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Okay sunday afternoon not doing anything so guess I better update. Besides I'm tired of looking at my build and nothing new to see.
I was getting to the point where I need places welded to add other tubes sooo I welded the entire chassis.
I was planning to add braces from the top inner footwell bulkhead to lower rail that passes under the engine. It fits fine on the passenger side but exhaust downpipe is in the way on the drivers side. I quess I can y it but when I add the top rail brace thats a lot of y's at the top.
I have the rear suspension designed now.
The engine is sitting in it's mounted position but need to get new mounts before fabbing that. Yes it sits flush with the bottom of the frame. The shifter ends up right next to the wheel and slightly higher than center. But that also makes the rear diff sit pretty high up for 3.75 to 4" ground clearance. 12.85" to axle center puts the diff 8.85 to frame bottom. And the fuel cell sits at 15" from the frame bottom. Which bothers me about cg getting raised with that much weight going that high but mounting a tank all the way in the back makes me nervous. If I decide to race it they frown on the rear tanks anyway. So I guess it will have a higher deck in the rear. Just for a reference the upper rear tube is 14" at the top edge and 25 1/2" to roll bar tube.
Just need to figure out how far back I need to go for the roll bar braces to clear the fuel cell and I can start on the rear.

Busy busy today.
Things were getting tight in the back of the cockpit and had to much diff room so I redid the back of the tunnel today. Seat has plenty of room in the back now.
Got the diffs mounting location figured out.
Since the T-Bird uprights lower pickups are pretty close to the axel centerline and the ABS rings are 4.5" I needed to redesign my lower pickups to clear it. So easy way I'll be dropping the tube and mounting the suspension pickups upright on the tube instead of on the side. Plenty of shaft room now.
I was planning on a 15 gallon fuel tank but finally decided on a 12 gallon due to it being 5 inches narrower. It makes packaging the rear suspension, fuel tank, and rear roll cage tubes a lot easier and neater.
Started laying out the tubes for the rear suspension.
More fun tomorrow.

Another fun day in the garage. Started building the back of the frame.
After spending a few days trying to come up with a fancy design for tying everything together in the back I finally had to admit Moti had a slick solution. So that's twice now.
Got a discussion going on about rubber bushings on the rear uprights going here.
Seems most people want a softer ride over geometry holding true.

Okay its sunday and I didn't do a dam thing.
But yesterday got most of the back tacked together but still need to add some more bracing. I'm getting where I need to let the moths outta of the wallet and get some more parts. Starting to need parts to figure out where I need space and where to actually mount stuff. Like shocks,steering rack,pedals, nose,fuel cell.
Anyone one that built rocker arm suspension what did you use for bearings and bearing cups?

Hmm seems like alot of one step forward and two steps back. Started working on the engine mounts and never bothered checking the new oil pan depth. All those fancy fins need another 1/2" of clearance. So if I welded in the mounts I wouldn't of been able to raise the engine enough to clear the mount bolts. So I put a jog in the fire wall so no more problem. Have the trans mount done but not welding it in place till I know what trans I'm using for sure. I may need to put it further back. The back end is all tacked in place so I'll be welding it up so I can move onto mounting the diff.

Cool Build Dean!

I'll be watching this.

I have a hopped up '91 240SX KA24DE in the garage looking for a home, and I have been eye-balling the Locost for a few years now.

Not a good weekend for the welder. Ran out of gas friday afternoon so rush over to get the bottle filled so I'm good for the weekend. Weld about 10 mins saturday and fried the liner ,diffuser, and tip WTF. Never found a reason other than the liner and diffuser were about 15 years old. Back working now so all welded. Been waiting since the 16th for a strip of steel from Online Metals so no engine mounts yet. Should have just got it local.
Added some more bracing in the engine bay.
Made my solid diff bushings so guess I ought to start working on the diff mount next.

Got the front diff mounts tacked in. Even though they are 1/8" it still looks weak to me gonna have to think about more bracing.
Front motor mounts made and tacked in today.

Guess I better post something I almost dropped off the 1st page.
Went to Reno for a few days to hit the Ribfest they have every year so.... Full of BBQ and still hanging on to all my money plus a few extra bucks we got back to the build.
Got the diff mounted and welded in but keep thinking I need to support the rear mounting tabs better. Yeah I know the cars light but it's still possible to have 400 ft lbs of torque on the 4 tabs. I got the rear cover with the most support as a added bonus you get a drain plug. Thats the first 8.8 I've seen with a drain but like most things that created another problem. Now the tone rings on the axles for the abs don't clear the backside of the cover. Not that I needed the abs but it would of made it easier for traction control sensors.
The tranny and diff are phased with 2 1/2 degrees and 4 degrees driveline angle so it should be good on ujoints.
Got the steering rack getting made and got a set of tilton hanging pedals. If I can get a starting point for master cylinders figured out I can get them mounted and the steering and dash figured out. I need to set the pedals back as far as possible because their is no way I will be able to straighten my legs out sitting in it even with the seat hitting the harness bar which also means a high steering wheel.
Anyone able to tell me how much minimum clearance I need for the harness mounts or will the seat being 1/2" away work?
Have parts for the rear suspension ordered but they seem to be taking a awful long time gonna have to call them tomorrow.
Going on a cruise next week then going to the drift finals so not much getting done next couple weeks and not much funds for parts.

Depends...... Are you planning on bolt in mounts? The standard Locost method is to add bushings to the croassmember on the rear wall. You will need clearance for the steel bracket that bolts to the mounts. This may be ~ 1-1/2" from the center of the bolt to the area where the belt flexes. Then there may be an adjustment piece that will need room too. I don't think you will want this hardware against your neck

Alternatively, you could use a loop mount. But still will have to deal with the adjustment bracket.

I used the loop mounting and added the belt bar further rearward to allow room for the hardware behind my shoulder. As you can see, my seat is padded and more foraward that your planned location. Meaning you will have even less room.

Whichever way you do your mounts, make sure you follow recommended installation by having the right strap angle from your shoulders to the rear mount. You don't want to compress your spine in an accident.

Nothing major to report but still puttering along. Awhile back I did a post Removing compliance on a T Bird upright 2 pages and never got a answer to my question. Anyway this is what I ended up doing. I don't need no stinkin rubber.

rx7locost How far does does the harness mount clips protrude from the bar?

I guess it might be a little late to mention it, but you could probably saw off about 2/3 of the casting where the lower bushes go. No reason for it to be wide like that and then decrease to a small area before joint the rest of the upright. You could just put the spherical bearing in there.

Still puttering along just not much cash flow right now and trying to save for the sb100 stuff.
I managed to bend the shaft on my Harbor Freight press putting in a wheel stud. Who'd of ever guessed you could do that? Looks like it was made from old water pipe. O'well new piece of cr mo solid shaft going back in there tomorrow.
Hopefully I'll get the rear arms done and mounted in the next month and can move on to the front. Got the rear upright hubs and axles together. Guess what? Cobra axles are considered non rebuildable by ford. No parts at all not even the boot clamps. Ended up using T Bird boots they were a stretch on the larger axle but the big ends fit fine.

Hey JD them axles bright enough for Ya?

horizenjob Probably could remove some of the casting but it is supported on the back side it's just hidden in that pic. Maybe you can see it in this pic.

Yo, Dean!
Looking' good, man! Great choice of color!

So, where did you get those? Or where can I get those?