LocostUSA.com

WooHoo!!! Congratulations!
Good to hear that you've successfully negotiated the gov'mint morass and the insurance thieves... Uhhh, I meant agents...

Hope you enjoy many more miles of happy driving!

But, Dude, what is up with those fonky glasses???

Just kiddin...


JDK

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JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom

Thanks All!

Chuck - This time I used Pineapple Racing reusable engines seals, so I could stack it again (and again if needed).

Best of luck with you process Benny, my only suggestion is to not say too much.

Gonzo - if you squint your eyes the goggles are styling

_________________
● Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. ~ Enzo Ferrari
● I have a dream: My car has a new type of engine: a half-turbine half-reciprocated engine. I invented it! ~ Dr. Felix Wankel
● It has occurred to me, amateurs built the ark and professionals built the titanic.

As you drive by in your completed car, they'd look just fine...
Congratulations again, Sir!

Congratulations on becoming legal!

...It's not often one guy gets to say that to another guy.

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-Justin

"Orville Wright did not have a pilots license." - Gordon MacKenzie

Where has ROTUS been? Out and about.
ROTUS was licensed this year, which has been great. I have been able to drive the car around once in a while, and not have to wait for the track. Only real issue on the streets is how loud the car is, this is even an issue at the track.

I have sourced some material to re-pack the mufflers with, just have not finished this up yet. Was going to use stainless steel scrubble, yet I understand it gets brittle through heat cycling, so have gone another direction. Non-ceramic Kiln insulation. Good to 2300 degree, great sound deadening quality, and non-carcinogenic (this was an issue in shopping for this stuff). Hope to get this done in the next couple of weeks.

The biggest challenge I have been working on is returning to the Megasquirt fuel injection. When it is on, it is great! I like even better than the weber IDA. When it is off, it is crazy making. Last year I burned up the injector driver on my Megasquirt, so I set it aside and went back to the Carb. Asked the guys at Spitfire EFI to build me a MS2 v3 with a rotary ignition set up. And they did a great job for me. With LOTS and LOTS of coaching (thank you VERY much Chuck) the car is running pretty good. Still working out ground issues and a voltage spikes/drops. As a result, the car is only tuned to 7,500 RPM.

A bit of a pay off!
Sunday was an autocross with my club. So, I went to the track running on the battery (no alternator). Trailered ROTUS to the track, ran on the battery while I was there. I think the car was still cold on the first run and it was really running poorly. 2nd through 5th runs and it was doing GREAT! Wow, it was so fast I did not even have a chance to get scared. 1st and 2nd and in seconds doing 60 mph, wow. Then hitting the corner on warm slicks, intense!

Now, I am feeling re-energized. I am going through the wiring harness step by step looking for anything that could be an issue. Checking grounds, and will change the ground on the O2 sensor. Looking at charging issues and the connections involved in powering the MS unit.

I big lesson I have learned from Chuck, there is a big difference between electrical and electronic…I am learning about this daily.

Thanks again ~ JEB and ROTUS

_________________
● Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. ~ Enzo Ferrari
● I have a dream: My car has a new type of engine: a half-turbine half-reciprocated engine. I invented it! ~ Dr. Felix Wankel
● It has occurred to me, amateurs built the ark and professionals built the titanic.

Thank you ~ I am at a point in my build where I am thinking back about all the help I received from this forum, WOW!
Thank you Jack letting me sit in a locost, and then setting me up with a frame. Thank you Chet for the Hillbilly Math in figuring suspension measurements. Thank you Skinny for all the help in determining spring rates and such. Thanks Peter for doing all the footwork for Wa licensing, and talking about stuff before I thought of it. Thank you Dave, for keeping up the support and the website!

Thank all of you Locosters for your great ideas, thoughtful questions, general support, and crazy ideas (got to love those crazy ideas).

_________________
● Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. ~ Enzo Ferrari
● I have a dream: My car has a new type of engine: a half-turbine half-reciprocated engine. I invented it! ~ Dr. Felix Wankel
● It has occurred to me, amateurs built the ark and professionals built the titanic.

Keep us posted on your Megasquirt education. I'm sure folks can learn from your experience.

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Marcus Barrow - Car9 an open design community supported sports car for home builders!
SketchUp collection for LocostUSA: "Dream it, Build it, Drive it!"
Car9 Roadster information - models, drawings, resources etc.

Sounds like you've been busy. The car sounds like its coming along nicely.

I'll second Marcus in saying keep us updated on the MS.

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-Andrew
Build Log
Youtube

Catching up

Had a good time last summer. Won my class each time I came out to my (tiny) car club. Last race was in an utter downpour, and some nice soul stood out in the rain and held an umbrella over me. Had rain tires on which helped me decide I really do need front fenders. Everything was fine until I turned left and met the rooster tail from the front tires.

Megasquirt wise I am still learning. I had a professional build an ECU for me (MS 2 with a ver 3 board). The car runs great up to about 6,000 and then it seems to load up, drop out, start up again. On a lot of engines 6,000 would be fine. On a Bridge port Rotary it is just waking up.

