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Learning how to build Lotus Seven replicas...together!
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 Post subject: Re: SteyrTMP's Seven GTR
PostPosted: March 23, 2012, 3:45 am 
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I've been slacking on posting, my dad and I have been going over the Megasquirt in the car, but the last two weekends and this weekend are all shot, as they went on vacation. I think we got most of the kinks out of it, and are about ready to switch over to force induction.

Since I'm always ahead of the rest of my class in school, I've started working on my own projects. They generally frown on personal projects during school, but as I have my own lathe, I've done most of the work at home.

I'm not fond of round shifter knobs, as I prefer to grab vertically, rather than palm the knob, similar to a non-flappy-paddle seqential shifter. Therefore, about 95% of the shifter knobs out there are useless and/or uncomfortable to me.

I got one of the instructors to turn a piece of 1.5" stainless stock I have down to 1.25 and put the first taper on it, and after I knurled it at home, I brought it back to school and cleaned it up, cut off the 3" excess material, grooved and cut the rest of the tapers. I then put it in a dividing head, at 15 degrees, and milled the bottom of it, re-center drilled it, and then drilled and tapped for my Subaru's M12x1.25 shifter.

From concept...

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To completion.

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Note the 15 degree threading, to make gripping it more comfortable. If it was a straight hole, one would have to break their wrist to go through 2 and 4 (6, if one were to have it).

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My parents lent their 07 Impreza to my wife while they're on vacation, and I'm tempted to make an aluminum copy of this shifter with a straight drill-and-tap for their automatic. I wonder if they'd notice the difference....

That, and I fully plan on making something similar for the Seven.

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 Post subject: Re: SteyrTMP's Seven GTR
PostPosted: March 26, 2012, 12:14 am 
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That shift lever looks great. Its a great addition to a great car.

How did you do the knurling? I've seen what I believe to be the tool before (two rollers on a lathe tool holder) but I could never get it to work.

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 Post subject: Re: SteyrTMP's Seven GTR
PostPosted: March 26, 2012, 12:27 am 
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The knurling was done on my lathe. It took a while, as stainless takes much longer than aluminum. I could have made this entire piece on aluminum in maybe 2 hours. The knurling alone took around 3 with the stainless.

I'm thinking of making a few more, maybe some in aluminum as well. It's a thought...

I was using this knurling tool.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/6-Head- ... l-5-/H2983

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 Post subject: Re: SteyrTMP's Seven GTR
PostPosted: March 26, 2012, 12:40 am 
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Here are a few daytime photos of it on the car. If I were to make a few more, I would be tempted to shorten them by maybe .5-.75".

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 Post subject: Re: SteyrTMP's Seven GTR
PostPosted: June 18, 2012, 6:31 pm 
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Quick update: Drove it 50+ minutes to my house, and have an appointment to have it inspected on the 29th. I have a lot of work to do.....

Any help would be invited :)

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 Post subject: Re: SteyrTMP's Seven GTR
PostPosted: June 19, 2012, 2:13 am 
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Drove it 50 minutes, I say it's a car.
:cheers:

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 Post subject: Re: SteyrTMP's Seven GTR
PostPosted: June 28, 2012, 10:45 pm 
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Well, tomorrow is the day of reckoning. I leave at 830 for a 1030 OHP inspection. If all goes well, I should have plates or at least a temp tag by tomorrow afternoon.

But I'm a little concerned. Due to one of the worst months for a while and a ton of BS drama, I have yet to have a day to work on the car. So, I have a ton of things to work on, and I need to be in bed in two hours. Wonderful.

We shall see.

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 Post subject: Re: SteyrTMP's Seven GTR
PostPosted: July 2, 2012, 10:01 pm 
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Well, Friday I showed up at the Ohio State Trooper office in Cleveland, about an hour drive away (in Ohio it is legal to drive your car to and from inspection, so I took the liberty to do so).

