Lonnie's Mustang V6, "Steal with Both Hands", Locost

[Lonnie-S]

@horchoha
@MV8

I see what you two are saying. However, there's no point in using locking nuts right now. I'm going to be taking all these components off and putting them back on multiple times. My understanding is that you should use locking nuts only one time and then replace them with new ones once they're removed.

On another subject raised earlier, I found a place called "Rivets Online" and they have many types of blind rivets available from several manufacturers including countersunk blind rivets. I found this very interesting structural steel blind rivet there.

It is 3/16" diameter, and has a wide range of grips it will work with from 0.062 (~1/16") to 0.270 (17/64 or just > 1/4") . They only cost ~38 cents each. It seems to me to be a good, basic, all-around, high strength rivet for many Locost applications and it's pretty economical.

Cheers,

[Lonnie-S]

Social commitments kept me out of the garage shop until about 1:30 pm. There wasn't much time in the day left, but I did get the absolute minimum dimensions my battery would fit into. It's going to make a difference and make the new battery location and orientation practical.

Battery Trays V1 & V2.jpg

The garage floor really needed a sweeping up. There was so much grinder dust that it felt like I was walking on sand near the chassis. Also, I need to being some machines into the work area and move ones I no longer needed into the storage area. It sounded like the perfect job to fit the time I had, so off I went to do it.

Now, I need to tell you something really rotten. Behold!

Rotten Rat.jpg

About a month ago, I went into the garage in the morning and there was a terrible smell. I knew something had died in there. So, I spent much of that morning trying to find it. We have rats, bunnies, racoons and possums in our neighborhood. One of them gotten into the garage and died somewhere.

I searched and searched and followed my nose, but I just couldn't find it. I even called in my two sheep dogs to see if they could find it. All they did was walk into the garage, sniff around and look up at me with a look that said, "Something died in here. You need to clean that up." After witch, they just walked back into the house and left me to my own devices. Big help they were.

Well today I had to move much material around including the large RHS in the photo, which was backed up to the green piece of wood in the photo and effectively sealed off at one end. A rat apparently decided to make it his home, or just crawled into it there to die. Ugh! He was rot-welded to the inside of the RHS and even my 5HP shop vac wouldn't suck him out. I had to use improvised, throw-away tools to dig him out. What an end to the day! I hope tomorrow is a better day.

Cheers,

[Lonnie-S]

I'm nearing the point where I'll move from basic boot infrastructure to making panels and such. That means bringing out some tools that have been effectively in garage storage and getting them into ready-to-work condition.

Here are two that I haven't used is some time:

Nov 23 Tool Fix 1.jpg

I set up the 3-in-1 today. It was relatively easy with just simple adjustments needed. Previously, I made some significant improvements to the English wheel, but need to do some final work on it: polishing the fixed anvil roller and the removable radius dies; plus aligning the dies themselves.

Nov 23 Tool Fix 2.jpg

Nov 23 Tool Fix 4.jpg

The fixed anvil has too much room to move around and shift in use.

Nov 23 Tool Fix 3.jpg

Previously, I installed adjusting screws on the lower die tool holder. They need to be set correctly once the fixed anvil situation is remedied.

Nov 23 Tool Fix 5.jpg

The last tool is the worst case. It's the HFT bead roller. As it comes, it won't do satisfactory work. It requires several improvements to make it function well enough to create acceptable results. There are many improvements illustrated on YouTube and some plans out there with fixes, but they're all pretty time consuming to do. It's going to be a multi-week sub-project to get it all done. I have a motor for it also, but I also need to make a solid movable stand to mount it all on too.

Nov 23 Tool Fix 6.jpg

I'll finish up all the basic infrastructure this next week, then move on to getting the above mention tools ready to work.

Cheers,

[horchoha]

What kind of motor do you have for the bead roller?

[Lonnie-S]

@horchoha

It's actually this Eastwood kit, Perry, which has more in it than just the motor.

Cheers,

[Lonnie-S]

I spent the weekend doing drawings of the parts I've already noodled out for the battery tray and its location. I also spent time going over old parts of my build log looking to rediscover my thinking and logic for placement of various items like the battery and the engine/transmission.

Boy, I'm appreciating the value of this log now. I can go back and read my initial thoughts, reasoning and goals and see those things were improved by comments from other builders. I do wish I'd lowered the engine and transmission another inch. At the time, I was really fearful of having too little ground clearance.

That's not without reason. In the San Diego area, there are these broad, shallow gutters on streets that run across the roadway perpendicular to traffic. They are deceiving. if you don't see them and go through too fast, you can easily bottom out or take flight.

I also am looking for ways to shorten my path to licensing this build. One thing I can do is move off some tasks I want to do until after I get a license plate. I was re-reading the document pertaining to the requirements for Specially Constructed Vehicles in California today. It's CHP document #892. They do revise it periodically, so I need to check and see if my April 2019 version is still the latest one.

I think I can get by without fenders, for example. If I run initially without a hood that will save me from relocating a whole bunch of plumbing atop the engine, and not having to make a hood. I want good seats and had planed to design and build them myself. However, I have a Caterham passenger seat that will look a little odd, but work, if I adapt it to the driver's side. I just wouldn't install a passenger seat initially. I don't have to have a roll bar initially even though I'm making provision for one.

