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Rob's Locost Project......... |
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This is the finished product of
a project that started in October 2001 with many nights and weekends through
to March 2003. The following gives a series of views on the project along
with various sources of information. I hope that these details will prove
useful to others that might take on a similar project of their own. Just click on any of the pics for a better view... Happy Building! |
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| This is a home constructed "Kit car without a Kit" It is based on a "Locost" from Ron Champion's excellent book "How to build your own sports car for under 250.00" - I busted that figure the first day. I started in October 2001 and here is the car as of September 2002. | The Book....This is what started it...You can get a copy from Champion Motorcars here in the USA (see link on page 3) or direct from Ron. Even if you don't even plan to build one its a great read if you are into DIY and cars! | ||
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| Here's a another example of a finished product, this one's not mine though... | If you are already familiar with this car you will see some differences in this early picture. My donor was a Mazda RX-7 with Independent Rear Suspension and a limited slip differential. Chassis has been modified to suit. | ||
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| Chassis is mostly 1" square steel tube. Suspension arms are thick wall round 4130 steel aircraft tubing (from Aircraft Spruce) bent on my 12-ton hydraulic pipe bender (Harbor Freight Tools). Shocks are from the UK. Aluminum was bought new here in Houston from Great Western Metals. | Oops pardon the Miller Lite cans - It's dry work!!! - Engine is a J-spec twin turbo ROTARY 13b-re Mazda Cosmo engine [converted to non-sequential operation] that will be controlled by a Haltech E6K ECU. It should fly. Trying to figure out the secondary air injection operation on a motor that does not have a manual in English! | ||
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| Other side of the engine - no inlets on at this time as they were being polished. The gearbox is the RX-7 5 speed box off the donor. Mated up no problem to the Cosmo lump. Used a Lightweight flywheel from Mazdatrix and the counterweight that came with the auto flywheel that was on the engine | Just some of the "Rats nest" of vacuum hoses taken off the engine when I converted the turbos to non-sequential. There is also a large box of solenoids and wiring...say at least 20lbs gone! The turbos will now run as would a single, with a manual boost control setup. | ||
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| I found a neat 4" diameter muffler and cat converter in stainless that will work well as a side-mount system. | Biiiigggg intercooler made of two 3rd generation RX-7 units welded together...Should keep that charge air chilly even here in Texas! | ||
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| This is the bloody Air Control Valve (ACV) - The big round hole is "Port air" - injects air from the air pump to the exhaust manifold at low RPM. The little hole next to the electric solenoid is to "Split air" to the Cat converter. Works at cruise type situations up to 3500 RPM when the air pump clutch disengages. | Clutch and Brake Master cylinders - Both are off the RX. Brake is with the booster unit taken off. | ||
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| Here is a view of the Mazda LSD and IRS setup. The trunk will be plenty big enough for a clean shirt, 2 cans of beer and a lug wrench! | Diff in place using SBB (Sodding Big Bolts!) and rear brake lines roughly in place. | ||
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| Here are some detail pictures of the rear suspension arms..... | |||
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| Getting there.............. | Trial fit of everything - intercooler, rad, oil cooler etc. It Fits! | ||
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| Engine wired up - also nice new braided throttle cable and clutch hose. Just need to fire it up now, but...was still waiting on fuel pump and final body wiring. Paint is now bought also - 1998 Jaguar sapphire blue pearl metallic. | Real Tan leather on the seats and console - and the dolphin gauges are all in (although not hooked up yet) - Haltech engine controller is installed, hooked up, and tucked behind the dash - no problem hooking it to my PC for programming. Carpet is in also - Wow, it's great stuff - moulds to shape like magic..... Its called "OZITE" and I used 6 yards x 40", at $8 a yard. Beneath is good ole' jute underlay. Again 6 yards but at 30" wide by at about 3/8 thick. I have it double thick on the floor and single thickness on the outboard bulkheads. Car now sounds quiet like a jaguar or a roller........ real quiet (well at least when the engine is off and no wind noise...!!!). | ||
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View from the front - seats are RX-7 cut
in half, narrowed by 3" and re-welded back together. Local shop recovered
using real leather for just $395 - nice job guys, and not a
bad price either. Wipers use an MGA motor and linkage, and shortened jeep
arms, and blades.
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As you can see by the dangling wires... wiring is not quite completed - but getting close now.. Wheel is an 11" unit. Decided to go without a traditional heater, so the demist vents are MGA, and under the dash are two small electric/ceramic 700 watt car heater units blowing through a couple of slots. They do draw a lot of current however and I don't anticipate using them often. A big ass 40 amp relay will handle them however so they can be used if needed. Hope you like the neat "lockbox" just in front of the shifter. Its made of 1/8 aluminum, riveted to the tunnel, and will take my sunglasses, insurance, toll money and other bits and bobs. | ||
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These are the latest 4 pictures of the beast as of February 2nd. Pictures show 4 point, 3" racing seatbelts in, dash finished (except for the missing instrument dimmer switch that is on order) and the rear compartment lid trimmed out with black leathercloth. Note the nice cockpit siderails too! |
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ALSO!!! - the REAL news is..... I actually got it running. After starting, the Haltech map was at first really rich, however, leaning out some made an enormous difference. I do still need to tune the Haltech but for right now, I am super delighted! It sounds abso-frigging-loutely great! |
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| Here is the "trunk" such as it is trimmed out nicely! | Manual Turbo Boost control. The grey knob is a pressure relief valve. Prevents turbo pressure from opening the wastegate before it gets to a pre-set limit. In other words lets the boost build quickly. The black valve is a regulator that allows me to set maximum boost. Seems to work well! | ||
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First outings around the block - Checking brakes ;)
Weighed in at 1312 LBS wet! - weight distribution absolutely 50/50 - at
328lbs per wheel! (+/- 1/2 lb per wheel). She goes like greased weasel sh*t. (Which as you all know is the fastest substance known to man!) Seriously. Handles superbly, is not too loud, and is already, without doubt, the fastest thing on either 4 or 2 wheels I have ever driven. Push the go pedal and the turbo kicks you in the back and next thing you are seriously picking up velocity! Cant wait 'til I get it tuned! Off to the Dyno soon! |
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| Paint shop? - its rudimentary but good enough. God bless clearcoat! Maysons in Pasadena, TX is the place to get your paint if you are local. | Front wheel and suspension. All that's left is to complete fastening down the mudguard (OK Fender!) - Great colors. Decided to name the car "Brasil" due to the Blue, green and yellow paint combined with fond memories of that lovely country. (yes.... Brazil is spelt with an S not a Z in Portuguese). | ||
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Same wheel, outside. Ally polished up nice don't you think? Indicator repeater reflector nearly blinded me! |
Finished product! | ||
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| Here are a couple shots of the engine after its all done...toss up whether its a brighter polish inside or out! | |||
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| Note - don't come up from behind with your brights on! Note the neighbor's roofline from across the street... | Interior came out very clean. | ||
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| Locost Car Club - UK | Champion Motorcars | Yahoo Groups - Locost |
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| robmk2@mindpsring.com | ||
