LocostUSA.com

so here's a headache for ya .
I have this customers drag car he buys a so called wide body front end .
it's listed to fit 10" wide tires .
he drops the panels and the car off at my shop and I spent hours getting the gaps to be right .
the other day his new 10" tires and rims come in and I mount them on the car .
no way in the world do they cover the tires the worse part is the tire still hit the wheel openings .
so I have to widen the flares 3" just to cover the tires .
some times I really hate working on cars !

A buddy of mine refuses to deal with customer supplied parts. She does custom upholstery. People would show up with crappy ebay covers and expect her to make them look like factory.

_________________
Too much week, not enough weekend.

OOPS I did it again
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=17496

Blood Sweat and Beers
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=15216

Was the offset required to actually accommodate 10" wide tires conveniently never mentioned?

_________________
-Justin

"Orville Wright did not have a pilots license." - Gordon MacKenzie

the tires are the correct ones .
there is a 5MM space between the rim and the suspension .
so in no way can the wheel have a different offset .



I told the customer it would be better if I just made the parts my self . but he said he could get them for 1100 dollars .
I told him they are not in any way a bolt on thing .

this is what I started with .
you got to love gaps like that .
the best part is the CO that makes them said he has never had any one complain about fitment .
because they a what they so call a custom made part they will not take them back .

I painted all the parts on the motor last year as he was building it .
I'm not a big Honda person but we got it fired up 3 weeks ago for the 1st time .
it should be just north of 800 HP . it runs on C85 fuel so we had to redo the hold fuel system .
when I told the about how much more it was going to be to get the fenders to fit the tires he got pissed .
to deep into it now to turn back .

speed costs money son, just how fast do you want to go?

_________________
this story shall the good man teach his son,
and chrispin chrispian shall ne'er go by,
from this day to the end of the world.
but we in it shall be remembered.

that's just what I told him !

as soon as I start hanging the panels I ask for the customer to get the wider wheels to me because I did not think they looked like they would fit over a 10" tire .
he said no the CO that makes the flared fenders said they are for 10" wide tires and they will fit .

A FWD drag car. What is the world coming to?

FWD drag cars are nothing new. Long before "Fast & Furious". Never could see the point to them, but they're with us!

_________________
Mike - Read my story at http://twinlakesseven.blogspot.com/

Yeah, laugh at them, but at way under 10 seconds, they seem to get along just fine.

_________________
Midlana book: Build this mid-engine Locost!, http://midlana.com/stuff/book/
Kimini book: Designing mid-engine cars using FWD drivetrains
Both available from https://www.lulu.com/

like I said I'm not a fan of Hondas nor am I a fan of drag racing personally my love is sports car racing and that's what we build in my shop . the only reason I took the job was I have known him for 20 years now .
this car is a 1992 and the owner picked it up after a two year lease return in 1994 .
he was a kid then but not any more .
with the old motor he was doing under 9's so the NHRA told him not to return until the car has proper safety gear 8 point cage and so on .
the old fenders he cut up to fit 9" wide wheels .
so he built a new motor and is changing his tune from the race fuel to C85 bigger turbo different exhaust header the list goes no .
because of the class he running in the car has to have a dash board I took the stock dash and made a mold of it then made one out of carbon fiber .
I removed so much weight out of the car it no longer meets the weight rule of the class so I had to add weight back to the car to meet the rules .
when he told me cars in his class are turning under 8.49's I was like BS so I looked it up it's not BS .
the car is so dam light one person can pick the back of the car off the ground .
when I asked him with the 1.8L motor putting out 800 plus HP it can't last all to long ?
he replied no they hold up pretty dam good and I should get the hole season out if it and over the winter I will tear it down and go thru it .
if that is really the case I do have a new found respect for the things .

I had a diesel truck that had a smaller turbo then this does .

In 2000, it was a really big deal for a Honda engine to get anywhere near 1000hp. Now, with the new ECUs, E85, turbos, and intakes available, it's easy - if expensive. Even more surprising is that the engines lasting as long as they do. My car is currently 530 hp on E85 and it's not even trying hard.

_________________
Midlana book: Build this mid-engine Locost!, http://midlana.com/stuff/book/
Kimini book: Designing mid-engine cars using FWD drivetrains
Both available from https://www.lulu.com/

I don't know to much about the e or c 85 fuels . but this guy is running the C85 .
at some point I will read up on it . right now the cars I'm doing are still on race fuels .
this car we had to replace the hole fuel system to run the C85 .