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PostPosted: March 20, 2018, 9:42 pm 
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Joined: February 4, 2018, 10:08 pm
Posts: 13
Location: Effingham IL
Hello everyone! Guess who decided to join community after 10 years of lurking.
Me!
Few words about myself:
My name is Victor. I moved to the US 6 months ago. So please forgive me my spelling and writing skills.
I'm full-time equipment design engineer working in big automotive parts supplier company located in IL.
I'd build few track-day cars in Russia with my friend. The first live axle book sized with Lada engine/transmission was finished in 2009.
Attachment:
2008.jpg

The second IRS/Type 9/Zetec-swap-c20xe-swap-Lada turbo was never actually finished for many reasons.
Attachment:
Locost_2.JPG

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o950xmDiyw
In 2015 things just got real. We started company called "527". In 6 months was designed and build 2 first cars called "Shortcut". This is book sized live axle locost utilizing mostly Lada and other Russian cars parts. The engine is NA 1.6 Lada. Roll cage with side protection. All drivetrain offset a little to the passenger side for better weight distribution. Speaking of weight, the car is pretty light. In the race trim with all fluids and 1/2 gas, it was slightly above 1100lbs.
Attachment:
2016.jpg

2016 we make lots of track testing and finished our first 4-hour endurance race. The car was developed and modified during the season. Including new bodywork, sheet metal uprights, custom rear axle and more.
Attachment:
shortcut.jpg

In 2017 company DK Racing starts production and sales of the Shortcut.
If you ever wonder what is locost on ice looks like you can check http://www.instagram.com/dkracing.ru/ or http://www.instagram.com/shortcut_527/

After moving to US whit my wife and 3 yo son I decided to stop this 10-year garage madness.
But once you are in locost-madhouse your life never be the same again I guess. 6 months without tools and oil on my clothes and I gave up. I NEED to build and own this car!
So, here the plan.
I want track-ready/road-capable locost. No crazy SCCA Auto-x dedicated solutions. No 14" wide race slicks and huge wings. I want a car that looks more like modern road lotus 7. Even if it does not goes around cones 3 hours faster.
When I first start thinking about building a car from scratch here in the US I was thinking to use laser cutting for sheet metal/tubes and CNC aluminum parts like I used for Shortcut.
Attachment:
lasercut.jpg

After I got few quotes from local shops I realize why everybody uses angle grinders and hole saws to build chassis and panels. It's INSANELY expensive for average US builder to use 21's century techniques.
The other option was to buy Kit. The "Shortcut" was my first thought.
Pros:
It is proven race-grade LHD chassis.
It has nice bodywork to match.
The price is lower than any comparable kits on the market.
I have complete CAD model for modification and new parts.
Cons:
It uses Lada parts that are not available in the US
I need to pay for the shipping from Russia and some Import Taxes.
So here the deal. I decide to go with Shortcut chassis.
I contacted my old friends from DK Racing and ask for Shortcut Kit with my own modifications to fit US market parts. The quote with good and good discount made me seal the deal. I have few weeks to make my own tweaks before production of my chassis begins.
Attachment:
Chassis.JPG

I don't have blogging experience but I'll try to keep you updated and make some contribution to locost builders community. I hope your brain doesn't hurt after reading this. Stay tuned.
Vic.


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My build log: http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=19323
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Last edited by VIZA on April 18, 2018, 12:27 am, edited 3 times in total.

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PostPosted: March 20, 2018, 9:57 pm 
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Joined: December 17, 2010, 1:24 pm
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Location: Gainesville, Mo.
Vic, as always, welcome to the funny farm. Wish you the best of luck with your project! At least I don't have to bug you about posting your location so help can be sent when needed. If you work for a company in IL, you must live somewhere nearby. So keep posting and I congratulate you on your escape from "Lurkdom" after 10 years! :cheers:

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PostPosted: March 20, 2018, 10:09 pm 
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Joined: February 2, 2017, 1:02 am
Posts: 70
Location: Illinois
Welcome aboard the crazy train! :lol: Glad to see another builder in IL!


