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Learning how to build Lotus Seven replicas...together!
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PostPosted: June 26, 2014, 12:28 pm 
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Location: Charlotte, NC
Watch your stick out and your torch angle. Also if you have a fan near by while welding be careful cause the wind from the fan can push away the gases and give you a terrible weld. Ask me how I know that one. Hahaha

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PostPosted: July 9, 2014, 10:07 pm 
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Finished welding as much of the main frame as I can with it clamped to the table. Turned the heat down a little on the welder which seemed to work better but I think just more practice is probably the key. Was practicing with the angle of the torch and such but with all of the different positions- horizontal, vertical, etc, but cannot put my finger on one thing that helped not burn through..

I did try one of those plastic "wire" wheels in the pneumatic angle sander to clean the steel up before welding. This seemed to work better than a sanding disk to clean the different joints before welding. Ya!

Hopefully I will get the clamps removed that hold the chassis to the table off to see how much (or little) distortion I have but I am optimistic that by tacking as much together as possible before finish welding that this will be minimal. Will see...

Then it is time to start with the engine mounts.

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PostPosted: July 10, 2014, 9:22 am 
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Location: 4AGE in S.E. Michigan
Try pushing the weld Vs pulling and you might try a slightly more horizontal gun angle, less chance of burn thru. Also you might adjust the lens so you can better see the weld puddle. Yup more practice. :D Dave W


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PostPosted: July 11, 2014, 10:39 pm 
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Passed a pretty big milestone tonight!!!

Removed all the clamps holding the chassis to the build table and was very happy with the minimal warping so far in the frame. There was a very slight gap between the bottom of the chassis and the table in the passenger rear corner- probably around a 1/64 of an inch. Very happy.

Attachment:
Locost_11July14_sm.jpg


Hopefully going to get the engine hoist tomorrow and put the frame on the table closer to the ground so I can get the engine located.


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PostPosted: July 12, 2014, 6:59 am 
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Location: Charlotte, NC
Looking good. Don't keep it in that grass too long. Hahaha that's a good looking from yard.

Looks like you already have the front suspension br@ckets welded on?

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PostPosted: July 13, 2014, 9:54 pm 
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Yes, the suspension pickup point brackets are all tacked into place but not fully welded yet and no, the car did not stay outside for very long...

Had some help from my neighbor (thanks Robert) to pull the weld table off the desk and put it on some roller dollies closer to the ground. The desk then went to the storage unit for now and spent some time reorganizing the garage a bit.

Then bolted the rear diff back into the chassis and put the rear suspension back on.

Next up was to slip the engine into its future home- it fit like a glove. Will need to cut out part of a cross member to be able to lower the engine and trans some more. Rough cut a couple tubes to start on the engine mounts.

Before getting too far on the engine mounts, wanted to test fit some seats to see how much room there will be for the driveshaft. Put the Miata driver's seat roughly into position

Attachment:
Locost_12July14_MiataSeat_Front_sm.jpg


Attachment:
Locost_12July14_MiataSeat_Side_sm.jpg


Then test fit some Honda CRX seats to see how they fit

Attachment:
Locost_12July14_CRXSeat_Front_sm.jpg


Attachment:
Locost_12July14_CRXSeat_Side_sm.jpg


I think the Miata seats will win out but may have to remove the recline mechanism for more clearance to the left side of the frame. The Miata seat mounts are also several inches closer together.

Had to take her for a quick test drive!!
Attachment:
Locost_12July14_TestDrive_1_sm.jpg


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PostPosted: August 7, 2014, 9:31 pm 
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Been working on the engine mounting structure lately and have a decent design in process...Tacked the longitudinal tubes into the chassis last night and then started finalizing the laterals that the engine mounts will bolt onto.

Attachment:
Locost_06Aug14_DrEngineMt_sm.jpg


Finished sizing the lateral tubes and tacked them into position tonight...

Attachment:
Locost_06Aug14_PassEngineMt_sm.jpg


and then worked on tacking the engine mount plates together.

Attachment:
Locost_06Aug14_PassEngineMt2_sm.jpg


The plan is to make the mounts bolt into the chassis so engine installation and removal will be easier. The round tube is just a spacer to keep the width correct but may have to put a plate on the outside of the mount for more strength...

Attachment:
Locost_7Aug14_EngineMt_sm.jpg


There is the partially tacked together mount. Need to see how this fits together with the bottom plate to make sure I can still bolt this to the engine...


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PostPosted: August 9, 2014, 8:48 am 
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I like the engine mounts. It appears you've oriented the sphericals so their most limited range of motion is being used for suspension travel. It also created the need for such long tabs on the frame at the rear lcap for the front suspension. They don't all need to be oriented the same way as long as you limited travel at the coilover with shaft mounted bump stops. More travel equals better ride and handling on real roads.

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Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
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360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
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PostPosted: August 10, 2014, 7:26 am 
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Location: 4AGE in S.E. Michigan
The Front L/C/A REAR bracket is the highest loaded bracket on your frame! You need to reduce the stand off. Look at a pedestal design coming off the lower horizontal tube. Dave W


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PostPosted: August 10, 2014, 8:09 am 
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I assumed he was not going to leave it hanging out there like that without putting something behind it, but I could be wrong!

