LocostUSA.com

OOOOHHHHHH....... AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

_________________
Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

And don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766

Beautiful workmanship, and a very helpful tutorial at the same time.

_________________
Chris


Build log http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=12374
Completed build showcase http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=16865

Yeah, what he said! Thanks for posting the info. Car is lookin' good!

_________________
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

The build is coming along. I wanted to fab up a boot to keep rain gear, can of flat repair, tools, etc., but before I could do that I needed to install the lic plate light and lic plate mount hardware, but before I do that I needed to polish the aluminum. See a pattern here? This is what a build is like - a chess game - you have to think several moves ahead.

So I polished the back end and both sides of the 7. Mounted the lic plate light and mount hardware.


Then I started to fab up the boot.


Then my son brought back the nose that he finished doing the body work on and painted white. Still undecided what kind of paint scheme is going on the 7. So I had to put it on the frame to see what it looks like. Then I figured I would start to work on the bonnet, the boot can wait. I know we can use descripters like trunk and hood but boot and bonnet seem to describe the 7 better (or sounds sexier).

Anyhow, sexy or not, here's the pics of 1/2 a bonnet in the stages of being fitted.

_________________
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

Yo, Perry-
That's some kinda polishing job on the body panels, Dude! Do ya hafta wear shades in the shop now?

The hood, errr, 'scuse me, bonnet is coming along too. That's the part of the build that most folks seem to struggle with. (Me included, I just haven't got there yet!)

Keep up the good work, and keep the pictures coming!

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

Your car is looking really sharp, Perry. I like the hinged boot - very clever.

Cheers,

_________________
Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886

Wow, I'm really disappointed the nose isn't aluminum too. Just kidding, looks fabulous. And it should probably be aluminium, not aluminum.

Horchoha, I just read through all 20 pages of your build log in one go (oops, supposed to be working...), and I have to say that's it's very inspiring. Your fabrication work is amazing. I'm rather jealous of your shop, too.

This is one of my favourite build logs so far for several reasons:
First, you reused as much as possible from your donor car. I'm hoping I can do the same thing, and not resort to buying a lot of expensive, custom parts. My fabrication skills are no match for yours, but I'm learning.
Second, you actually managed to get the thing almost done in just over a year, which is the time line I'm shooting for. Many of the cars that have been built over 5+ years are very nice, but it would be hard to stay motivated over that period. Plenty of home built airplane projects for sale for that reason, and it's why I haven't started one yet (thought about doing a Zodiac 601HDS for a long time).
And the final reason, it's great to see a "local" Locost build. I'm looking forward to seeing how your inspection/registration process goes, as well as the final costs for your project.

Keep up the good work!

I was hoping you would use the original chevette wheels with small hubs caps and narrow fenders. Still looks great. I guess those are 15x7 ministocks?

_________________
Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
LxWxHt
360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12

Actually they're 15"x7" stock car series from Diamond Racing
http://www.diamondracingwheels.com/stockcar.html
Their mini stocks only come in 13" steel.

Believe me if the rear diff housing would have been 3" wider, you would see OEM rims on it, but I'm not sorry I bought these. They kind of remind of the deep dish mags I used to have when I was a kid in the 70's. (I mean when I was a younger kid)

_________________
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

I just wanted to share a couple of things that worked for me when working with aluminum, if it would make someone elses build a little easier, great. Get yourself 3 or 4 concrete landscape bricks and wrap them in shop rags and tape, they're excellent for that 3rd hand in holding a construction paper template on a sheet to trace or keeping a sheet flat on the build table.

Next tip. I needed to cut a perfectly straight edge to follow the bonnet hinge line, a wavy cut would be an eye catcher here. My aluminum is .040" half hard I believe, Mookie would be the expert on that, many thanks guy. So I clamped down a straight edge along my cut line and used a retractable razor knife to score the aluminum.

First score is fairly light, then I press harder for another 10 or so times. You can see a noticable score.


You can even see the score on the back side of the sheet.

Clamp the sheet with a long board to the table edge along the score, bend back and forth a few times and you end up with a perfectly straight cut, locost style.

Hope this is useful.

_________________
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

Definitely!

Cheers,

_________________
Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886

It often seems like a good idea to me to bond strips of aluminum like that to the edges of bigger panel. It should stiffen it up and make the edges less damage prone. Another strip or two spanning the curve should help too. It wouldn't add any weight to speak of and the loads on the bond would be small enough that it should be durable...

_________________
Marcus Barrow - Car9 an open design community supported sports car for home builders!
SketchUp collection for LocostUSA: "Dream it, Build it, Drive it!"
Car9 Roadster information - models, drawings, resources etc.

Who would have thought that leather could make you giggle. Just a couple of pics.


Oh yeah, did you notice the side by side dual exhuast? That makes me giggle too.

_________________
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

Perry, there are so many bad things that could be said in response to that statement. I'm trying to restrain myself...

Sheet metal work looks amazing! Thanks for the pictures and tutorials.

JD Kemp

_________________
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