LocostUSA.com

Hello everyone.

My Locost will not be anything new but i hope to make it mine. I wanted to give my first car a new lease on life so i have decided to build my locost with the engine out of my 91 Nissan Maxima. It will be mated to a 300zx 5 speed i have from an early car build and an 8.8 Thunderbird IRS.

So far all i have is a pile of 1x1 tubing, a handful of parts and a dream

442e frame
3 Liter SOHC V6 (396 lbs)
85 300zx NA 5 speed
95 Thunderbird 8.8 Diff. Stock open diff for now but the locker options on a quick search are phenomenal!
95 T-bird rear knuckles and disk brakes (5 lug modified to 4.5")
Mustang 2 front spindle and custom A-arms.
Donkervoort doors??

I am building this car in the great state of Pennsylvania, Bucks Co area so I will probably be hitting up the search and asking questions on registering the car and insuring it as the build progresses.

The donor, after his 3rd resurrection


Step 1 is a road reliable car.

Step 2 Moree power and style!!

I fully intend this to be my life long car to customize and play with.

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-STu

There is no shame in defeat, so long as the spirit is unconquered

My Build Log

Howdy Stu!
Glad you've joined the party. It wuz gettin' kinda dull around here... Any way, greetings from the cob-end of the forum, Team Slotus. We welcome you to the group! Keep us posted on progress, especially as that pile of tubing turns into a frame. Pictures are always good, so Perry doesn't get eye-strain from too much readin'...

What part of PA is Bucks County in? I spent a week in Windber one night...


JD 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

Thank you for the warm welcome JD. Bucks Co is on the east of the state up against NJ. I am actually on the border of Trenton NJ.

I agree pictures mean everything. I will probably be posting a good bit with 3D CAD models getting my layouts 80% so I can do a quick frame build come fall.

Right now despite my eagerness I have a few house and garage projects to finish to ensure I am "allowed to play" in the garage. LOL

But please enjoy the car part pictures.

85 300zx NA trans
95 T-Bird knuckles
94 3.27, 8.8 IRS (non-posi)

The pile of tubing I just chopped up tonight. Its the welding cart i have been promising my self for about a year now. My TIG MIG and plasma will have a home other than the floor for a change.

_________________
-STu

There is no shame in defeat, so long as the spirit is unconquered

My Build Log

Welcome aboard Stu!
Like JD sez, lots of pics.
Welding cart is a good start, make sure you extend your power cord so that you can wheel it around your build table. The build table should be your second garage project. Build it like you were going to put a car on top of it. Lots of excellent build tables here to look at. Be sure to build your lower shelf high enough so that an engine crane can wheel under it.

"a handful of parts and a dream" - you nailed it, if Henry Ford hadn't thought the same thing we'd be pedaling bicycles.

I'm working on my 3rd dream now.

Good luck on your build.

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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

Welcome! I have a Locost registered in PA. Check the link below for My Car. The most important piece of advice I can give is save every receipt. Harrisburg is very interested in getting their taxes so you need to prove the value of each part and whether you paid tax on it. Things you buy mail order will not have tax on them so you must pay that when you register. Proof of ownership of the engine and transmission is also important. I titled the donor car in my name even though it was not driveable just so I'd have that proof. Any other questions, ask away and like the other guys said, pictures are good.

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My car viewtopic.php?f=37&t=16434
1930s Style Sports Car viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16888

welcome Stu! looking fwd to many pics of progress.

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My build log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=13941

I read "welcome Stu" incorrectly the first time. I read it as "Welcome Stud". For a moment I thought I was on the wrong website.

And now for something completely different: Welcome to the madhouse STU. You will find this site a valuable resource that will take away a lot of time away from your building time. Not that that is a bad thing. Please keep us updated on your build and feel free to contribute anytime to other discussions.

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Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my active Cushman Truckster resurrection log: over HERE
or my archival Locost build log: over HERE

No new parts or progress on the L7 yet but i have started my welding cart. Woot



Extra tall for the tig and plasma to sit on the bottom. 3 Deep drawers in the middle. Mig on top



The wheels when to my table saw before i extended the top and put it on a bigger platform.



Full extension drawer slides.

This is step one to getting my garage organized.

_________________
-STu

There is no shame in defeat, so long as the spirit is unconquered

My Build Log

Little bit of progress, the VG30 Engine has been pulled. Nissan front wheel drive is a cluster f*

_________________
-STu

There is no shame in defeat, so long as the spirit is unconquered

My Build Log

Finally getting some modeling in to work out dimensions and some thoughts.

_________________
-STu

There is no shame in defeat, so long as the spirit is unconquered

My Build Log

Welding cart is good practice. Get plenty of practice!

You posted a picture earlier of a Caterham dash and mentioned you wanted that area to be strong. I've been meaning to post this suggestion since then. I'm not sure how close to a Locost you want to stay and my car is inspired by the Locost and Seven but different. It has taller sides is one big difference, but I prefer to be inside the car instead of on top of it.

The dash you showed a picture of before is quite attractive, but I think the curved tubes limit it's strength somewhat. It probably comes down to how strong and well attached the webs are between the tubes.

I did a lot of modeling on my frame to understand it's stresses. In general it responded well to stiffness in the dash area. This was done in two ways. The area under where the scuttle goes has a W shaped brace. This brace is a complete truss across the car so it makes sure the two top rails can't move back and forth compared to each other, think torsional stiffness. The other part is the dash hoop has an inner and outer part that are connected by a sheet metal web. This is traditional in Lotus cars after the Seven. I think this part of the design will provide the side stiffness you are looking for. It gives the side a strength of a several inch thick beam.

Anyway here's a picture of my SketchUp model. It is currently in somewhat of a state of disrepair as I was changing some things the last time I worked on it. Which reminds me of another feature. The cross tube at the floor is angled back in a V to make room for the transmission. I think some locost builds remove or bend this tube for clearance, but I'm not sure anymore.

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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.

Been a while since last post but i have officially started. The last week has been "build table" assembly.

I when a little more over kill on the table from most but i plan to use it a lot even after the locost.



Next I have the base to put under it with the casters. Total working height will be 32 ~ 33 inches

_________________
-STu

There is no shame in defeat, so long as the spirit is unconquered

My Build Log

Table is done. Now to slap on a little MDF and do a little more clean up.

Tubes going width wise are for 1 1/4 hitch attachments. IE vises and other tools i do not wish to leave stationary.







Time for a beer!

_________________
-STu

There is no shame in defeat, so long as the spirit is unconquered

My Build Log

Now that is a build table.

are the legs 2x8? I'm worried that 2x8 is just too flimsy. Surely you can find some old 12x12 railroad ties to hold the table up.

All joking aside, the table looks nice. Are the I-beams nice and straight? Sometimes they sag if they've been inappropriately stored in transit or storage (bottom of a stack of steel, unsupported for example).

You should get melamine instead of MDF. The white top is an epoxy treatment that is surprisingly durable. A foundry I worked at used the stuff all the time because it would scorch but not burn when molten metal was spilled on it. Could brush the frozen metal off and keep using it. Welding sparks and grinding just bounce off it. a 3/4"x4'x8' sheet is typically $25-30 around here.