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PostPosted: January 9, 2010, 7:34 pm 
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Location: Alberta
I started out on a path that's been trodden before by the Locost community. I originally wanted to build a Cobra, probably a Factory Five kit. I didn't get very far on this path however as cost was a considerable issue. The kit itself, shipping, dollar conversion and parts, for the average build, had me sitting around $35,000.00! As it's possible to purchase a decent, complete car for around that price, this didn't make sense to me. I also didn't/don't have $35k lying around that I was willing to spend on a hobby car. And then, several years ago I came across a Locost in the Auto Trade. I started looking into it and discovered the Locost. Being a big fan of the KTM and most Caterhams, I was hooked. I tossed the idea around in my head but wasn't ready to start the build as I didn't have an adequate shop. I have the shop now and the pieces have slowly started falling into place, so here goes!

Purpose: 100% street, there isn't a track within 900 km of me. Yea, I'm kinda rural, it might be a problem later on.
Chassis: Homemade, 1.25"x1.25", 16 Gauge square hot rolled tubing based on McSorley's 7+442E plans.
Donor: Ford Fox body Mustang, 302 V8 with solid rear end and 5 speed manual.
Budget: $6,000.00, only includes actual pieces for the car, not tools and equipment required to build the car.
Schedule: Complete by May 2013. I'd really like to be done before then, but that is an absolute must completion date.

I guess I'll start out with my build table. The local hardware store doesn't stock steel 2x6s and I didn't want to buy a bundle so I used steel 2x4s instead. Due to the low overhead of the 2x4, I decided to countersink all my screws and drill them in from the top.

Build table in process with bracing:
Image Image

Finished product:
Image

I can't actually proceed at this point as my steel hasn't come in. :(

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PostPosted: January 9, 2010, 7:42 pm 
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Trochu wrote:
I can't actually proceed at this point as my steel hasn't come in. :(


Where did you order from/what did you pay?

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PostPosted: January 9, 2010, 7:52 pm 
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Location: Alberta
Laminar wrote:
Trochu wrote:
I can't actually proceed at this point as my steel hasn't come in. :(


Where did you order from/what did you pay?


I ordered it from A.J. Forsyth and I paid $1.12/ft. They had stuff for $1.04/ft but it had an even longer delivery date so I splurged and spent the extra $11.40.

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PostPosted: January 9, 2010, 10:04 pm 
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Onward and upward! Your making reasonable choices - have fun, keep at it and give us pictures!

Good luck,
:cheers:

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PostPosted: January 12, 2010, 1:08 am 
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Location: Alberta
My steel finally came in, and they even delivered it for free. :D When I first got it, it was all shiny and I thought it was relatively clean. Well, that wasn't really the case, after stacking it in the shop I looked at my gloves and they were black, oh-well.

I haven't done much as I realized I'm missing a few important items such as magnets, clamps, square etc. So no more work until I stock up my toolbox a bit. I was originally wanting to purchase a band saw, but after seeing the quality of cuts produced by the chop saw, I think I'll stick with it. The $7.00 blade is a bit cheaper than the $350.00 band saw.

My first few pieces lying on the table:
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A joint I cut on the chop saw with the edges cleaned up:
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PostPosted: January 12, 2010, 8:05 am 
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Location: Visalia, Ca
What a great combination! :mrgreen: We need more V8 Locosts on this forum. What's your location?

Rod

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PostPosted: January 12, 2010, 11:34 am 
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Locost 5.0 wrote:
What a great combination! :mrgreen: We need more V8 Locosts on this forum. What's your location?

Rod


Hey Rod, I told you I was going to go with the 351 but I guess I lied. The 351, although appealing, just didn't make sense so I bumped it down a bit to a system that's easier/cheaper to set up. I'm in Northern BC, it's a bit of a drive to the nearest fellow Locoster from what I can tell.

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PostPosted: January 12, 2010, 3:28 pm 
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Trochu wrote:
When I first got it, it was all shiny and I thought it was relatively clean. Well, that wasn't really the case, after stacking it in the shop I looked at my gloves and they were black, oh-well.


Ever wonder why they call ironworkers "blacksmiths"? Well, there you go ...


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PostPosted: January 13, 2010, 10:50 pm 
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Finished tacking the bottom frame rail layout tonight. It's quite satisfying to step back and see some progress other than a bunch of cut tube stacked on the table. My wife came out this afternoon and said, "I can't even picture a car out of that, were do you sit"? She has been quite encouraging however, so I'll overlook it. :)

I was going to follow McSorley's plan, front to back, but I'm not so sure anymore. I'm concerned that if I construct and weld on the front assembly, I may have some issues aligning it with the top rail layout. The rear bulkhead seems like the logical next step.

Image

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PostPosted: January 13, 2010, 11:05 pm 
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Location: Carmen, campeche, Mexico
Trochu,
Make sure you visit my Log, Not so much for ideas, but for mistakes that I´ve made. :oops: :oops:
There´s no point in replicating mistakes.
Have fun.
AA


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PostPosted: January 13, 2010, 11:15 pm 
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Trochu wrote:
Finished tacking the bottom frame rail layout tonight. It's quite satisfying to step back and see some progress other than a bunch of cut tube stacked on the table. My wife came out this afternoon and said, "I can't even picture a car out of that, were do you sit"? She has been quite encouraging however, so I'll overlook it. :)


The typical reaction to seeing the CAD model of the frame is, "Is that a boat?"

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PostPosted: January 14, 2010, 12:10 am 
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Learn from the mistakes of others. We can't possibly live long enough to make them all ourselves. -various

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PostPosted: January 14, 2010, 12:36 am 
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Location: Kamloops, BC, Canada
Trochu wrote:
I'm in Northern BC, it's a bit of a drive to the nearest fellow Locoster from what I can tell.


Where abouts in northern BC? I'm in Ft St John.
Kristian

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PostPosted: January 14, 2010, 1:54 am 
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A great plan and a nice start! I really like the Mustang/442E combination.

Another way to look at the front assembly is that it, along with the H tubes, will help you lay out the upper rails.

I suggest making a simple jig for welding the assembly out of lumber, that you can later stand on your build table to hold the assembly in position while welding it to your bottom rails.

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PostPosted: January 14, 2010, 10:49 am 
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Location: Charleston, WV
Trochu wrote:
Finished tacking the bottom frame rail layout tonight. It's quite satisfying to step back and see some progress other than a bunch of cut tube stacked on the table. My wife came out this afternoon and said, "I can't even picture a car out of that, were do you sit"? She has been quite encouraging however, so I'll overlook it. :)

I was going to follow McSorley's plan, front to back, but I'm not so sure anymore. I'm concerned that if I construct and weld on the front assembly, I may have some issues aligning it with the top rail layout. The rear bulkhead seems like the logical next step.

Image


The last frame I built I laid out the tubes for the sides of the cockpit and the rear bulkhead on their sides on the table and tacked them all first. After you get both sides done you can stand them up, brace them vertically and tie them together with the tubes that cross the front and rear of the assembly. (B tubes and O tubes) Now you have your upper and lower side rails in place, all perfectly aligned. From there you just place in the "J" tubes to tie that "cockpit" assembly to the front compound angled piece. Fabrication of which is made much easier using a simple 2x4 jig like pictured below. (the 2x4s are also screwed to the table)
Image


I hope this makes sense. I'll try to attach a diagram to "splain it".


You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

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