LocostUSA.com

yeah jack, come to the mitty!


ill be there with the locost and lexus v8 miata. there are usually 3-4 stalkers there too.



I live in downtown atlanta. family will be in town that weekend, so I would probably be pretty low on couch space...but dont hesitate to ask if you can't find anywhere else. there is a garage here if you need to repair/fabricate too.

ooh. more info please.

I helped a fellow in CA a few years ago on miata.net who put one in. He goes by Andris.
http://picasaweb.google.com/alaivins/miata#

He used the automatic at first for potential emission issues. His concern was a manual would set codes he couldn't clear.

He sent me a driveshaft adapter he had made to adapt the Toyota driveshaft to the miata diff. It wasn't made very well; no concentric ring and loose tolerances. I had it machined locally and sent it back to him. Looking at the pics, it appears he has eliminated the adapter and built a hybrid shaft.

Prior to this, there was another guy in NZ who claimed he did it all himself but didn't have any idea the car had homemade log manifolds and no primaries.

Anyway, as I recall it fit well and weighed around 400 lbs; not bad for a dohc v8.

I don't know anything about Evox's car.

I want to put one in my 4runner, quite a few people have done this swap. The bellhousing adapter scares me, I've heard of people paying up to 2000 for one. I havnt seen anywhere that sells them for a reasonable price. Oh and I need a 4wheel drive manual trans in the runner.

EDIT: Just looked through all those pictures. He does great work and thats one hell of a sway bar. Do you know how much weight he added to the car? How much does it effect his handling?

Palm Desert CA to Banning CA through Idyllwild CA : Fantastic high desert road, very twisty, very nice. Cars on the weekend, but great none the less. Some of the most amazing eco changes from low desert to high desert, to Ponderosa forest and back all inside two hours. There is a natural spring on the Banning side of the route as you come out of the mountains where people fill up jugs of water.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=palm+desert+ca&daddr=33.734619,-116.718063+to:I-10+W&geocode=%3B%3BFf6kBQIdxZcI-Q&hl=en&gl=us&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=11&via=1&sll=33.817948,-116.745529&sspn=0.401612,0.617294&ie=UTF8&ll=33.750035,-116.584167&spn=0.40193,0.617294&z=11

Prescott AZ to Quartzsite AZ : Up around Prescott you get this amazing drop out of the plateau, some of the tightest mountain roads I have ever driven. Then you come out into Arizona Horse country with miles and miles of white fences. It's pretty amazing.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=prescott+arizona+to+quartzsite+arizona&sll=33.977531,-113.321228&sspn=1.603417,2.469177&gl=us&ie=UTF8&ll=34.114079,-113.329468&spn=1.600838,2.469177&z=9

Ludlow CA to Needles CA (Big Flat Desert)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=I-40+E&daddr=34.818313,-114.598389&geocode=FWPhEQIdBM4T-Q%3B&hl=en&gl=us&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=9&sll=34.316218,-115.235596&sspn=1.597002,2.469177&ie=UTF8&z=9

Kannan Rd to the Beach : This is a very famous Southern California road, similar in reputation to the tail of the dragon, just shorter. You do get the pleasant exit of ending up at Zuma Beach. This could be the perfect Super 7 Road.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Agoura+Hills,+California+to+Zuma+Beach+County+Park&sll=34.02549,-118.800659&sspn=0.048372,0.077162&gl=us&ie=UTF8&ll=34.076692,-118.787441&spn=0.100098,0.154324&z=13

Kannan Rd to the Beach (Latigo Option) : This is motorcycle territory, It's THE road for seeing who has brass ones and who has raisins. Look at what the blue line does, then look at the scale in the bottom corner. This road is a monster.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Agoura+Hills,+California&daddr=34.089772,-118.813362+to:CA-1&hl=en&geocode=%3B%3BFS9CBwIdJPPr-A&gl=us&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=13&via=1&sll=34.053086,-118.758774&sspn=0.100126,0.154324&ie=UTF8&ll=34.081384,-118.787956&spn=0.100093,0.154324&z=13

Colorado Springs heading West : I love this drive mostly because it goes through two of my favorite small Colorado mountain towns. You don't end up anywhere, but Buena Vista and Salida are really great towns. I haven't been there in a while, and I have never actually driven those roads (just ridden them) but I love the area. Basically if you are going through CO and you want to avoid I-70, this is the way to do it.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=colorado+springs&daddr=38.487995,-107.885742&hl=en&geocode=&gl=us&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=8&sll=38.496594,-107.303467&sspn=3.026506,4.938354&ie=UTF8&ll=38.487995,-106.171875&spn=3.026867,4.938354&z=8

