LocostUSA.com

Like I said, many mfgs keep the pump going if the engine is still running after an impact.

I could show you lots of photos of Toyotas that have burned for no apparrent reason and burning usually makes it tough to determine the cause of the fire. I'm sure you could show me as many or more melting Fords.

Of course, your car is not a Toyota and has not been crash tested to support a less drastic approach to protection post-impact.

I'm just telling you what I would do. Your head is the most important piece of safety equipment.

_________________
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

A little more progress...
All brake lines installed and bled...no leaks and a nice hard pedal. Good!
The rear filled with juice, added a vent on the top, no leaks. Better!
Changed out the leaking hoses that came with the Trans-Dapt remote oil filter. Spun the engine to check for leaks, no leaks this time. One issue cropped up that I may or may not have to address. The NPT to AN adapter makes the connection long enough that the hose end is really close to my steering shaft...not hitting with a non-running engine and depending on how much stuff moves when it is running, hard to tell. I will leave it for now, but something may need to move if I see excessive rubbing. Just OK!
Nagging my friend to bend the roll bar tubing. C'mon Billy, 2 bends and I already figured it out for you!
Got some stainless steel bits to finish up the exhaust. Maybe this weekend. Once that is done I can start the motor and start tuning the MegaSquirt.
Still have a bunch of wiring, need to get glass for the windshield and still waiting for the shocks to show up.
The last little details take forever it seems. The good news is that with very little work this thing can move under its own power.
Paul

_________________
Parts left out cost nothing and cause no problems!!

Paul, that's great news. You've done really well with this!

_________________
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.

I find this to be easily the biggest obstacle in building a Locost.

Well, I thought I could finish my exhaust tonight. I have the GTS headers that I cut the last flange off of and welded a piece of stainless tubing to it as an extension. The plan was to weld the flange back on the end of the extension. Then I took my opened up motorcycle muffler, cut off the slip-on and planned to weld a matching flange on there, then bolt the whole thing up. Major glitch.... I started to weld the stainless steel flange to the muffler inlet and the muffler tubing is not stainless steel as I thought. I dont know for sure what it is. Sparks very bright when cut with abrasive wheel...that probably should have tipped me off. I am guessing titanium. So, I would still like to use it but will have to find an adapter to slip over the 60mm OD inlet pipe and then step down to the 2 OD inch pipe I have coming out of the header. Anyone ever see such a beast? I think I will try NAPA tomorrow. Failing at that, I guess I need a different muffler.
I am so disappointed! Once I had that in place I was going to try to start it.

_________________
Parts left out cost nothing and cause no problems!!

Broke down and just ordered a Magnaflow from Summit. I REALLY want this car running! No more screwing around scrounging parts...just open the wallet and move on!

_________________
Parts left out cost nothing and cause no problems!!

I feel your pain... But sometimes, buying the right part is the way to go. This sounds like one of 'em!

_________________
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

Paul, I'm with Miatav8 on the inertial switch. You can still control the fuel pump from the ECU on the +12v side. Just wire the inertial switch into the pump's ground line. If you get hit or hit something it will interupt the pump's ground line and shut down the fuel pump. Easy to reset with the push of a button. It can keep your bacon from frying

Like this one http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-890145/ I bought mine from NAPA and happy it's there. Cheap insurance!

BTW, Great build!

_________________
Cheers, Tom

My Car9 build: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=14613
"It's the construction of the car-the sheer lunacy and joy of making diverse parts come together and work as one-that counts."
Ultima Spyder, Northstar 4.0, Porsche G50/52

I will add the inertia switch before I put it on the road. I just added it to my "To Do" spreadsheet.
So muffler showed up...hoping for successful completion of exhaust this weekend.
Paul

_________________
Parts left out cost nothing and cause no problems!!

Got the exhaust finished last night. Time to start working on getting the engine running...the joys of MegaSquirt.
I wish my shocks were here so that I could get this thing off blocks and move it around.

_________________
Parts left out cost nothing and cause no problems!!

It's fine to put on the +12V side too. whichever is easier. It's a little more intuitive on the + side. That way your ground stays simple and you don't wonder if it can ground in the case or something... It works because you want both the switch and the ECU to say to turn on the pump, so putting them in line is fine.

Fill us in on all the Megasquirt gory details. I'm sure lot's of people are wondering about this...

_________________
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.

Arghhh....Negative progress!!!!
This thing really wants to continue its life as a garage ornament.
So yesterday, I got the Megasquirt properly detecting the Nippondenso dual wheel distributor and I was working on getting the tooth offset correct so that the ECU knew where TDC was. As I was spinning the motor on the starter, I noticed a few drips of oil on the garage floor...."grrr, where the heck is that coming from?"
Got my bright flashlight and spun the motor again and saw a bit of seepage coming out from under the head. Let the expletives fly! Actually all I said was "Ah, frick!!!!" Wife comes running out to the garage to make sure I did not lop off or damage any of my body parts. "I am fine dear, but I can not believe what I am seeing". Anyway, we were having company for dinner so I went in to make the clam sauce and homemade pasta, which was enjoyed by all.
Now, I built this motor over 4 years ago without ever having started it and I figured maybe the head gasket (of unknown quality as it was given to me..."its a gasket, good enough" was the thinking) relaxed from sitting all that time and a retorquing was in order. The head bolts on the exhaust side of the motor can be accessed without removing the cams, so I figured "Lets see if they are tight". Meanwhile I am really grouchy about the whole thing as I have assembled over 100 motors and NEVER have had a head gasket leak.
Back to my cathartic yarn/rant...
So I grab my 10mm hex key drive, stick it in the torque wrench and they do feel under-tightened. So just because I can, I loosen the bolts on the exhaust side of the motor and start retorquing them. On the second to last bolt the hex key falls out of its socket and drops down an oil passageway under the exhaust cam. Magnet fails to retrieve. More pseudo-swearing....time to go to bed.
This battle needs to wait for another day.

_________________
Parts left out cost nothing and cause no problems!!

I feel your pain there buddy but my build is similar with a 4AGE with carbs and megajolt. I just got mine started the other day after about three years and I can promise you that when she fires up and runs it will all be worthwhile. Like a great weight being lifted off your shoulders and a bright light at the end of the tunnel. Oh Jeez forgive me for getting so.....Weird! But it will be good!

Hang in there. You are so close to having a running car.

Look on the plus side - at least you did not find the oil leak after it dumped all of the oil and ate its self.

_________________
-Andrew
Build Log
Youtube

Hey, having an oil leak indicates you at least remembered to put some in in the first place. Things could have gone the other way. Don't ask about my transmission. And somebody else here (names will not be mentioned) made the same error. So you are ahead of the curve.

Keep plugging away as we all know you will.

_________________
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