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PostPosted: December 28, 2012, 4:41 pm 
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Convince the wife to let me build a car - Complete, although I see lots of trips to the florist in my future.

Making a build table
- Complete
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It is two pieces of 8′-4′ ply wood the top layer is 3/4″ thick and the bottom layer 1/2″. Then between the layers there are 4 pieces of 3″ x 2″ beams to help keep the table rigid. The legs are 4″ x 4″ with lockable wheels on the bottom so I can roll the car into the corner of the garage when I am not working on the car. The table has sagged which it a problem because if I weld as it it the frame will be bowed by about a 1/3rd on an inch.

Building the frame
Image
I do not have a welder yet so I have cut the lower and upper sections but will pause until I have the welder. The compound angle on the front of the car made my head hurt but I think they are about right.

Feeling good about the progress so far but still loads of work to do my goal is to be able to drive it for autocross in 2013. Then make her road legal by the end of 2014.

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Last edited by wrightcomputing on February 9, 2013, 9:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: December 28, 2012, 6:36 pm 
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You're off to a good start. It's a good looking table. You picked up one thing I would do next time and that's to add castors to the table legs. I now use my floor jack to move my table back and forth in my garage but the wheels would help. Make sure the table is strong enough for you to stand on it. I've spent many hours on top of the table for various reasons.

What type of welding do you anticipate? MIG, TIG or ?

Good luck on your time goal.

Cheers,
Roy

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PostPosted: December 28, 2012, 7:14 pm 
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RoyzMG wrote:
You're off to a good start. It's a good looking table. You picked up one thing I would do next time and that's to add castors to the table legs. I now use my floor jack to move my table back and forth in my garage but the wheels would help. Make sure the table is strong enough for you to stand on it. I've spent many hours on top of the table for various reasons.

What type of welding do you anticipate? MIG, TIG or ?

Good luck on your time goal.

Cheers,
Roy

I am going to get a Mig welder I only have 110V in the garage and I want to spend about $500. HD have a 140 Watt one but they do not provide gas so I will find a place that supplies gas and see if they have any deals going for the whole rig.

The table is plenty strong enough both me and my wife sat on it with no problems. It has bowed a little though so I need to do something about that before I weld the frame together.

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PostPosted: December 28, 2012, 9:27 pm 
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Good for you!! Good for your wife also in being cool with it.
Make sure you get that garage all cleaned out as you will be making a lot of hot sparks with cutting, welding and grinding. It's sooo easy to start a fire. I've seen it a few times in shops that seem to be clear of flammables. Them sparks seem to find the worst places to land.
Look forward to seeing your progress. :cheers:


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PostPosted: January 6, 2013, 10:38 pm 
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I took the wife for a first drive, she though it would have been less scary
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I have managed to acquire a donor car which I should be picking up this week it is the 2001 Miata with the 140HP engine and torsen diff.

My friend also lent me a steering wheel and although the shocks are not ideal for the locost they retail for about $1500 and they cost me $200 mates rates. Hopefully they will work for the car as they are designed for a 2200LB car so I hope they will perform well enough on a 1400lb car and they are fully adjustable.
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I was awarded 2012 STX class Champion in my Rx8 and also won the cone killer award for hitting 26 cones on 2012.
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PostPosted: January 7, 2013, 10:15 am 
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Yo, Paul-
Gulfcoast Autocrossers! Where are you? We might have some mutual friends...

You won "Cone King" with only 26 cones? Damn, you guys are good. My buddy James won it a few years ago in Dixie Region with 80-something cones, and only ran 10 events. :shock:

The "test drive" picture is great! Does the wife know you posted pics of her in her jammies on the internet??? (Could be worse, there's pics of barely clothed Chinese women in my build log. Try 'splainin' that!!?!?!?)

:cheers:
JDK

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"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


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PostPosted: January 7, 2013, 6:23 pm 
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GonzoRacer wrote:
Yo, Paul-
Gulfcoast Autocrossers! Where are you? We might have some mutual friends...

