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Don't forget the clamp on the hose at the clutch MC

A quick thought. I am sure you've covered this, but you may need to seal off the top of your pedal box for it to function as a valid firewall between the engine and driver's area. Otherwise flame could be pulled at speed from an engine fire into your footwell. Some racing & track day organizations may make an issue of that.

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.. in the world

Good input, everyone! Thank you!!!



Didn't have any trouble with it the first time around, but I'll keep the banjo fittings in mind if it becomes an issue. I swapped the two to keep the brake lines away from the exhaust...but it's not as tight as I expected, and that could be heat shielded.



Not needed. There's no pressure in that line, and the hose is a VERY snug fit. But, I'll probably put a clamp on there regardless, now that you've pointed it out. Thanks for catching it.



Yep. That's been in the long-term plan. It will be removable, or at least hinged, to keep my tootsies warm in the winter. I'll probably fab that this Spring.

Bought caliper bolts today, and the rebuild kit and boots will be in Tuesday. I'll be about $18 into it, so I won't mind if I end up having to trash it for a $70 M/C later.

-dave

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...nowadays people are so intellectually lazy and lethargic that they can't build ANYTHING with their hands. They'll spend hours watching whiny people marooned on an island, but won't spend a second adding anything to the world. -weconway
Visit my [Locost 7 build log]

Awesome job! Its looking great and I love the pics/videos. Thanks for being a faithful poster as I know a lot of my projects tend to come down to time constraints.

Keep up the great work.

PS.
First post. gotta go read through some other builds. Hopefully one day will have my own. Thanks!

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Work with what you have... when you don't have what you need go curb shopping.

Quick update...

Filed the caliper bolt boot flange flat. Removed very little metal, but got a flat surface. Fit it with a new boot and wasn't happy. Installed two boots on one pin, but that was too much bulk. The boot has three bellows, so I cut it down to two. Still too chunky, so I used the one bellow I cut off (in addition to the intact boot) and that fit real nice, and will seal decently, I believe. I used a copious amount of grease.

Mounted the front suspension. Had to run a tap through the tube ends after painting to screw the rod ends in.

On disassembly a few months ago (gosh...has it been that long?), I found that one of my tie rod extenders got bent...I have no idea how. I'd been putting off making a new one, so tonight was the night. Everthing was going fine...down to the last operation when I broke the !&;/@""3 tap !!! grr... Fortunately, the tap came out so I'll be able to finish the piece easily tomorrow.

Short of the steering, the front end is done, ready for wheels and bleeding. I haven't taken inventory of what is left to do, but it can't be much. Radiator, plumbing, intake, seats, dash, scuttle, windshield, body panels, tail lights... Hmm... Maybe I better stick with not inventorying. The good news is that the tail lights are the only new fabrication on the list, mostly because I didn't put the wipers on the list. *DOH!*

I've got family in town for Christmas. I think I can get it roadworthy by then to show off a bit. If not, at least by New Years. Not like anyone's gonna wanna go for a three hour tour in the country.

That's it for tonight. Got to wake up early for a 10 AM meeting.

-Dave

ps. This took entirely too long to write on sweetie's iPhone!

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...nowadays people are so intellectually lazy and lethargic that they can't build ANYTHING with their hands. They'll spend hours watching whiny people marooned on an island, but won't spend a second adding anything to the world. -weconway
Visit my [Locost 7 build log]

Got a good 4 hours in the shop tonight.

Installed the left tie rod extension. Well, installed half of it...I guess I'll do the other half tomorrow.

-dave "slow and steady" hempy

_________________
...nowadays people are so intellectually lazy and lethargic that they can't build ANYTHING with their hands. They'll spend hours watching whiny people marooned on an island, but won't spend a second adding anything to the world. -weconway
Visit my [Locost 7 build log]

That tie rod extension is a nice piece and will help me with my own rack.

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The biggest thing in motocross.

Hey Dave-
The front page said your build log had "666" replies... Couldn't let that number stay there!!!

JD "Not Takin' Any Chances" 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

Whew! Thanks, JD. I was wondering about all those evil thoughts running around my head. I feel much better now!