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PostPosted: March 20, 2018, 11:41 pm 
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Joined: March 30, 2011, 7:18 am
Posts: 1615
Location: central Arkansas
Well, if you decide you want to stay with Lada bits... they were fairly popular imports in Canada for a while. And you can drive to Canada if shipping is a problem... <grin>


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PostPosted: March 21, 2018, 7:48 am 
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We are Slotus!
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Joined: October 6, 2009, 9:29 am
Posts: 7651
Location: Tallahassee, FL (The Center of the Known Universe)
Howdy Victor! Welcome to the forum and to the US. I'm a native-born Southerner, so please forgive my spelling and writing skills too! :mrgreen: That's a good lookin' car, that Shortcut. We will be looking forward to your build log. Keep the pictures coming... You think my writing is bad? Wait until Perry tries to start reading your log... Yeah, lots of pictures... :rofl:

:cheers:
JDK

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PostPosted: March 21, 2018, 9:33 am 
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Joined: July 17, 2008, 9:11 am
Posts: 6414
Location: West Chicago,IL
Welcome Vic. With JD's poor spelling and writing mixed with my poor typing and proofreading skills, you should fit right in. Nobody will ever know English is not your 1st language. :cheers:

You haven't said exactly where in IL you are at. Let me be the first to invite you to join a bunch of us at the Midwest Gathering held in northwest Arkansas. It is a drive but well worth it. We'll drive around some great winding roads and drink a few brews. We'll tell some stories and drink few brews. We'll see old friends, meet some new ones and have a few brews. No Locost is necessary. Just a common interest. I'm driving down from Northeast IL myself.

See more here:http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=19092

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PostPosted: March 21, 2018, 10:17 am 
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Joined: August 24, 2010, 12:59 pm
Posts: 133
Location: Irkutsk, Russia
Hello! It's nice to see a fellow countryman here. Yes, and with this experience. I follow the Shortcut project for a long time, but you did not meet the first two of your works on the Internet. I wonder what kind of engine are you going to put on the new chassis? The suspension will remain the same?

P.S. My English is also not very good)))))

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PostPosted: March 21, 2018, 11:36 am 
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Joined: June 5, 2016, 7:03 am
Posts: 235
Location: ontario
Vic.[/quote]
Welcome to the forum Victor and thanks for the photos. It looks that you have a good deal of car building experience. I will be glad to hear more about your projects. :cheers:


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PostPosted: March 21, 2018, 2:23 pm 
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Joined: October 24, 2008, 2:13 pm
Posts: 5326
Location: Carlsbad, California, USA
It sounds like you have and excellent plan, Vic, and the experience to match. It's too bad about not using the Lada parts, however. That would have been a really unique build here in the USA. They did import Ladas to Canada for a while (if I remember correctly), but I've never seen one on the road here in the USA.

In any case, welcome to the zoo! :D

Cheers,

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

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


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PostPosted: March 21, 2018, 7:00 pm 
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Joined: December 17, 2010, 1:24 pm
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Location: Gainesville, Mo.
Oh, man! I really dropped the ball on that one!!! First one to welcome Vic to the forum, and Chuck (rx7locost) thinks about inviting him to the Gathering before any of us! Yes Vic, you should definitely consider joining us for the 2018 Midwest Se7ens Gathering.This is where I live, and we have some great roads along with some really good eating joints. So, give it some serious thought! :D

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PostPosted: March 21, 2018, 10:16 pm 
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Joined: February 4, 2018, 10:08 pm
Posts: 13
Location: Effingham IL
Thanks, guys! :cheers:

I'm located in Effingham Il.
I know you that I can find Ladas in Canada or US. http://sovietcar.com/ and others company can sell you any car from ex-soviet countries. The engine we used was another kind of creature. It is next generation Lada engine from FWD cars of the 80s era. 80-ish hp in OEM application and 180HP whit custom exhaust TBs, custom tune and some other minor tweaks like cam cover sump, cooling system.
It kind of cool engine but you really need local Lada parts shop somewhere in your neighborhood to be happy with your engine choice.

GonzoRacer wrote:
Howdy Victor! Welcome to the forum and to the US. I'm a native-born Southerner, so please forgive my spelling and writing skills too! That's a good lookin' car, that Shortcut. We will be looking forward to your build log. Keep the pictures coming... You think my writing is bad? Wait until Perry tries to start reading your log... Yeah, lots of pictures...

JDK


Hey JDK, thanks! I hope you not taking
Quote:
No crazy SCCA Auto-x dedicated solutions. No 14" wide race slicks and huge wings.
personal. :D Love your build log!
I make some progress with Southerner's spelling I believe. "Do-Whaaoot?" from my colleagues feels not so bad already. :chev:

rx7locost wrote:
Let me be the first to invite you to join a bunch of us at the Midwest Gathering held in northwest Arkansas


Thank you for the invitation. I believe this will be really tough for me to drive the perfect roads in Ford Edge when everyone drives cool cars. I will be aiming for 2019 Gathering. :BH:

marafonets wrote:
Hello! It's nice to see a fellow countryman here. Yes, and with this experience. I follow the Shortcut project for a long time, but you did not meet the first two of your works on the Internet. I wonder what kind of engine are you going to put on the new chassis? The suspension will remain the same?

