LocostUSA.com

Works for me!

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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

Great Build !!!

Love the drivetrain, can't wait to see it hit the scales. Plus I want to see more pics, a build this cool need more pics

Cheers,

Fred

Yep,
One of the coolest looking cars I think. Some were even built with a solid front axle if I recall.
I like ol number 9 there.

Don

I'm sure he doesn't mean REAL flames. I don't think he's being envious only constructive.

But then again, with a name like GonzoRacer you never can tell.

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mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

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

Oopsie, mis-spoke... "It needs a flame paint job on the sheet metal around the hole." There, that's what I meant!

Although, a flame thrower hidden under the transaxle could provide hours of entertainment...

NOW YOU'RE TALKING!

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

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

I'm using the same transaxle arrangement, was hoping to cover the transaxle with the spare tire, but might just go with the "it's not a bug, it's a feature!" approach.

Someone else asked about where the starter was, if it's set up like the 924, the starter is on the front. There is a hole in the bellhousing that's used for the slave cylinder in front applications (audi) and used to pass the shifter linkage through on the rear applications (porsche). You can't run a flywheel in the back because the shifter arm would go right through it.

Thanks, guys for the feed back. Today I’ll cover the power train.

The motor was from the beetle. It’s nothing extreme a 1915CC with 94 mm cylinders. The heads are 44 casting with larger valves. The cam is an Engle W120 cam is hot street cam. The carbs are Webber Dual 44 IDF’s with CB performance linkage. I had a Bosch 009 distributor but converted it over to CB Performance Digital programmable ignition last week. The motor was purchased as a turnkey and was rated at 120 HP. Future plans is to replace the heads with a CNC ported pair from CB performance and replace the jugs at the same time. But that’s later on.




The bell housing is from a VW bus. Since on the Type 1 transaxle the bell housing is part of the casting I needed to source another option. I picked up a Bus transmission off craigslist cheep, stole the bell housing and resold the trans. Inside the bell housing lives the clutch and flywheel. The fly wheel is a 12lbs machined forged with a Kennedy clutch disc and 1700 pound pressure plate. Also a high torque starter has been added. The 924 bell housing would not work for a couple of reasons. First it the engines in a 924 is tilted and second the bell housing bolt pattern does not match. The last item with the bell housing was making an adapter plate to bolt the torque tube to the bell housing. This ended up being rather simple since the both surface where flat. I only needed to match the depth of the vw type 1 transaxle input shaft to the input shaft of the torque tube. The distance needed to space the torque tube if I recall around .900 inches so a quick mill of a one inch piece of aluminum worked perfectly.



The torque tube and transaxle are 924 components. I have an early 924 4 speed with a tall second gear and also a 5speed version. Currently I installed the 4 speed since my plan is to autocross the car locally the first year and sort some thing out and next winter start making it road legal. The only other modification I did to this assembly was shorten the shift linkage bar about 10 inches and remount the shifter to a location that was more Locost 7 friendly.

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Chris White
Locost 7 type 1 power and a rear transaxle
Lotus Elise Sold
ND Club Miata
Nissan Titan Sold
Rubi Wrangler
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=13200

Chris,
Curious as to what the weight % is front to rear, should be well balanced. Is the torque tube stock length?
Looks like plenty of room to move the engine back if you need to later on.

Don

Don,
Hopefully in the next week or so I should be barrowing a set of scales, I know a couple with them. It will be rear heavy; I believe it will be close though. The Torque Tube is stock length, the tube would be easy to cut down but it might be difficult to find some able to spline in that size. I'm sure it can be done though. As far as moving the engine back, I don't feel there is a need to.

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Chris White
Locost 7 type 1 power and a rear transaxle
Lotus Elise Sold
ND Club Miata
Nissan Titan Sold
Rubi Wrangler
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=13200

That is some great work. I can't believe the stock torque tube fits as nicely as it does.

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-Andrew
Build Log
Youtube

As you said shortening the tube is trivial, but you don't have to respline the shaft, you can cut a section out of the middle and reweld it, keeping the original splines.

Neat-O! While you may have made some design compromises to use this unique drivetrain, it totally all seems to fit with the spirit of the build and help add even more character.

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-Justin

"Orville Wright did not have a pilots license." - Gordon MacKenzie

These drive shafts are much smaller diameter and also have bearings in the torque tube, so not having to modify it is probably good for peace of mind. Might work fine, but not messing with something is always a help. I'm surprised it fit too. That's great.

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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.

Being smaller makes it less critical, as all the mass is closer to the centerline of rotation. I've cut mine so that the joint ends up in front of the frontmost bearing, so I can use a sleeve over the joint as well.

I'll be using the same method as many of us do when shortening steering racks, taper both sides into a cone and weld while clamped straight. If I'm going to trust my welding for things like steering and suspension pickups, I'll trust it for the driveshaft too. Worst case, I get stranded somewhere.