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PostPosted: January 3, 2015, 7:15 pm 
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Joined: August 18, 2014, 11:20 pm
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Location: San Antonio, Texas
Is it just me, or does every component on this car look like a bespoke piece of jewelry?

Also Kurt, I've stolen a fair number of engineering/design cues from your cars. Let me preemptively apologize before facing patent litigation.

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PostPosted: January 3, 2015, 8:48 pm 
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Location: Glendale AZ
Kurt, don't forget the red caps ? Sorry ,just kidding ! Very cool.
Randy :cheers:

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PostPosted: January 3, 2015, 10:27 pm 
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Joined: April 23, 2006, 8:26 pm
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Location: SoCal
carguy123 wrote:
robbovius wrote:
Kurt, love that air box, how did you form the bell-mouth?


Yes and do you have any shots straight down the barrel to see how much if any the welding penetrated. I've often wondered if more turbulence was added due to the welding than was gained by using all the many pieces, but you can't see down inside those headers to check.

I found the bell mouth online, can't remember where it came from, but at something around $25 it seemed pretty reasonable.

I didn't plan on the segmented cuts - it was a consequence of the 4" U-bend I bought having too large a radius. I made due by cutting about 95% of the way through the tube, removing thin pie-shaped segments and closing it back up on itself, then welding it shut. A picture down the throat won't help much because I used a drum sander in a die grinder to smooth everything down. Given that the intake used to be 3", having even a lumpy 4" version is still better, or that's what I tell myself.

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PostPosted: February 28, 2015, 4:49 pm 
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Not sure if anyone is interested but Lulu is running 29% off right now with " NOLEAP " coupon code. Ends 03/02/15.


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PostPosted: February 28, 2015, 4:59 pm 
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Thanks for posting. For some reason, Lulu doesn't inform authors about upcoming discounts, so I never know when they're happeniing.

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Both available from https://www.lulu.com/


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PostPosted: February 28, 2015, 6:10 pm 
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KB58 wrote:
Thanks for posting. For some reason, Lulu doesn't inform authors about upcoming discounts, so I never know when they're happeniing.


I only knew because I've been wanting to pick up the book but, hadn't quite been able to fork out the full price. I happened to find this coupon code, which after shipping saves about $20ish so I decided to go for it... haha.


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PostPosted: March 13, 2015, 5:04 pm 
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If anyone was curious about the book... it's fairly large. Nearly 400 pages and they're not small pages at all. There's a full 139 pages or so describing the basics and other important information before you even get to the build images.

Here is a size comparison to a standard Jegs catalog.

Image

Image


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PostPosted: March 15, 2015, 8:51 am 
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Joined: March 3, 2006, 10:48 pm
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Location: Shawnee, Ks
Your car is starting to get some attention on the USA7's site. I put a plug in there for you. Russ

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PostPosted: March 15, 2015, 12:02 pm 
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Mid-Engined Maniac

Joined: April 23, 2006, 8:26 pm
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Location: SoCal
Thanks. It's been years since I've visited that site and need to see what's going on over there.

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PostPosted: November 11, 2015, 11:08 am 
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Joined: April 23, 2006, 8:26 pm
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Location: SoCal
Time for another belated update:

A number of changes have been made, including an upgraded turbocharger, wastegate, and ECU, with the last allowing running "flex-fuel" (any mixture of gasoline and ethanol). The advantage is that ethanol can be used when available to maximize engine performance due to its cooling properties and higher octane. On ethanol, the engine currently produces approximately 430 whp. When gasoline is sensed, the ECU reduces timing and boost to avoid knock.

Somewhere around June a new problem popped up, where at high rpm and boost, MAP would sometimes drop off suddenly. Many months of testing, parts substitution and head scratching ensued, all without finding the cause. Finally, Midlana showed enough clues that a suspect part was identified, which resulting in this rather surprising video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSuB4rfw0Zk

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Both available from https://www.lulu.com/


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PostPosted: November 11, 2015, 12:10 pm 
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Location: Pemberton, BC
Wow, Kurt, that is amazing.
Just goes to show you, that the GoPro can be your best friend, when you are a one man band.
When I wasn't too sure if my Dobeck FI controller was working properly, a quick trip with the GoPro under the hood, showed that all the lights did come on.

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


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PostPosted: November 11, 2015, 12:20 pm 
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Wow, that's hilarious. It's probably happening easier now that's it's flexed for awhile. Fixing that will be good because it must also be telling you that it's pulling a vacuum there in the intake so that would be a noticeable restriction...

Good news, isn't debugging fun! :shock: :)

They make really big intake scoops for supercharged muscle cars.... :rofl:

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PostPosted: November 11, 2015, 12:55 pm 
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Joined: April 23, 2006, 8:26 pm
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What amazes me is how it pops back to the original shape. I pull over, get out, and look for problems, and it's as if it's saying, "What? No problems here, look elsewhere." If it had permanently deformed, this 5-month fiasco would have been over in minutes. Instead I spent months suspecting the turbo, wastegates, ECU, various sensors and actuators. Glad to have it solved, but sheez. What makes it even more "amusing" is that when I'd run the car on the dyno, they'd never see the same problem... because it was always run with the cover off. Ugh.

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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/


Last edited by KB58 on November 11, 2015, 1:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: November 11, 2015, 1:14 pm 
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Location: worcester county, Massachsetts
Wow. you can see the little creases of the fold marks that formed in the scoop from it getting sucked in, but they aent' obvious at all, unless you know what you're looking for.

fascinating.

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The B-3 build log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=13941 unfortunately, all the pictures were lost in the massive server crash

The beginnings of the Jag Special,
https://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19012
Again, all pictures were lost.


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PostPosted: November 11, 2015, 1:59 pm 
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Mid-Engined Maniac

Joined: April 23, 2006, 8:26 pm
Posts: 6410
Location: SoCal
The tip off came in two forms.

1. The air filter element had one edge dislodged from its mounting surface, so at first it seemed as if the air filter element was dropping down onto the inlet tube and blocking the air.

2. At the same time, two light gray telltail marks along the top edge of the scoop were the only clue of something else going on.

Image

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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/


Last edited by KB58 on January 8, 2016, 6:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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