Minor update - haven't been spending much time in the shop, due to holiday business and the seasonal blues I seem to get each year. Got all four corners hung and plumbed. Mounted the scuttle. Umm...seems like there was some other stuff, but can't remember what now.

I figured out why my steering was tight. I drilled the hole in the firewall to have a tidy 1/8" gap around the shaft. I think I mounted the steering column slightly differently this time, or maybe I just plain messed it up. In any case, I now have a roomy 1/4" gap around the shaft, and no interference. Steering is back to one-finger light. (On jack stands, anyway)

Given that I've COMPLETELY blown several timelines I set for myself, I've more-or-less decided to cool my heels through the winter. I've also decided that that won't bother me. I'll certainly drive it a few times through the winter, but I'm not going to rush the finish bits just to join the polar bear club. It might be back on the road in January...or it might be February. March wouldn't be too bad, but June would be unacceptable!

I'd post pics, but they really don't look that different than the last ones.

-dave "" hempy

_________________
...nowadays people are so intellectually lazy and lethargic that they can't build ANYTHING with their hands. They'll spend hours watching whiny people marooned on an island, but won't spend a second adding anything to the world. -weconway
Visit my [Locost 7 build log]

I originally welded a flexible bracket to the frame for the upper radiator support:



It worked well, but was uber-annoying when pulling the engine. Being welded to the frame, it was not removable. Standing 6" tall, it was continually fighting with the oil pan...and losing. It finally pieced me off so bad I cut it off. Yesterday I fabricated this bolt-on beauty:



Much studier (not that it was needed), and most importantly, removable.

Discovered the little plastic bolts that came with the fan had loosened up or something. I think I'm going to ditch them and rivet the fan to the radiator sides. Not sure why I didn't do that in the first place.

Wired in the front lights, horn, fan, and MAF sensor. This should have been non-notable, except I changed how I wired the headlights. The chrome buckets are designed to run the wire down the center of the hollow mounting bolt. That's very slick, particularly for a sheet-metal-mounted headlight, as no wiring is exposed. However, for a stick-mount like mine, you're going to see the wiring anyway, like in this year-old photo:



Add in that I've got turn and marker lights in the headlight makes for a very cramped conduit in that hollow bolt. No way in the world could you get a connector through it, which means you have to cut the wire to remove the headlights -- which is what I had to do to remove them for chassis painting. Anyway, I ended up drilling a hole in the bucket and running the wires out there. Now the headlight is easily removable just by unplugging the wires. Plus, I've got room for a dedicated ground wire, instead of depending on the bucket for grounding...more of an issue now that I've painted the chassis, perhaps. Okay, probably not, but can't hurt. Hmm...now that I look at that old picture, I guess you'll actually see less of the wiring this way. Cool!

This approach would be good for anyone looking to track their car. They could quickly remove the headlights to reduce drag. Hmm...you could do it for daytime road trips. Just tell the officer they are retractable. Very retractable!

Okay, I probably sound like an obsessive lunatic.

-dave "obsessive lunatic" hempy

ps. Going to buy a 4x4 GMC truck with mud tires tomorrow so I can stop getting stuck in the mud at the farm. I've never owned a full-size truck or a 4x4. Hope I don't get too used to oversized! It will be the fun new toy for a while, in any case. Doesn't every man need to own three trucks? (Anybody want to buy a really nice 2000 Tacoma?)

_________________
...nowadays people are so intellectually lazy and lethargic that they can't build ANYTHING with their hands. They'll spend hours watching whiny people marooned on an island, but won't spend a second adding anything to the world. -weconway
Visit my [Locost 7 build log]

Good job Dave. I love the radiator support. Your headlight pics look much better than the last ones.

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He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

Dave, I like the NEW look of the chrome headlight buckets.
Eric

Removed the plastic push-through bolts holding the fan to the radiator and riveted the fan to the steel edges of the radiator. For the standard Civic radiator, a 14" electric fan works perfectly, with just a tiny bit of trimming at the top and bottom.

