LocostUSA.com

That's how I've determined all my frame widths, by the distance between the tires on the rear axle. On some I've had to install wheel spacers, my first build I was able to get my clearance with custom rim offset. Once you know your rear width it's easy to build the front suspension the same.
Nice to see another build on the table

_________________
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

Thanks for the confirmation Perry.

There is something to say about planning, but there is also something to say about being fluid in your design parameters and being able to adapt as you build. We're not going to the moon, most of us are going to get ice cream... down a 30 mile winding road.

_________________
Cheers,
Logan

This is very true - be flexible. What's available at the steel yard often dictates the final build. Forcing a build to use specific parts usually costs more and slows progress.

_________________
Midlana book: Build this mid-engine Locost!, http://midlana.com/stuff/book/
Kimini book: Designing mid-engine cars using FWD drivetrains
Both available from https://www.lulu.com/

About a week ago I went ahead and talked "the hardest part"



Had a little bit of issue putting it together, as I made it 3" deep in my model, although the +4 part is 3.5" deep. Once I figured this out my tubes fit together much better.



And now I have a 3d frame! Working in three dimensions takes some getting used to... lots of cross measuring to make sure everything is remaining relatively square.

Seeing as I don't have a 2" radius bender for tubing I notices that in the champion book at least one of the frames utilizes flat-bar for the lower rear radius. On errands I found a 2ft stick of 1"x1/8 Perfect for two bucks. Made a DIY flat-bar bender and went to town.



The finished product looks pretty good.



I figured that using a piece of pipe, you're going to run into issues folding the rear sheet metal around it while having the square to round transition. This should give a nice crisp angle that flows into the other square tubes. I will fill in the bottom side with some 16ga cutoff to have something to rivet to.

On to the top of that radius.



I do have a tube bender, the "Little Bull". I found this budget model for sale after many hours of looking, made in the US. It does a good job on smaller walled stuff. I've bent up to .120wall 7/8" with a cheater bar.

Don't mind the mess... The temporary home of my vice is an old bridge beam for a table project that has yet to get started. It was the heaviest thing I had to put lags into, besides a stump outside. And as well all know, any flat surface in a shop is a place to put literally everything.

The first bend was way too small... I misread the measurements on the calculator I used. Looking back it was a really dumb mistake. But hey, it let me dial in the bend offset, so I knew where to put my marks. So let's call it a "test piece".



Alright, the second go was better, but instead of subtracting a full tubes width from the measurement, I only took half for some reason. Hey, we're still learning. At this point I'll cut a small piece out of the middle and weld it back together. I wasn't going to be happy with two welds on the small piece, but I think I can get one weld to blend in nicely. That will be this afternoon's task.

My work schedule is 6pm to 6am, and my weekends are spent with my fiance, a 7 hour drive away. So most of my work is getting done either on my lunch breaks, or in my "mornings" before work. Either way I need to slow down and remind myself that this isn't a race. And the more mistakes I make the more discouraged I will become. Slow down, think it through, do it right the first time.

_________________
Cheers,
Logan

Looking good Logan.
Yes mistakes will be made but that's how we learn.
I like the flat bar bending jig you made. Making jigs is a big part of building these cars.

_________________
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

You're looking good!

Mistakes are to be expected, so be kind to yourself. I had a boss once who said, "If you're not making mistakes, I'll know you're not doing anything."

Congrats on the DIY bender and your small commercial one doing the job quite well. When you're working alone on a long piece like that it's really touch to get those 90 degree bends to end up in the same plane. I had the same issue with my cheapo bender.

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

I got trouble and my bender wasn't cheap. At least, I didn't think it was cheap.

_________________
"If it's broke, fix it. You can't make it more broke"

BMW 2002 donor, M10 motor, 4 spd trans, IRS, tube chassis.
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=20787

That's when a 9" torpedo level is your friend.
Level you bender both ways, make your first bend, set up for your second bend, put torpedo level on your first bend and bend away while watching your level correcting as necessary.

_________________
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

@horchoha
Thanks for that tip, Perry.

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

What I found was that using my Klein magnetic level past the bend furthest from the current one worked well. Because of my questionable "work bench" that the vice is mounted to I just made sure both the bender and the tube were on the same plane. I was probably a fraction of a degree off. But after cutting a small section out and welding to length, it's now a fraction of a fraction.

_________________
Cheers,
Logan

What I found surprising/shocking was just how flexable - over any decent length - 2", 1/8"-wall DOM tubing is. I had my tubing bent by a pro shop and even then it wasn't exact. But once one end was fastened down, the other end was very easily moved to finally position with hand pressure.