I'm trying to shift my brain into thinking differently and simplifying things as much as possible to get the car in a license-able state as quickly as possible. Even with those things, there is still a lot left to do.

Cheers,

[Lonnie-S]

It will be mostly real life stuff this week. Things like getting the house ready for company, shopping for Thanksgiving, grooming the dogs, etc. However, I did get a start on the battery tray.

Based on test cuts of cardboard (recommended in the user manual) I thought I had my 3-in-1 tool set up well. It did a 24" cut on a 20 gauge half sheet perfectly: sharp; clean; and straight. However, when I tried a 10 inch cut on the same material, it mangled things pretty well.

Tray 1.jpg

I believe it's the hold down bar that just wasn't putting enough pressure down on the material at the start of the cut. I'll have to fiddle with that feature some more.

Finishing the pattern by hand wasn't a whole lot better. It's too hard to control the snips and too easy to cut past your marks because of the high hand pressure required. I'm not satisfied with the 20gauge material anyway. I'm going to switch to 16 or 14 gauge material and use the band saw for cutting.

Tray 2.jpg

The I was able to verify that the pattern is a good, tight fit for the donor battery type (group 58).

Tray 3.jpg

Cheers,

[Lonnie-S]

I'm back on the battery tray. It's ending up being heavier and more complex than I wanted. The original vision was to do the whole thing out of hand stamped and formed sheet metal. I can do quite a bit with 20 gauge, but it proved too thin. I went with what I had on hand, 16 gauge sheet and 1/2" RHS. I can't do much with 16 gauge except cut it, bend it and weld it.

The donor battery type (Group 58) uses hold downs that tie into the bottom of the battery. It's a simple and clean system and I decided to go that way. The hold down brackets need to have blind weld nuts (which I have on hand too) because of the location of the battery. Regular nuts and bolts would be a hassle when removing the battery as I'll have the bottom of the boot enclosed, so they won't be directly reachable. The gas tank was OK that way since it won't be a maintenance item. When it's in, it's in for a long, long while. If I do need to remove it, the bottom boot panel will be also removable.

I made a simple frame out of 1/2" RHS and welded some 12 gauge tab brackets onto it.

Bat Frame.jpg

The battery tray itself is simple 16 gauge sheet with flanges for the battery hold down (not in place yet) and folds on the end to keep the battery in place fore and aft. I'll add rubber sheet material to the folds and under the battery proper in the finished, painted piece.

Bat Tray.jpg

Here's how they'll be joined. I'll stitch weld the frame to the tray at reasonable intervals.

Bat Assembly.jpg

On to the chassis brackets tomorrow.

Cheers,

[Kinetic Research]

Great to see such satisfying progress.

[Lonnie-S]

@Kinetic Research

Thank you, sir. I'm trying hard to stay focused on actually building the car. So far, so good. I'm doing something big or small every day.

Cheers,

[Lonnie-S]

As mentioned above, the good news continues to be I work on the build almost every day. Although real world obligations and responsibilities often limit my time to 2-4 hours at a time.

Just today I finished and primered all the supporting bracketry for the main panel of the boot. It's 0.063 aluminum and on it will rest the fuel tank, battery tray and scissors jack and related safety items. It's flat across the span of the boot as illustrated by the aluminum angle visible in the first photo. The second illustrates the 4 chassis mounted brackets that will support the battery tray and battery.

Boot Brackets 1.jpg

Boot Brackets 2.jpg

The next task is to finish the hold downs for the battery itself keeping it fixed to the tray under driving (and hopefully any collision) condition.

Cheers,

[horchoha]

Just today I finished and primered all the supporting bracketry for the main panel of the boot.

Lonnie, after the New Year I may have to drive down and put my stamp of approval on all this br@cketry you speak of, and of course buy you lunch.

[Lonnie-S]

@horchoha
That would be great, Perry. See you then.

But in the mean time, Merry Christmas to you two.

Cheers,

[seven13bt]

Keep up the good work. Something addressed every day will get you there.

[Lonnie-S]

@seven13bt
Thanks very much for the encouragement. I'm trying to "eat that elephant" one bite at a time.

Speaking of which, here are the hardest parts I've had to make all week. They aren't that complex, but physically, they've been the most challenging. I'll tell you why below.

Bat Hold Down 1.JPG

I have a couple of bending tools, but the one that bends the thickest material is really hard to inspect while the bend is in progress and it doesn't like small things either. You have to take the part out, measure, then re-insert if needed, which is almost always required. The bending die is blunt, so it's hard to place it exactly the second or third times around.

The small, 5" finger vise I have for my bench vise is right at the limit using 14 gauge material. Usually the pieces are small, so there's not typically an issue. In this case, the hold downs are 4-7/8" and the brake is 5" wide. That's really pushing it. I was worried I'd break the vise or the finger brake.

It took so much pressure on the vise handle that when I pulled up on it, I lifted the work bench it's attached to, which is very heavy. I was just waiting for the big snap when something gave way, but it didn't happen - phew!

Cheers,