Hi, Ivan :)
After looking your build blog I easily believe you follow shortcut project. Good skillset and cool project! Nice roll cage design. :roll: Personally, I still prefer this style over newer (FIA) style. :cheers:

Back to engine topic:
My shortlist for engines after removing bulky or heavy or old or stupid or expensive engines:
1) CBR1000RR - would be my choice for the track-only car.
2) Duratec 2.0 - nice
3) Ecoboost 2.0 - niiiiice
4) Ecotec 1.4
After reading info from Locofinn https://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewto ... =4&t=16446 I decide this will be the perfect engine for my needs. I don't need crazy HP but still can have up to 250 with mods. I fit in 1429cc SCCA class if I decide to participate. I can get the whole engine or parts from LKQ eBay or local junkyard low mileage. And I always want to try turbo in locost. :mrgreen:
The gearbox from Isuzu Rodeo seating in my garage and I did some 3D scanning. I have short video on my Instagram (yes, I now :ack: )https://www.instagram.com/shortcut_us/
Right now I'm trying to get more info about running LUV/LUJ/A14NET outside GM cars. I hope I'll be able to rum OEM ECM and engine wiring.
I will try to deliver more information about engine, gearbox suspension and other stuff. I just need some time. Stay tuned!


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My build log: http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=19323
My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Shortcut_us/


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PostPosted: March 22, 2018, 12:47 am 
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Joined: March 19, 2011, 10:22 am
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Location: Holden, Alberta, Canada
Hey Victor

Welcome aboard! Looking forward to seeing lots of pics of your build.
Looks like you've done this a time or two, (duzhe dobre). :cheers:

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PostPosted: March 22, 2018, 2:02 am 
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Location: Massachusetts
Welcome Victor. When I saw the title of your thread, I was thinking "shortcut? maybe a MIG17 with big tires and no wings?"

Here's a very nice Ecotec build, I think he has driven this car quite a bit too. Rad is a practical guy, I remember he has a Fiat 127 bolted to the ceiling of his shop in case he ever needs one, I think. It's hard to find room for everything. :rofl:
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=6783

I would like to see pictures of the sheet metal uprights on the shortcut if you have any. That's an item we sometimes struggle with here.

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PostPosted: March 22, 2018, 8:19 pm 
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Ok. As long as we have a couple of questions about front uprights and suspension let me have a few words on this. Originally shortcut was designed to utilize parts from really old RWD Lada cars. Fronts uprights very light, have around 7 degrees of KPI bolt on rear-steer arms and bolt-on brake adaptor plate. . Front OEM hub with the pair of conical bearings, 254x13mm solid brake rotor, 2 piston iron calipers. Overall this is really locost friendly design. Front RC height was set a little higher than I personally like, to match rear RC from the solid axle. Shortened Ford Sierra (Mercur) manual rack. The rear end was pretty basic 5 link setup with some anti-dive adjustment. We end up with Lada lower balljoint, M12 rod ends for steering ties, sheet metal brackets for steering arms and calipers, 266x9mm Toyota solid rotors, and 1 piston floating calipers from modern era Lada.
Rear axle is a really light unit. It was shaved to the bare case, welded, and assembled with 4.3 LSD, 240x9 rotors, and VW calipers. Complete rear end weight was under 120lbs.
After the season of track testing few mods were made. Front upright assembly was replaced with sheet metal part utilizing the same steering and brake mounting points and turned axle for more up to date Lada hub and bearing. Lower balljoint replaced with 3/4" rod end. Rear axle housing was replaced with the custom part with the same geometry for weight and availability reasons.
Overall nothing special about the suspension on Shortcut. We all know this recipe. A reasonable amount of Ackerman geometry and scrub + good camber curves + bump steer and RC migration control + low weight = good locost suspension and decent handling.


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My build log: http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=19323
My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Shortcut_us/


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PostPosted: March 23, 2018, 9:14 am 
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Location: Irkutsk, Russia
Very interesting! But immediately there are still questions. And at what height did the RC come in front and behind? And another question. Why is the stocking of the rear axle made entirely independent and unusual? And in what program did you consider the suspension?

P.S. It would be interesting to talk to you live)) :cheers:

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"And even if they say " Yes, let them talk!
But no one - no one dies in vain,
This is better than vodka and from colds.
Others will come, replacing comfort
At the risk and inordinate work,-
Will you not passed route." V.S. Vysotsky


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