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Learning how to build Lotus Seven replicas...together!
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PostPosted: November 21, 2011, 10:50 am 
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Joined: April 15, 2011, 10:39 pm
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Location: Dallas, PA
RM-8's were originally designed and built in Port Elizabeth, South Africa "supposedly" as a licensed Westfield copy. Many years ago my father and his brother had purchased 11 of these "kits" both wide-body and traditional versions. I built one back in 1995 with a Toyota 4AGE/T50, drove it for a couple of years and had an absolute blast with it. Unfortunately "life" got in the way and I had to get a real job and start a family. My father had stuck one of these body/frame kits in his garage back then and I recently decided to take it to my shop and build it for him so he has something fun to drive this summer. Since there was already a crappy frame to start with, I'm using some of it, cutting/removing some more and adding a whole bunch more structure.

I'm not much of a photographer, but I'll do my best.

I've actually already designed and built the front suspension, steering, motor and transmission mounts, so don't think that I began this thread and all of a sudden over a weekend, it got this far along.

So, here it goes..........................Take it easy on the new guy.

All of the pix that I have so far. http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c376/ ... 7%20stuff/

Chassis plate to build/rebuild the frame.
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Frame on the jig.
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Front suspension. Miata uprights and steering rack.
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Honda S2000 F20C.
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Exhaust header. Stock S2000 cut to fit.
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Dual 4-gallon fuel cells.
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Adjustable 4-link set-up with Mazda GSL-SE rear-end and panhard bar.
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PostPosted: November 21, 2011, 12:34 pm 
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Joined: January 10, 2008, 4:47 pm
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Location: Massachusetts
I think you're going to have to re-think your Panhard rod. Changing the location or angle of the bar moves the rear roll center up and down. Your bar is so high on the chassis side that your roll center may even be above the center of gravity. That would cause you to roll inwards during a turn. There are a couple of downsides with this, one of which is that the car will try to jack over the outside wheel. That means it will try to tuck the axle under the car and tip over it. If you look at it for awhile you may see that.

Look around for some more pictures. I know we have many, but finding them may be a little painful. People often start with the panhard rod close to level.


And welcome if I have forgot to say so before, I'm sure this will make your Dad very happy!

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PostPosted: November 21, 2011, 9:51 pm 
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Location: Minneapolis
Sweet engine choice. This is what I plan to have in my car as well.


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PostPosted: January 12, 2012, 12:19 am 
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Location: Dallas, PA
Well, I knew the motor was too tall for the existing bodywork so now to make a choice. Leave it sticking out of the hood or practice my fiberglass work and cover it. I kinda like the "hot rod" look with the motor exposed. Clean up some plumbing & hoses, polish the intake plenum and call it a day??? What do you think?

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PostPosted: January 12, 2012, 12:41 am 
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Location: san francisco bay area
#1 Now THAT's a build table :mrgreen:
#2. .. what was #2 again? :? oh yeah, perhaps one of the 429CJ scoops from a Cougar or Mustang?

:cheers:

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PostPosted: January 12, 2012, 4:59 am 
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Joined: May 17, 2011, 3:41 pm
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nice.. i got a spare s2k header if anyone need one. table looks good, one Q the front upper arms, was there a way to do that with swag tube? so the camber adjustments could be a little easier?


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PostPosted: February 21, 2012, 7:04 pm 
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Finally had some time to do some additional fabrication on the frame. Finished the pedal boxes, pedal mounts, fit the S2000 gauge cluster in the dash(rough fit), got the radiator modified to fit, redid the transmission mount, built a collapsable steering column and plumbed some of the fuel system.

Its getting there, slowly but slowly................................

http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c376/ ... 1QQtppZZ20

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PostPosted: February 21, 2012, 9:05 pm 
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Joined: September 30, 2011, 4:08 pm
Posts: 245
Location: Portland, OR
good to see another f20c around here. your hood clearance doesn't look as bad as some measurements i've seen

depending on your end goal the exposed engine could be cool or put a scoop over it and keep people surprised

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PostPosted: February 21, 2012, 10:16 pm 
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Joined: September 18, 2011, 3:45 pm
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I'm loving the S2K cluster, looks great,keep us updated.


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PostPosted: December 31, 2016, 10:04 pm 
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Location: Dallas, PA
Well, I guess after a LONG time away from this project, its time for a little update. I've moved from our old race shop to our old motorcycle dealership building to a space in one of our commercial buildings. I HATE MOVING!!! Not only that, but my fiancée and I built a new house!!! Life has been hectic the last few years, but I'm now settled into the new house and into my new shop.

Having moved this project a few times, it now has its own space in the shop and I WILL get it done this winter. It might not be the first project to get completed since it needs the most work, but it will get there.

It's actually capable of rolling around as of this weekend. I pulled off all of the front suspension and reassembled it with all of the proper bushings, spacers and hardware. The rack is going to need to be repositioned a bit, but that's an easy job down the road. I was able to "borrow" the wheels and tires off of the Rotus because in a case of dumb-luck, the offset and bolt circle works out. I'm going to be ordering wheels this week, mounting some 205/50-15's on the front and calculating the diameter of tire that I need on the back once the bodywork goes back on.

The way it sits now, the top of the rollbar is 43-1/2" tall with 6-1/4" chassis clearance. Looks low and mean!


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Last edited by w650gb500 on December 31, 2016, 10:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: December 31, 2016, 10:06 pm 
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Location: Dallas, PA
Roller finally!!!


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PostPosted: January 2, 2017, 10:33 am 
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Location: Dallas, PA
A few more


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PostPosted: January 2, 2017, 1:03 pm 
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Yes, it has been a while. I awoke to find those new car/shop photos in your log. I'm drooling over that shop space. :drool:

Way ta go, Dan!

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Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886


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PostPosted: January 6, 2017, 11:01 pm 
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Location: Dallas, PA
Installed front and rear coilovers, FINALLY!!! The car is sitting on its own, no jack stands or blocks. The shocks are QA-1 Proma Star DD-401's, double adjustable units. Nice looking shock, not exactly cheap, and with LOTS of tune-ability, but its a much larger diameter body than the Carrera shocks that I had on my last build. With the coil spring installed, its tight packaging both front and rear, but it all works thank goodness!

Next item to address is the outer tie-rod attachment to the spindle.


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PostPosted: March 4, 2017, 9:50 am 
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Finally had a few more hours to work on Dad's project and was able to get a couple items taken care of:

- purchased the correct size & offset wheels(15x7 ET15 front and 15x8 ET0 rears).
- purchased correct size tires, Toyo 888's(205/50-15 front, 235/50-15 rear).
- set the chassis at static ride height(6 inches). Might be a bit higher than most, but the F20C motor is quite tall unfortunately.
- installed upper and lower ball joint spacers for correct a-arm orientation.
- heated/bent spindle steering arms since I'm not using stock outer tie rods.
- fabricated tie rods.
- raised steering rack and set spacers on tie rods for corrected bump steer.
- purchased front fenders and built some fender mounts(not easy to make symmetrical).


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