Alright Here it is all in one route. From Colorado Springs to Point Dume California on the Pacific ocean : You are on I-40 for about a second, I-10 for about two seconds, and the dreaded Los Angeles 101 for maybe 20 min if you miss traffic. But you hit every road in the west coast that I love, and almost every town of the same.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=colorado+springs&daddr=CO-50%2FUS-50+to:AZ-64%2FE+Rim+Dr+to:E+AZ-69%2FE+State+Route+69+to:34.18227,-114.581909+to:CA-62+to:Cottonwood+Spring+Rd+to:CA-74+to:CA-243%2FS+San+Gorgonio+Ave+to:CA-18+to:CA-2+to:US-101+N+to:CA-1&hl=en&geocode=%3BFXxKSwIdzO2S-Q%3BFe7fJQIdHOlR-Q%3BFVI9DwIdoJJM-Q%3B%3BFaLfCAIdxJYV-Q%3BFVzSAQIdOAEZ-Q%3BFQ4gAAIdLlgN-Q%3BFTaLBQIdeJoI-Q%3BFfIaCgIdmMQE-Q%3BFep6DAIdCuP7-A%3BFdIECQIdrOzr-A%3BFbgbBwId1NTq-A&gl=us&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=4&sz=9&via=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11&sll=33.893217,-114.367676&sspn=1.605005,2.469177&ie=UTF8&ll=36.350527,-109.995117&spn=12.447307,19.753418&z=6

Man... I have to do that drive when I build mine.

Milo

A friend in PA is dealing with a medical emergency so it's WV-PA-FL-OR.

I'm on the road, the car (gotta name this car something) runs like a top, and to date the only fly in the ointment is it's costing me about a buck a mile for speeding tickets. Yep, I got nabbed as soon as I crossed into Pennsylvania. The officer explained I was putting workers at risk, I explained the workers had all gone home for the weekend, leaving not so much as a cone they could hide behind, his explanation was worth $157 and mine was free. He wouldn't even let me take his picture. Anyway, the signs were still there, so he got me dead to rights.

SamM invited me to dinner in Morgantown, he got to see he could fit in a book chassis and he and his daughter took it for a short (less than a mile to the restaurant) blat. He seemed to enjoy the experience, as did I. I followed behind in his New Yorker and felt very large.

If you're wondering what it looks like, Chet put some shots up in a Completed Builds topic:
viewtopic.php?f=33&t=6572

Sorry to hear that Jack. There are some real "sticklers" out there in our profession. I have to say the 7 looked great with Chet's flat black painting, but I think the BRG / yellow nose scheme looks better. Just my opinion though which is in no way affected by a certain 60's television show.

How are you going from Florida to Oregon?

Haven't decided yet, I'll be watching weather maps most likely; rain is unpleasant.

Here are a few pix:

SamM, of <Sam's T-bird Turbo Coupe/Callahan framed Lotus Seven Build> (in the Build Logs forum), took me to dinner. Below is a pic of him and his daughter checking wind direction after their mini-blat. In the photo you'll note the first mod I did to the car (first one all by myself, that is...Chet and I teamed up on the wind wing), I added a Heart of Oregon sticker on the back. I've been surprised to find that most folks out thisaway don't recognize the profile...but how many Oregonians would recognize the outline of Pennsylvania?

I'm enjoying the step by step Jack; keep posting!

The stories are some of the best parts of Champion's book.

Jack I am not even going to ask any questions about Jorgie. Remember KC has a bed if you need it. Russ

Sheesh, Russ, there's no questions to answer. I just thought she'd class up the usual Locost-in-a-parking-lot photos. She's a good waitress, my friend Cathie (who is shy, and thus gets no photo) and I went out to lunch and there she was, doing her job with humor and style. I'm taking Jorgie's word on the other tatts, I only mentioned it 'cause it's yet another indicator that interesting and unusual people like these interesting and unusual Locosts.

Anyway, please don't tease my models. Anybody I photograph has the privilege of telling me later she doesn't like the photo, or the caption (I sent Jorgie and her husband an e-mail a couple hours ago, with a link to this page) and if so I'll take it down. I guess I'd better add "...or my smart-alec friends..." to the list of things they might not like.

Thanks for the KC offer, I'll let weather radar be my guide. I sure had a great time on my previous visit to your digs.

Shoot, even if you pass through Atlanta I'd love a few minutes to poke around "MadMAX" and the opportunity to shake your hand. Good travels!

Jack,

You need to start each post with your current location so we can track your progress.

Drive safe, stay dry (weather down the east coast looks fair until Friday).