3T in this design but change the body style and add a couple of features. Very early I decided on a two door with a mid or rear engine. I wanted to get a better transmission, so with this, I set of to work. I scaled the car to the Porsche Cayman, and started fitting in parts. I used the same suspension from the 3T in both the front and rear, which constrained how the driveline would have to be routed.

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It was at this point that the interior setup got a little complicated. When I started this car, the new Wave Selector was just release which optioned a lot of gearbox options. After seeing this great little transmission, I knew I had what I wanted: a four speed sequential transmission. After playing with some options, I place it in the middle of the car. I toyed with having the engine behind the rear axle, but settled on a mid placement. Nothing larger than a Flat 4 was ever considered. The four speed gearbox worked and a changeover axle ran to the front under the suspension where a simple rotation limiter was placed. The steering HOG and steering wheel had all of their mechanics in front of the transmission, so everything fit.

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I had intentions of having a ratcheting gear selector to work with the slick sequential  transmission. But I was running out of space. The center of the car was taken up with the transmission, suspension at each end, and placing one in the rear did not give a way to connect to the transmission. So the only place left was under the front hood. There were a number of great change over options that work well. I tried each. Some fit, some worked great, but each had the same problem: there was not good way to seamlessly integrate the “button” into the bodywork. I had visions of pushing on a grill to actuate the mechanism, but the grill was not very big, and required even more space than I was already using. In the end I decided to scrap the idea of a changeover, and use a simple rotary selector. It is not fancy, but it works well, and keeps the bodywork clean.

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Through out this process I was toying with ideas for the body work. Generally, I add parts as I like them, and when everything is placed, I rebuild the whole car with structures in place for all the final placements of critical internal and external parts. But this car had a large transmission in the middle which meant there was no frame running from the front to the rear. I added a structural frame under each door, and tried to build up the frame under the transmission as best as I could. It works, but there is still a little car flex under heavy center load.

First, the bodywork on this car works better for my eyes than the 3T, even though I tend to like sedans a little better. Second, the gearbox worked flawlessly. It was smooth, and even though I had the open the hood the change gears, the smoothness was worth it. Finally, the suspension worked great as it had proved itself in the 3T. It now adorns the desk at my work. Hopefully you enjoy it too.

Don’t worry, Thirdwigg Motors is already hard at work on the next car.

Happy Building.

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Porsche 714

August 1, 2016 3 Comments


My Entry for the LEGO Rebrick Porsche Contest.

This year, it seems like everything about LEGO Technic is about Porsche. LEGO created a 911, and started a contest for creating your own Porsche. Porsche is all everyone is building and talking about.

714

So I made one too. The Rebrick team posted a contest to design your dream Porsche, and thinking of the words of Mr. Porsche, “I couldn’t find the car I dreamt of, so I decided to build one myself,” I set to work. My dream Porsche lives in the spirit of the 914 and the 924: A compact, lightweight, mass-market, rear-wheel-drive sports car. It has a long hood, short overhangs, and a roofline that alludes to Porsches of today and yesterday.

714 Rear

I had six weeks to design a car. In a week I had the front and rear axle, and the transmission. The transmission is a similar unit to the one I had in the ATS. Six speed manual, with a single point shift lever. It keeps the gear changes quick with short throws. The rear axle is an independent suspension design, with short upper swingarms, and long lower swingarms. This changes the camber of the wheels as they move through the suspension travel, to keep a consistent contact patch around a corner. The limited slip differential is mounted longitudinally behind the axle. The front suspension is also independent with short upper and long lower swingers. The are mounted to a steering uckle that gives both Ackerman and caster geometry.

714 WIP1

Because it was my dream car, I wanted a car that would be inexpensive, and teach me how to drive fast. A front engine, rear wheel drive is a less expensive car to design and build. Additionally, my car would have a Boxer 4 for lower cost, and an option for Boxer 6 for more performance. Since I can use some training to be a better fast driver, I though a roll cage would be necessary.

714 WIP2

The remaining five weeks were spent working on the bodywork and the interior, which always takes more time than you think. I fit the cabin in around all the mechanical bits, and was able to add a glovebox and a manually adjustable tilt steering wheel. The seats are simple, but match the car interior well. I wanted to keep a couple of features that were iconic in my mind with Porsche cars: Round headlights, a full width thin taillight, a curvaceous roof, hunches over the rear wheels, and a taller greenhouse. After many drafts, I was able to get a design I was pleased with.

