Locost progress . . .

Post by **ironside** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 1:41 am

Tonight I finished enough of the chassis to fully weld it instead of just tacking it together as it is at the moment.

The only bits missing are some bent tubes that go at the back to form the boot and a couple of uprights that go behind the nose to stick the front wishbones on.

That's a good enough milestone to count as an excuse to post some pics:

(Click the thumbnails for bigger pictures)

The story so far is:

I've tried to do as much as possible myself but there are lots of people to thank for helping me get this far, especially Lawrence, Stu, Fd, Mac and Brunty.

After it's fully welded it gets beefed up with a load of of members to triangulate it.

Oh - in case anyone is wondering - it's not meant to be symmetrical and the wooden "floor" will not be a permanent feature!

Post by ed » Sun Apr 29, 2007 4:09 am

Lovin your work!

Rich H · Post by **Rich H** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 8:39 am

Did you really junk that mint shell?!? Shug will do nasty things to you!

Good work on the car though!

Post by **campbell** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 10:51 am

Simon,

Didn't realise you had this underway - full respect!

Make sure you keep the updates coming. I was bought the Locost project manual for Crimbo one year, took one look at it and thought "you have GOT to be kidding!" but would love one day to have a go.

Lisa's Dad can do welding, so I guess that is a start

Could we put a diesel in one?!?!?!

Rich H · Post by **Rich H** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 11:20 am

Check out practical performance car, that's what they are doing with a VAG 1.8 diesel turbo. But it's a Westie not a Locost. They guy won it in a competition: I should win a Westie kit because....

They are calling it a Wiesel....

Post by **ironside** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 11:57 am

RICHARDHUMBLE wrote:Did you really junk that mint shell?!? Shug will do nasty things to you!

No, I was very good

I didn't damage the shell at all taking everything off. Once I had everything I needed I put two old Fiesta wheels on the front and sold what was left of the car on eBay.

The guy that bought it took it away whole. He was going to put it back on the road but changed his mind and ended up using the back the fix his RS2000, that's when he sent the photo up.

campbell wrote:I was bought the Locost project manual for Crimbo one year, took one look at it and thought "you have GOT to be kidding!"

Too right, I'm glad I didn't read it through properly or I wouldn't have started at all. The book is full of mistakes and is quite incomplete - for the chassis build certainly. Luckilly there are some corrected and much more complete plans available for free on the net. The book is discontinued now/ Haynes brought out a a new book recently based on a Sierra donor that is supposed to be much better, they got rid of the "for as little as £250 " bit for a start.

Stu160 · Post by **Stu160** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 3:49 pm

Looking good Simon.

Stu

GregR · Post by **GregR** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 4:06 pm

s'cuse the ignorance (and laziness for not googling), but whats it going to look like when finished?

Post by **ironside** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 4:26 pm

One of these:

A Knock-off seven

ryallm · Post by **ryallm** » Tue May 01, 2007 10:11 am

Very impressive! I know a few people whio have built Sevenesque cars, but always with the chassis supplied in one piece. Welding it all up from scratch really is doing it the hard way. Good luck with the rest of the build

Mark

jason · Post by **jason** » Tue May 01, 2007 10:24 am

ryallm wrote:Very impressive! I know a few people whio have built Sevenesque cars, but always with the chassis supplied in one piece. Welding it all up from scratch really is doing it the hard way. Good luck with the rest of the build

Mark

My thoughts too. Much respect to someone who builds the *entire* car

Uldis · Post by **Uldis** » Tue May 01, 2007 10:37 am

Excellent Simon!

I didn't know either this was on its way, cool!

zilspeed · Post by **zilspeed** » Tue May 01, 2007 8:05 pm

Will you be buying bodywork or doing your own ?

Oh, and what engine, wheels, tyres etc ?

Post by **ironside** » Tue May 01, 2007 9:37 pm

I'll be buying the wings, nose, scuttle and possibly the bonnet. The aluminium sides and back I'll do myself.

I intend to race it in the 750mc Locost series. It's specifically for these cars, which have to be built to "book" spec. Pro built cars are not allowed but you can buy a chassis and build on that. I just liked the idea of a scratch build and the book is pretty encouraging about doing it yourself. The regulations are quite strict in an attempt to keep costs to a minimum:

Engine will be a 1300 Crossflow from the donor Escort.
You can't do much other than blueprinting a 1300GT engine. A +.090" overbore, shortened sump and a twin choke weber is about all that's allowed. It won't be very fast, but then neither are karts and they're loads of fun when everyone else has the same kind of power.

Wheels are limited to a maxmimum 13x6J which is exactly what Capri Laser rims are. I'm sure everyone knows what they look like but here's a picture anyway:

I have a set of those from my old Capri and a set that were on the Escort. Control tyre is the Yoko A539 185/60R13.

Post by **campbell** » Wed May 02, 2007 12:29 am

I love those rims, always wanted a set on our original Mk1 Fiesta 1.1 and even on my Mk1 XR2 but never found the cash to do it

1300 xflow = about 65bhp in std form IIRC? 1600 in XR2 was 84. But knew a few guys with Fiesta Supersports that had Kent cams etc and reckoned they were pushing 90bhp from the 1300. In a car weighing not much more than 750kg, that was good stuff!

Power to your elbow Simon. Does the racing series feature in Scotland at all?