LocostUSA.com

Coming right along! Looking great.

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-Keith

Okay, time for an update. I started working again last month (thankfully found a new job before my severance ran out) and that kind of slowed me down, but once the first autox events were announced that really lit a fire under me. I had been working on the ramps and built them out of 2x2/1/8 angles, with 1x1 used as cross bars (and convenient points to anchor to).

Here are the outside ramps. The inside ones were made the same way, just a foot shorter.


Here is a test fit of the ramps inside the unit. Note the scissor jacks with the shaft linking them together.


I had originally sourced some gas shocks for the door, but they proved very problematic. The hinges for the door tend to bend more than I would like, and the shocks had to be so strong at full extension that when closing the door, they would actually push it up enough to flex the hinges and cause issues with the door not closing nicely. So they were replaced with electric actuators.




But with all that done I did manage to get the car in there without issue.


I missed last week's event, but was able to scramble enough to make the one today! Nothing is painted, many holes and edges aren't deburred and so on, but as a test run everything went great!



Now I have a list of nice-to-haves including extending the wiring for the winch remote, building a false floor over some of the open compartments, and of course tidying up the wiring and all that. It's far from 'done' (isn't any project) but I was very happy with how it all went today. I stopped at the scale and with the car and all my gear, it weighed in at only 300lb more than it was when I bought it. The ramps probably weigh close to that, so I basically got the weight of the car itself to be a wash. I might remove the rear air handling unit (don't see myself ever needing heat or AC back there) and see how close I can get to truly breaking even.

Adding some expanded metal to the top surface of those ramps would aid in stiffening them up and guarantee that wet tires would not slip whilst loading the car.

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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

Awesome!



Is it just me, or do those ramps look bent side to side? If the lower ramps lock into the upper ramps, would it be worth adding support where the ramps lock together so that the ends of the inner ramps aren't carrying the entire weight of the car as it goes up the ramps?

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Ford 5.0 into an M3
mikaelvroom.com | @MikaelVroom

If he's winching the car up the ramps, does he need to worry about traction?

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Ford 5.0 into an M3
mikaelvroom.com | @MikaelVroom

Good eye. I forgot to mention that yesterday. Yes the ramps warped during welding, the unfortunate downside to the design I chose. It's easier to see on the outside sections since they aren't braced, but from one end to the other they twist a bit one way, then at the midpoint they twist back. I was initially worried about it too, but under the weight of the car they actually flattened out pretty nicely during loading. Once the car is fully inside, all four tires have nice even contact and it's easy to hook my ratchet straps onto the crossbars and tie the car down. I think I got kind of lucky in that they all twisted the same way, so when the outside ramps lock in they are still flush side to side. That said, I wouldn't mind figuring out a way to permanently un-twist them...

Another thing I was worried about was the outside ramps spreading apart from each other on the end that contacts the ground, and the car potentially falling between them. So I made a tie bar that hooks onto each side at the midpoint. It was quick and dirty and perhaps not actually necessary, but making a nicer one for the long term is also on my to-do list. I should have stopped during the loading or unloading and taken a picture of that part, will try to remember for next time.

As for traction, I think actually having it the way it is is better because the outsides of the ramps can nudge the car back to center if it starts to drift one way or another. Having a longer wire (or wireless) winch controller would have made it easier to make constant steering adjustments the whole way up and down the ramps.