LocostUSA.com

looks AWESOME, willie! let me know if you're ever in town with the thing, i would love to see it in person! i bet the people at cars and coffee (1st saturday of every month at Uptown Park) would get a kick out of it.

sounds good tht is right by my house I will have to see what the weather looks like in November

_________________
William Keeling
Houston Texas
Spec Miata Racer

not anything to report -- took her to the upholstery shop but the guy has a few car in front of her so she has to wait. I have not gotten the wheels and tires from my race prep guy yet. so she still looks the same

_________________
William Keeling
Houston Texas
Spec Miata Racer

cars and coffee has been cancelled this month and moved going forward

_________________
William Keeling
Houston Texas
Spec Miata Racer

I was at the track today and put the locost on the scales 1482 (with 190 lbs driver and just less than 1/2 tank of gas). corners and the cross was close from WAG setup. The front sway bar might be too stiff. More testing will tell

_________________
William Keeling
Houston Texas
Spec Miata Racer

Added shims to rear lower control arms at the suggestion of a professional race car builder, replaced failed alternator and painted the front of radiator black so it would not show behind the grille.

_________________
William Keeling
Houston Texas
Spec Miata Racer

For what purpose?

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

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

For adjustability of the rear suspension I used jack bolts and female rod ends and as the control arm is length due to its “A” shape the rod ends get wider apart. I let the rear rod end float on a four inch bolts (the front rod ends is shimmed to locate the control arm). After talking and showing the design to a race car builder and fabricator (it drove fine no toe change under load) he thought that the bolt would oval the holes in the mount tabs over time. So to keep the suspension adjustable without disassembly (one of my design goals) I used the “U” shaped shims (used to shim upper front A-arm mount bolts on 70’s America cars) to allow the mount tabs, shims and rod end to be put in tension with the mounting bolts. The suspension is still adjustable by loosening the mount bolt, removing the shims, adjusting the control arm, restacking the shims and tightening the mount bolt.

_________________
William Keeling
Houston Texas
Spec Miata Racer

I plan to take my locost to Houston Coffee and Cars this Saturday (12/4/10) 8-10 am at the Marq-e

_________________
William Keeling
Houston Texas
Spec Miata Racer

I totaled up the receipts (so far) today and it looks like I did not build a locost but a hicost.

Total $12,750.16
Less shipping, tools, supplies and unused parts $10,375.62
I have a spread sheat but I could not attach it here.

_________________
William Keeling
Houston Texas
Spec Miata Racer

My brother thought/thinks I am dumb by building one of these. His thoughts were to build a Cobra clone, as the resale is likely much, much higher than a homebuild Lotus clone. He is probably right, yet, here I am, building a Lotus clone in my garage. Around $10k isn't to bad, I'm probably sitting around $1.5k and I don't even have my frame built yet. I do have some spare parts though.

_________________
Trochu Motor League

I am looking at a cobra as maybe the next project and a cheap kit is $13K and good one is $45K -- yes resale would be better (something vs. nothing). I think this more fun to building than a cobra -- the cobra is more about putting it together and this is more about how do I do something. Also I did not try to keep cost down, I just did what I wanted to. I am very glad I built it and built it the way I did.

_________________
William Keeling
Houston Texas
Spec Miata Racer

Where else can you get a world-class sports car, not to mention one custom made just for you, for only 10 grand? Aston Martin or Lambo or Spyker probably won't sell ya a key ring that cheap...

JDK

_________________
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

it is very cool -- but mine is not world class

_________________
William Keeling
Houston Texas
Spec Miata Racer

It's not? SEZ WHO???

Anybody who don't like your car can kiss my Irish... Sorry, been listening to Irish drinking songs on Youtube...

But seriosly, folks, it was custom built, fer Gawdsakes!!! I seem to recall you putting about 28 million rivets in it, by hand... Look around you, Son! See anybody else there who built a whole frickin' car??? BE PROUD!!! Geeze...

You know I love ya like a brother, right? Just cheering you on...

_________________
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