LocostUSA.com

Hello everyone,

I have been following for awhile and have been reading on both the traditional builds and the non-traditional. I purchased the Midlana book and hope to one day build one, but living in Texas and realizing that I will probably want to retire in Texas in the not-so-near future, I do not necessarily want to build a vehicle that I might not be able to register in my state. Thus I have decided to design and build my own reverse trike, which is considered a motorcycle for registration purposes and thus significantly easier to register. My goal is to build my vehicle as a daily driver that I will use to go to and from work and for fun on the weekends. I do not have any desire to race my vehicle in any sanctioned events and am pursuing the build as a means to develop my skills in order to eventually progress to a Midlana build. While I get that I could just go forth with building a Midlana, I want to build my way to that and while doing so get a better understanding of the build process. Also, most of the parts I will be using can be removed from my reverse trike buid and then transfered over to a Midlana 7.


So here is my plan. I want to use a FWD drivetrain with a manual transmission to drive the front wheels and have the rear wheel be there for only supporting the vehicle. Now I realize i could just save and purchase a Vanderhall Venice, but I love being hands on and fixing things myself. Also, the Venice isn't exactly what I want body wise. So my plan is to combine the looks of a Morgan 3-wheeler and the Vanderhall venice drivetrain to achieve my goal. I'm hoping to finish my build in 3-5 years from start (now) until I'm at least registered and legally driving it around (not necessarly completewith the visual portion). I realize that most builds don't come to fruition, but I figure I would rather have tried and failed than to have always dreamt of making the attempt and failed.

Now if I could only figure out how to post pics of the frame I have designed... Learning in progress...

https://imgur.com/user/Castrol1

I posted a few on imgur. Any constructive criticism or places for improvement would be greatly appreciated!

Also, the reason for the WW2 Fighter title is that I plan on painting the car in the color scheme of a WW2 P-51 squadron’s colors.

bonus points if you mount 25 mm cannons on the front?

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Geek49203 aka
Tim Wohlford
Louisville, KY
Hayes front, S10 +2 rear, Lalo body.

Howdy Castrol-
Welcome to the forum. You gonna do the "Flying Tiger" motif with all the sharp teeth? That would look cool on the nose of a trike. It's not "Period Correct" but if you're gonna mount guns, go with the 30mm Gatling gun they use in the Warthog. It could double as a reverse... Neutral, foot off the brake, fire off a burst, it'll push the car backwards 20 feet or so.

Pictures-
1) When you're typing up a post, look down below the main window and find the button that says "Browse." Now, the catch is, you have to have the picture saved on the device you're typing on. "Browse" opens a window where you can select the folder you have pics in, then you double click on the particular picture you want.

2) Look at the bottom of the main window, where your not-posted-yet message is. Find the button that says "Preview" and click it. You will then see your text and the picture you selected as it would appear in the forum thread. Go back to the box where you are typing and put the cursor where you want the picture to be in the text and click the box that says "Place Inline" and BOOM, the picture will be where you want it and you can continue typing if you wish. Otherwise, the pic will be at the bottom of your text and multiple pics will post in reverse order. (That confuses Perry... Don't do it if you can help it.)

OK, are ya totally confused now? Good, my work here is finished...

Again, welcome to the forum! Keep us posted on your progress!

Peace (Thru Superior Firepower) and Love-
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

While I have not yet decided on the paint scheme, my plan is brushed aluminum skin, with a black matte upper hood to reduce glare and from there a traditional p-51 paint scheme, currently leaning towards the Tuskegee Airmen Red Tails.

How to post a picture.....

http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=19629&hilit=post+a+picture

_________________
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

Meanwhile, here ya go.
It's a start.

The swingarm should be near level so the wheelbase doesn't change as much with travel. The lower control arms on the front should also be near level at ride height. Ground clearance should be at least 3 inches for road vehicles. You also have a very long overhang at the front that would need an upward slope or more gc overall for normal road situations. You could use an onboard air tank and/or compressor with air suspension for momentary solutions to these issues and allow for running as low as you dare the rest of the time.

The control arms attachments feed the load from the tires through the frame and largely determine where the frame rails should be, along with fitting the drivetrain and passengers.

Instead of a two sided rear swingarm, you might consider using another front upright and brake on the rear. There are a number of ways to accomplish that.

Some States require car parts to stay on cars and bike parts to stay on bikes. A 4 wheeled car is not off the table. You also have the option of buying an older car and modifying it extensively. Usually much easier than getting a new car through the titling and registration process.

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Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
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Here is a pic of the Morgan display at the 2017 Geneva auto show. There was one (that i didn't get a pic of) that was painted like a WW2 spitfire: OD green with the red/blue/white bulls eye - super cool

I definitely see what you are talking about with regards to the front overhang. Currently I havent decided on what type of engine/transmission combo which affects control arm/suspension/axle/everyother thing on the front of the vehicle. Currently I'm scouring craigslist for the right donor (doesn't need to be high HP or anything special) while I finish paying off my wife's car. I'm definitely going to look at the rear swingarm design to try and improve the pivot location. Thank you for your inputs, I really appreciate it!

As for putting cannons on it, what ever happened to LO(w)COST???????

The nice part of the design phase is how cheap it is to modify the design!

Hey everyone, I'm seeing a lot of love for cannons on the car, unfortunately I'm struggling with the design process... Did I do it right???

You sort of went from a P-51 to the Bonhomme Richard, but it's definitely a cannon. I'm hearing a line from Waylon Jennings about a cap-and-ball Colt, "Shoots as fast as lightning, but it loads a mite slow." I think the Highway Patrol, ATF and probably the Marines would arrive before you got off a second round.

That first shot would be GLORIOUS, however... Might be worth it.

Peace, Love and John Paul Jones-
JDK

_________________
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

The one on the left was put on P51's and Spitfires and such...

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Geek49203 aka
Tim Wohlford
Louisville, KY
Hayes front, S10 +2 rear, Lalo body.

To avoid the asymmetrical and difficult to package "normal" FWD drivetrain, would you consider a set-up like the Blackjack Zero used? An air cooled VW engine (with a cooling fan though, so a bit different than the Blackjack Zero set-up) and a VW transaxle with the ring and pinion flipped to make it a front engine layout, and VW Rabbit front axles and spindles would lend itself to an aircraft look and it would also be relatively easy to fit a nice shape around.

For reference: http://www.blackjackzero.com/mainindex.htm

Vanderhall has done a nice job of building a body around the GM FWD drivetrain, but it does make for a rather bulbous nose.

I will definitely consider that. Fortunately/unfortunately the project will be getting delayed significantly. Just had a baby, which is the most amazing thing ever! But on the money front, just had a bunch of things need to get fixed all at once... so now I get to hit the pause button and get to continue to tinker with my ideas... The funny thing is that I was literally about to start buying everything when everything started failing. On the bright side, I have a cute little distraction to hold me over until I can start the build process!