You won "Cone King" with only 26 cones? Damn, you guys are good. My buddy James won it a few years ago in Dixie Region with 80-something cones, and only ran 10 events. :shock:

The "test drive" picture is great! Does the wife know you posted pics of her in her jammies on the internet??? (Could be worse, there's pics of barely clothed Chinese women in my build log. Try 'splainin' that!!?!?!?)

:cheers:
JDK

I live in Sarasota FL. I race in Ft Myers, Sarasota, St Petes, and Orlando. I am sure we have some common friends. I will be going to the Dixie National Tour this year in my Rx8. Hopefully I will see you there. If you have your Locost there it would be great to check it out and pick your brain.
Not sure if the wife know I put the pic up..... Oh well I might have to buy additional flowers at some point.

As for the cones I though I would have got more than that total. I had 8 events with about 45 runs total, so about half a cone per run. I thought I was doing quite well. I think part of it is attendance and the competition is pretty fierce at Gulf Coast Autocrossers. It is the best venue in South Florida. Apart from maybe the bay bottom crawl in the keys but that is only once per year.

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PostPosted: January 12, 2013, 9:12 pm 
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Well I got the welder working.

Then when I was getting my tires switch for the race on Sunday in my Rx8 I asked my buddy about good engines to use. He said S2000 and I said it would be perfect but the are expensive. Long story short he knew a guy who was selling one for $2000 so guess what I have sitting in my garage. Its the F20C 2.2 liter with transmission not sure the exact mileage but it has 20K at its last service 1 year before it was totaled so I guess 30-40K.
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PostPosted: January 13, 2013, 12:54 am 
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very cool.

I assume you're intending to autox it... watch the 2.2l - stuffs you into E mod and that's a brutally hard class nationally (not that D mod is magically easy)

good luck with the build. I'm definitely interested in watching it come along.

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PostPosted: January 13, 2013, 7:55 am 
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Tongboy wrote:
very cool.

I assume you're intending to autox it... watch the 2.2l - stuffs you into E mod and that's a brutally hard class nationally (not that D mod is magically easy)

good luck with the build. I'm definitely interested in watching it come along.


Sucks that it puts me into E-Mod, to be honest I want it for fast fun but we shall see how competitive I get, what is the minimum weight for E-Mod isn't it 1800Lbs if so I might need a fat friend to be in the passenger seat.
For this build I just want to get it running and take it to the track, I want to keep it simple and cheap, I think the MKII would be a for Nationals. I have driven similar cars at autocross and the thrill of the wind in your face and the gut crunching corning speeds if what I am looking for.

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PostPosted: January 13, 2013, 8:57 am 
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Driving critique:
In that "test drive" picture, you're looking at the dashboard, while the little guy is obviously focused, looking ahead. Maybe he'll give you a few pointers before you go autocrossin' again... No wonder you hit all those cones... :mrgreen:
Great Picture!
:cheers:
JDK

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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


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PostPosted: January 13, 2013, 4:59 pm 
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wrightcomputing wrote:
Tongboy wrote:
very cool.

I assume you're intending to autox it... watch the 2.2l - stuffs you into E mod and that's a brutally hard class nationally (not that D mod is magically easy)

good luck with the build. I'm definitely interested in watching it come along.


Sucks that it puts me into E-Mod, to be honest I want it for fast fun but we shall see how competitive I get, what is the minimum weight for E-Mod isn't it 1800Lbs if so I might need a fat friend to be in the passenger seat.
For this build I just want to get it running and take it to the track, I want to keep it simple and cheap, I think the MKII would be a for Nationals. I have driven similar cars at autocross and the thrill of the wind in your face and the gut crunching corning speeds if what I am looking for.


it's amazing what .2 liters will get you with SCCA.

2l in Dmod is 1420lbs w/driver - that weight takes some work depending on the driver weight

up to 3.2l in Emod is 1750 w/driver - expect 200lbs of ballast to get to this without trying too hard for low weight. Of course with emod you have enough room left that you could turbo the f22 and fit within the weight/rules.