Sadly, Ohio State Highway Patrol, like the overall federal government, has taken unto itself to "regulate" salvage and rebuilds by making it's own rules and laws, much like the ATF... Oh, my bad... BATFE. Pennsylvania requires state-certified inspections every few years. Ohio doesn't, but these imbeciles have decided to slip in their own version of PA's law. Whereas on the BMV Ohio.gov website, this little tidbit explains what it SHOULD be:

"Before a self-assembled vehicle or a salvage vehicle can be titled in Ohio, an inspection of the vehicle must be completed by the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

The purpose of this inspection is to verify the ownership of all parts and to review all required documentation. The inspection is not intended to certify the vehicle's safety, road worthiness, or the quality of workmanship."

http://bmv.ohio.gov/salvage_inspection.stm

Apparently, the OSHP has missed the memo. Upon pulling into the garage, they went over the lights, turn signals, brakes (thank God I was up until 230 in the morning working on the handbrake mounts), seatbelts, etc.

They then sent me and my buddy into the waiting room for about half an hour or so. When they brought us back, they said I need to have a windshield, wipers, and a bumper in the back. Apparently the kick-up in the back isn't good enough.

Needless to say, I am a little annoyed. I don't want a windshield. I wear a helmet whenever I drive it, because I know perfectly well what those front tires can do--there's a chip in the middle of the forehead of my helmet. Windshield wipers on an aeroscreen on an open-topped car is completely idiotic. But even more, I don't like administration/government/law enforcement shoving things down my throat, especially when it's none of their business.

So, I ordered a Brooklands screen. It hopefully will be here by Thursday. I'd like to bring it back up to finalize all this crap Friday. I fabbed up a rear bumper; welded up some 1" square with 1.25" tubing over it, holes going through both with clevis pins holding the bumper--2.25" pipe welded onto the end of the 14" of 1.25" tubing. That way I can remove it whenever I feel like it, but put it back on if I see it necessary. As for the aeroscreen, I still have to come up with a wiper. I'm trying to find a manual wiper under 30 bucks that I can be assured that it will be here before the Brooklands shows up. I have a feeling I'll have to rig something up. Obviously it won't be permanent. I told the trooper I'll tie a squeegee onto a lanyard and call it a wiper. Believe me, I'm definately thinking of it.

I'll have pics of the updates soon. I'm working on the transmission tunnel at the moment, and the wrap-around is next.

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 Post subject: Re: SteyrTMP's Seven GTR
PostPosted: July 3, 2012, 1:41 am 
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Shiiiii...I did a very quick image search for Factory Five Cobras. Some of them don't have windshield wipers. I wonder if you could present some examples of non-wipered--or even non-windshielded--vehicles registered in Ohio to set some precedent.

Now that you've gone to this one inspection facility, are you stuck with them, or could you schedule an appointment for another facility elsewhere, and inquire if they're just going to inspect the VINs and receipts of the major components, or if they're going to do a full "safety" inspection?

Anyway, it's cool that your car is at the point where it's actually a car.

Edit: I found this Ohio registration thread: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtop ... p=166#p166
It looks like there are some equipment regulations that they're checking as well as the VINs and receipts.


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 Post subject: Re: SteyrTMP's Seven GTR
PostPosted: July 3, 2012, 3:25 am 
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It's great your getting close.

Try to be nice and also patient with them. They don't write this stuff and don't get much choice about it either.

Good luck!

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 Post subject: Re: SteyrTMP's Seven GTR
PostPosted: July 3, 2012, 10:24 am 
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Congratulations on getting this far.

It would appear that Ohio has streamlined the legal system. Yes, you need to be inspected to ensure there are no stolen parts. That is the part you read. However there are other requirements for self-builts and that is they must have certain safety equipment. That is another set of requirements and would presumably be inspected at a different time. a copy of those safety requirements can be found: http://law.justia.com/codes/ohio/2011/title45/chapter4513/

By combining your inspections they have (presumably) quickened the process. In your case, maybe not so much.

Note: If Aeroscreens are legal (probably not) they MUST have safety glass and not plexi. The min requirements for the size of windshields is not listed in this chapter.
Quote:
(A) No person shall sell any new motor vehicle nor shall any new motor vehicle be registered, and no person shall operate any motor vehicle, which is registered in this state and which has been manufactured or assembled on or after January 1, 1936, unless the motor vehicle is equipped with safety glass wherever glass is used in the windshields, doors, partitions, rear windows, and windows on each side immediately adjacent to the rear window.


