LocostUSA.com

Lonnie
You may want to take a 2nd look at the gas pedal. You typically located the gas pedal within a 1/2" to 3/4" on the same plane as the brake, for easy heel / toeing. I would also verify total pedal movement. A short travel gas pedal makes it hard to control break away during cornering. I made that mistake. My first try I only had 1 3/4" of travel, it was like an on off switch. My 2nd try I had 2 5/8" travel and it made a world of difference in control. DaveW

@horchoha
Thanks for that tip, Perry. There are some areas I knew I'd have to insulate for sure, so I bought a small roll of aftermarket insulation from a supplier in North Carolina. If I have any extra, I'm going to throw it on the back of the M/C shield I build, otherwise I'll just try it "nekked" as you suggest.

@davew
Hi Dave,

It's funny you should mention the gas pedal. It was pretty easy for me to figure out the brake & clutch pedals and the emergency brake locations using my mock-up way back when. However, I fussed a lot about the accelerator pedal. I used the donor pedal to try things out with, but not having an engine or a hooked-up throttle cable in the mock-up, I couldn't really tell if it was going to work well.

I tried to duplicate the ratios in the donor setup as closely as possible, but space is a scarce quantity in a Locost, so the pedal end is shorter than the donors was (to your point). I left myself some flexibility in the accelerator pedal itself. The actual pedal end of the mechanism can be changed easily. It's just held on with 2, #10 machine screws as you will see in the photos I've recently posted. So, I can shorten, lengthen or relocate the pedal end pretty easily by making a new one and discarding the old one.

Hopefully, this will allow me to correct any problems like the ones you identified. Thanks for mentioning the issue to me.

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

Yes, and radiant heat is all you have to worry about; the master cylinders will stay at engine compartment temperature as long as the pipe isn't shining (in the infra-red) on them.

A nice piece of shiny stainless from the cookware aisle at the dollar store, and Bob's your uncle.

Lonnie-S is a question for you and everyone else. I look at you the main brake cylinders are combined together with the tanks. I hope you have a route from the tubes go below the level in the tanks?

_________________
Do not be ashamed not to know, it's shameful not to know and not ask

"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

For the most part, the lines will run below the level of the tanks even when positioned as shown. If I end up using the remote tanks, which will be mounted up about 12 inches (~30 cm) higher, the tanks will be above the entire system of brake lines.

However, there are these small, 2-pound force, valves you can place inline that solve the issue of rising brake lines. They're pretty inexpensive, and I have some on hand now. Here's what one vendor's valve looks like.


Thanks for raising the question. I appreciate the interest.

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 put the likes

The first time I see this. What is this valve?

_________________
Do not be ashamed not to know, it's shameful not to know and not ask

"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

@marafonets

They are sometimes called "Residual Pressure Valves" here in the USA. Below is the webpage for one manufacturer of them. The valves in question are listed about half way down the page. There's is an explanation of their purpose and function there. It's better than any explanation I could offer.

Residual Pressure Valves ==> http://www.wilwood.com/MasterCylinders/ ... alves.aspx

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

It was a rough day at the Misadventure Machine Shop, but in the end, the day was saved by good old American stupidity. Our motto is "We're too dumb to fail" and every once in a while we prove it.

I'll have to digress for a paragraph or two, but it will come back together later on. A couple of months ago on a visit to my favorite San Diego metal supplier, I found some really cool DOM tubing in the remnants section. It is 3/8" outside diameter, and an almost perfect 1/4" inside diameter. I said to myself, "Self, that is just too handy to pass up", and I bought the only piece there. It was about 13-14 inches long.

When I started my pedal box design I decided I would use it in two places on each of my pedals; clutch and brake. So, out to the garage I went and verified the dimension again with my fancy digital caliper. I put it in a place I was sure to find it when actual construction of the pedals began.

Design work was completed and construction started late last week. It came time to actually cut the 3/8" DOM tubing to the required sizes. I looked high and low, left and right, front and back and maybe a little upside down too, as I checked that it didn't roll under something like my work bench. I could not find it. OK, time to go to Plan B, which is to drive to San Diego Saturday morning and buy some replacement DOM tube from the supplier's virgin stock. I needed some other partial sheets of 16-, 14-, and 12-gauge sheet too, and I'd get it all at the same time.

Wrong! They don't stock it. It's a special order. But, they could have it in 7-10 days. So, I came back home with the steel sheet, but no 3/8" DOM. That meant my smallest tubing was 1/2", 16-gauge, welded tubing I already had back in the garage.

OK, the world give you lemons, then you make lemonade, right? That's where stupidity comes in to play. Unbeknownst to me, someone started a wormhole in the Bubba-sphere Saturday night, and Bubba escaped from Tallahassee and took the red eye flight to Carlsbad. Whereupon, he sat at the end of my bed and filled my dreamy head with bad ideas about how I was going to overcome things and make this stupendous set of pedals incorporating 1/2" tube instead. So, with out further delay, here is the plan and the way it unfolded. DO NOT REPEAT THIS AT HOME.

I carefully laid out the clutch pedal (it's the simpler of the two) on 12-gauge sheet. I took a slightly larger piece and tack welded it underneath my accurate "Master" layout.




The plan was that I would drill and cut both pieces together getting a sure fit-up and pretty much identical left and right pieces for the pedal.


So far, so good. Then Bubba's idea came into play. I'd cut away a lot of the waste material (actually, I save it all and make tabs or brackets from small pieces) with the pieces tacked together. I'd leave enough tack welds to keep the plates lined up and then bolt them to a sacrificial piece of wood and then cut the profile of both together. I should have sacrificed Bubba instead!



