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Learning how to build Lotus Seven replicas...together!
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PostPosted: June 24, 2012, 3:57 pm 
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The side bulkheads effectively replace the sides of the hood on a (pardon the oxymoron) conventional Locost. These are made from 1/8” plywood (available from big box building supplies as paneling or door skins or something) with an aluminum angle stiffener attached to the bottom edge of the bulkhead. I think the stiffener was more trouble than it was worth (and it looks like an afterthought—in fact, it looks like a field repair) so I’ll probably make my next one’s bulkheads with 1/4” plywood.

The nose tilts down, slide back and locks into the front of the chassis (see next post), and is held in place by a Dzus fastener on each side, at the lower rear of the nose. To raise the nose, remove the two Dzuses (dzeese?) pull the nose forward 2", tilt it up, and stick a stick under it to keep it up. You’ll note two Dzus holes on each side the prototype—that’s because I didn’t allow enough space for the nose to move back 2” when I mounted it the first time. The rear stiffener (made from rigid urethane foam laminated to the nose with fiberglass mat) hit the Dzus plate, so back to the drawing board (and the angle grinder with the abrasive cutoff wheel).

Originally I had a hook on each side of the engine bay, that slid under another aluminum angle (which was riveted to the inside of the bulkhead) but road tests showed it was unnecessary and it was one more item to align when putting the nose in place. Also, it interferes with installing the standard hood, so I’ll have to cut that hook off the chassis before I can put the Se7en-style bodywork back on. In finished form, I want to be able to do body swaps as quickly as I do mood swings.


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PostPosted: June 25, 2012, 12:20 pm 
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JackMcCornack wrote:
.... In finished form, I want to be able to do body swaps as quickly as I do mood swings.
Jack,

That one statement has me salivating to see where your vision for this kit ends up. It would be so very cool to go out one Saturday and be a Lola and then the next day parade around as a Se7en. Would just blow peoples minds!!

Watching this with great enthusiasm!!

Cheers!

KS

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PostPosted: June 25, 2012, 12:22 pm 
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botbasher wrote:
JackMcCornack wrote:
.... In finished form, I want to be able to do body swaps as quickly as I do mood swings.
Jack,

That one statement has me salivating to see where your vision for this kit ends up. It would be so very cool to go out one Saturday and be a Lola and then the next day parade around as a Se7en. Would just blow peoples minds!!

Watching this with great enthusiasm!!

Cheers!

KS


Uhhhh... Bot... About those Saturdays when you're being "A Lola"... Is that when you wear the pantyhose and heels???? :rofl:

:cheers:
JD "Wanna See THAT Video" Kemp

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PostPosted: June 25, 2012, 12:30 pm 
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GonzoRacer wrote:
Uhhhh... Bot... About those Saturdays when you're being "A Lola"... Is that when you wear the pantyhose and heels???? :rofl:
:cheers:
JD "Wanna See THAT Video" Kemp
Corsets and fishnets.. and there is a video out there of that somewhere! Ah... memories of the Rocky Horror Picture Show!! But that is a topic for a different forum!!

Sorry Jack.. Can't take him anywhere nice! :roll:

KS

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Never become a pessimist. A pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun, and neither can stop the march of events.-Robert A. Heinlein


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PostPosted: June 25, 2012, 12:39 pm 
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botbasher wrote:
It would be so very cool to go out one Saturday and be a Lola and then the next day parade around as a Se7en. KS


People will think I've got 2 cars that way? It would be great to have a Lola at track day at a bigger track, then have the Se7en for auto cross? Or if I outrun the cops in the Se7ven... uh, well, that's probably not a good plan there.

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PostPosted: June 25, 2012, 12:58 pm 
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GonzoRacer wrote:
Uhhhh... Bot... About those Saturdays when you're being "A Lola"... Is that when you wear the pantyhose and heels???? :rofl:

:cheers:
JD "Wanna See THAT Video" Kemp


And drink champagne in old Soho, but it tastes just like cherry cola?

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PostPosted: June 25, 2012, 1:22 pm 
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I'd like to make sure that my frame design for Car9 could wear this bodywork. Geek are you or anyone else interested in comparing notes to see if it would need any changes?

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PostPosted: June 25, 2012, 1:33 pm 
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horizenjob wrote:
Geek are you or anyone else interested in comparing notes to see if it would need any changes?


I'm an open book, so long as you don't laugh too hard at my efforts. (Not gonna use the term "open source" here.) I've learned sooo much here, and would love to repay the favor. At one time, the Yahoo! gang had a Locost Wiki going, and I wrote a bit or that too.

IF you are really bored, you can join me using my sawz-all to cut up my frame tubes? Now where did I put that measuring tape and Sharpie....?

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PostPosted: June 25, 2012, 2:15 pm 
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Now where did I put that measuring tape and Sharpie....?


If you ain't actually holdin' on to 'em, they's GONE, Gone, gone...


Quote:
And drink champagne in old Soho, but it tastes just like cherry cola?


HA! I see somebody knew what I was talking about... I first heard that song on WRNA-FM "Your Rockin' Alternative" out of Charlotte NC, late one night. As soon as I figured out what it was about, I turned it off because I was afraid my Mama would hear it... Wow, that was a long time ago...