Bumpers are not required per this chapter provided the frame meets the same stds as the bumper requirement. That requirement is deeper in the state codes.
Quote:
(B) The director of public safety, in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, shall adopt rules in conformance with standards of the vehicle equipment safety commission, that shall govern the maximum bumper height or, in the absence of bumpers and in cases where bumper heights have been lowered or modified, the maximum height to the bottom of the frame rail, of any passenger car, multipurpose passenger vehicle, or truck.


Did you really expect that they would just let you go out and drive without checking for some basic safety equipment (brakes, lights, seatbelts etc) somewhere along the way? I think every state has some inspection process for such things, even those with the reduced SEMA based "Custom Vehicle" legislation in place, which Ohio does not.

You may even have to have emissions testing done somewhere along the way. I don't know Ohio.

But congratulations on your uneventful 1 hr drive to the test facility. You didn't mention if they allowed you to drive it back home. :cheers:

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 Post subject: Re: SteyrTMP's Seven GTR
PostPosted: July 3, 2012, 12:30 pm 
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Matt, I thought about it, and we were going to comment about the "checking for stolen stuff" part--they have a pamplet that says exactly that in their foyer. Ironic, I guess. Or perhaps hypocritical.

I tried calling other barracks--there's one about 15 minutes from me, compared to an hour. They warned me about glass requirements right away, so I figured I'd avoid them. I heard good stuff about the Cleveland branch.

Yeah, I'm trying to be patient. The officer there was actually pretty cool. He was mentioning about the windshield stuff that people probably take them off once the inspection is done, wink, wink, nudge, nudge. I mentioned the windshield wiper thing, and that I'll use a squeegee on a string if necessary. As for the bumper, I slapped something together that they can't ignore, and it has pins holding it together, so I can take it off or put it on as necessary.

I'm about to call to get the tracking number for my Brooklands. And btw, it states on the Moss website (not where I ordered it from, but one of their dealers) that it has safety glass.

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 Post subject: Re: SteyrTMP's Seven GTR
PostPosted: July 3, 2012, 1:36 pm 
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rx7locost wrote:
Did you really expect that they would just let you go out and drive without checking for some basic safety equipment (brakes, lights, seatbelts etc) somewhere along the way? I think every state has some inspection process for such things <snip>
Not out here in the Pacific Northwest! The inspection is as the Ohio description...

> The purpose of this inspection is to verify the ownership of all parts and to review all required documentation.

...was described. In Oregon, the title and registration require proving you own the parts, but the legality of your equipment is between you and the officer who pulls you over.

I think it's odd that so many states check this stuff on homebuilts, and don't check it when you register a used car. My current daily driver Locost is made out of an '82 Corolla, and when you take a 30 year old car in for registration it's assumed the turn signals work and the brakes stop you etc. Odd that with a brand new homebuilt, the same assumption doesn't apply.

Hang in there Nate. This too shall pass (inspection).

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 Post subject: Re: SteyrTMP's Seven GTR
PostPosted: July 6, 2012, 1:45 pm 
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Well, it passed today. I mounted a Brooklands screen, and after a bunch of thinking, and none of the ideas working, I finally reverted to the squeegee idea--I tied a lanyard with a squeegee on the end and hung it on bathroom hooks next to the GPS on my dash. They got the picture and it now has a VIN number, and is considered a 2012 ASVE Seven GTR.

Hopefully it won't take over a few weeks... Now I have to figure how badly they're going to screw me over with the "sales tax" they like to work up at the license bureau.

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 Post subject: Re: SteyrTMP's Seven GTR
PostPosted: July 7, 2012, 8:49 am 
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Image

Image

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Image

Yes, I know the bumper is not level. It was a "close-your-eyes-and-quickly-weld" project just to pass, it is removable via four clevis pins, and will be cut off and ground flat when I put the panels on.

None of these are great pics, but you get the gist. On the way home from the inspection yesterday, my key switch gave up the ghost. After ordering it originally, we found it was a lock-out switch, so I had to take a dremel and cut out an opposite trough for the power bar, so when I turned it, it'd turn on, not shut off. We glued it back together when we were done, and the grease and crud apparently got to the glue and the back of it fell off while I was driving home yesterday, bringing me to a sputtering halt on Rt 5. Thankfully, it wasn't I-80, a 70mph 6-lane toll road. I stopped and quickly hotwired it to get home.

I ordered a golf cart two-position key switch for about 12 bucks. I'll install that and it should be considerably more secure and sturdy than the cheap switch I had on before.

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