LocostUSA.com

The smoke may be the turbo. Those Chinese ebay turbos do not have a good reputation. Apparently the seal goes away on them and they begin to smoke. I'll post a couple of links if possible for some reading:
Godspeed (sold on eBay) turbo smoking/blown after 350 miles, albeit hard (racing/drifting) use
http://melissadrifts.com/write-ups/upda ... ed-turbos/

eBay turbo thread on Nissan forum:
http://forums.nicoclub.com/the-definiti ... 21821.html
Quoted from there:
"To start things off, i want to say that some people can use these kits and have them last a year or two with no major issues. However, the majority of people who buy the kits have problems within 6 months. The two biggest problems with the kit that i have seen from first hand experience and second hand is that either the manifold will crack, or the turbo seals will blow."

There is a thread someplace about the buyer using genuine Garrett seals to repair the problem- they bought the eBay turbo & took it apart before use. They found the seals were cheap and that OEM Garrett parts fit in OK.

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Just visiting here to get some info for a planned engine swap. Tentative plan is a late model Ecotec 4 cylinder into a Mitsubishi Starion/Chrysler Conquest.

hi not been my experience at all.
my turbo is removable in about 10 min. before i used that turbo i disassembled an looked it over, look about the same as the vw turbos i repair often, cant really tell about the quality of the materials.but i have put mine to hard use for over 5000 miles with no wear on the shaft or bearings, yes i do use mobil 1.
when the turbo is at fault for exhaust smoke it will be white color, blue if oil from the combustion chamber.
i have looked at all four of my pistons ($29.00 china borascope hooked to my laptop) all are melted some what around the edges. this is how i know not to go over #10ps1. telltale silver spots on the spark plug insulators too.
being a cheapskate i buy stuff direct from china very often, been rare that i have been dissappointed in product or service.
i think its the american competion writing the bad stories.!!!!
in fact i am writing this right now on a $42.00 tv stick from china.

And I wish you were writing it on a real keyboard so you could use capitals, punctuation, and spaces between paragraphs to make it easier to read.

The point is you can go too far in the cheap direction.

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mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.

Hi real keyboard? more like the person that's using it, never did take typing. Guess you have never used a TV stick

Sorry, but what's a TV stick? Am I missing out on something big in life?

Cheers,

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

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

Carguy writes:


If I have a choice between reading material from someone who has actually built a beautiful example of a Locost, used interesting parts and takes the time to update us and be patient with explanations while sharing his knowledge or someone who just makes pissy remarks, guess who I am going to make the effort to read!

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Marcus Barrow - Car9 an open design community supported sports car for home builders!
SketchUp collection for LocostUSA: "Dream it, Build it, Drive it!"
Car9 Roadster information - models, drawings, resources etc.

Ditto, never heard of a TV stick

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mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.

I didn't know what one was either, so I looked it up. The one sold on Amazon is an interface to allow you to watch online content on your TV. I'm not sure how this allows entry of characters onto a message board, but I'm sure this will be explained.

It apparently is related to the Google Chromecast, which is described on Wikipedia:
Chromecast is a digital media streaming adapter developed by Google. The device plays audio/video content on a high-definition television by streaming it via Wi-Fi from the Internet or local network. Users select the media to play on their television from the Google Chrome web browser on a personal computer or from a supported app on their mobile device.

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Just visiting here to get some info for a planned engine swap. Tentative plan is a late model Ecotec 4 cylinder into a Mitsubishi Starion/Chrysler Conquest.

Hi TV stick, many examples out there, do some research.
I got 3 of them last year, direct fon china one for each TV. About $45
Basicly its a android phone,with out the phone. Connects to your TV by HDMI cable.
Its the size of a large memery stick. Built in WiFi, Bluetooth, USB, 32 GB SD card slot.
You can connect keyboard an mouse, install any android app.
Use mine for email, netflix, you tube, play movies from a memory stick,can send that out to all the other computers in you house.
My 24 inch TV and TV stick use 12 watts of power, never even shut them off. Yes I am cheap, need the money for hotrods.
No the Google item is not the same
Don't worry about being pissy ,beyond bothered by that

Hi. On vacation in Canada this week, in p.e.I right now..
Anybody venture out a buy a TV stick???
Saw 3 Plymouth prowlers in one day up here, so that's where they went.
Great roads for a fast fun car not many cops.

hi well cold weather is getting here all to quick, put my top panels on , turned on the water to the heater, made a lexan panel wire tied to the roll bar behind the seats, wasnt to bad a 50f.
since i went with the sticky tires i have have fear of the rear axle heim joints failing. going from 1/2 to 5/8 . 16000 lbs to 20000lbs. piece of mind maybe. have not had any problems in 6000 mile.
and then this winters power increase , forged connecting rods, forged 9 to 1 pistons , arp head bolts, little larger turbo.. good for maybe safe 400hp , up to 7000 rpm. also adding 6 inch by 13 inch heater core under the front fender for more cooling. some upgrading on the megasquirt , add on knock sensor board, will only check for knock a few degrees of crank rotation, that will cure the false noise from retarding the spark . $60.00 is cheap to save a motor!
i anyone wants to know more details just ask.
been great fun this summer, sticky hancook ventus r-s3 tires are amazing with a little heat

400 hp out of a 2.4 eco! holy crap! I'm happy with the 173hp in my HHR, and think that woiuld be pretty awesome in a 1200-1500 lb car...but that's thinking at least 4 projects ahead.

very kewl build. hearing you, (and others) talk aboutMegasquirt makes me thjink that might have to be an element of a future project, simply because its sounds fun to figure out. I've read maybe 60% of your build log, did you build your own ECU, or buy one of the several built-up computers?

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The B-3 build log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=13941 unfortunately, all the pictures were lost in the massive server crash

The beginnings of the Jag Special,
https://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19012
Again, all pictures were lost.

Stick with Candy Crush. There's nothing fun about trying to get a MS map working.

Can't be any worse than solo bushwhacking thru an interleaved conifer jungle up Mt Webster in Crawford Notch NH - heading for the Central Couloir slabs - at nite, by headlamp, with a 65lb pack. I thought that was fun.

can't be any worse than the 3-year scratch build I've been thru, right? that's still fun.

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The B-3 build log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=13941 unfortunately, all the pictures were lost in the massive server crash

The beginnings of the Jag Special,
https://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19012
Again, all pictures were lost.