This was not a good idea. And, Bubba didn't realize my band saw blade was too thick to cut out the nice pattern I laid down with out twisting and generating a world of friction and cause groaning of my poor, tortured saw blade. But we was committed (not to the asylum like we should have been) and had to keep moving forward.


There is a reason what the band saw table is solid cast metal. The vibration, twisting of the blade, friction and heat using the sacrificial wood was not good. I tried to be as conservative as possible, cutting the curve for 1/2" or so and then trimming away the waste to reduce friction. It worked, but I was fully expecting the saw blade to break and the severed blade would take off a finger or finger tip. While I was working, Bubba low-crawled out of the garage, and returned to Tallahassee. I plan to Spackle Putty that wormhole before I go to bed tonight!

Once cut, I proceeded to hand finish the two parts and then loosely put them together with the 3/4" and 1/2" tubing I had cut for that purpose. All-in-all, it all turned out pretty well. However, I'm planning a different approach to the brake pedal, which will be more critical because of the large forces generated during any "panic " stops. I still need to machine the lower spacer and "axle" for the bottom of the pedal, and for the curved foot pad to be welded on the end. Still, all things considered, it's not a bad job for a first time fabricator.



Bubba has been fired and tomorrow is a brand new day!

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

That Bubba is one dumb sumbich... I've fired him at least two dozen times. But, you know, he's family...

What's hilarious is that I've been re-building the br*ckets and tabs that mount the rear suspension arms to the upright. Been cutting and welding flat stock and cutting pieces of tubing for the sleeves in the center of the bushings. My little task looks a lot like what you were doing with the pedal. And I can testify before God and three or four other responsible witnesses that Bubba ain't worth a damn at that kind of work!

Good luck with the rest of it, Lonnie! I'll try to keep the barn door shut from now on.


JDK

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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

Thanks, JD.

Maybe you could ankle-chain the boy too?

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've worked through all the issues of the first pedal fabrication and the clutch pedal is tacked up and only needs final welding.

My substitute for the 3/8" O.D./1/4" I.D. DOM tubing at the bottom of the pedal was to make a combination spacer and DOM substitute on the lathe starting with 1/2" round, steel stock. The ends are 3/8" to match the already drilled hole in the side plates. I just cleaned up the outside diameter to make sure it was nice and round for the lathe chuck and drilling of a 1/4" hole for the pin.


Drilling on the mini-lathe for an almost 2" hole was a challenge. The swarf would get jammed up which caused binding, so I had to back it out frequently and clean it out. I did use liberal amounts of cutting fluid, but it didn't seem to help that much.



Once that was done, I wanted to make the pedal pad. I felt 16 gauge would be the minimum plate I'd want to use. My slip roller won't do 16 gauge in theory, but I reasoned a small piece, worked slowly would be OK. It was, but in working it I discovered a design problem with the Harbor Freight slip roll. Like they say, you should consider them a kit and you have to play with them to get things right.

As designed, there is too much of a gap between the releasable roller and the quick release pin holding it in place. That allowed the roller to move forward rather than downward as more pressure was applied to increase the radius of the bend. I could only get the radius part of the way needed.

To make it work, I put of small pieces of 12 gauge steel scrap and filled up the gap until the roller could turn, but only move forward a few thousands.

Solving that problem gave me a good result right away.

With the ergonomic work done early on with my wooden mock-up (verified in the built chassis), I knew exactly where the heel of my driving shoe should be and where the pedal pad should strike in driving position , which is on the ball of my foot. I set everything up just to make sure I positioned the pedal pad correctly before tacking it in place.


I had a couple of ideas about how to surface the pedal pad to prevent slipage of my shoes. After some experimentation, I settled on using some 19 gauge, perforated sheet metal I had on hand. I cut out enough to cover the surface plus enough to bend it around to the back side where it will be tacked in place.


So, here it is in place and hooked up to the master cylinder.


The brake pedal is a little more critical as the forces involved (and the consequences for failure in operation) are more substantial. I'm going to increase the margins around the 1/2" tube nearest the pedal pad, and also around the machined cylinder that holds the spherical bearing . The 1/2" tube was originally supposed to be 3/8" DOM, but I ended up substituting 1/2" 16 gauge which ate up some of the original margin. It will be OK for the clutch pedal, but I'm not liking it for the brake pedal construction.

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 keep a metal pick and a custom short bristle paint bush on my lathe for that reason, along with the cutting fluid. And patience, that helps also. I keep lots of patience on the shelf above my lathe, I use it quite a bit.



Wife had to bring me a napkin to wipe the drool off my chin, wish I had that tool in my shop

Looking forward to a ride in your car this coming winter

_________________
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

That's a good idea, Perry. While I was dealing with the issue, I wondered what gunsmiths do when they drill out a rifle barrel. Do they use a different kind of drill? I can't believe they pull the drill out all the time to clean it.


I'm now getting to the point where I can put it to good use, so that's nice. I buy these big tools when all the Harbor Freight discounts align. You know, the tool is on sale + 25% discount coupon available, etc. It saves a boatload of money in the long run.


I sure hope it works out that way, Perry.

Cheers,

[/quote]

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

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

Jeez, Lonnie. That pedal is way too nice to step on. You'll better practice those speed shifts!

_________________
Martin


My build log:
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=14520&start=0
My build video:
https://vimeo.com/143524140 password "matovid"

Yeah, what he said... You're gonna have to take them nasty ol' sneakers off before you get in... And wear clean socks!

Nice work, Sir!

JDK

_________________
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