LocostUSA.com

Learning how to build Lotus Seven replicas...together!
It is currently March 28, 2024, 4:10 am

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 106 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1 ... 4, 5, 6, 7, 8  Next
Author Message
 Post subject: Re: STALKER -ish build
PostPosted: July 7, 2018, 6:52 pm 
Offline
Toyotaphobe
User avatar

Joined: April 5, 2008, 2:25 am
Posts: 4829
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
I never thought to have someone else do it. I was figuring more of a push fit or a slide fit like the shocks and shock rocker since it would be held in place top & bottom. I'm wrong again?

It's official my wife needs another new knee. She split the meniscus in such a manner that it moved out both front and back and left it bone on bone. It also left her bow legged. Darn deer.

They said the only way to replace the meniscus was a new knee. This has got me running things for my wife and not leaving me much time for me. This stuff is getting very, very OLD!!!!

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: STALKER -ish build
PostPosted: July 8, 2018, 6:40 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: February 9, 2016, 8:46 am
Posts: 392
Location: New Jersey
Gonzo just reminded me, for the id: McMaster has 1/4" wall tubing with the correct id for a 1/2" or 5/8" bolt. #7767T74 is for the 5/8" About $20 / ft. I used it for the control arm thru bolt sleeves for the MII based suspension on the Vicky. Worked perfectly.

_________________
Dismantalus, Fabricatus, Assemblus.....
Certified Welder, Certified Welding Inspector, Full Time Car Freak...In New Jersey no less!


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: STALKER -ish build
PostPosted: July 8, 2018, 7:26 am 
Offline
We are Slotus!
User avatar

Joined: October 6, 2009, 9:29 am
Posts: 7651
Location: Tallahassee, FL (The Center of the Known Universe)
carguy123 wrote:
It's official my wife needs another new knee. She split the meniscus in such a manner that it moved out both front and back and left it bone on bone. It also left her bow legged.
Awwww, mannn... That's gotta suck for her and for you. TWWTFM just went through ankle surgery, twice. It was tough. She's on the mend now, but it takes time and LOTS of patience for both of you/us. I am pretty sure I'm the world's worst nurse, but perhaps you can take that title away from me. Good luck to ya both!
:cheers:
JDK

_________________
JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: STALKER -ish build
PostPosted: July 8, 2018, 10:19 am 
Offline
Toyotaphobe
User avatar

Joined: April 5, 2008, 2:25 am
Posts: 4829
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Dismantalus wrote:
Gonzo just reminded me, for the id: McMaster has 1/4" wall tubing with the correct id for a 1/2" or 5/8" bolt. #7767T74 is for the 5/8" About $20 / ft. I used it for the control arm thru bolt sleeves for the MII based suspension on the Vicky. Worked perfectly.


Thanx, you made my search much easier.

JD I've long had the title of worst nurse, but at least this time I have a little idea of what to expect. Between her last new knee and my knee surgery I've been on both sides of this. She's propped up on the sofa as we speak with ice packs on her knee and her ankles. For some reason the meds they've given her for pain and inflammation have made her ankles swell.

Can't go to church so since I've got her comfy, the TV turned on and lots of stuff within reach I am going to be able to get out to the shop and build a jig for cutting the rest of the suspension bushings down. That may be all I get done today, but it's something.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: STALKER -ish build
PostPosted: July 9, 2018, 5:12 pm 
Offline
Toyotaphobe
User avatar

Joined: April 5, 2008, 2:25 am
Posts: 4829
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
I was able to sneak some time in the shop as the meds have my wife up and moving around - some. We even went out for a night on the town.

So here's the jig I made to cut the bushings. This will ensure that should I have to do this again for replacements, that it won't take a lot of time and refiguring. I insert the sleeve part the way end and the jig gives me the proper insertion depth and the sleeve gives me a place to hold it down while out of range of the blade.

The cuts don't have to be precise and hold 1/64 tolerance. I just need to miss the bottom the grease fitting. I'm going to make myself a replacement set of 4 as spares.

I just used an old 2x4 and then labelled it so I can't lose it (wanna bet!!)

