LocostUSA.com

Thank you guys for chiming in with the kind vibes- it really helps keep the motivation up

"..10 lbs in a 5 lb sack"... so true!! I don't know why I've begun doing this to myself.. I really am making this harder than it has to be.. Back in the 90's I built a '53 F100 (great body on that old truck ), and I always felt like I could have stuffed 2 motors into that cavernous engine bay... now I'm trying to clearance parts and bit into millimeters where none exist

((Also- to clarify.. these pics show work I did over a month ago, over summer break.. the progress shown will come to a screeching halt when I soon run out of pictures to post.. I haven't worked on the Berk for over a month as of now (8-30-18), but I do in fact plan to get back on it about September 15-ish 2018, so it will then show progress again..))

More pics.. With the motor up into the firewall, I laid out what will be the basis for the front section of the car's frame, which gives me an anchor point to place the lower control arms.. Considerations at this point are: steering rack placement/ location of front wheels into the body at ride height/ getting the LCAs horizontal at ride height/ finding appropriate anchor points for the LCAs/ clearing the steering rack up under and around the lower driver's side of the VFR motor/ eventual anchor points for the tbd upper contol arms.. I had to cut out a bit of the Berkeley's Punt fiberglass to morph in the LCAs.. I can later go and clean up the hacked out gaping holes I'm leaving as I don't really know how much needs to be cut up at this point..

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

I'm loving this build - and also nice to have a little variety...
For what it's worth... just my 2¢... I think a straight ''BB'' (bonnet bulge) like your paint sticks will be much more noticeable than one where the top slightly curves, roughly mimicking the bonnet... But I'm sure you're already on this, so excuse my comment.
MangPong.

TMI on an old Miata rack..

First and easiest thing to do was depower this Miata rack.. I then learned as I started to mock it into place, that I'd have to take off all of the fittings and lump-bumpy areas so that I can get it to fit down and around the driver's front corner of the VFR lump- there will eventually be a fight in that area to route steering linkage, an 'upper' frame section, and the driver's bank exhaust... it will work, but no room for unneeded fittings hanging off of it..

It's in my notes somewhere, but in the coming months I also need to narrow this rack by about 5"..

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

Nice work.

If you haven't already, you may want to think about welding the pinion spool to eliminate the flex on the input shaft.

_________________
Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

And don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766

Gotcha Chuck .. I do in fact still need to do the internal welding needed on this formerly power steering rack to tighten it up..

July 2018

So I'm down to my last few pictures and bit of progress for this summer's break.. At this point the concern is how to shape/fab the lower control arms, and get them into place, while addressing all other concerns simultaneously (at this stage about 0 degrees camber and 5 degrees caster- these arms will have lots of adjustment possible later).. The LCAs ended up a bit more clunky/chunky than they really needed to be-- this is something I'll be able to streamline a bit on the next car.. I'd like them a little lighter and less cumbersome..

It is nice at this stage to get a wheel lofted up into the pic, as it makes it seem almost car-like.. sort of

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

July 27, 2018 -(end of this summer's progress)-

So this is where she is now; as of 8-30-2018 I'm back in 'real' time.. At this phase of construction I began to have a hint of an upper control arm, but quickly ran into challenges as to how to build the frame up from below to come up to meet it's needed anchor points.. The UCAs are 2/3 the size of the LCAs, and point 'downhill' at 10 degrees as they go toward the center of the car.. I also have to figure out how/where to place the needed bell cranks that will attach to the R6 shocks that need to mount out in front of the engine-- these are the types of things that torture my tiny brain while I'm trying to fall asleep at night

Now that I'm back in real time here, I'm going to bounce back over to my 1800 build log and get that updated.. For the next 2 or 3 weeks I plan to continue fiddling with the 1800 (there are still dozens of things I'd like to do/alter/mod/finish on that car), but by mid September I've promised myself to pull off of it and come back to the Berkeley and make some headway.. The Volvo is now daily driven, so this isn't the time to be tearing it down for weeks at a time anyway..

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

Liar liar

Oops, it's me again... I forgot I went out on July 28th and did some more work.. just stumbled over the pics.. Ok, including these, NOW I'm in real time

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

I too totally understand the idea of "real time". I have a build that I am saving to post for when it can go on for a good long time. I currently have about 50 weeks of posts if I can control myself.
With a job as a school teacher now (After nearly 40 years in pipefitting) The build goes full speed for the summer and will taper off considerably for the next little while.
I make promises to myself about where I am going to end up on a build and get very mad at myself if they are not achieved. The promise for the summer was to get a rolling chassis by snowfall. Easy time constraint in So-Cal, little tougher in Winnipeg.

_________________
The biggest thing in motocross.

It appears to me that the most practical way to deal with the uca loads is from beneath (like the miata and typical street rod ifs systems), since the engine will cause any bracing from behind, in front, or above the engine to be highly offset. Also by keeping it below, it will look that much cleaner under the hood and with better access.I'd run 2x2 rhs 0.83" wall tube between the front left and right uca nodes and the rears, below the engine. Then use generous gussets and tube to those nodes, hugging the engine. To do this appears to require raising the engine 1 inch on the chassis.

Any pics of the original suspension? I'm wondering how they transferred the loads through the chassis.

_________________
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

CC - have you seen this listing? May be some photos there that are of interest to you.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1957- ... 2018-09-25

_________________
Bill H
Winnipeg, MB, Canada

Thanks for the heads up BHR.. Clean little nearly stock example.. if nothing else, nice to see what mine is supposed to eventually look like

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

Hot August Nights, Reno, Nevada, early August, 2018

Getting to and from HAN this year proved to be a bit of an ordeal (more on that over on the Volvo log), but once there, there were cool, interesting vehicles at every turn.. These are just a few of what piqued my curiosity..

**Note the gas/brake pedals in the last pic.. I talked to the owner/builder for awhile.. nice kid.. he and his buds set that old truck body down on a 90's chevy 1/2 ton 2WD chassis, and got a little funky with things like the pedals (btw, yes, they are welded )

**Anyone know what those couplers are in on the coolant piping the first pic? I didn't see any clamps(!?).. very clean; just don't know how they work..

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

Those are gates powergrip heat shrinkable hose clamps. They look good but are one time use. They are a nice way to dress up your engine bay after you have all the kinks worked out.

I'm guessing my post from a month ago didn't make sense without a pic. Too busy with the volvo anyway I see.

_________________
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

...Thanks WelderLee for the name of those clamps.. stumped me when I saw them, but knowing they're a one-use deal, it makes sense now..

...Sorry Miata for the much delayed response;

The trouble I'm running into with trying to run the stock Berk suspension is that it's so light-duty by design, and I'm worried about anchoring my Miata-based bits to it.. I'm no engineer, but it struck me pretty early on that I'd have to create a one-off frame for this project, and in the end, allow for the fragile Berkeley body to be an unstressed member.. the original design called for much of the car's rigidity to come from this little body, but with the HP increase, I just don't think it would hold up..

It's difficult to capture the complete Berk OEM front suspension as parts of it are molded into the body/inner fenders, but this pic shows the components once separated from the body.. Just not much to it..

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com