The car turned out how I wanted, and I felt it was a good contribution to the contest. The front of the car did not turn out how I envisioned it in my mind. The rear did not look as clean as I wanted. Mechanically the car works great. The suspension works perfectly, and the steering works flawlessly without hitting the wheel fenders. The transmission is great, and the limited slip differential continues to do the trick.

After all this talk about Porsches, I’ll take some off and build something different.

Happy Building.

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Audi allroad

November 8, 2015 1 Comment


There are not many projects I start that I do not finish. I can count a couple. But, sometimes there are projects that take a long time to complete. I either loose motivation, lack parts (read budget), or find something else to do. If I were wise, I would toss the project, and move on to something better. But there is value to trudging through the slog and completing something difficult. The Spitfire is a great example of this. The Audi Allroad has been on The Queue for about 16 months, and it’s finally done.

The full gallery may be seen on Brickshelf or on Flickr.

Audi allroad

After completing the OCTAN F1, I thought I could use the suspension for an all-wheel drive car. I was sure I could make the front suspension with steering work at this scale.

allroad Suspension

I wanted it to have another fun feature, so using a bunch of differentials, I developed a simple three speed transmission. Three power functions motors are connected via two differentials which connect to the drive axles. Each differential acts as a subtractor between each motor. When one motor is running, the power moves through two differentials, and the car moves slowly. When two motors are running, the power moves through one differential, and it’s a little faster, and when all three motors are running the car is running the fastest as no differentials are splitting the power. I got it to work, and within a day, I had a working chassis.

allroad Driveline

Once this was done, the MOC sat on my desk for a long time. This past fall, Thirdwiggville welcomed another citizen to the village, and this gave me lots of time late at night to get back to working on this project. I spent a couple of weeks working on the body work with the perspective of “finish this.” So the body work could use a little more polishing; doors, mirrors, better lines, maybe an interior. But I was happy to finally get this done.

The MOC worked well. The suspension functions quite well at this scale, and the transmission was simple and effective. It could be a little quicker, but I was not going to make a substantial gearing change after the MOC was built.

Two final thoughts. I need to stop building supercars because they take a lot of time and effort for me, and I find little motivation for the body work; I do not think the body work looks good, and I lack motivation to work on it. Second, I needed to test the driveline earlier in the build process. I spend too much time fiddling with gear ratios after everything was build. But this project is done, and I am happy it is.

Happy building.

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Cadillac ATS

February 26, 2015 11 Comments


A while ago I decided I was going to do a proper new school supercar. Something with all the features that are to be expected in the LEGO Technic Community. You know what they are; suspension, a gearbox, opening doors, a working engine, steering, and something fast looking. Probably red. It was time to test my chops and throw my hat into the ring.

The full gallery can be viewed here, and instructions may be purchased for $9 USD. Partlist

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Cadillac ATS

It has been a long time since I have built a supercar. While I enjoy many of the cars others make, I long for exceptional creativity in suspension design, gearboxes, and body style. It was time for me to build another one and contribute to these areas. About two years ago I set out to create a six speed gearbox that would have a more realistic gear change movement. I tried linkages, springs, and so many gears. In a bit of a breakthrough, I offset the two outside changeovers vertically by 1/2 stud. This allowed for the changeover lever to connect all three changeovers as it rotated from a single center pivot point. Once this design was completed, it needed a home.

ATS Transmissions

I have a preference for sedans rather than coupes. Plus too many two-door supercars have been created. Forgive the slight nationalism, but I thought it would be fun to do an American sports sedan, so a Cadillac was the best choice since the demise of my beloved Lincoln LS. The ATS was new, and at the scale would be a little more manageable than the CTS. I worked a little on the scale of the car. Some parts would be a challenge to convey the look, but I was ready to start building.

I started with the front suspension. The new suspension arms allowed for a short/long arm setup. The two different arm designs allowed for a increasing negative camber as the suspension moved through its travel. Additionally, the pivot points on the steering hub allowed for a kingpin inclination to provide an improved caster angle. Finally, I added Ackerman geometry to the steering link. After some work mounting the suspension, and the rack and pinon steering, I had the front suspension done.

ATS Front Sus

The rear suspension was more simple, but still had some unique features. While the real ATS uses a 5 link setup in the rear, I was not too impressed with the results I came up with as too much flex was found at the wheel. I started with a transversely mounted limited slip differential that I have used before. This connected directly to the two half-shafts for the rear wheels. I applied a short/long arm setup for the rear suspension so the tires would keep their contact patch as the body would roll through a corner. Like the front, this created increasing negative camber as the suspension moved through its travel. Normal in real cars, not often replicated in LEGO.