Here's the top view:
Attachment:
top jig.jpg


Here's a side view:
Attachment:
side jig.jpg


Next is loaded and ready to cut and one done.
Attachment:
ready to cut.jpg


Attachment:
end loaded jig.jpg


Now I'm left with all these cool mood rings. You'll notice that there aren't 16 rings but there were 16 bushings. When those little buggers drop they are like super balls and you never can tell where they are going to go. I have a few that are hiding, but I'll track down that wascally wabbit.

Attachment:
extra rings.jpg


And the last picture I'm going to put right here so I can find the model numbers again should I lose the boxes and my notes.

Attachment:
model numbers.jpg


You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: STALKER -ish build
PostPosted: July 9, 2018, 5:16 pm 
Offline
Toyotaphobe
User avatar

Joined: April 5, 2008, 2:25 am
Posts: 4829
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
It took much longer to thin the thickness of the hat/flange than it did to set up and cut them all.

And for once I didn't use any of my favorite lube on the belt & circular sander - knuckle grease.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: STALKER -ish build
PostPosted: July 9, 2018, 5:24 pm 
Offline
Toyotaphobe
User avatar

Joined: April 5, 2008, 2:25 am
Posts: 4829
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
4 bolt hub or 5 that is the question. Whether tis nobler in my mind to . . . hmm Bugs Bunny to Shakespeare. My my, a good mind is a terrible thing to waste.

I originally wanted 4 bolt. I like one less lug nut to remove or lose.

But the rims were the wrong offset and if I am going to buy another set of rims do I want to change to a 5 bolt hub at this time?

What are the advantages of the 5 bolt? There are lots of rims available for the 4 bolt so that's not a reason to switch.

Are the brake options greater? I used my Wilwood Big Brake kit that I bought for this on my son's Miata so apparently brake options are the same.

I guess we ought to start with can I switch it just by swapping the hub? Is the stub axle the same size and all I have to do is swap out the hub?

Attachment:
4 bolt hub.jpg


Doing this looks too easy, there has to be a catch.

Attachment:
hub removed.jpg


Attachment:
hub in hand.jpg


There are 2 bearings hiding down in there.

Attachment:
hub bearings plural.jpg


You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: STALKER -ish build
PostPosted: July 10, 2018, 11:04 pm 
Offline
Toyotaphobe
User avatar

Joined: April 5, 2008, 2:25 am
Posts: 4829
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Tonight I've been blueprinting the front end.

Working on those bushings made me realize that something was off in the front end. Not only was the bottom bolt that holds the upright on binding, but so was the action. It all came down to the bottom bolt binding it in such a way it would hardly move in or out when the top arm wasn't connected.

I originally thought the driver's side was just hitting the gusset on the bottom arm, and it was touching it because that cut wasn't straight. It actually looked like they cut it from both ends and it didn't quite match up in the middle. So the first thing I did was break out the files and Dremel and straighten that out.

That helped, but the bolt was still binding. So when I removed the anchor bolt that is situated in the middle of the push rod bracket I realized that the hole was in the wrong place and that was causing the whole assembly to twist a little which is why the long bolt holding the upright to the bottom arm was binding.

You can see I began with a round hole, how novel and boring.

Attachment:
orig bottom bolt.jpg


So I broke out the Dremel again and made it into a short slot to give clearance. Voila the binding was instantly gone and the action was smooth again.

Attachment:
driver bolt hole.jpg


The Passenger side had the same issue but while I had to slot the Driver's side almost vertically, I had to slot the Passenger side horizontally and you can see I now had clearance.

Attachment:
pass bolt clearance.jpg


Attachment:
pass bolt hole.jpg


Having grown up in a production environment that told me this hole wasn't being held to close tolerances (or else they'd have drilled a pilot hole or center punched it) and that it was drilled with 2 different drill bits or else they'd sharpened it between drilling the 2 holes. The same bit reacts the same way and you compensate for that in your set up.


You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: STALKER -ish build
PostPosted: July 10, 2018, 11:06 pm 
Offline
Toyotaphobe
User avatar

Joined: April 5, 2008, 2:25 am
Posts: 4829
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Back to the bushes for a moment, these are pics of the arm end with Delrin and then the Poly.

