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Learning how to build Lotus Seven replicas...together!
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 Post subject: What made your choice?
PostPosted: March 19, 2007, 5:53 pm 
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Joined: February 10, 2007, 10:57 am
Posts: 610
How did you pick your donor? Availability? Cost? Nobody else had one? Performance? Noobish minds want to know. This is what i think the most difficult part of the project. So many choices, so little garage space. As i prep to go look at one, another comes up and so on. Once thats figured out, your set in a certain direction. Till then i feel like a cat in a room full of mice. Trying to chase to many at once and catching none at all.


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PostPosted: March 19, 2007, 6:01 pm 
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Joined: August 17, 2006, 8:55 am
Posts: 365
I wanted the car to pull HARD at any RPM, any gear. So I opted for a V8.


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PostPosted: March 19, 2007, 6:34 pm 
I feel your pain Mandurath. I was going back and forth on nice & light (4 cyl) and lotsa torque ( v6/v8 ), and it ultimately came down to I found a S-10 donor for the right price, bought it, so now I have a direction to go.

--JOsh


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PostPosted: March 19, 2007, 6:43 pm 
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Joined: August 16, 2005, 10:29 am
Posts: 1072
Location: Alberta, Canada
I choose the easiest donor possible (Hyundai Stellar which is a Cortina copy with a Mitsu engine). Ended up using almost none of it except the spindles and brakes. :lol:

Done again I won't use a donor or import a scrap Miata.


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PostPosted: March 19, 2007, 9:19 pm 
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Joined: December 5, 2006, 10:42 pm
Posts: 457
Location: Metro Detoit
I've decided not to use a donor because of the fact that there are a lot of parts you won't use and getting rid of the carcass can be an issue if the car isn't rolling. I've decided to get the engine/trans I want, use spindles that are easy to get and new along with the brakes I want, get the rear axle I want, and then go from there. Since there wa no single vehicle that had everything I wanted available I went this way. I got my engine/trans combo for $235 total, got my rear axle for $80, and will get my spindles new. I have a $3000 budget and should be able to stick really close to it. I have quite the collection of parts, I just need the time to get started. If the weather would cooperate, it would be much closer to being reality.

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Build sold to a new loving home. May start another one when I have more time to devote to it. For now I play with my boat, Datsun 240Z, and GS700 motorcycle.


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PostPosted: March 19, 2007, 9:25 pm 
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Joined: July 29, 2006, 9:10 pm
Posts: 3160
Location: Oregon, usually
CR_Turboguy wrote:
I was going back and forth on nice & light (4 cyl) and lotsa torque ( v6/v8 ), and it ultimately came down to I found a S-10 donor for the right price, bought it, so now I have a direction to go.
So what did you end up with, Josh, a nice light 4 cyl or a lots of torque V6? :-)

Seriously, there's such a spread in S10 engines, which one did you decide on?

How did I decide on a donor? "A" donor? Har de har har. I'm running multiple projects at the same place and time; it's kind of like flying a helecopter. At present I have two twins (an HD and an S&S), two triples (Kubota turbo diesel and Thriumph Rocket 3) and two quadruples (both Miata, one 1.6 and one 1.8). Half of them are on the back burner (the HD, the 1.6 and the Triumph) for various reasons (the S&S is the better engine of the twins, the 1.8 is the better engine of the Miatas, and Triumph isn't expressing enthusiasm re selling me powerplants in bulk). I don't know how anybody decides on just one.

Oh yeah, the underpinnings are Miata, Toyota RWD sedan, and S10.

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PostPosted: March 19, 2007, 10:53 pm 
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Joined: February 10, 2007, 10:57 am
Posts: 610
I was hoping to do a bec when i started using a newer RocketIII. But, they are rare as hens teeth salvage wise so far. My only project is a t bird and the locost (which for now consists of books and dreams), everything else is either done, or daily driver. So, if you count the tools, I don't even want to think about a budget even though this is locost.


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PostPosted: March 19, 2007, 11:24 pm 
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Joined: January 3, 2007, 12:49 pm
Posts: 197
Location: Lanark Highlands, ON
If I can plant a seed...

Define what you want to use the car for and then that will kind of determine the general direction.

After that, there will likely be a short list of stuff that appeals to you either via brand loyalty or appreciation of some kind of technology or similar.

After that build the best car you can given the parts you can get at a price that you are comfortable.

Yeah, yeah, bunch of generalities.

In my case I like Chev V8s and had one lying around keep the sod behind the barn from floating away. In the end it will be too expensive to use it in a locost because to get what I want out of a locost would require spending lots of money.

So my "fallback" became using other parts I am familiar with: Suzuki. Any engine that can spin an overloaded vehicle hauling a trailer for 6 hours on the highway, off-road in deep mud and goo all day the next day, including getting submerged and stalled due to water ingestion, then with a quick fluids change spin that overloaded vehicle and trailer back home another six hours at highway speeds and then do the commute to work the next morning without too much fuss is alright in my book. :D

Doesn't hurt that it is cheap, available, and very light either.