At this point I must say my car runs absolutely fantastic (up to 6,000) and pulls like a freight train. How did this magic occur? Kito Motorsports. After months of playing with my first Megasquirt to get it to run what I thought was ok, I was astonished when a professional tuner sat down with my car. In 5 minutes it idled smoothly, in 20 minutes ran so much better in the revs, and by 40 minutes we were working on road manners. Wow.

At first I was dealing with electronic noise, this was a lesson in and of itself. I naively thought “electrical/electronic is like tomato/tomoto”. Chuck (Rx7Locost) clued me in on this. Here is where dealing with electronic noise comes in. I think I have most of that taken care of. I have checked the wiring, soldered every joint, re-run the wires to separate sensors and wires that carry a good deal of juice. Reran my grounds to ensure things are well grounded yet not creating loops. Chuck (Rx7Locost) has been a great coach for my Megasquirt learning process. He suggested taking the igniter out of the ECU due to the noise it created. Now that the season is over, I sent my Megasquirt back to Vedran at Spitfire EFI (who built it and will repair your Megasquirt if there is an issue). I asked him to take a look at a couple things and to remove the igniter. The ECU is back and I am reinstalling it in the car with and MSD. I will let you know the results.

ROTUS now has new shoes, bright orange ones! As soon as I got my new rim, I took one down to the paint shop to get matching paint. Next step is to repaint the car to a BRIGHT ORANGE.

I am also working on the brakes. I am using all of the brake system from my 1990 Miata, less the proportioning valve, with stock pads. I am also using first gen Rx7 rear disc (the same diameter as Miata, yet work in the Rx7 axle. The rear brakes really are not doing much of anything. I thought I would add the stock Miata proportioning valve back in, yet I am thinking it will not help. The prop valve maintains the pressure until the knee point and then it starts transferring pressure to the front. I need more pressure in the rear.

One last winter project: repacking my stainless steel muffler. The stainless packing did not last so I have sourced some insulation from and industrial kiln, rated at 2300 degrees. I will cut the outer skin off the old mufflers, repack and rivet back together again. The rivets are to make it easy to rebuild next time.

Ok this is what I have scheduled for the winter. Hope you all have a great winter!

_________________
● Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. ~ Enzo Ferrari
● I have a dream: My car has a new type of engine: a half-turbine half-reciprocated engine. I invented it! ~ Dr. Felix Wankel
● It has occurred to me, amateurs built the ark and professionals built the titanic.

Wow, have been away a long while...moving, work, life and stuff.

Just took my car our to the Autocross track for some fun. It handles very differently on street tires. Had a lot of fun none the less.

Have a friend who is an engine builder who is moving to Germany, so I asked if he would build me one. Now I have a 6 port Renesis sitting on the engine stand to go in. The engine has some light porting, up graded apex and side seals with some oiling mod. Should be a great little beast.

I have had to alter the intake to make it fit under my hood. I will still have the low speed secondary ports opening as well as the auxiliary ports, yet needed to take pneumatic system out.

This will be a winter project, right now I just want to play.

JEB

_________________
● Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. ~ Enzo Ferrari
● I have a dream: My car has a new type of engine: a half-turbine half-reciprocated engine. I invented it! ~ Dr. Felix Wankel
● It has occurred to me, amateurs built the ark and professionals built the titanic.

Looking good.

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-Andrew
Build Log
Youtube

Great looking car JEB. Love the new wheels, what brand are they? Also do you know what your car weighs in its present form?

cheers, Dan

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~ 100 years is but a spoke in the wheel of time. - Louis Riel

Thanks guys.
The wheels are 12 lb. Koing wheels
Last time I weighed the car it was 1340 lbs. I have made a number of changes (both adding and reducing weight), so I just cannot really say.
I have been putting miles on the streets this summer, and it has been great!
JEB

_________________
● Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. ~ Enzo Ferrari
● I have a dream: My car has a new type of engine: a half-turbine half-reciprocated engine. I invented it! ~ Dr. Felix Wankel
● It has occurred to me, amateurs built the ark and professionals built the titanic.

Well, I spent the summer running on my street tires, which are ok. I like them since I can take a passenger without bottoming out. Yet, the car and suspension was designed for 20" tall slicks, and that is what the car likes. Took it to the track today with my slicks and won mod, ran in the top 5 for fastest time of the day. Best of all, my car feels right with slicks and I trust it in the corners.

I so love my car!
JEB

_________________
● Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. ~ Enzo Ferrari
● I have a dream: My car has a new type of engine: a half-turbine half-reciprocated engine. I invented it! ~ Dr. Felix Wankel
● It has occurred to me, amateurs built the ark and professionals built the titanic.

My favorite Locost builders advice, add the phase "but, driving it is better!"

For example, "this is a great project to think about forever, but driving it will be better." Or try to, "given enough time I could figure out anything, but driving it would be better." There are many to try, "I could build every single piece of this car and not by a single part, but driving it would be better." Here's the last one, "I could sit on the couch and think about my car, but driving it would be better."

Still thinking of the next step!

_________________
● Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. ~ Enzo Ferrari
● I have a dream: My car has a new type of engine: a half-turbine half-reciprocated engine. I invented it! ~ Dr. Felix Wankel
● It has occurred to me, amateurs built the ark and professionals built the titanic.