LocostUSA.com

Its looking really good Kurt. It is definitely one of the best looking mid engined cars out there.

I like how the lower portion of the rear panel appears to be a decent start for a diffuser.

Looks nice Kurt. Take a moment to enjoy what a good job you've done, you've climbed quite a mountain, enjoy the view and *smile*!

Aha! So that's what you look like. I thought you sounded much younger than me... Well hell, EVERYBODY IS younger than me.

Nice looking build. My neighbor Steve keeps telling me I need to put one of my SHO drivetrains in a car like your Midlana or his Kabala. Too much temptation.

Tom

I don't care what everyone else says, I like it! Who's that sad faced feller in the last picture. I'm reminded of the slow talking beagle that used to be in all the cartoons when I was growing up.

Tell him to cheer up, it won't be but a few more years and you'll be able to drive it.

You had to go and post in my build log about this car and get me hooked on your design

Any estimate on book date?

The car will be fully-constructed within the next several months (uh huh.) Then it has to come all apart for paint, then put all back together again. After a few shake-down drives, it's off to one or several trackday events. Hopefully, in the meantime, the book will kept up to date, more or less in parallel with the build, so once pictures from the track day are inserted, there's final editing, uploading it to the publisher, and flipping the switch on... So how long does that all take?

I'm real bad about keeping this build log up to date. The best thing is to just watch it in my own diary, http://www.midlana.com/Diaries/Current/ Note that the diary there is just from this year, there are older diaries, too.

If you're really serious, the best place to start is the FAQ on the forum, accessible through the website above.

Been following since the start ... it's a fabulous build!

You should have made up a batch of those caliper brackets, I for one would have probably bought a set of them rather than paying for a whole big brake kit from Flying Miata or Good Win racing.

-Steve

Yeah I have been reading your old build diary a few hours yesterday and today. Very good build. I am leaning more towards a Mazda v6 drive train out of a 95 626 I have for the build, but it all depends on the sale of my other car and how that goes. I will keep reading and dreaming.

Logan

Is that the little 2.4 (or was it 2.6) V6? That's a sweet engine, and amazingly small. If I was building a front-engine rear drive Locost, that would be an interesting choice, though there's the transmission adaption issue.

They are also known for having oil starvation issues when you change their orientation. I know of one miata running a highly modified version so I know it is doable, but I would rather keep the 5spd FWD transmission it currently has. It is a 2.5L with factory of about 170 horsepower. The KLZE (JDM) version puts out closer to 200. There is some decent after market support, they have a very nice torque curve, and are not very heavy. I need to learn how to design in CAD

I seem to update this thread about once a year... so here's the latest:

She runs! Backed her out into the driveway and drove her back in. At least the gears ended up where they were supposed to.

(I don't know what's up with YouTube. When I played the video the first time, it completely left out a scene and overlayed the audio onto the first scene. Then when I watched it the second time, all was well. Whatever.)

Nice Work Kurt!

Congrats!

You could have turned that into a fireball on the highway with the CHP in pursuit! Plus all those clecos gives it a definite Mad Max kind of look. Oh well, viral marketing is probably over rated...

Good news, and a good looking car! The roll cage looks like it's working out for getting in and out of the car. Is that a stock cat fish nose from Kinetics or did you mod something up?

Nice!

Yes the cage is very useful for getting in and out and will be even more so for a top and door design I'm considering.

Yes that's a stock catfish nose from Jack; pretty much the entire front half of the car is designed around it.