LocostUSA.com

Because I'm not buying a fiberglass body tub, this isn't a '23 T-bucket. If this isn't acceptable here, please stop me now.
This will use an S-10 IFS and a 300ZX IRS, a SBC 350 Vortec, carbureted, with a THM200-4R, and posdibly seats from an older Jetta. Probably a late-1980s RX-7 steering column. BFG 245/60R15s on 8.5s rear, 205/60s on 7s front. Manual steering, no power assist. And a folding top.
This is on a cramped budget, nothing new that csn be obtained used and refurbished, except the steel for the frame, the welding rod, the intake manifold, and the tires.
Yea or nay?

You had me at "cramped budget." Sounds acceptable so far; we take in a fair number of strays. Including many which -- lacking a commercial fiberglass body -- fail to be a '23 T-bucket. Keep us updated.

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Locost builder and adventurer, and founder (but no longer owner) of Kinetic Vehicles

Hi, and thanks!
So I called around for a 20' length of 3" x 1.5" x 0.120" steel, Wasatch Steel quoted me $58.67 with tax, Metal Supermarkets quoted $150, so I politely asked them why they're nowhere near Wasatch's price, no reply yet.
I can get the front subframe with suspension and steering, from a 2WD Astro, for $136 plus a $10 core charge, plus tax, so $160-ish.

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Mike - Read my story at http://twinlakesseven.blogspot.com/

Greetings and salutations Mr. Eggs,

you've come to the right place.

Are you talking about tig welding or flux coated stick welding? If stick, have you ever tried wire feed mig?

Why 300zx irs? 2004r? You have those laying around already?

You may not know this, but 85-02 astro has a different wheel bolt pattern than the s10. An astro single donor would make a cheap build by just swapping the engine. The 85 has a carb and non-electronic 700r4.

I never buy steel online unless it is something I can't get local, mostly due to shipping cost. Many metal recyclers also sell new steel.

Some pics I've collected over the years (not my builds).

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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

Hi,
I do MIG, the S-10 / Camaro rotors fit the Astro hubs and calipers, I'll explain the other 2 in an hour or 2. Thanks for yhe pics and comments.

Nice collection of pics from "Miatav8"!

I'm partial to the track roadster style, so that black one with the DuVall windshield REALLY caught my eye!!! Very Nice!

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Mike - Read my story at http://twinlakesseven.blogspot.com/

I do love the 700R-4, but here the 200-4R has better gearing for the L31 in such a light car. Both Jag and 'vette IRS are too costly, the T-Bird IRS is not performance oriented, while the 300ZX IRS is well-packaged with good negative camber gain in compression, and offers a reasonable 3.36:1 gear, tho I may swap an aluminum Ford 8.8" center to get 3.08:1 and an affordable limited slip differential.

More than a few T-bucket guys like the S-10 axle, it's adequate for this, but the Astro axle is wider, and uses an offset differential.

Makes sense. The 300 front spindles look easy to mod but much less hassle to swap for gm. You could make the geometry whatever you want for any irs but again, more hassle. The 300 irs looks nice and compact too.

Mike, here are a few more I left out.

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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

MV8, I like the gold hemi for the wide front tires. If I was rich, I'd use 345/35R15s on all 4 corners.
The '84-'89 300ZX is known as a Z31, and tyey suffer from a bit too much negative camber gain, the fix is easy and cheap. Most had gearing in the 3.70-4.11 range, but rumor has it there's a 2.94:1 possibility now.
For cost and availability reasons I'm strongly tempted to try a solid 8.8 on cantilevered leafs. The leafs attach to the frame at one end and in the middle, the other end of the leafs clamps to the axle perches. Then they serve as the axle location, you just need anti-wrap such as CalTracs, and shocks.
It's ancient tech, you never see it these days.

Notice also how the best looking roadsters have zero rollover protection. I saw an old picture of one upside down and all you could see was a hand sticking out. No thanks! The point being, decide right from the start what your stance is on getting inverted.

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Midlana book: Build this mid-engine Locost!, http://midlana.com/stuff/book/
Kimini book: Designing mid-engine cars using FWD drivetrains
Both available from https://www.lulu.com/

Fair point, KB.
I tried showing one of my builds once, worst 2 days of my life. So this is a cruiser, with highback seats, a folding top, a fully framed windshield, and let it look how it will. What ruins a car are things like booger welds. My wife likes purple, so there's the main color.

What will the body look like? Enquiring minds want to know!

Oh, and welcome to the Forum.

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Bill H
Winnipeg, MB, Canada

Generally, Street Roadsters are set up without rollover protection, but a beefy roll bar would not look out of place on a "Track-T" style roadster!

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Mike - Read my story at http://twinlakesseven.blogspot.com/