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Learning how to build Lotus Seven replicas...together!
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PostPosted: May 1, 2006, 7:29 pm 
$400 for the rack?!? holy [PooPoo] I got mine off ebay for $40, pretty sure its the same one too.


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PostPosted: May 1, 2006, 9:00 pm 
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Mid-Engined Maniac

Joined: April 23, 2006, 8:26 pm
Posts: 6410
Location: SoCal
To throw a little gas on the fire, I have to add that there are many differing ideas about Ackerman and how much to have. Many race car people say to have none, or even negative. Granted that's for the track but the point is, even if you end up with little to none the car will still go and corner better than just about anything.

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PostPosted: May 1, 2006, 9:17 pm 
derf wrote:
$400 for the rack?!? holy [PooPoo] I got mine off ebay for $40, pretty sure its the same one too.


Yep, The pics of your install are what made me go get this particular unit... this rack will fit very well.

I checked on ebay before I bought but didnt see any. You really got a screaming deal on that one. $400 is pricey, but I'm really not too worried about it, especially if it'll help get the car on the road and allow me adjustability later on. The fact that the ratios can be adjusted on these units by just swapping out gears is awesome. They have 10 different steering ratios available.


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PostPosted: May 1, 2006, 9:22 pm 
kb58 wrote:
To throw a little gas on the fire, I have to add that there are many differing ideas about Ackerman and how much to have. Many race car people say to have none, or even negative. Granted that's for the track but the point is, even if you end up with little to none the car will still go and corner better than just about anything.


Thats true.. I just want to make sure that the job is done the best I can possibly do it the first time around. I'm sure there will be many little things that will need to be changed on the car in the next few years while I'm in the process of sorting it out. If I can correct issues like this up front, it could save major reworking later on.

I'm headed out to the garage to start chopping the arms up.. wish me luck.


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PostPosted: May 1, 2006, 11:09 pm 
OK, I think I have the Ackerman issue resolved. I hacked off the end of each steering arm and flipped it 180 degrees. This resulted in an exact mirror image of the stock arm, so its now a front steer knuckle. :) I managed to get both arms welded up almost identical (as far as my eyes can tell at least), so if there is any difference in angle, it really shouldnt be noticeable on the road.

I'll post up some photos of the fix tonight. It turned out to be pretty reasonable and I am happy with the welds I was able to lay down on the arms (after a heavy bevel on the edges of both parts), so I'll let you guys critique them to see what you think.

Now, gotta work on redoing those upper balljoint mounts. Might have to save that for another night.


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PostPosted: May 1, 2006, 11:22 pm 
Here are the photos:

The knuckles after modification:
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Detail of the welds:
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Corrected ackerman geometry.. pretty close to perfect!
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Modified knuckle on the left, Stock knuckle on the right:
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PostPosted: May 1, 2006, 11:48 pm 
Looks great! After you take it out a few times on some real bumpy roads, then you can give me a ride! :lol:

I would guess the ackerman should be fairly close at this point.


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PostPosted: May 1, 2006, 11:59 pm 
I assume you checked to make sure there is no interference to the wheel? :oops:


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PostPosted: May 2, 2006, 12:32 am 
Yep, I tacked it and fit the knuckle to a hub with brake rotor to make sure there was no interference before I did the final weld. There is about 1/2-3/4" between the arm and the rotor. The arm is too short to interfere with the wheels. I'll be running 17" wheels anyway, which may help out depending on how I redo the upper balljoint.

I welded up the arms with the welder at full bore.. 175 amps makes for some big sparks. :)


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PostPosted: May 3, 2006, 1:47 am 
Started mocking up the front suspension w/ shock, a mockup rocker and pushrod:

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PostPosted: May 4, 2006, 10:09 pm 
I got the Kirkey seats today.. Only they screwed up and sent me one Pro street drag seat and one of the circle track seats. That normally would suck, but it worked out to my advantage.. I'm sendin the circle track seat back, as the prostreet seat is a lot more comfortable.

The circle track seats would have been fine if the right side side-bolster wasn't oversized. That oversized portion gets in the way when working the shifter.

In fact, already ordered the second seat and 2 more seat covers. The covers I already got and the 1 seat will be sent back tommorrow

What do you think of these?:

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PostPosted: May 4, 2006, 10:14 pm 
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Joined: January 18, 2006, 10:41 pm
Posts: 349
Location: Concord, NC
The Pro Street Drag seats are just about perfect for the Locost. I have them in my car.

Nice job on your build BTW. Your rapid progress is cool to see...I wish I was able to "focus" on mine like you do. Keep up the good work!

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Project Seven
Instagram: @RexRacer19


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PostPosted: May 4, 2006, 10:19 pm 
R1.. thanks for the comments! I've been just pluggin along on it, although I wish I had more time to spend working on it. I spend mabye 2-3 evenings and a full day every week working on it.

Still seems like its never going to be finished, but at least I'm starting to see progress now that it is getting close to standing on its own.

BTW, I really like the way you mounted your steering rack.. After seeing your photos, I'm thinking that would make the install really easy for my rack as well.


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PostPosted: May 5, 2006, 9:07 pm 
Got the fuel cell this afternoon and set it in place in the car.. fits like a glove! Also happens to be the exact same width as my differential cage, so it looks nice in there too. I'll get pics tonight.


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PostPosted: May 8, 2006, 10:52 pm 
Ok.. some new photos.. got lots of goodies in the mail:

The new fuel cell is a snug but perfect fit!
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Here are all the fittings on the top. This thing is set up for fuel injection:
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Closeup of one of the mounting tabs. I'll need to make a small bracket to fit the cell to the car.
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Started working on the bracketry for the front suspension bellcranks. It is going to require a lot of compound angle cuts to get everything lined up right, but should work nicely and provide the ability to fine tune the spring rate as well. The shocks are pretty close to where they will sit when its done.
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Here is one of the new seats. Looks nice! I got the seat covers for them today from Jeg's, so I might try fitting one to see what its going to look like. Final fitment of the covers will be done at the very last.
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Here is the makings of an upper A arm. I think I may have to go with a 9" adjuster rather than an 8", but no biggie. THe idea is to weld a 3/8" steel clevis tab to the side of the longer tube. The shorter tube will then allow castor adjustments, while the rod ends on the long tube will allow camber adjustments.
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One of the Wilwood pedals. Had to send the other pedal back as they screwed up my order, so I'll be getting it later.
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Also got some nice dual-locking ball bearing sliders for the seats. I'll have to make a bracket to fit the front of the seat, but I've already started drilled for the rear mounting bolts. The seats should go in pretty easily.
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