One thing I lost by doing it this way was the ability to stack washers to change the caster, but I see a way to do it on the bottom should I need to. That's for another day.


You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: STALKER -ish build
PostPosted: July 16, 2018, 3:07 pm 
Offline
Toyotaphobe
User avatar

Joined: April 5, 2008, 2:25 am
Posts: 4829
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
My imaginary friend said, "So David, how did your weekend go?"

David replied "Well let me tell you, it was interesting?"

I.F. "Interesting in a good way or a bad?"

David "I'd have to say more bad than good, but I was able to prove I was a man and there was no reason to call a tow truck (as my wife kept insisting) so I'd still call it a success."

My front pond is low and since I'd like to plant a cypress in the edge of the water I decided that I'd begin by cleaning out the pond before the rains hit, as they have for the past 2 years when I've decided to do this.

There's a big volunteer bush right where I need to enter the pond and since I hadn't picked out the tree, and can't till weekend after next, I decided to leave the bush in place and sneak around behind it. This was probably the first misteak I've made in my entire life!

Things were going good till they weren't.

I think I need to put that on my tombstone and probably tattoo it on my forehead to keep me on the straight & narrow while I'm still alive.

I backed the tractor in because I worried that the little front tires might dig in deeper and I might have an issue backing back out. Unfortunately you can't really see the bottom of the back tires while you're in the driver's seat.

I also was batting back the bush as I was so close that it was all in my face. The branches were hitting me in the face and also hitting me on the back of the head as they came by the roll bar on the tractor. I thought I was winning that battle as the bush kept getting easier to manage until suddenly I realized the reason for that was that the bush was further away than when I began. (Cue the Dunh, Dunh, Daaaaaa music)

The ground was very firm when I jumped up and down on it to check it out before risking the tractor on it, but with a heavy tractor the left rear wheel broke through to some softer dirt and the tractor began to slide slowly towards the wet dirt and I ended up almost in the lilies buried up to the axle.

Attachment:
it is stuck.jpg


I literally was only 6" too far out on the wrong side but fortunately the right side of the tractor was on solid ground. Any attempts to extricate myself just made me slide closer and closer to the water. My wife had zero confidence I could get it out and even worried I'd tip it over (I was a little worried about that myself) and she was quite vocal about it.

But being a guy I had to try to get this out. I had time on my side. It was over 100 degrees right then and I knew the forecast for the next 10 days was 100+ with no rain in sight so it could only get better, right?

I grabbed the few boards I had and tried placing them under the wheels but they didn't help. I then got some small pieces of plywood to put alongside the wheels to hopefully slow down the sideways slide and headed into town for more boards and some sand or rocks or something!!

Attachment:
working it out.jpg


Fortunately by about 3:00 I got it out and proved my manliness, not that my wife noticed. I even got it out and got cleaned up in time to take my wife out to a night of frivolity.

So that was my Tim Allen kind of day.

Attachment:
success.jpg


You've got nothing for scale, but that's a medium frame tractor, not one of those lawn/garden tractors and the rear tires are filled with water for traction and to balance out a big load in the blade.

I've got to go to Colorado for a hippie wedding this weekend so like Pinky & the Brain, I'll try it again the following weekend. If you never hear from me again after that you will know I did the same thing again and was too embarrased to ever show my face again.


You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: STALKER -ish build
PostPosted: July 16, 2018, 5:08 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: October 19, 2010, 11:57 am
Posts: 507
Location: Waterloo, WI
Oh no! I have a similarly sized tractor (John Deere 4100) and have gotten myself similarly stuck (but in snow). I've been able to pull myself out using the curl of the bucket to slowly drag me out. That feeling when the thing feels like it is tipping over though.... :shock:

_________________
-Keith


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: STALKER -ish build
PostPosted: July 16, 2018, 5:36 pm 
Offline
Toyotaphobe
User avatar

Joined: April 5, 2008, 2:25 am
Posts: 4829
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Yeah I was leaning to the left and had a steep hill in front. When I used the bucket to try to pull that put so much weight on the back tires that it sunk even further and made the back end slide even more sideways.