But I digress, again... Let's return to the discussion of the Kinetic Vehicle's "Lalo", like this thread is supposed to be about. Sorry, Jack...
:cheers:

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PostPosted: June 25, 2012, 2:20 pm 
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Now where did I put my yardstick and chalk....?
horizenjob wrote:
I'd like to make sure that my frame design for Car9 could wear this bodywork. Geek are you or anyone else interested in comparing notes to see if it would need any changes?
Speaking as anyone else, I'd be game. The only change I see you'd need in the shell is with that V8, you'll have to add a Lotus15ish* speed bump in the hood; I added a turbo bump to my prototype and it wasn't too hard. Otherwise it's tall enough, and you can make the body any width and length you like, so I don't see a problem.


*See "Invincible II" in the Build Logs. There are lots of ways to skin that particular cat, but I like how Lotus did it.

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PostPosted: June 25, 2012, 5:01 pm 
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I'm an open book, so long as you don't laugh too hard at my efforts.


No laughing at helpers. If it takes some work to make this more desirable, practical or useful I'm willing to do it. I think the design for Car9 is pretty adaptable but it needs some more eyes on it now for real world exposure.

Quote:
Speaking as anyone else, I'd be game. The only change I see you'd need in the shell is with that V8, you'll have to add a Lotus15ish speed bump in the hood;


Thanks, that's great. I think aero bodywork will make this car quicker at the track more then anything else you can do for it.

I am still unsure that the V8 is any taller then modern I4 engines. It may be shorter. It could possibly be a lot shorter depending on intake and sump. In my drawings the transmission for the V8 ( a Tremac ) came out a little shorter then the Ranger box for the Duratech.

In the SketchUp model I have tried to provide options so there is a Ford Duratech drawn in too, it's in a different layer of the drawing and you can just click on the layers to show what and work on what you want. Sometimes it's neat to put multiple layers on and superimpose engines or suspension pieces etc. My recent work was some big changes to provide a big and strong engine compartment for the V8, so that's why it's in the recent photos.

It's great that you are following making the body Locost compatible. Lot's of people may decide to add that to their build during some winter months down time. It's not a decision that you have to make up front. I can see people thinking how much easier it would be to add a body then to build from scratch when they have a good chassis.

Duratech and Subaru rear end:


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PostPosted: June 25, 2012, 5:41 pm 
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Marcus, with your bottom frame rails 5" from the ground, what's the height of the engine at its highest point (from the ground, and also from the bottom of the engine), and how far back is that point from the front axle?

PS...
horizenjob wrote:
I think aero bodywork will make this car quicker at the track more then anything else you can do for it.
I don't know about quicker, but it'll sure as heck make it faster. I think I mentioned that MAX went from 72 mph top end with the traditional body, to 90 mph with the Lalo body. According to my cocktail napkin calculations, if I had 250 horsepower I could pull 145 mph in Locost livery, and 180 with the Lalo body.

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PostPosted: June 25, 2012, 8:32 pm 
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what's the height of the engine at its highest point (from the ground, and also from the bottom of the engine), and how far back is that point from the front axle?
Jack, the LS3 motor is 25" from the bottom of the bellhousing to the top of the intake manifold. The bellhousing bottom is the low point of the motor when using either the Corvette wet sump or dry sump set-up. One can hang the engine's bottom below the frame rails if they like, I prefer not to. The LS3 intake manifold should also be reversed so the throttle body is over the flywheel. This would reduce the forward length of any hood bulge required. The intake manifold would then extend about 20 3/8" forward of the flywheel. Low mounting the alternator also helps keep a low profile.

In Car9, I think the flywheel would be about 37.5" aft of the front axle. (Horizonjob, please verify.)

Good seeing you in Puyallup. Max/Lalo is looking good!

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PostPosted: June 26, 2012, 1:35 am 
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Tom, thanks for the numbers. In my model the engine is 22" tall, but I don't have an intake drawn for it. I thought the intake was a little shorter.
Quote:
The bellhousing bottom is the low point of the motor when using either the Corvette wet sump or dry sump set-up.


In the drawing I made the flywheel is 2.5" above the bottom of the oil pan. It's OK to rub the bellhousing on the ground, but it's abad idea for the ring gear.

On my car I dropped the bottom rail to be even with the bottom of the oil pan. That's why the frame looks sort of tall. So the height is whatever the height of the motor is. The wheelbase is 92", but sometimes tries to creep up to 94". The front edge of the V8 valve covers is about 15" behind the front axle centerline. The I4 sits 2"-4" further back.

These V8's have the potential to be very small, it's just the details like the intake, oil sump, flywheel and transmission etc.

How tall is MAX in the engine area?


So is there an issue because a Locost hides it's actual height because you don't see the oil sump?

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PostPosted: June 26, 2012, 8:44 am 
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Quote:
How tall is MAX in the engine area?


I was told:
"Hello Heikki,

The height of the nose directly above the upper frame rail, at 11"
(longitudanally) from the front axle is 7-3/4" at it raises another 1/2" to
3/4" or so in the middle between the frame rails."

I have not yet measured mine but will in short while.

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