LocostUSA.com

Progress made finishing up exhaust system details. The muffler “hanger” outriggers were tacked to the chassis. Still need to narrow and shape the tongues that will weld to the underside of the mufflers. The tongues will be narrowed from 2” to 1”, twisted to mate with the 3* slope in the sidepipes and the outboard ends curled up to better “cup” the muffler. Then they will be welded to the sidepipes a’la the big block Corvettes of yore.
Also got the O2 sensor bosses tacked in place on the headers. Was able to fit them on the collectors such that the sensors and harness wires are inside the bodywork.
One of my concerns was placing the O2 sensors on the collectors far enough downstream from the exhaust’s merge points to get a good mixing from the individual cylinders. Digging on the internet for pictures showed my sensor locations to be a bit further downstream than the LS7’s, so I should be ok. One of the pictures I came up with was this cool cutaway of an LS7 header showing the individual hydroformed tubes. I cut off the large flange shown at the bottom and built my turnout collectors from there. Should flow well.
Lots of finish welding to do on the exhaust, but getting ready to move on to other challenges.
Oops, I still need to add the flappers!

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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

Flapper?

Did the wife approve?

Perhaps I misunderstood?

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Gavin

My build: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=16005

I exercised great restraint not to post a reference to this. Couldn't find a decent enough pic :

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Larry in Seattle

And all I was thinkin' about was JD's nesting sparrows

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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

Yeah, I meant the kind of "flapper" you see on farm equipment exhaust pipes... Not the "Roaring 20's" kind of flapper. Geeze, talk about a bunch of old farts...

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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

Any news? Even the echo has died down around here...

Hi Evan, yes it has been a while since I posted. Thanks for the interest and the nudge. On the build front, it has been slow going what with a nice spring and summer for outdoorsy stuff, but a little progress has been made.

I needed to get the headers and sidepipes to the 95% complete point so I could begin work on the side panels, which need to be 95% so I can finish the nose cone fiberglass before it gets too cold/wet in the garage. So I’ve been working on the front side panels.
I took a different tack from the book on how to fit the side panel to the bottom rail. To avoid a slab-sided look (my top rail is higher than book) I followed the bottom rail profile as it tapers in, hence the origami look. This will also help evacuate warm air from the radiator and stiffen the panel. The panel’s leading edge was folded over on itself to add stiffness to that unsupported edge. Since the chassis is all round tube, the skin edges are rounded over the rails. The rolled edges will be annealed and finish formed when the chassis is torn down and put on a rotisserie. A little heat shrinking should pull out any residual pucker caused by shaping the panels. The plan is for a “Scotch Brite” final finish on the bodywork.

All the panels will be removable using button head machine screws and floating nut plates a’la mgklufts technique. At the risk of making certain forum members ill, here’s a pic of the nut plate br@ck^ts needed to mount just one of the front panels. Lots of happy time at the drill press and welder.
Also starting to rough out templates for the other body panels. As the rear fenders will be free standing from the body (mounted on short struts from the chassis) the tubular sockets that accept the fender struts need to be welded to the frame before the center and aft body panels can be fit. So rear fenders were ordered today. Here’s kind of how the finished panels will lay out. Along the front axle line, at ride height the top of the front fenders should crest just above the nosecone. A long scuttle will be formed from aluminum.

Jack’s nose cone was previously widened 6” and sectioned for a lower profile. As this build will be hoodless (the LS3 makes a nice codpiece) the nose cone will be lengthened about 5” to fill the gap caused by the aft-set engine. The plywood form board will shape the rear edge of the extension’s mold.

Ok, back to summertime.

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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

Thanks for the update - always appreciated...
MangPong.

Hi Tom!
It's great to hear from you again. And, you know I love ya, but DAMN, you make the rest of us look bad...
Really good lookin' body panels... Really...


JD "Pounding on a Rock" Kemp

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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

HiTom,

What JD said. Panels are quite nice!

Cheers,

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Larry in Seattle

@MangPong, @GonzoRacer, @Benny_toe, thanks for the encouragement, I can use all I get! Much appreciated.
I am surprised I didn't get censured for the br@ck^t-porn, though. The Mods must be off for the summer.

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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 begged, pleaded, cajoled and demanded, but to no avail...
The Mods gave some flimsy excuse about whacking you on the PP with a wet noodle (or a wet poodle, for that matter) was illegal and entirely too kinky. I'm not buying it...


JDK

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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

Ay my age br@ck^t-porn is what keeps me going.........
That and pictures

There's nothing like a sexy br@ck^t

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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

Walking down the sidewalk with my wife as a Locost drives by driven by a pretty young lady, I mutter out loud "Them are a mighty fine set of br@ck^ts" ……...WHACK…...

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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

The summer weather has been exceptional, so not much progress on the build. Did succumb to br@ck^t-porn, though, and tacked on more of the floating nut plate br@ck^ts for the front body panels.

The free-standing rear fenders mounts will need to be completed before starting on the aft body work, so fenders were ordered from Fenders’n’More. Ordered the fronts at the same time to save on shipping. Here they are still wrapped in protective cover.
The rains are coming so I'm running out of excuses to not make serious progress.

Oops, was that a fall household project list I was just handed…

_________________
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