DESIGN CONSIDERATIONSToday’s word, OK two words, is design considerations. What important things are we keeping in mind while we design this thing?
ROOF
Ever since I bought my F V back in ’78 I have had at least one open car. Funny thing is I don’t like open cars. Being an Indy and F1 fan when I bought a race car it just had to be open wheel. Just the way it is, never a thought to the contrary. When I bought my first sports car it was an RX7. It was a great car but I felt like some kind of traitor. Real sports cars don’t have roofs. I bought MGs so I could feel better about myself. Also I wanted to be able to tell Joseph Lucas Prince of Darkness jokes. I want a roof and it’s my build so that’s what we are going to do.
ROLLCAGE
I want one. Not because I’m going racing or plan to be on that roof I just put in but because other people don’t pay attention. York isn’t a big city but it is big enough to have bad traffic and many of the people I see are texting, talking, eating or otherwise not watching what they are doing. The problem with Locost rollcages is that they look like they are an afterthought that was just tacked on. It doesn’t matter that some of them are incorporated right into the frame from the beginning they still look bad.
How do we fix that? Build it into the body. The front hoop for instance will go inside the A pillar. Since the body and rollcage will be built together we can avoid the ugliness of production cars with rollcages added later. Hopefully, once the interior goes in the rollcage will be invisible.
WINDSHIELD
I will definitely have one but I’m undecided on what kind. I’m leaning towards the period correct split windshield, but I also like the laid back one piece. Aside from being more aero it will make seeing the stop lights easier. Here is one I saw at the Carlisle Import Show last spring.
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DOORS
Yeah, Jim Morrison was a jerk but I still like the Doors. I also want doors for my car. Not flimsy fiberglass doors but steel doors with roll up windows in them. My hot idea is to use part of the donor car body to get the hinges, door catch and door seal area. Here is the section. I will be trimming most of it away.
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I will also use the donor car doors but cut them down to get rid of the excess width. I will cut to the outside of the blue tape then reskin the door to match the rest of the body.
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WEIGHT
More than my Locost but less than a Miata. Lots of room to play between those two. Most of my choices will be made without worrying about how much the car will weigh.
I’ll continue in another post. I have to find more pictures first.