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Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
LxWxHt
360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12


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PostPosted: August 11, 2014, 8:49 am 
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Location: 4AGE in S.E. Michigan
A 2nd option would be to remove the current vert tube and relocate it rear ward. Center between the U/C/A bracket mount hole axis and the L/C/A bracket mount hole axis to reduce the leverage being feed into the tube. Your design is twisting the vertical tube very time you hit a bump or apply the brakes. The welds of at vertical tube junctions will see repeated stress that will lead to a fatigue failure. Dave W


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PostPosted: August 12, 2014, 10:29 pm 
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The plan is to reinforce the control arm mounts at some point- especially the rear, LCA mount. Have not thought through how yet, however...

I wanted the extra strength of the rod ends mounted horizontally- should have plenty of suspension travel for a sports car.

Need to get back into the garage to finish the engine mounts. With this design, I can shim the engine mounts up to raise the engine in the chassis, if needed.

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PostPosted: September 1, 2014, 8:46 pm 
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Have the front two engine mounts tacked together and bolted into the chassis which feels great to have the engine 2/3 of the way installed!!! Had to temporarily remove and move the vertical support on the driver's side of the engine near the exhaust mounting by the engine/trans interface. I don't think I will have to use that bracket but have not removed it yet...

Attachment:
Locost_23Aug14_PassEngineMt_sm.jpg


Here is a closeup of the pass side- these are not the final bolts but just something I had in the toolbox for now..

Attachment:
Locost_23Aug14_PassEngineMt_Close_sm.jpg


Attachment:
Locost_23Aug14_DrEngineMt_sm.jpg


I ordered the Energy suspension generic mounting kit so will use that for the rear mount which is next up on the 'to-do' list!!


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PostPosted: September 14, 2014, 9:50 pm 
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Started working on the trans mount and thinking ahead to the pedal and steering column mount design so pulled the Miata column and exhaust manifold from the attic and put the manifold onto the engine and set the column roughly in place..

Attachment:
Locost_14Sept14_ExMani_sm.jpg


Then was pondering the engine and diff alignment and noticed the nice PPF mounts on the diff and trans. Pulled the PPF off the shelf and it appears that the top of the PPF mount on the diff and the top of the PPF mount on the trans should be aligned. Some folks talk about a couple degree slant down to the engine but I am pretty close to level at this point. Ran a string between the two top mounting faces of the PPF for the trans and diff but with the bend in the PPF, could not get a good line to see if these two surfaces are aligned..

Attachment:
Locost_12Sept14_PPF_sm.jpg


Then slapped a piece of flat aluminum on to these two mounts and it appears they are aligned. I forgot to measure the distance from the bottom of the straightedge to the center of the diff flange and/or the trans output...

Attachment:
Locost_12Sept14_Engine_Alignment_sm.jpg


May look back at this later this week before finalizing the trans mount.

Then started working on the upper trans mount..first in cardboard to get the rough design

Attachment:
Locost_14Sept14_TransMtBrkt_sm.jpg


Then started transferring it into the steel form...

Attachment:
Locost_14Sept14_TransMt_sm.jpg


Attachment:
Locost_14Sept14_TransMt2_sm.jpg


Was hoping to make the upper mount out of one piece but could not figure out a good way to make the two bends so close together so cut the bottom leg off and will weld it in place. Decided on adding side gussets to beef this up a little more. Will add some side gussets for the bottom mount and may tie this into the rest of the tunnel once that is designed.

Also thought it would be nice with some more light so replaced the last ceiling light fixture with one with an outlet and put up another florescent light.

Attachment:
Locost_14Sept14_GarageLt_sm.jpg


Did a little cleaning so that I can rearrange some so we can get my wifes car back into the garage once things cool off more. She has been really nice to let me take up the last garage stall for the summer- Thanks Kel!! I do need to make sure her car gets back into the garage for fall and winter.

The dollies under the table allow me to move this fairly easily so I can move it out for work time and back away for parking spot time...


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PostPosted: September 19, 2014, 10:23 pm 
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With the trans mount started, wanted to get started on the tunnel to see what structure is around to weld the trans mount to. Cut the two tubes that will be fitted next to the diff input flange...

Attachment:
Locost_18Sept14_Tunnel_Front_sm.jpg


Trying to keep the tunnel as narrow as possible so the inside tubes are around 3/8" from the flange.

Then used the last of my 1" square tube to cut the one lower tube for the tunnel and then placed an order for another stick and more round 1" dom for the control arms to be able to finish them up. Hopefully start building the tunnel up with the 3/4" square tube.

Attachment:
Locost_18Sept14_Tunnel_sm.jpg


Then set the OEM Miata drivers seat into the car to get the rake that I like to the seat. Then pulled the seat out and removed the rake adjuster and traced up a plate that would replace it- this would allow me to narrow the seats up some more. Measured it up and created a part in Solidworks that I will probably have this lasered out locally when it is correct.

As for the front diff mount- debating running a C-channel type piece forward from the front diff mount and welding one of the original Miata control arm bushings to the end. The bushing would then be bolted into a clevis mounted to one of the tubes next to the diff flange.


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