LocostUSA.com

Inching right along here.
Left side motor mount Pics. Healthy drain hole in the middle,yes!

Templates for the top and Bottom. Circle on the bottom is for access to the lower motor mount nut.

After sitting behind the wheel I had to do something with the drive shaft.


The Ranger shaft measures 3" on either end and 3 1/2" in the middle.
Ranger shaft on left, 60s Mustang 3" shaft on right.

I am going to try my hand at splicing a Locost shaft together. I will at least have what I need to fab the tunnel and place the parking brake.

Ron

_________________
"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." - Mark Twain
In my defense the moon was full and I was left unsupervised

Finished welding together the motor mounts and painted the left side. The top/larger hole on each is for access to the bottom nut.



The plates that bolt to the rubber mount and frame, and the sides are 3/16". Top and bottom are 1/8".
Please forgive the blurred images. I'm learning to take pictures with a new / my first smart phone.

Ron

_________________
"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." - Mark Twain
In my defense the moon was full and I was left unsupervised

Next the trans mount.



What I have so far.




The angle iron is 1/4" , the channel is 1/8".

Tight fit on the right side.
I may need to adjust the design.

Ron

_________________
"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." - Mark Twain
In my defense the moon was full and I was left unsupervised

Trans cross member update.

I need to make an attachment for the drill press before the hole can be drilled.
The indent in the sharpee circle is from a locating punch.


The horz. bolt tubes were tacked in place and the cross member was moved 1/16" away from the frame 1 1/4" x 1 1/4"cross tube before the punch was used.

The nut for the horz. bolt will be welded to the cross member after the tubes for the tunnel are all finish welded.
The vert. bolt will pass through a threaded hole in the 1/4" tab and a loc nut will keep it from loosening and falling out.




When installing the trans/engine the vertical bolts go in first to bring things together.


Ron

_________________
"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." - Mark Twain
In my defense the moon was full and I was left unsupervised

Horz.bolt tube details.




Room for solid welds that will allow the side tube faces to be finished flush.
Clamped pieces to an old table saw top to keep things square during assembly welding.




Welding the edges will be part of the finish welding for the tunnel.

Next I need to rough out the tunnel and set up the seat, gear shift, parking brake handle, and steering wheel.

Ron

_________________
"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." - Mark Twain
In my defense the moon was full and I was left unsupervised

Looking very beefy there, Ron. I think it's going to hold.

Cheers,

_________________
Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886

Thank you Sir.
Yes I think it will do nicely.

Be Well,

_________________
"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." - Mark Twain
In my defense the moon was full and I was left unsupervised

Been working on the drive shaft. I wanted to be able to take it out the bottom.

With the front yoke inserted to the ware line, I held the front and rear tight, pushed forward and swung down. It cleared.

After cutting the 3.5" section off the back, the ends were squared.


Measured, cut, and squared the 5 3/8" center section. I used the weld seams inside the tubes to line up the U joints so they would be in sync.


The dryer hose clamps hold 3 lengths of angle iron secure enough for tacking.

1st tack will be small in 3 spots around one end then the other. The 2nd tack will be larger, applied the same way. The 3rd larger still, around one end then the other.
Then take off the clamps etc and fill in between.

What you can't see are the 1"wide sections of the 3" tube that sit under the seams. Should be able to get good consistent penetration without burning through the 16 ga tube.


More pics when the welding is done.

Ron

_________________
"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." - Mark Twain
In my defense the moon was full and I was left unsupervised

Are you going to bevel the tube before you start welding?

_________________
-Andrew
Build Log
Youtube

Andrew,
No... because the drive shaft tubing is 16ga. There is a second layer of 16ga tight behind it.
I'll be using 0.024 wire being fed slow enough to be able to push back into the puddle without the seam growing to tall.
I have scrap to use in setting up welder before I move to the actual drive shaft.

At least that is the plan.
I have more welding to do with the 0.035 wire before switching to 0.024 for the drive shaft and tunnel.
I wasn't planning to take pictures until the shaft is finished ( a perceived general lack of interest) but I can if you are interested.

Ron

_________________
"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." - Mark Twain
In my defense the moon was full and I was left unsupervised

Ron, since you are sleeving internal to the shaft, I'd suggest leaving about a 1/8" gap in the shaft over the sleeve. This provides 2 things. First, it should make for a stronger joint with full penetration on all 3 pieces. 2nd and maybe more importantly, it should keep the sleeve from breaking loose and changing the dynamics of balance. I'd fill in completely and grind flush. But that is just me.

I have no expertise in this area, just thinking out loud.

I'll admit that I am scared $hitless trusting my welds at thousands of RPM sitting right next to my hip. I had it done professionally.

_________________
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

Chuck, Andrew,
Thank you for forcing me to give this further thought.
I hear you. I will add the 1/8" spacing.
Out of curiosity, after reading your post ,I did some quick research.
First most sites talked about 0.083" thick tubes.
I checked mine and they are!
Second, the longer the tube and smaller its dia. the lower the RPM it can safely turn. Mine is 10.5" long , 3" dia.
This is a good thing.
The math for all this is brutal!!

The Ranger 5 speed has a 0.84 final gear. With a 3.08 rear ratio pushing 12.25R tires, the drive shaft should spin at about 2500 RPM when traveling at 70mph.

I'll have to see how well the balancing goes, but I think it might work OK.

The plan is to have one professionally made ASAP after it's legally on the road.

Ron

_________________
"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." - Mark Twain
In my defense the moon was full and I was left unsupervised

The drive shaft was a bust! Opened up an 1/8" gap on both ends,all looked good. Put down the tack welds and took off the angle iron clamps.
The clamps didn't hold and I took it out of alignment when I was adding the gap

Finished welding anyway. A clear sign that I need to have one Professionally made.
It's still good for measurements and to built a tunnel around.

I think I mentioned earlier in the log that the plan is to upgrade the 2.8L V6 to a 190 hp turbocharged 2.3L, at some point in the Future!!?!
Craigs List had a 1990 mustang 2.3L cheep so I brought it home.
Going to mate it to the Turbo Coupe bell housing and T5 I already have.
Now is as good a time as any to set up the transmission cross member for the T5 which is positioned forward of the Ranger setup.
I also want to fab up the motor mount pedestals/supports, and check the steering shaft clearance.
The 2.3L starter is on the right, opposite the one on the Cologne V6,so I need to add a dog leg to the frame.


I'm adding a way to drop the V6 oil filter out the bottom while I'm at it.

Ron

_________________
"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." - Mark Twain
In my defense the moon was full and I was left unsupervised

Changed the design for the spindle adapters.






Pretty happy with the way they turned out.
I haven't taken the new measurements that will be used to set up steering geometry, but right up front the angle for the steering axis changed from 15 degrees to around 11 degrees. Looks better too.

Ron

_________________
"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." - Mark Twain
In my defense the moon was full and I was left unsupervised

Tunnel design work. I want the E brake here,

and the 1984 Ranger wiper sw in this general area. Close at hand.

Mounted the steering column. Looks like there's room for the turn signal sw here.


Still thinking on how to make a reasonably lite weight frame/tunnel to hold it all together.

Ron

Oh yeah, the king pin angle turned out to be 9.6 degrees. worth the effort, I think.

_________________
"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." - Mark Twain
In my defense the moon was full and I was left unsupervised