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Got some more pictures today:

Before I started the wiring in the scuttle, I wanted to see how the wipers would fit. I really want to use the stock system for the wipers. The motor works great, and it has intermittent speeds. It has like 10 speeds, which I really like. The downside, is that I need lots of space for the linkages. I did this about a week ago.

These are 2 pictures of me mocking up the system:



As the car sits now, the main harness and engine harness has been routed and 95% of those wires have been shortened to the correct length. I will cover all the wires and secure them when I'm completely done the wiring. The firewall is just cleco'd in for now. Some pictures:



Organized chaos


Car shots:



Both seats in (which I made exactly 1 year ago):


I did some work on the headlights. The shells I bought came with H3 bulbs, which aren't suitable for road use. I took stock mustang bulbs, and adapted those lights into the housings. They look good now, and I have hi/low beams.

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"The decision to build a car is not one reached through a rational mindset. It is a decision that is made because we have to do it! It makes no sense, but neither does love, children and taxes" -Sam Buchanan

My Build Log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=3054

You have accomplished a lot for an 18 year old, you are a remarkable young man with a lot of talent, congratulations.
Al

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Super Seven 3.4

Lookin good! You're doing a great job.

Rod

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Driving a +442E with 450 Hp Ford 347 v8, T5, 8 stack EFI w/EDIS8 & MegaSquirt ITB Mode.
12,000+ enthusiastic miles as of 1/1/11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqvYJlYc4GU
http://s124.photobucket.com/albums/p3/beergodrod/
Now building a 1953 Chevy 1 ton panel with Frito Lay truck parts and a Cummins 4BTA
and a 1963 Nova SS

I'm 19 now, but thats ok. Thanks for the comments. It really helps to keep me motivated....

_________________
"The decision to build a car is not one reached through a rational mindset. It is a decision that is made because we have to do it! It makes no sense, but neither does love, children and taxes" -Sam Buchanan

My Build Log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=3054

Oh, no wonder you've accomplished so much; you're 19. That amount of work done on a LoCost is about right for a 19 year old.

I think mine is going to take me about the same; 19 years.

Good job.

Tom

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Sometimes, I'm as confused as a baby in a topless bar.

My short term memory is absolutely horrible and so is my short term memory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG16m2e4O6I

Just a pointless update:

Whenever I have worked in the garage on my Locost, I recorded the number of hours I've worked and what I've done on a calender. Today, I decided to count up those hours.

The hours logged does not include design work, researching, staring at the car, buying parts, driving places to pick up parts, etc.

To date, I have logged 500 hours into the Locost.

_________________
"The decision to build a car is not one reached through a rational mindset. It is a decision that is made because we have to do it! It makes no sense, but neither does love, children and taxes" -Sam Buchanan

My Build Log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=3054

After a week of laziness and no time in the garage, it was good to get back into the garage for the day. I started off by drilling holes for my taillights. I will have 4 on the back, 2 on each side. I couldn't mount them on the fenders, so I had to mount them on the back piece of aluminum. I need some way to secure them in place and I need to figure out how to finish them off. They need some sort of trim piece around them. I will have to keep my eye open for something....


I started doing some aluminum work, cause I felt like it. I made a storage area under my dash:




I am finishing off all my rails with a shiny aluminum trim that I bought at Home Depot. Its 1" wide, and curves down a bit on the side. It looks like that:


I also spent a while making a pedal box enclosure. All those bends were done using a vise and clamps. Its not done yet, but you can see the shape of it.




I keep looking for excuses to avoid wiring at the moment. This is why aluminum is my friend right now

_________________
"The decision to build a car is not one reached through a rational mindset. It is a decision that is made because we have to do it! It makes no sense, but neither does love, children and taxes" -Sam Buchanan

My Build Log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=3054

Nice looking metalwork, Max. Especially the pedal box and glove box. How did you cut the tail light holes?

-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]

I cut the holes using my electric shears. I bought them from Princess Auto, here in Canada. Mine are rated for up to 14 gauge steel, but I have successfully used them on thicker steel. It is advertised that they can do a radius of 1.5", which is true only on thin metal. The shears were about $60, but were well worth the money in my opinion. It makes life so much easier. And the cuts are so clean.

