LocostUSA.com

I have sat in those. You would have to modify them. The sides are really tall you really have a hard time turning to look for traffic. You also have to cut the bottom for the webbing. Honestly I think that’s the secret to the whole thing. I found a guy 2 years ago at Road America with a Austin Healey and sat in that and that was the clincher of the low cut sides. There just enough to keep you in with the belt and keep your movement. For the track the kirkey is perfect. They are very hard to get in and out of in the car. There is also no place for your elbows. They hit the seat.

_________________
Steve

My build : http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtop ... 35&t=17160

MGB/GT V8 5.0L. viewtopic.php?f=36&t=20782

@Tundra 7
If you can send me the pattern without going to a lot of trouble for yourself, Steve, please do so. That eBay seat looks really good with upholstery. For the driver's side, it could work for me in the near term. Long term, I know exactly what I want, but it's a pretty significant sub-project, and I'll likely leave it to Phase II of my build and after the car is on the road.

The passenger side seat, I know I'll have to design and build because of my unique requirements and the narrow seating area.

@RandyBMC
Lots of Locost people are happy with their Kirkey seats, Randy. However, they won't work for me as I already have a 5° up angle in my seat slider, which is completed now. The Kirkeys have a pretty significant tilt built into them. It would likely tilt me back >20°, which is too much.

Thanks for the suggestion, however.

_________________
Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886

Then there is this Kirkey Vintage Bucket opportunity.
viewtopic.php?f=40&t=19408
Still available. However, due to its size/shape shipping isn't locost unless you are Summit Racing.

_________________
Cheers, Tom

My Car9 build: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=14613
"It's the construction of the car-the sheer lunacy and joy of making diverse parts come together and work as one-that counts."
Ultima Spyder, Northstar 4.0, Porsche G50/52

Continuing on with work on the car as real life permits. The seams in the tunnel are now painted and sealed up with a silicone product good to 350° F in most places. However, some areas just don't permit a tool the size of a caulking gun to enter, so I have an alternate product good to 120° F for those areas.

There is a acrylic-based paste/sealer that is fire resistant and used for sealing penetrations in firewalls of all types. I used that on the seams of the engine compartment and the front sections of the transmission tunnel. It's kind of a pain to work with, and tough to get a good, smooth bead with it, but it was the only affordable product I could find. It only comes in red, but is paintable when fully cured. I'll paint the sealed red seams in a few days, when it's fully set up.



Cheers,

_________________
Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886

The next step on my agenda was cutting out the pieces of insulation for the transmission tunnel. For this application, I had selected a synthetic, woven, fiber mat. I got two sheets: one with foil on one side; and a second sheet with foil on both sides.

This product is easy to handle, totally non-toxic, and can be handled with out gloves or a respirator. You attach it with high temperature contact cement. Since I have more work to do on the tunnel infrastructure later, and need to weld the floor in next, I'm just going to fit it only, not glue it in place.




It's a slow process. I call things like this nudge-pie work. It's not much fun, but you gotta do it, and it's easier now than it will be once the floor is welded in. Below, I have the driver's side done with the exception of the removable access panel, which shows as white in the photo below. Whe the pieces are finally glued in place, I'll use foil HVAC tape to close all seems and joints.

This product is good for many applications, but not close to the engine, exhaust or any other high temperature component. I have a second, zero-clearance product for those applications.


The removable access panel has a set of complex patterns to match. The best way I could think of to do it was trace them out from the metal. Measuring them out would have been a super PITA. Here's what I came up with.

I taped paper on the inside surface of the panel. Made holes in the paper for the mounting screws with a hole punch. Taped the paper onto the panel and mounted it.


That gave the white surface I mentioned earlier.


Then I used a very thin, red pen to trace out everything I could.


To be useful and effective, I had to clean them up with a black felt tip pen, making sure to leave enough clearance to permit easy placement of the access panel once the insulation is glued in place. I'll use the skeleton piece of paper left after I cut out the templates to trace out where the insulation goes on the panel itself. I'll use the screw holes in the paper skeleton for registration on the panel.


Tomorrow, I'll do the access panel, then move on to the passenger side.

Cheers,

_________________
Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886

Looking nice man!

_________________
Steve

My build : http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtop ... 35&t=17160

MGB/GT V8 5.0L. viewtopic.php?f=36&t=20782

yep, stealing this from ya

_________________
Who knew so much time involved in building a car is spent simply staring at the pile of parts you've accumulated?

@Tundra 7
@Raccoonman


Thank you, gents.

Cheers,

_________________
Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886

As real life permits, things are getting done. Not too many things are photo worthy. However, it's a lot of small stuff that needs to be done before I weld on the floor and put the chassis back on the build table.

It's pretty hot and humid here. Afternoon work time is limited. The final version of the removable panels are done.


I added foil sealing tape to the bare edges on the driver's side, with the idea of improving the fit, effectiveness and durability of the panel. It was a mistake. It took a lot of time to tape things up and the fitting of the panel became more difficult. I omitted foil tape on the passenger side. If I really feel the need after using the car for a while, I can add it then.


Here's a shot of the driver's side panel in place.


Cheers,

_________________
Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886

Looking good Lonnie. I have to chuckle though, you insulate to keep heat out. Where I come from we insulate to keep heat in

_________________
Perry

'If man built it, man can fix it'
"No one ever told me I couldn't do it."
"If you can't build it safe, don't build it."

