Hello from amphibious car builder

Warm yes--- hot?

Diff clutches? --you mean a limited slip diff?

Well if you drove it round in circles for an hour then?

Ok PVC--a bit of over the pond difficulties there, Recirculation valve.

The PVC is to keep constant pressure which is minimal, to clear the engine from gases wich will cause horrible sludge.

This was the first emission control device.

So pump it up with a bicycle pump--put a guage on them?

Or use an inner tube connected to your axles that will give a constant pressure. You only need 5 PSI or the like.

Or one of those 10 dollar 12 volts tyre infators with a relief valve.

ille bet you cant pressurise the front axle of a land Rover.

I was going to keep all the axles inside, engine as well. Brakes would have been on the drive shaft you will have one on the rear of the Land Rover drive shaft. It is only used for a hand brake but could be changed to disc.

Front drive shaft as well,---Ok not the best brakes in the world but we arent doing 100MPH. And would bounce like hell.

You could split the brake hydraulics putting power through the axle of you choice. This would help the 4 wheel drive system that unless you have 3 locked diffs it is not 4 wheel drive.

I wasnt going to have suspension just "bouncy" tyres--again we are not doing 100MPH.

Ha Ha it would be a helluva thing to drive.

 

Swivel joints on my landie are double lipped oilseals with a spring tensioner and all the swivel surfaces were checked,I have spoken to people who regularly go wading in their cars putting the front hubs 3-4 foot under water with no probs,mine should only be 1 -2 feet under.
There are bellows kits available however I was advised not to use them as they are just as good at keeping water in as out and if you have an oil leak it is better to know ASAP.
As for the brakes these are all standard LR parts which are designed to get wet and muddy regularly.
The clutch bell housing is sealed but has an inlet and outlet pipe above the waterline to pump out any water which may get in and also blow cooling air in.
Axels already have breathers above waterline (standard LR).
The diff does not run in the water ,it is within the axel case and mounted on bearings ' even if the diff was to get hot which is unlikely due to an oil bath,the sudden temp change would only slowly be transfered through the small mounting points.

 

the diff is inside an axel and mounted on releativly small points (bearings) the only way it is going to be cooled is by heat transferance through the bearings (slow) or by the oil which is in contact with the outer case being cooled and then consequencially cooling the diff .
Either way this can do no damage to the diff, surely

 

I did not mean that any axel/diff gets hot enough to warp or anything like that. The temperture differential if it happens, affects the AIR contracting in the axel and around the diff, not much, but enough to reduce the seals ability to keep water from being sucked into the axel tube. If its not a problem to you you are lucky.

Good outside the box thinking Jack, some inflatable tank or tube is a good idea, could have a desicant if its factory sealed like an air-shock, hmmmmm

Our axel is also insulated, embedded in the flotation foam of the hull. Not quite as ridgedly mounted as Jack proposes. it uses a high tech "super secret" method of keeping the voids needed for suspension bouyant thru any motion.

Is your car a steel hull with bilge pumps? any built-in flotation? how about cooling the engines.. any special attention?

 

Hi, my car has a chassis/frame of 100mm x 50mm x 3mm RHS and is skinned over with 16SWG (1.5mm) steel sheet.
All hollow section or dead air space within the hull are to be filled with 2 part expanding closed cell poly foam approx 1 cubic metre + all voids under the car will be filled with removable epoxy coated styrofoam +I am also intending to line the underside of the bonnet with 50mm styrofoam.
All in all I should have approx 2 cubic metres of captive bouyancy not inc tyres ,air trapped in chassis etc.
With an all up weight of 1800KG (approx) it should easily float even if swamped with water, couple that with 4 decent bilge pumps and it should make for a pretty safe amphi.

 

The main engine is a sealed diesel toyota unit very basic and reliable ,air intake and exhaust are both above the waterline the engine itself will be partially in the water so cooling is not a problem although this will only run on land any way.
Once in the water the smaller engine within the rear hull will take over this will have an electric fan to force air into the engine compartment .
The engine is watercooled but I haven't decided to cool using riverwater directly or via a heat exchanger mounted below the waterline I need advice on this ,any suggestions?

 

I wouldnt make things complcated i would stick to radiators 2 if necessary. fans as well.

 

How are you going with your Amphibian car, I brought the Searoader mk 1 and wasted my money and now hav had to start from scratch as it was so far gone with rust from the sea water on the steel, I wish i went and saw it first, i kept a eye on your one ahnd have alot of sugestions for you if you want to contact me,

 

going

It is cleaning up nicely as we prep it for presentation in a few months. I will send you a e-mail. The searoader was all steel?

 

These are available... Not a car though.... all terrain vehicle.

Fun part is 2:30 and gets a bit impressive around 3.30 (At least to an amatour with a chainsaw..).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVPfX7CIobQ

 

theres one similar for sale at present on Ebay

theres a truck trailer version for sale on the ebay, itd like this with wheels not tracks, Ex millitary style,

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...0278791086&sspagename=STRK:MEWAX:IT&viewitem=

 

Amphibian car race and history lesson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PDjh-P9Fks&feature=channel_page