Harbor Freight has one similar to it, at half the price, but not as good:


http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92148

To make the holes, I first drilled a couple relief holes (1" diameter) to fit the blades of the shears into the aluminum. I then did the large 4" hole with the shears.

_________________
"The decision to build a car is not one reached through a rational mindset. It is a decision that is made because we have to do it! It makes no sense, but neither does love, children and taxes" -Sam Buchanan

My Build Log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=3054

Been working hard on the electrical system the past couple of days, to try to finalize everything.

First of all, a year ago, I broke off the switch for my reverse lights off of my transmission. I finally got around to looking at it. After playing around with it for a couple hours, I determined that I couldn't fix it. Picked up a new one from Ford for $70!!. This is what I got:


I'm still working to get rid of as many wires as possible. Most of it is done now. This is what the firewall area looks like now:


I've also finished the rear harness. All transmission lines are finished and all the wires to the rear lights/ gas tank are there. I still need to buy lights for my backup lights, and I will probably add a brake light on my roll bar later. The wires will be covered in protective plastic when I know that there are no more wires to run.




If I were to do the frame building again, I would drill and tap a ton of holes (#10-24) in my tunnel and in the rear of the car, before there was aluminum and other steel parts in the way. This would really help to be able to mount the wiring. I spent a lot of time this week trying to drill holes. The space is so tight and awkward, that I had a very hard time making those holes.

Pictures of the rear of the car with all 4 lights on the back and my license plate light. (NOTE: This is not the plate for my car. I wish it was. This is just a plate I was using to make sure it fit)





School starts back up one Monday, so I'm not sure how much work I can get done in the next few months. We will see...

_________________
"The decision to build a car is not one reached through a rational mindset. It is a decision that is made because we have to do it! It makes no sense, but neither does love, children and taxes" -Sam Buchanan

My Build Log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=3054

Today marks the completion of all the electrical circuits. Everything now works (Engine, hazards, turn signal, brake lights, reverse light switch, clutch safety switch, headlights, electric fan, alternator etc). I've spent many tedious hours of work trouble-shooting wiring gremlins over the past 2 weeks, and everything finally works! All the wires have been routed, but I still need to secure them all down, and cover them. I still need reverse lights, but I haven't found any lights that I like yet. Once I get them, the wires are already there. I just need to hook them up.

And, in anticipation that I will be able to go to the drag strip a couple times before my car is road-legal, I bought a helmet. This got both my mother and my girlfriend very worried
This one:
http://www.rideicon.com/product_details.jsp?category=1660&id=6938
It will still be 4 or 5 months until I can take it to the strip/ track, but in the freezing winter weather, buying a racing helmet really helps to motivate me.

I'm trying to make regular visits to the MTO (Ministry of Transportation Office) to try to get the registration started. The lady that I'm working with is trying everything in her power to avoid calling my car a "KIT CAR", which is what I need it to be. I can't really go to any other MTO, because most other workers for the MTO don't know what they are doing when it comes to KIT CARS. This lady is very knowledgeable, but without a purchased KIT, she doesn't consider it a KIT CAR. Gotta keep working on that....

_________________
"The decision to build a car is not one reached through a rational mindset. It is a decision that is made because we have to do it! It makes no sense, but neither does love, children and taxes" -Sam Buchanan

My Build Log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=3054

Nice! Make sure when you make your first pass at the strip you have a friend in the stands with a video camera. That's a great price on a Snell2005 full face helmet. Back when I was racing the cheapest I found was over $300. You'll want to keep that helmet in the passenger footwell when you are out and about. IMHO it's a requirement in the event of a sudden downpour, and it takes the edge off of the wind fatigue factor on long trips.

Thats a good point. I would have to find a way to secure it somewhere, so its out of sight and locked up. That way I would know that its always there. It makes me laugh just to think about the looks I would get, driving my car down the street with a helmet



This is a hard one to consider. I would only want 1 friend to come with me, but which one would I choose? I have a least 5 friends who want to be there for that day, but I can't bring everyone. We will see...

Ideally, I would like a camera mount in the car as well. I haven't decided on any mount yet. I will be thinking about it more as time progresses.