Perry's Locost Super Che7enette Build
Perry's TBird Based 5.0L Super 7 L.S.O
Perry's S10 Super 7 The 3rd
Perry's 4th Build The Topolino 500 (Little Mouse) Altered
Perry's 5th Build the Super Slant 6 Super 7
Perry's Final Build the 1929 Mercedes Gazelle

Yup, it gets hot here, Perry. I'm not actively cycling now, but if I were riding in the afternoons, the blacktop would be in the 120°-130° F range. That creates a real incentive to ride early in the morning.

Speaking of heat, we're under an "Excessive Heat Warning" from the National Weather Service today, and for the next day or three. It's been a very hot summer so far, and even hotter weather is forecast for September. I'm hanging in there in the garage, doing something on the build every day. However, if it's in the mid-90's every day and remains this humid during September (what's forecast), I may have to back off fabrication work in the garage, and switch to CAD design work inside where we have A/C.

Build-wise, I'm taking care of every small detail I can think of that would be difficult or impossible to do once the floor is welded in. Primarily, that means things like grinding down welds inside the chassis rails, making small plates and gussets for future work like the dash hoop and transmission tunnel, seam sealing, painting and lots of small tasks like that. It's unexciting, but necessary stuff.

If anything was really picture-worthy I'd post something, but it's all pretty much small-change items.

Cheers,

_________________
Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886

Continuing on with the idea of finishing up important issues before going back on the build table for final suspension design, fabrication and placement, I wanted to decide on the scuttle and its supporting structure before taking the chassis off the rotisserie.

I may want to do my own scuttle in the future, so I'm not wanting to weld in anything permanently to fit just to the current glass fiber one. I decided to make some plates that bolt to the main chassis that can be used to build the scuttle structure, but have the scuttle structure be removable from them, and they in turn removable from the chassis. That way, my future options are unrestricted.

Here's what the plates look like. They are unfinished as yet, but you can get the idea. I wanted them to touch several members that triangulate just at the back end of the scuttle itself. They touch 4 RHS members.

It was a little touch getting the 1/8" plate to lay flat on the 15° bend on the upper rail, but with a little back and forth, I got them looking pretty good.

I have planned to triangulate the scuttle structure all along rather than make a simple hoop. To do so, I have 12 gauge plates that bolt onto the center of the tunnel structure. This portion of the tunnel is really well supported, and can carry a pretty high load.

The combination of the side plates and tabs on the transmission tunnel are well placed in space to triangulate with. The photo below shows their arrangement in the car.

Those finalized, I needed to re-examine my previous arrangement for the dashboard and scuttle structure. Here's the basics: scuttle, side plates and tunnel tabs.

I added back the cardboard mock-up of my initial dash design. The brown card is the dash shape, and the black marker on it lays out my first imagined structure. The white piece is the donor ('94 Mustang) instrument panel. The yellow sheet with the black circle denotes the place where the T5 shifter emerges.

The good news is that everything still looks plausible. However, I'm gaving a huge struggle deciding if I want to use the donor ECU, wiring harness and instrument panel shown here.

Using it, and the donor wiring harness would save me money and time right now. However, I already have the parts to do a second, 4.3L version of the V6 engine. It's a 2000 multiport version of the 3.8L V6. I'm thinking going to a Megasquirt ECU and individual instruments now would be better in the long run. I have no idea right now if there is still expertise out there to do a suitable custom tune (stored program for Ford ECU) suitable for the 4.3L, while I know for sure there is for the Megasquirt ECU. I don't want to have to do the wiring harness and/or the dashboard twice.

I am perplexed and definitely looking for expert input on that issue.

Cheers,

_________________
Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886

From the schematics I've just googled, a 2000 mustang cluster should be standalone (i.e. not relying on the ecu to provide an indication of anything). If you have schematics, I'd be happy to look.

_________________
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

I see your pic indicates the cluster is from a 94 but the engine is a 00. Looking at a 94 schematic, the tach receives it's input from the computer.

If you want to know if the EDIS-6 pin 2 can be routed directly to the 94 cluster tach, I don't know. If it doesn't work, select a slightly newer model tach where the schematic does not show the computer as the tach input.

You'll still need to sort a vss for the speedo and may need a signal conditioner to make it accurate.
You may want to test your original fuel tank sending unit to check the resistance empty and full to know what you need or power the cluster and use an old car stereo volume switch (potentiometer).
The stock pressure and temp sensors will work.

_________________
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

@MV8

Thanks so much for finding those schematics and tracing them down for me. It sounds like the '94 donor instrument cluster may be salvageable later on.

I'm not sure what a VSS for the speedometer is, but I have some possible changes there anyway. My T5 has a digital output for the speedo now. However, when I had the rear axle rebuilt I changed the gear ratio from stock. I'm about half smart on this situation, but here's what I think I have to do.

The T5 has a couple of possible internal gears that drive the speedo. They work for a range of rear axle ratios. Then you have to get a matching sender unit that relates the "range" gear in the T5 to your actual ratio and drives the speedo correctly. I may have to change the external, digital unit in any case. Hopefully that's the VSS you mentioned. I'll research that when my time of need get nearer.

Thanks again for finding the schematics checking them out.

Cheers,

_________________
Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886