LocostUSA.com

Very, very nice, Tom (and Chuck). It looks really professional.

And, I picked up another tip - steel brake lines for a grill insert. It's cheap and workable.

Now when you guys are talking about brazing, you mean the real deal, right? The brass alloy that flows like solder, and uses flux? I haven't done any of that since high school shop class. I didn't know a MAPP torch would work.

Do you have just a regular tip on your torch? I used mine to heat the 1/2" and 3/4" steel tube I bent for my rear tire carrier. It wasn't a super focused flame like with a oxy-acetylene torch. That is, it's better for heating than welding.

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

Yup, I went old school and used silver/copper/zinc brazing rods and flux. Lots of How-to YouTube videos.

_________________
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

Finished up some more details before pulling the drivetrain and doing the rotisserie thing. Took some pictures as memory aids for the re-assembly process:

Fixed line routings between the master cylinders and reservoir:
Added br@ck^ts for brake and clutch line routings:
And added a br@ck^t for the hydraulic clutch bleeder. The tall fitting stack was due to adding a through-frame fitting.
Located and added br@ck^ts for the brake bias control knob and cable:
And the ungainly factory dipstick/tube was addressed. Here’s the factory setup:
A 4+” section of dipstick tube was cut out and a sleeve brazed over the joint. A Lokar adjustable dipstick was shortened to fit and a stainless steel line clamp and mounting br@ck^t made up:
Much better now:
The nosecone was drilled for the grill mounting and a piece of ¼” stainless steel mesh from Pegasus Racing was cut and fit for the radiator rock guard.

Guess that’s all the procrastinating I can do. Time to take the chassis off the table, pull the drive train and suspension and set it up on a rotisserie….but first I need to make room in the garage.

_________________
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

Gorgeous work, I would be very proud if my results looked like yours. Not enough br*&k$ts though, you should try to sneak a few more in just for futureproofing.

Looking very neat and tidy Tom. A good thing that Elon Musk doesn't browse these pages. He would want yours and Lonnie's builds for space vehicles they are so well thought out.

Cheers!

_________________
Larry in Seattle

Thanks, KR. Yes, thousands of br@ck^ts. JD would have been so proud! One of the joys of round tube building.

Thanks, Larry. Hmmm, well my delivery schedule does look a lot like Elon's...

_________________
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

You got that right Tom!
Great work by the way.

_________________
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

Yes, it's all looking really good, Tom.

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

Great work, as always.

_________________
Peace, Ron

Thanks for the kind words, gentlemen.

The journey from build table to rotisserie has turned into a bit of an archeological dig. First phase was reorganizing and cleaning the garage to make room to move the chassis around. Lots of “useful” pieces of scrap metal were discovered and taken to the recycle center. The list of parts to eventually sell on ebay and craigslist was updated. The two engine hoists were uncovered and dusted off and some rubber flooring sections pulled up. And then, after some rummaging through my build log to remember how it was done before, the chassis was finally off the table and sitting at “ride height” for the first since 2016 and the third time since starting the build.

Then back to digging in the build log to refresh on how to snake the engine/transmission out of the chassis. Once the engine was out, time to take the build table top off the sawhorses and then find a safe place for the wheels and fenders that had been stored underneath. Finally, the chassis was up on the sawhorses. Dang that thing’s sprouted a lot of t@bs and br@ck^ts over the years.

With the chassis on the sawhorses the suspension will be removed so final welding can begin while a rotisserie is figured out. Hmmm, think I may have an old engine stand stored in the garage’s "mezzanine” (aka rafters.) Probably somewhere under the insulation that fell down during the reroofing last fall. More digging…

BTW, anyone want a free build-table top? You haul.

_________________
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

Are you running Wilwood F & R?
Your front kit looks similar to what I have, just with red instead of black calipers.

Curious what you're using for a parking brake?

_________________
1975 MG Midget
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=24382
13B Powered Rotus Geauxkart
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=20899

Yup, these build logs are vital. I've had that experience multiple times, myself.

Just a (possibly) helpful suggestion, Tom. When I did my full chassis weld (in my case just the actual chassis members, not all the extra bracketry) I got cross-eyed trying to keep it straight which I had done, and what was left. I ended up buying a few boxes of those removable dots in multiple colors, to stick over the unwelded joints. It gave me an immediate visual on what I needed to do. Obviously, they were removed as I did the welds.

The reason I did multiple colors was to designate what position I intended to weld them in. I tried to weld everything possible when it was in a flat (horizontal) position. I wasn't skilled with vertical or overhead welding. So, for example, I stickered all the welds to be done when the passenger side was flat (up) with blue dots. You'll find that actually means doing welds on the inside of the drivers side too, for instance.

You're going to be surprised by how many welds you have to do. Fortunately, I had just installed a big spool of welding wire on my MIG machine, and a new bottle of gas too.

Best of luck with it.

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

That's a good idea Lonnie.
I'll have to keep that in mind & it'll give me something to work on while I wait for my dad's MIG to get repaired before I truck the chassis up to his place.

_________________
1975 MG Midget
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=24382
13B Powered Rotus Geauxkart
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=20899

Yes, Wilwood at both ends with their mechanical spot calipers for the e-brakes. Used this caliper br@ck^t from levyracing.com for the rears:
Great idea, Lonnie. Thanks. I had been using bits of colored masking tape but the dots would work much better.

_________________
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

Forgot to mention that one benefit of the archeological dig was finding where lost Sharpies go to die: Amongst the krap under the build table! JD would have wanted to know.

Well rummaging among the garage rafters and digging under the fallen insulation did pay off in finding an old engine stand for one end of the rotisserie. And a trip to HF provided a second one, on clearance no less. Couldn’t have bought the steel for what I paid for it.
Both stands are rated at 1000 lb. capacity. The orange one is 25+ years old and made in Taiwan. The red HF stand is “very similar” and made in China. I assembled them “wheels up.” Didn’t want the rotisserie plus chassis rolling out the garage door unattended. With the right wood blocking under the stands they should end up with coaxial pivot points.

Once the suspension, steering, etc. is removed and a cg estimated, rigging a clamp to attach one stand to the aft vertical plane should be relatively easy.
Attaching to the front of the chassis will be a bit trickier with the non-structural radiator mount sticking out well forward of the front bulkhead. Might be a little cantilevering required to make it work.
At this point, I’m not planning to connect the two stands together at floor level. Figuring floor friction and chassis rigidity should be enough. Besides, I don’t have any tubes that long left.

Ok, time to finish up work at the sawhorse stage work so I can move on to the spinner.

_________________
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