The last tractor had a back hoe which got in the way most of the time, but it would have allowed me to raise & push the back end and it would have been a relatively easy removal.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: STALKER -ish build
PostPosted: July 29, 2018, 12:06 am 
Offline
Toyotaphobe
User avatar

Joined: April 5, 2008, 2:25 am
Posts: 4829
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
You meet the nicest people on the Locost forum and then sometimes you wish you'd have disconnected the doorbell.

Jebediah Lothario* (Long Island Locost) showed up at my door today and my wife let him in even tho I told her not to. She thought it would be funny.

He's got some peculiar ideas about engines in Locosts and thinks SBF are the bees knees. You just can't talk any sense into him. Although he did help me out, by pitching the fact that I needed a small lather and mill to my wife. She didn't think that part was so funny.

We traded pics and talked cars and sweated a lot in my shop and then headed out to one of our favorite watering holes to eat some food and listen to some music.

When the music was playing so loud you almost couldn't hear him, he almost made sense.

He'll be around for a few more day so who knows we might run into each other again. It's usually nice when people come a calling.

*Jeff Weber

Attachment:
Jeff & David.jpg


And by the way has anyone seen this beast or one like him? I was blown away by it, but Jeff said he had three of them sitting unused in his palatial and well equipped shop. I had never heard of one and thought it was an awesome idea - IF IT WORKED!

Attachment:
Welder.jpg


You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: STALKER -ish build
PostPosted: July 29, 2018, 1:55 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: March 19, 2011, 10:22 am
Posts: 2386
Location: Holden, Alberta, Canada
carguy123 wrote:
Things were going good till they weren't.

I love this quote :cheers: True to life, I'm stealing this and won't even feel guilty.
carguy123 wrote:
Fortunately by about 3:00 I got it out and proved my manliness,

So...., being a farm boy myself and having sunk a few tractors, I have to ask. You jumped from being bogged down, way down, to I got it out. I can't see that tractor pulling itself out of that situation. Did it have help? I need more pictures! :D

_________________
Perry

'If man built it, man can fix it'
"No one ever told me I couldn't do it."
"If you can't build it safe, don't build it."

Perry's Locost Super Che7enette Build
Perry's TBird Based 5.0L Super 7 L.S.O
Perry's S10 Super 7 The 3rd
Perry's 4th Build The Topolino 500 (Little Mouse) Altered
Perry's 5th Build the Super Slant 6 Super 7
Perry's Final Build the 1929 Mercedes Gazelle


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: STALKER -ish build
PostPosted: July 29, 2018, 11:31 am 
Offline
Toyotaphobe
User avatar

Joined: April 5, 2008, 2:25 am
Posts: 4829
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Well I was kinda busy to take pictures and it definitely didn't jump from stuck to out. I used the bucket to raise the front end and stuck boards and coarse gravel under them. Raising the front end made the rear end sink even further, well that is till it hit the axle assembly and couldn't go any further.

Next I poured gravel everywhere I could find a crack around the rear tires and then I dug all the dirt out of the treads of the rear tires I could get to. Then I got my wife up in the drivers seat and had her turn the wheels super slow while I poured more coarse rock until it wouldn't take any more and then I began to feed boards down there.

Feeding boards sounds easy, but it involved a sledge hammer too. Now I had it as good as I was going to get it so I jumped up n the seat and powered out. It jumped. It jittered.It slid even further towards the edge of the water but somehow it moved forward at the same time, till suddenly I was out of the pond and patting myself on the back. I had the hero strut all day long.

Had it not come out I would have had to wait it out (which even tho it's been hot & dry since then it's still boggy right there) or call a tow truck or found someone else with another tractor. Both of which would have revoked my MAN card.

BUT WAIT!

In a few minutes I'm headed back into the swamp to try to do it again. It has been hot and dry for over a week, although it's still quite soft in that spot, and this time I am going to rip out that damn bush and hit it at a different angle and by golly I am going to clean out that end so that I can refill the pond. My fish would appreciate that.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 106 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1 ... 4, 5, 6, 7, 8  Next

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 12 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Jump to:  
cron
POWERED_BY