Finally got over my wiperphobia. What was I so worried about? I used a Lucas wiper system from an MGB. It comes with 3 wiper gearboxes, so that you can lose one and still have enough parts for a Seven. At least, that's how it worked for me. I swear, I walked from the lathe (workbench had too much crap to use, so I was cleaning the parts on the bed of the lathe) to go pee on my lemon tree, and when I got back, one of the dang gearboxes had snuck off. I looked for it for 20 minutes, and still haven't seen it after two days.

Anyway, the Lucas system is SUPER EASY to implement. I highly recommend this setup. Cost is fair...new isn't outrageous. I got a motor and three gearboxes on Fleabay for $50. I was going to use the pushrod system from the Miata, but chickened out. Looking back, I'm so glad I did, as that would be a real challenge to get clearance for, and you'd have to come up with robust mounting points for the arm pivots. The Lucas system uses a push/pull cable inside a 5/16" steel brake line. This means you don't need any clearance from your wiring, and the mounts to the scuttle are simple and bullet-proof.

I don't have wiper arms yet. It seems to move a bit on the slow side, but I'm sure it will seem faster with the arms on. I don't have the auto-park working yet. Gotta find a wiring diagram for the wiper motor, overlay the Miata wiring diagram, and run the whole thing through a British -> Japanese -> American translator. The Miata's intermittent circuit almost works. It delays before starting the wiper, but then never cuts it off again. I'm pretty sure figuring out the park circuit will fix that.

I wanted to mount the motor to the scuttle, so you could pull the scuttle more easily. With a traditional windscreen, that's probably worth doing. With my roll-bar-mounted windscreen, it's going to be a hassle regardless, so I just mounted it the motor to the firewall. My welder just didn't have the oomph for the thickness of the Kinetic scuttle. If I ever get over my fiberphobia, I might relocate it. Nah....

Started playing around with tail lights. Wife convinced my my awesome light bar is not enough, since it doesn't *look* like tail lights. I'm about this close to just slapping some trailer lights on the back. We'll see.

I brought the nasty old Miata tires in the garage to thaw out (12*F currently), so I can unmount them and install my new tires, maybe tomorrow. I had already broken the bead on one, and it had taken on a lot of water. Felt like I was making a margarita as I rolled it into the garage!

Cleaned all the crap out of the car. Cleaned up the garage a little, reclaiming 2 feet of space along side the car. Nice. Oh, and found some trailer lights. Handy.

Took some pix but they're stuck in the phone...I'll try to post them soon.

Next: tail lights, tranny cover, clutch pedal stop, body work, mirrors. Not much else, I think.

-dave "onward" hempy

_________________
...nowadays people are so intellectually lazy and lethargic that they can't build ANYTHING with their hands. They'll spend hours watching whiny people marooned on an island, but won't spend a second adding anything to the world. -weconway
Visit my [Locost 7 build log]

Good to see you managed to control the time line monster... Vicious Creature!! It's amazing though.. that when you stop worrying about it, you seem to work faster!

I see you ditched the Push Rod Front Suspension.. any particular reason?? I have been reading the log in spurts but I could swear I didn't see you mention it.

Did you ever find the gearbox?? You'll probably find it on TOP of the tool box next to the FULL can of Dr. Pepper (or insert beverage of choice here) you forgot about!

K "I loose more tools that way" S

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Check out Firearm Finishes & Coating for options to ceramic coat your Locost parts. Hundreds of stock or custom colors including Chrome and Clear Coating options now available! High Temp options for hot bits!! Plastics too!!

Never become a pessimist. A pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun, and neither can stop the march of events.-Robert A. Heinlein

Yep. I'm not smart enough to figger it out. I discussed it at length somewhere here, and have since forgotten the why's and why not's of it all. I now firmly think that straight coilovers are the way to go for anyone that needs my opinion on pushrod suspensions.



Nope. Is it on your toolbox?

-dave "couldn't find it with both hands tied behind is back" hempy

_________________
...nowadays people are so intellectually lazy and lethargic that they can't build ANYTHING with their hands. They'll spend hours watching whiny people marooned on an island, but won't spend a second adding anything to the world. -weconway
Visit my [Locost 7 build log]