WE'RE BACK!

Well folks, after a 4 year hiatus, I'm back. A lot has happened (they say that life has a way of acting up while we're busy making plans) since I last posted here, but I'm definitely back! This time I'm ready to actually start construction of my Locost 7! My sweet Wife found me a used wire-feed welder for Christmas. I have a partially finished, but very usable garage/workshop that contains over 1100 sq ft of working space. On top of all that, today I took delivery of 240' of 16 ga., 1" square steel tube to build a cart for the welder, a building table for the car, and the car itself. Please drop in whenever you like to see how things are progressing. I should start cutting and melting steel within the next few days!

New Blog

Just to let everyone know, life has intervened. My Locost plans have now been placed on the back burner. for more info, visit my new blog at tl7homestead.blogspot.com .

New Blog

More Updates and a Change of Plans

OK, here's some more of my CAD production. My new design chassis build table. Well, not really my design, but one I found on LocostUSA.com. It looked good, and will fit in nicely with my change of plans. Thanks Racers Dan & Al. Now, about the change of plans. Many of you will remember that I spent a great deal of time waiting to get an old refrigeration stand from the store where I work. The plan at that time was to build a big, heavy, solid, immoveable table to build my chassis on. At the time it seemed like a great idea since I was blessed with a large (almost 750 Sq. ft.) shop/garage, so a big, heavy, etc. table didn't pose a problem. Notice I said "WAS" blessed. Ah, life has a way of intervening, doesn't it? Due to a family situation, it appears that my shop space will be cut in half. Not a big prob when building something the size of a Locost, but the BHSI table is out! I need something light and portable yet sturdy,true and level. The answer lies in a 1" sq tubing framework (very appropriate for a Locost) with a heavy plywood top. The legs are equipped with levelers for adjustment after moving if needed. For the portable part, I'm working on retractable mounts for the casters that should allow for lifting and moving by one person, even with a partially built car on board. The basic table design is ready to go, but the caster retracts are still on the drawing board, so to speak.

Progress Update

Well, here's what I've managed to run up so far with Google SketchUp. It has been a bit of a struggle to try designing a car chassis while learning to use a new program at the same time. It amounts to overloading the system of my poor old senior citizen brain. As you can see, it's still a work-in-progress. In fact, the file has been dubbed "WIP". BTW, I just notice that the legend doesn't include a description of the RED pieces. They are 1" round tube. Still have more work to do of course, scuttle bulkhead bracing, trans tunnel, structure behind the seat bulkhead, etc. Even though the progress is slow, at least there is progress. More to come!

PROGRESS OF A TECHNICAL SORT

No, I haven't started construction yet, I'm sorry to say. But, I have acquired some new technology which should help speed up the planning stage.

After a late night session working on some drawings of the chassis with the modifications that I plan to use, things went a bit awry, due partly to a need for some sleep, and partly for lack of proper drafting tools. While laying in dimensions on a drawing that I had just slaved over for hours, I discovered that I had inadvertently shortened the car 3 inches. Unfortunately, this was in an area of the frame that would have required redrawing about 2/3 of the whole thing. This lead me to search for an inexpensive CAD (Computer Aided Drafting) software that would allow me to work on the PC rather than the DRT (Dining Room Table). Thanks to the gang at LocostUSA.com, I found "Sketchup", a free (free is always good) program from Google. It seems to offer everything that a drafting "duffer" like myself would need. Now, all I have to do is learn how to use it.

More news as it breaks!

More "Gathering" Pics

Here is a link to more photos from "The Gathering". Be sure to check out the links there to videos and such!