LocostUSA.com

Well works continue on the locost.

Started the dash. I made a mistake in my dimentions for the gauges and realised after I had already cut 2 holes... Well no big deal, I've done a quick fix. I'm still missing my voltmeter and oil pressur Light, plus the Logger push button and LED. I'll make a new dash next winter. Right now I need to finish this car Since I'm redoing some renovation in the garage and need to get everything out for April 1st, well deadlines can abe a good thing. Yes I have 2 colors of gauge on purpose... Black is temperature ( water and oil) Silver is oil pressure...


Made a Decision on the shocks, I went with QA1 82 series small body shock. I like the fact that I can revalve them and rebuild them. I'm also happy that my local supplier can get me anything from QA1 at a very good price. Yup that means a Shock Dyno... I've got some locost ideas and will exp-lore them once the car is done. I've kept the same spring selection as Marc's car. 300lbs up front 200 at the rear, first indication it may be a bit stiff for rough surfaces, but on smooth track It should work out good. In either case I'll be playing with valving and springs.







I also worked on th rad & fan shroud. Nothing fancy, nothing complicated. The fan is an ebay unit... It's pretty slim and the price was right. I have to admitt that I don't have much space between the rad and the chassis. I didn't have much freedom in the shroud design. Will see how it works.

The fan bracket are just aluminium tabs, I've seen a few people do it and it made sense to me so why reinvent the wheel.


The Shroud is just a piece of aluminium that I bended the sides. I then cut the opening for the fan.


For the radiator shroud I revited the sides to the fan shroud and put in some rivnuts to screw the top piece.

Without the nose.




With the nose.




I also made a couple of covers for some water opening that I wont need and the distributor cap.
I know quite a few people use freeze plugs. I just went with a piece of aluminium that screws in. I made me feel more confortable... Yup I know stupid, but on the track I'd rather not have my stupid wories on my mind.


one of the water port for the heater. No heater in a race car.


Cheers,

Fred

It's my understanding that you don't need a shroud on the backside of the rad. The fan pulls out of the center and there's "seepage" in the other areas.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

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

The issue that I saw with my installation was that the fan was about 1/2 inch from the rad. As air will take the path of least resistance only a fraction of the fan suction would be going trough the rad, the rest would be comming from the side and top. I agree if the fan would be right on the rad a shroud would not be necessary, but I'm not comfortable with that option. Yes on the first car that's what we did and we did not put a shroud on it for that reason.

I'm going to seal the top and bottom side with a stick on foam, as I want access to bolt the fan to tge brackets/shroud.

The truth is will only know for sure once we run in the heat. especially when were stuck on the grid.

Cheers,

Fred

You're really moving along, nothing like a deadline to keep the pressure on.

Looks like we're both using similar fans only mines a "blower" mounted ahead of the rad. Mine sounds like a turbine, I can actually hear it over the engine sounds. It really moves the air though. I havn't put any baffle around the perimeter of the rad but I'll monior the temperatures and see if what I have does the job.

Ron

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They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. By the time you finish the car it'll feel like you've done it on your knees.

Well done. Lots of nice details overall.

The 1969 Lotus S3 with the Lotus Twin Cam has a contoured, composite blister fitted to the standard aluminum bonnet. Will you be building a box around the trumpets with a 1/2" flange to seat against the underside of the bonnet, isolated by foam tape?

Where did Marc get his muffler?

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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

Thanks Guys...

Yhea the deadline basically translates in having to say no to all those request from my racing buddies... I feel I have plenty of time, if I only concentrate on the locost only.

The muffler, or "Silencer" as they call them is from Raceco in the UK. It's a titanium unit that sell for 500pounds. Not Locost at all. It's an amazing unit, and extremlly effective... Noise from the exhaust is no longer an issue with that unit. http://www.raceco.com/

As for the intake for the Carbs, I'm still debating what I will do. A proper sealed Airbox is in the plan and might be required to control noise. On the Green Moster (Civic) we busted the sound limites comming to the sound meter, never going away. At this stage I may just do a scoop and run sock filters. The airbox will required a blister and I may need to start doing some composite work. I'D rather tackle the project once the car is done and the Garage is renovated.

Cheers,

Fred

Car looks great,those block offs look like a carbon copy of what I made for my corolla-great minds as they say right?

I've been looking at dampers for awhile,and those Qa1's were near the top of my list but I'd prefer externally adjustable.I'd be interested in your thoughts as I'm about to order double adjustable promo stars from summit racing-maybe your supplier could give a quote to see how they compare?.

Yhea great minds really think alike.

As for my supplier, I posted his info a while back here... I've had great service from Carl since he arrived at Perry's... Give him a call 450 662 8886 or email carlwener@hotmail.com , so far the only thing that he is unable to supply for a locost are the steel and fiberglass. He doesn't have the stuff on stock, but to the alternative to order in the states, have it drop in plattsburg and then having to drive down there and back it's a no brainer...

I look long and hard at the QA1 shocks and the different range, Funny since, when I posted the link I was going with the PromoStar in June, I then ask to wait and changed my mind. Yes Marc's Koni's double adjustable units are great , but I wanted the ability to learn tuning the shocks. The Promostar are interesting, and the double adjustable version is tempting, but my issue with them was their size, and I'm sceptical of the effectiveness of those knobs on shocks of less than 800$ a pop. The other problem that I had with them was that you can't rebuild them yourself. I've got a buddy with a set and they started leaking after a month... I've heard them same thing about GAS and AVO... [PooPoo] happens so I'm not going to pass judgement as it seams that all brands have some units that leak and that's life , but with that in mind, I want to have the ability to rebuild them on the spot if we discover an issue during our regular Bolt Checks.

I'll ask Carl about the double adjustable Promostar.

Cheers,

Fred

Thats a bit steep for a muffler. I'd love to see the internals. Philip H. Smith's book, "Scientific design of exhaust and intake systems" goes into to detail about making mufflers. It's old (my copy is from 1970) but lots of good info.

_________________
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

Oh its crazy Carl,that guy knows how to party!!.

He was a mess the 2nd day of the canadian nationals in '07 if I recall correctly.

I hadn't heard of leaking problems with the promostars,I was kinda nervous of having the ability to rebuild my own dampers-figure I could screw them up pretty quick and if I missadjusted one with a knob it would be easily returned without pulling parts.

Yhea that Carl,

Yup I heard he was a mess... Great around guy, happy that he's one of my racing buddies... We always have a blast on road trips and the events ate ASE. Did very well again with the Type R in D-Stock at Lincoln this year...

I'll post our schedule, but he sure did a good one for 2010 !!!!!

He'll know who I am,copper corolla guy-I priced hooiser slicks with him this year but didn't buy any at all due to selling the car.I'll buy next years set with him,maybe a pkg deal can be arranged for dampers and tires.

What kind of loot were the rebuildables by the time all the hardware and rebuild kit were added in?(you can pm me if you like)

I'll look up my bill as I had a lot of rod ends on it. It was reasonable... the difference was that the 82 series are naked and require a the coilover kit

Cheers,

Fred

Cool stuff, buddy.

I noticed you turned the tach to the point which I assume the needle goes vertical when it's time to shift (I know that's how I've done it in my miata).
You may want to continue on the same line and turn the temp and pressure gauges to the angle that their respective needles are vertical at a normal reading - anything beyond that should attract your eyes to take a better look.

Moti

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Moti

My R1 powered Locost build log

Visit the Blackbird Fabworx Facebook Page!

Thanks Moti,

Yup that's the idea, get those needles at 12 oclock... anything out of that position is cause for concern.

Cheers,

Fred