ATS Chassis

Tying all of these parts together was a little bit of a challenge. I wanted the steering wheel to be connected to the steering as well as a HOG knob on the dashboard. In addition, the doors, trunk, and hood should all open. Naturally, the car had to have a spare tire, and various engine options which could be easily removed. The chassis had to be stiff enough for the suspension to function well. Packing this all together took some time. About 9 months, but who is counting?

ATS Left Front

But what took the most time was the body work. This is the part for which I have little motivation, and the important part that would identify the car as an ATS. I had a lot of work to do. And my palmares have not trained me well for this task. After major parts were placed, and the dimension were set (37 stud Wheelbase, 60 stud Length, 25 stud Width), I worked on one section at a time. As the front bumper was part of the chassis, this part was developed early. As did the rear bumper. The headlights are unique for the ATS, so this was done early as well. After the roof was placed I worked on the trunk, which came together rather easily. I worked on the hood of the car, and after two designs I was happy with the result. I then worked on the grill, and after tinkering with a couple of SNOT techniques, I was able to get most of the distinctive Cadillac grill in my design.

Cadillac Grillz

Then off to the doors. I made seven designs. Most sedans these days have various creases that identify their sedan as different than any other sedan. You will notice the ATS has two, one on the bottom that rises slowly to the rear, and one midway up to the windows that moves along the length of the car from the hood to the trunk. The top line was accomplished by having the angle for the windows start a little lower on the front door and higher by a 1/2 stud on the rear door. The bottom crease was added by attaching some angled plates to the bottom of both doors, which cant slightly inward. Finally, both doors have an upper pivot point that is 1/2 stud inboard to bring the upper part of the doors toward the center of the car. Once I got a design I liked, I had to bring it all together to make sure everything fit well. I adjusted the roof, modified the hood, tightened up the dashboard connection to the doors, and made some changes to the rear quarter panels. There were still some areas where improvement could be made, but I was running out of ideas. I was pleased with the result. Pleased enough to say I was done.

All in all, I was pleased with the result of the car. As this is my first studless supercar, I was happy with how it turned out. The functions were up to my standards, and nothing was compromised as the car came together. While I was overwhelmed with the bodywork, I was pleased with how it turned out. Because it took me a long time to get it to work, it may be a long time before I do another one. I was happy I did a sedan, and hopefully a new moniker can begin in the LEGO community. #supersedan.

Happy Building.

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Red Sedan

May 13, 2012 2 Comments


When I got out of college, I started getting back into LEGO; the end of my “dark ages.”  I wanted to make a large supercar, just like everyone else.  But after my first attempt, there were a couple of things I wanted to improve, and the first car did not really look right.  OK, so what needed to change?  I needed to stretch the car, and make the stance a little better, add some features, and make it as real as possible.

See full gallery here.

I used the dementions of the 2005 BMW 5 series as my template.  From these demensions I used the F1 Racer wheels and tires to set the scale, then I determined the wheelbase, got the width, and I went to work.  I first made the rear suspension unit, and then the dual cam V-8.  Then I linked the two with a 4 speed transmission, and a long driveshaft and added a simple parking brake.  It took a little work, but I then added the front suspensions.  I have found it best to use technic beams to mount the front suspension. The A-arms are then attached to this structure, with the shock absorbers placed on this structure and braced with liftarms.  I then connected this directly to the front of the V-8, and connected it to the rest of the chassis with a simple frame.  I used the old steering mounts of the old 8865 supercar, and connected them to the steering wheel through an upside down mounted steering rack.  Of note, the car was going to be big and heavy.  I had to find a way to get two hard shock absorbers at each wheel which limited the suspensions options I had.  In addition, I added a front and rear sway bar, which took a little more space, but it worked.

Then the body.  I worked first on the doors, and the front bumper.  I used a dual pivot design for the doors so they would open even though bricks do not work well with pivots.  Then I did the front and rear quarterpanels, and set the rear bumper in such a way that a full size spare tire would fit.  I then worked on the interior.  I designed a simple tilt steering using a worm gear, and a universal joint.  I made sure to use the great front seat design by Pixsrv, added a rear bench seat, funished the trunk and added all the little compartments in the center console and glovebox.

I finished with rest of the body work.  The roof had a sun roof, and the trunk would have a damped shock to hold open the  trunklid, and added small details and some mirrors.  It was big, and it was done.  I was pleased with my first large car.  It still my most popular on Brickshelf.com.

All in all it was a great experience to learn about how to make a large car, and all the challenges that go with that.  Frankly, since this design, most of my cars have been a little smaller, as it makes the suspension and steering work a little bigger.  Lessons learned.

The full gallery may be found here.

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