_________________
"The decision to build a car is not one reached through a rational mindset. It is a decision that is made because we have to do it! It makes no sense, but neither does love, children and taxes" -Sam Buchanan

My Build Log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=3054

I've made big progress on the registration process. Since I haven't bought a kit, I cannot register my car as a KIT car. So, I have to register it as a 'Homemade Vehicle'. The only problem with registering it this way, is that I will need an e-test before registering it, and every 2 years after. This is a problem, because I've removed my EGR system from my car. The system just doesn't fit in the car, and there was extra wires/ hoses that I didn't want.

When I was first told that my car would be "Homemade", my biggest concern was that I couldn't get insurance. After spending some time today, talking with my insurance broker, I found out the truth. In Ontario, when someone can't get insurance through traditional ways (due to type of vehicle driven, a bad driving record etc), the "Facility Association" have to insure you. http://www.facilityassociation.com/

Both KIT cars and homemade vehicles cannot be insured through traditional means. This means that both of those categories are insured through Facility. In addition to that, both KIT cars and Homemade vehicles are under the same category to calculate insurance rates. This means that it would cost me the same to insure a KIT car as it would be to insure a Homemade vehicle. The cost of the insurance is based upon the appraised value of the car.
I asked my broker to calculate the cost of insurance to me if my car would be worth $12,000. Now, I would be 19 years old when its registered, and I have a clean record.
Cost would be $3500/ year with collision, $3100/ year without collision.
Since I would only drive it about 5 months a year, or less, the cost would be about half of that. So, I should expect a cost of $1500-1800 per season for insurance. I'm rahter happy with this. I didn't expect that I could get a Homemade vehicle insured for that little. It sucks that I can't pay the $500/ year that some Locost guys get, but I never expected to get mine insured for 500.

The biggest advantage to getting insurance through my broker, as opposed to getting insurance through a classic car insurance company, is that I can drive it as much as I want, and wherever I want. There are no restrictions to me like "No driving to work or school" Or "limited to 1000miles/ year" etc.


The lesson learned:
Never give up! You need to be persistent (understatement) to be able to finish a project like this, but in the end, it will be worth it

I still have lots of work to do to finish the car, and I haven't started the paperwork to register the car. But, at least I know that there IS a path to register it.

_________________
"The decision to build a car is not one reached through a rational mindset. It is a decision that is made because we have to do it! It makes no sense, but neither does love, children and taxes" -Sam Buchanan

My Build Log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=3054

An update!

Its been very cold the last couple of weeks and I've been very busy with school, so I haven't got much done. But, there have been a couple of things that I've been poking away at:

First of all, I finally got something to cover the perimeter of my taillights. They look much better now.


I tried to make a box to hold my 3rd brake light, but it looks terrible in my opinion. I plan on ripping it off when I find something better:


Just today, I received new headlights from Speedway. My old ones were just "off-road" headlights, that I thought would work. The old ones turned out terrible, so I spent the money on better ones.

I've been learning Solidworks in school, and I've been working on drawing up my Locost for practice. Its not an engineering drawing, but more of an artistic rendering. (Meaning, the its not too accurate, and I skipped out most of the components)


There has been something that has been bothering me for the past couple months. Its my A-arms and rear trailing arms. I have never been convinced that they were built as good as possible. First problem, was with the camber angle. I don't know what the actual angle was, but it was near vertical or slightly negative. Secondly, to make the A-arms, I welded nuts to the tubes, to screw in my rod ends. These nut weren't very long. I've been concerned about the strength of them (because of a lack of threads). I knew that my rod ends were rated for 12,224lbs UTS, and I had no idea what the nuts could hold up to. Thankfully, in one of my courses, Material Science, I have access to a lab. I ended up making up a little device to measure the tensile strength of a 1/2" bolt in a similar nut. (It could also be considered shear strength of the threads, but it depends on how you look at it) As it turns out, the threads stripped out of the nut at 7200lbs. So, this give me more incentive to re-do these arms. The final reason for doing this, is because of the angle that my lower A-arms attach to the frame. The rod ends rub against the suspension brackets, and there is no easy fix to this.


I've drawn up some plans for new A-arms and trailing arms, and I just need to wait for some good weather and some free time to make a jig.

The car is back in pieces again: (this is before the new headlights)

_________________
"The decision to build a car is not one reached through a rational mindset. It is a decision that is made because we have to do it! It makes no sense, but neither does love, children and taxes" -Sam Buchanan

My Build Log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=3054