Tim Taylor's Haynes Roadster Build Log

[first350]

looks great - love the color!! The flush brake lights are a nice touch too.

[horchoha]

Let me wipe the drool off my chin...................sweet ride

[raceral]

Congratulations Tim, the car looks fantastic, you have arrived

Good luck tomorrow with the DMV.

Al

[GonzoRacer]

Yo Tim-
Good looking ride!!! I like the dash with the "cubby hole" on the off side. Nice touch.
Good luck with DMV!
JD

[Miatav8,MstrASE,A&P,F]

Looks great Tim!

A word of warning though. There should be more fasteners for the windscreen. The holes should be a loose fit to the screws with washers on top or a cap strip and underneath the glass to prevent pull through and nyloc nuts that retain light tension without vibrating loose. The glazing appears pretty thick and the bends make it rigid everywhere but the flex point at the mounting flange. Becuase the rest of it is so rigid, all the wind loading will concentrate the bending in this small area.

I remember hearing about a couple enjoying their kitcar on the highway when the windscreen let go, removing both of their heads.

See AC 43.13-1b, Chapter 3, Section 3-27, page 22 for reccomended installation
http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies ... ntID/99861

[Tim Taylor]

There should be more fasteners for the windscreen.

That windscreen needs to be replaced. I was unable to bend the lexan so I applied heat which caused bubbling. I bought that piece as an offcut and I am having trouble finding a similar piece without buying a whole sheet. There are some 1.5" washers behind the scuttle with nylocks. I was planning on adding two more holes but maybe I'll go with 4 more.

I wanted to make sure that the DMV was ok with just the fly screen before drilling more holes in the scuttle. They were more concerned that it will be too loud as there is only a small muffler on the car.

Good luck tomorrow with the DMV.

All went well and took approximately 20 minutes. There were a couple places on the paperwork that I needed to sign but the ladies at the office were very helpful. I go back for inspection on October 4th, where they will verify that the information I submitted matches the vehicle. I can get a temporary tag on the September 26th so I can drive to the inspection station but since the office is 20 miles away thru heavy traffic, I will be trailering it up there.

[raceral]

I had about 50 miles to get to my inspection, so I used a trailer as well.
Pseudonym for trailer, "oh yeh, stress relief"

Al

[hassleweed]

Very nice indeed! I have a question on the rear lights. Do the single units give you tail, turn and brake? Do they use a different set of LEDs for each function? Do you need to have a reverse lamp too?

[Tim Taylor]

LED's have high and low wires. I have a module that takes care of the brake/turn on the high side and the low side is connected to the parking lights. I started to build a module that did the same thing but I only paid $10 for the one I used.

Its called a 3-wire to 2-wire adapter. This is the one I bought.

http://www.thehitchstore.com/3-to-2-wire-converter-p-1705.html

If your donor didn't have LED tail lights and you use the flasher it will blink fast. You can buy flashers for LED's if you want a normal flash cycle. I like it flashing fast because it gets more attention.

[Warren Nethercote]

Be careful about 'flashing fast.' There is actually a standard which sets minimum and maximum flash rates in some jurisdictions .....

[Tim Taylor]

I was told that that I am exempt from manufacturers requirements when registering a car of this type. We'll see if they say anything at the inspection.

FYI the registration process I followed can be found here:
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=2382&p=127940&hilit=florida+Registration#p127940

[Tim Taylor]

I think Rowdy and I figured out why his requirements and mine we so different. He was using a manufactured frame and had an MCO. With that you can go for a replica. if you make your own frame, well, it will be an ASPT (Assembled From Parts) Car with the current year.

Another requirement that I had was that I needed a weight. It weighed in at 1500 lbs exactly (half tank of fuel).

I got the temp tag last Tuesday and since then I have put 45 miles on the car. I go for inspection tomorrow morning so keep your fingers crossed.

[Tim Taylor]

It's officially registered!

The biggest issue the inspector had was trying to decide where to put the VIN sticker, the sticker is 1.5" x 4" so they ended up wrapping it around one of the frame pieces on the driver side. For any of you Floridians out there, it would be nice to have a plate welded to the frame on the driver side for this purpose. It must be visible to a police officer so nothing under the scuttle works.

I guess I can move into the Locost Lifestyle thread but really who is ever done with one of these builds.

[GonzoRacer]

Congratulations Tim! When you gonna drive up to Tallahassee and let me drool on it?

[Tim Taylor]

Might be a while before I venture off that far. I could ask when you will be coming down this way as well.

Either way the paintwork is bad enough, I don't need drool on it too.