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PostPosted: March 20, 2007, 12:07 am 
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Joined: August 15, 2005, 10:13 pm
Posts: 7043
Location: Charleston, WV
My donor found me via the classified forums here. I was looking at going the S10 route when someone offered up a $500 Miata and the rest is history. IMO the best thing to do is educate yourself on the options and keep an eye on the radar for viable options that may come your way.

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He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.


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PostPosted: March 20, 2007, 1:11 am 
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Joined: July 29, 2006, 9:10 pm
Posts: 3160
Location: Oregon, usually
Mandurath wrote:
I was hoping to do a bec when i started using a newer RocketIII. But, they are rare as hens teeth salvage wise so far.

Want one? Sadly I must limit myself to commercially viable projects, and with the rarity of salvage units and with every ridable used one going for twelve grand, a Rocket3 kit isn't in Kinetic's future. But it sure is a fabulous powerplant and I'd like to see it in a Locost...I think I'll write up an ad and put it in the Classifieds.

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PostPosted: March 20, 2007, 1:13 am 
A few things that affected my choice. I'm retired so my play car doesn’t have to be real practical. I tend to break 4 cyl engines. I have a LOT of parts lying around.

I started out with the thought of using the running gear form an 83 Tcoupe. Upon further investigation I found that though the Tcoupe engine makes good power and is an acceptable engine for a LC it is bloody heavy and tall. Over a period I had collected the pieces to do a 351 Fox Mustang that I was going to do the whole Slot Car trick to. Doing that would be nearly as much work as building the LC from scratch. I have 2 351s laying around, a fresh non roller and a not so fresh roller. So I had decided to use the 351/T5/9" Versailles with basically a MII front and 3 link/mumford rear and lots of tire.

During the gestation period my wife was in FL taking care of her mother for several months. When she got back I told her of the plan and she responded "I was going to build one for her too". My wife IS NOT A CAR PERSON, her car is an 04 Jeep WJ Freedom edition that she drives with the windows up so it doesn’t get dusty inside or muss her hair.

So plan B & C build 2 LCs. The first Put-Put for her using the running gear and as many parts as possible from a V8(302)/C4 MII that I had planned on parting. Keep the build as cheap as possible and as much a standard LSIS. The second I had already had a lot of pieces for the Fox laying around, did I mention that it was to have been a bit OTT. Shagnasty will be roller 392(351), EFI, dry sump, scatter shield, twin disk aluminum fwheel, T5, MN12/Cobra suspension components, 95 Cobra R 9" & 10.5" 17s with 315s on rear shooting for (eventually) 500+ hp and around 1400 lb dry and replicate the Lotus Type Three-7.

Both cars are being made of as many experienced parts as possible and the budget for Put-put is about 1k and Shagnasty about 4k which appears to be doable. There has been a fair amount of spec drift, and I expect more as things are found.


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PostPosted: March 20, 2007, 8:57 am 
JackMcCornack wrote:
CR_Turboguy wrote:
I was going back and forth on nice & light (4 cyl) and lotsa torque ( v6/v8 ), and it ultimately came down to I found a S-10 donor for the right price, bought it, so now I have a direction to go.
So what did you end up with, Josh, a nice light 4 cyl or a lots of torque V6? :-)

Seriously, there's such a spread in S10 engines, which one did you decide on?

I ended up with the torque of the V6. Maybe for the next one I'll go small & light :)

--JOsh


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PostPosted: March 20, 2007, 11:55 am 
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Joined: December 22, 2006, 2:05 pm
Posts: 8037
I chose a $995 1995 Tbird due to the following:
Rack & pinion
No struts
IRS
Modern v8
no air pump
clean design and not a common engine to use (it is huge!)
Good brakes
A oem 5spd was available (T45 in mustangs)
Nice wheels (resemble 1993 cobra)
Cheap
Easy to find parts (taxi, police cars, towncars, etc)
No antitheft eec problems and it is tuneable
I’m not interested in making it look like a Lotus Seven
I know the condition and drivability before tear down which should help with troubleshooting later.

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PostPosted: March 20, 2007, 4:05 pm 
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Joined: January 14, 2006, 1:06 pm
Posts: 813
Location: Vista (north of San Diego CA)
I picked a Pinto for a few reasons:
- It was a popular choice at the time (about 10 years ago.) Two other listers were on the road with Pinto donors.
- Good front end - independent spindles, disk brakes, rack, etc.
- CHEAP - $300 for my donor and it was driveable
- Easy to get parts

Worked for me, although I doubt it would be the best choice today. Pintos are getting hard to find any longer and may have increasing value if restored.

John


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PostPosted: March 20, 2007, 11:41 pm 
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Joined: July 4, 2006, 5:40 pm
Posts: 1994
Location: Novato, CA
Familiarity was the key for me. I wanted a donor I knew inside out. That meant an RX-7, MGB, or Miata. The MGB was my first choice, but a good donor at a Locost-type price was impossible to find. So I went with the Miata, but would still like to do an RX-7 version someday.


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