LocostUSA.com

Yes, I understand, and I agree a decimal system is better, but using inches isn't really all that hard. For example, on the front of my frame, one of the demensions is 14.87in. Well, just forget about that extra 5 thousands and call it 14 7/8. A length demension shows 95.9 in. For all practical purposes, that's a shade more than 95 7/8. One of my clients is a company that makes suspensions parts for major manufacturers, Nissan, Honda, Toyota, etc. They use all these fancy robots and fixtures and such. Guess what? They don't get things any closer.

Once you get the hang of metric, it's so much easier. One of my favorite tools is my 5M tape measure.

Here's two direct options, a good ( to 100ths ) decimal inch tape measure from Stanley and a Lufkin combo metric / inch tape:

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/menus/to/measure_tape.html

I think you can just build the frame to the metric measurements and buy American size hardware for it. I don't think anyone refers to imperial units anymore, USA is essentially the only non metric country in the world. Except maybe for Burma? Even then we're actually metric, the people just don't know it yet. Domestic cars have used metric for 25 years now.

I think the metric tapes at Sears etc. is a good idea...

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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!"
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Use whatever you're most comfortable with. You're less likely to make mistakes that way. And try to avoid doing a lot of converting from one to the other, for the same reason.

Ha, I'm one of the lucky ones who started with imperial for the first 6 years of school and metric was brought in for the last 6 years (back in the 70's). I'm allowed to screw up with both!

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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

Photoman, after thinking about it more in the shower this morning (lets be real, this is where the mental magic happens), I was thinking the same thing... just round up/down to the nearest 1/16th and make note of it. Chances are good I'll have bigger gaps from poor cutting/filing anyway, and you're right.. most manufacturers have tolerances of a couple thousand anyway. I really think I was just overthinking it, taking in when I was building engines, and tens of thousandths counted.

I agree with everyone else... metric is way easier than imperial. That is, as far as length goes anyway. That whole Celsius nonsense on the other hand... I'll keep my Fahrenheit any day!

Anyway, updated the "About" page on my site, and added in a "Future Ideas" page as well. Got a few lines drawn on the table last night.. but the wife came home from work sick, so I tended to that and worked on the site a bit. This is going to be a slow process. HAHA.

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-Brad
Build Log: http://www.BrokeAssSeven.com -- http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=13293

This build is already locosting a fortune...

And that would be one of the funniest things ever written in here, if it weren't SO TRUE!

But, compared to the cost of a new Porsche, or even a Mustang, we're gettin' off cheap!
And besides, where else could we have this much fun?

Hang in there, Buddy...

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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

Haha, amen to that. For what it is, and what it will be... it's absolutely a locost option to anything that will be able to keep up with it. But oh boy, watching the bank account drain realllll quick over here! Luckily I have an account JUST for this car, so once it's empty.. just gotta keep on saving! I think this is going to be the biggest hold back as far as time goes... not going to risk dipping into my other accounts.. gotta make sure that mortgage gets paid! For now, I already have all the steel, most if not all the tools i'll need, the build table... so I've certainly got plenty to do without spending any more!

Now I just need to find someone that will trade my Subaru SVX for a Miata or 240!

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-Brad
Build Log: http://www.BrokeAssSeven.com -- http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=13293

This build is already locosting a fortune...

Pretty much, that is what I can do in my head. I've worked back and forth from metric to fractional inches to decimal inches and back again for so many years, it is almost second nature. Well, now I'm having just a bit more difficult time, truth be told. I tell myself it is lack of practice. One can only mark via a pencil to about 1/32" then trying to follow that with cutting will add some more tolerance. By converting decimal to inches, you can round the the nearest 1/16". But I make a mental note of whether that rounding is close to the middle or on the + or _ side of that nearest 1/16" So I'll say to myself something like 21-13/16+" and mark it slightly longer than 21-13/16" ......

You can further cut half your error (pun intended) by making the first cut, then measuring to the 2nd cut rather than marking both ends first and then cutting both ends.

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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

Somebody on here posted a saying his father used, can't remember where I got it from, exactly, or who... Paraphrasing, it went something like, "Measure with a micrometer, mark with chalk, cut with an axe." It's too often true. I usually cut whatever a bit too long and trim tiny bits off. Tedious, but it works. James calls it "sneaking up on it." (Assuming, of course, that the first "too long" cut doesn't miraculously become "too short" while you walk from chopsaw to table!)

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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

Good thinking with the +/-. Mark in between the 1/16s depending on +/-. And yes, always measure from the cut to the next cut... I never mark more than one cut at a time.. material taken away always messes that up!

In the end, I wasn't really too worried about 1/16", but if you're short 1/16" 8 times, that's 1/2" and that's a big deal... it compounds fast. That's what I'm worried about, making small changes, and in the end, something not fitting at all and having no idea where it went wrong... only for it to be wrong in 10+ places, with no resolution besides adding small structural members and losing the inherent rigidity of single pieces.

I see building you're own frame as a huge safety concern/liability... so I just want to be sure I'm on top of this. Especially if it's something dumb that can be avoided, you know?

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-Brad
Build Log: http://www.BrokeAssSeven.com -- http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=13293

This build is already locosting a fortune...

That is one of the biggest problems we have in our fabrication shop when we hire people without a lot of experiance, and something i was guilty of my first project. They read the print and see +/- a 1/16 and think they can cut each part to that tolerance and end up with a unit that is an inch to long or short. You will always get the best results if you mark and cut each part as closely as you can to the required dimension. Maybe i was being a little anal but i cut all of my parts to a 1/64 and ended up only being 1/16 off in the end. Was this necessary? probably not, because all of the parts are going to be custom and fit to the frame. In reality i think the only ones that really matter are the location of the suspension mounts.

Whew, at least I'm not the only one. ..... Had to re-cut several stair railings to make them fit the very first time I did a fab job, what a PITA. 1/16" times 30-something steps really added up
The worst part was, I built the jig with the same over length stringers Thank goodness my boss at the time had made the same mistake once in his youth. .....

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"There are times when a broken tool is better than a sound one, or a twisted personality more useful than a whole one.
For instance, a whole beer bottle isn't half the weapon that half a beer bottle is ..." Randall Garrett

See, that's why I asked... I don't want to be 'that guy' on my first build... I'd rather ask real quick to see what others have already learned! I'm just going to go ahead and bring my measurements to the nearest 1/16th, and marking to the closest 1/32 that I can depending on the actual decimal measurements on the plans. This is going to be time consuming, but worth it in the end.

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-Brad
Build Log: http://www.BrokeAssSeven.com -- http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=13293

This build is already locosting a fortune...

+1

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"There are times when a broken tool is better than a sound one, or a twisted personality more useful than a whole one.
For instance, a whole beer bottle isn't half the weapon that half a beer bottle is ..." Randall Garrett