Hi fellow locosters I feel it's time to share my build. TooBusy encouraged me to start a build log, I have been on the fence fora while. It all started when I purchased the engine, drive train, pedal box, steering column from an Individual in Blowing Rock. I thought; "great everything I need to build a locost!" I was wrong... I'm sharing so others can learn from my mistakes. I still plan to finish my build, but it is drastically different from what I started with in November 2019.
What; Started with MGB "donor", basically everything but the body of a 1980 MB (last year of production) will fit in the back of my Sierra and roll down the mountain. I decided not to use the B engine when I priced out carburetors, and learned of their dodgy reputation. I decided a JDM Miata engine would do the trick, the 1.6's are cheep, and I decided It was time to learn to work with fuel injection. Drama ensued. Mustang 2 spindles and the usual Speedway motors mash-up on the front end. NOTE TO OTHERS; don't use the Mustang 2 spindles on a book locost, you end up with a lot of scrub radius and your upper control arms will be kind of short. But the suspension seems to work.
Back story; In the late 90's I was done with high school, working at Sears in the tire shop, tinkering with old cars, weekends where spent at Road America. I learned of the Lotus 7 replica's and just thought it was too cool. Man, build your own car, who wouldn't to do that.. Decades passed, I traveled the country welding in chemical and power plants. I settled in NC. House, wife, pick-up truck, built a 20x24 garage... It was time to build... Found the locostUSA website, built a 442 chassis, planed to shoehorn a 302 Ford I had lying around in it... Had no idea what I was doing... parts where crazy expensive... Got distracted... cut the chassis up. I didn't know it had value.
More years passed, more projects, started thinking about sports cars again. Looked at Subaru BRZs, Miatas, Nissans, even rusty old Camaros. All the time in the back of my mind I was weighing ever vehicle I saw against the locost7. I didn't like that my build failed. I wanted to try again. I searched for a donor. I knew Miata made the most sense, but couldn't find one reasonably priced, or not trashed. Thats when I found the MGB parts. I bought Ron Chapion's book. I read Advanced Race Car Chassis Technology by Bob Bolles. I built the Book chassis in January, adding 2" in height to clear the MG engine. I have named my little car "hot mess" because it's a poorly planed mash up, and I love it.