_________________
Midlana book: Build this mid-engine Locost!, http://midlana.com/stuff/book/
Kimini book: Designing mid-engine cars using FWD drivetrains
Both available from https://www.lulu.com/

Well I've been slacking... Almost two months since my last update. Not that I haven't been working, but I only find time to update this thread while I'm at work. (very strenuous job ) And I've been taking time off to try to realign my life to a different part of the state.

So I left you with a freshly bent rear hoop. To cut it to length I needed a good reference line. Enter 24" level:



I figured keeping that rear angle straight to the bottom square tube would help greatly in bending aluminum over it. I feel like the book had a different angle, but maybe I'm remembering wrong. Anywho, it looks good attached.



And all the major tubes in place and tacked:



When I step back it looks ever so slightly off, but when I measure everything seems to be on point. I must be wearing mismatching socks or something.

The Mustang axle had an odd feature:



It seems like it's little more than a spacer for the brake caliper, any chance that it spreads some of the breaking load further down the axle? Is this a "feature" I need to keep? If not I was just going to trim the top off to use as a spacer to keep the calipers fitting.

Speaking of superfluous axle parts, it also had these ugly, heavy, cast bushings:



A little Hacksaw action and they were off in a matter of minutes... lots of minutes. It's times like this that I regret not having duplicates of all my tools at both my houses.



At this point I had to take a bit of an intermission:



The Fiance and I heading "back east" to WV to visit her 94 year old aunt, and go to a friends wedding. Aunt Aggie is great, she lives alone, curses more than me, and still makes a bitter beer face when she tries my beer.

One of the flights back I got to fly on a crowded "private" flight.



It's a small flight from PDX to Pendleton. Always fun since there is no security and you have to get your own snacks.

Luckily not too much rust set in on my freshened up axle and I was able to primer it on my return.



At this point I was at a bit of a standstill. I was still waiting on my suspension parts. So I figured, no time like the present to pull a power-train.



A little bittersweet pulling the heart out of Pinkerton. He's been in the family for a long time, but I'm doing what I can to make the most of him.

And for my next trick I will move a 60x40 shop, and a small one car garage into this:



I picked this container up from a guy up I-5 that's getting ready to retire. The plan is to consolidate my two garages into here, and tear down the small one for a house addition. It will also give me a place to store equipment for the Brewery build-out I'm starting as well... I would love to be able to finish the car in there, just because, but fully expect to have to set it aside for the addition, and you know, my new job... Oh well. I'll keep plugging away while I can.

_________________
Cheers,
Logan

Strength for a heavy, abused truck and a spacer, but over kill for a feather weight with a 22r.

Auntie sounds awesome.

_________________
Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
LxWxHt
360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12

I'm just catching up with your post, Logan, so I'll put all my responses in one place.

1) Spacer or strength?

Neither, actually. I used a Ford 7.5" axle and I was puzzled by that same item. I did my research and found out they're called "anti-moan plates." While that could sound sexy in the right context, it was actually because the rear brakes started to vibrate and moan in development testing. Bracing the brakes to the thick axle tube solved the problem. I've kept mine and I'm still debating if I'll reinstall them on the finished car. I don't think I'll need them on such a light car, but who knows?

2) Congrats on the rear hoop. I found it one of the trickiest things to get right.

3) Yup, those "big ears" on the differential casting are an ugly artifact. However, after having to cut/hack/grind off the outer suspension mounts, I decided to leave mine minus the bushings - ugly, but who sees them?

4) Ha! That flight reminds me of one I took from Seattle, Washington to Medford, Oregon. It was a Brazilian turboprop and I sat just behind the pilot/copilot facing forward. It was open just like your flight. It was fun. I was able to talk to them both and watch all the instruments as we went along and listen to them talking to the air traffic controllers. That would never happen nowadays, I suspect.

5) Google "container based shop" or some similar phrase, perhaps on Pinterest.com too. People have done very clever things making garages/shops with them.

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

I prefer a moaner so I'll probably just trim them down and use the spacer portion. Thanks for the input. I absolutely love the communal knowledge on this boards, probably the least toxic forum I've encountered on the web.

I hope the container is a temporary shop. I'll be installing shelves and lights. Once the addition is done I'll move back into the garage, and by then hopefully have a piece of land I can turn the container it into a "cabin" on.

_________________
Cheers,
Logan