But you're totally right - it doesn't matter the class unless you want to run nationally. it's going to be a blast either way.

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PostPosted: January 13, 2013, 6:37 pm 
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Just a thought.

The 2.2 seems to be better mated to the 2.0 engine transmission and conversely the the 2.0 mated to the 2.2 transmission.

They lowered the gear ratios 5% on the 2.2 at the same time they lowered the rev limits of the engine. The 2.0 can benefit from the slightly lower gear ratios of the 2.2 tranny and the 2.2 benefits from the slightly higher ratios of the earlier transmission (first becomes more useful).

The time to do this is before you have your car built as you have to change either the transmission or driveshaft flanges.

I've played with this on the S2000 and on a couple of Locosts.

But somehow in all my mix & matching I've ended up with a 2.2 w/an early transmission for my locost and the stock configuration on my S2000. I'm currently on the hunt for a good 2.2 transmission for my car.

This is one of those easy mix & match things at this stage of the game for you and on an autocross course might buy you a few less awkward shifts just before the next turn in cone where you have to choose whether to upshift with an immediate downshift or just bounce off the rev limiter for a little while.

People in the 2.0 cars do it mostly for the reduced revs at hwy speeds because the downside is that it gives the car a shift just below the 60 mph spot which can be awkward in a lot of autocross courses. Of course the Locost is in at least one higher gear selection at the same place on the same course so it's not an issue in a Locost.

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PostPosted: January 13, 2013, 10:35 pm 
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GonzoRacer wrote:
Driving critique:
In that "test drive" picture, you're looking at the dashboard, while the little guy is obviously focused, looking ahead. Maybe he'll give you a few pointers before you go autocrossin' again... No wonder you hit all those cones... :mrgreen:
Great Picture!
:cheers:
JDK


I just noticed that my son is definitely ready for the left hand sweeper that is coming up and I am wondering what that rattle is in my non existent steering column.

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PostPosted: January 13, 2013, 11:04 pm 
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carguy123 wrote:
Just a thought.

The 2.2 seems to be better mated to the 2.0 engine transmission and conversely the the 2.0 mated to the 2.2 transmission.

They lowered the gear ratios 5% on the 2.2 at the same time they lowered the rev limits of the engine. The 2.0 can benefit from the slightly lower gear ratios of the 2.2 tranny and the 2.2 benefits from the slightly higher ratios of the earlier transmission (first becomes more useful).

The time to do this is before you have your car built as you have to change either the transmission or driveshaft flanges.

I've played with this on the S2000 and on a couple of Locosts.

But somehow in all my mix & matching I've ended up with a 2.2 w/an early transmission for my locost and the stock configuration on my S2000. I'm currently on the hunt for a good 2.2 transmission for my car.

This is one of those easy mix & match things at this stage of the game for you and on an autocross course might buy you a few less awkward shifts just before the next turn in cone where you have to choose whether to upshift with an immediate downshift or just bounce off the rev limiter for a little while.

People in the 2.0 cars do it mostly for the reduced revs at hwy speeds because the downside is that it gives the car a shift just below the 60 mph spot which can be awkward in a lot of autocross courses. Of course the Locost is in at least one higher gear selection at the same place on the same course so it's not an issue in a Locost.

Interesting idea but I don't really want to change the tranny, I would never forgive myself if I went with an older transmission and the gears were grinding or anything, then if I was to crack the tranny I would want to change the clutch and flywheel and currently I want to keep the cost to a minimum improvement like that can come later once she is running and I know it weaknesses..

I have also been doing reading on the engines and the differences between F20C and F22C and apparently if I use the F20C ECU I can maintain the 9K RPM redline so I will probably go that route, obviously lots of research will be done first. It sounds like the F22C consistently make more WHP too not that it really matters in a 1400LB with 240HP, its still lots, I am more interested in getting that power down.

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