So long, my muse!

I recently had to say goodbye to the car that started it all, my 1997 Mazda Miata.

This was the car that really showed me what a willing engine, rear wheel drive and a light weight body could do. It is 100% accurate to say that this was the spark that got me interested in making a locost. My Miata also cemented my belief that round headlights automatically make a car 100x cooler.

My Miata was the best car I've ever owned, but I need the room in the garage for the Spartan. My car did go to a good home, and I'm happy she'll see regular top-down use.

In its place, I purchased a 1999 Honda CR-V. I've been driving it for a year now and it is an absolutely wonderful daily driver (admittedly far better than the Miata).

In addition to carting my kids around its primary function is to serve as my official project support vehicle. The trunk area has already come in handy for hauling my new seats home.

Keeping track of things

Being a nerd, I like to keep track of things. Excel and I are on a first-name basis. So it's natural that I'd want to accurately document my build.

Even though the Spartan won't be an absolutely low-cost locost, I still want to keep track. Some have suggested that this is a crazy idea, as it gives my wife real numbers to yell at me about. Fortunately for me my wife is really cool about this obsession of mine, so I feel comfortable keeping a budget spreadsheet with the actual figures for my build.

I'm going to count the full purchase cost of partial items. That means if I use 10% of a $4 tube of grease, it'll be $4. I don't want the pain of tracking how much welding filler wire I've used. The spreadsheet will also break out shipping and tool costs and list sources for each item. I figure that may help someone else understand how I got those figures.

While I've been waiting to start my build I've been reading like a banshee. I've also scoured the internet for anything I can learn about building a car. Along the way I've made lots of decisions about components and specs for my car. I've decided to keep a specification spreadsheet (xls) listing what I plan on incorporating into the Spartan.

Both documents are now on the sidebar, and they'll be constantly updated as I go along. You're free to copy and use them as you see fit.

Atlanta area Locost builders' meetup

Last weekend I met with several Atlanta builders to introduce ourselves and chat about Locost stuff. We all had a great time, and it was nice talking about the car with a group who are as passionate about building a locost as I am.

Additionally, I finally got to sit in a Locost/Lotus/Caterham sized frame (thanks eVox!). My first reaction is that the car is tiny! Unless I give up lateral support in the seats, I think I'm going to have to widen the frame to fit my physique. I'm trying to lose as much weight as possible before starting my build, but even then things are going to be tight.

I'd been resisting building a plus sized frame for some time, but I do think something's got to give. The Gibbs chassis is a +221, meaning it's 2" wider, 2" longer and 1" taller than the earlier Champion design. I think the extra 1" per passenger will make a big difference.

The extra width would also come in handy in the driver's footwell. It's a little tight, especially with my clod-hoppers on. I may have to invest in a pair of driving shoes.

No matter what, sitting in a mostly completed frame underscores the need for some kind of seating buck to simulate the passenger compartment of the finished car. Better to find out I don't fit before I start cutting metal...

Happy Birthday to Me!

Awesome! My birthday present just arrived - a 900 page, 10 lb. epic work of automotive design philosophy and practice (and its companion workbook).

This isn't exactly light reading, so I imagine it'll take me awhile to go through it. At first glance it doesn't seem too daunting, at least compared to some of my engineering textbooks. I know that it's referenced heavily wherever vehicle analysis is discussed, so I'm looking forward to reading it!

I know, I'm a dork.

Here's a locost tip - get a friend who's in the SAE to buy it for you. The set is 25% cheaper to members.

Why?

I've been talking about building this car for months now, and the first question everyone seems to ask is "Why?"

This question really should be 3 questions:

1. Why build a car?

I spend most of my life hacking away at a computer. Building a locost caters to my intense desire to make something with my hands (an obsession that drove my previous blog for 2 years). I want to learn to weld, to shape sheet metal, and to work on cars. I've been tooling around with my daily drivers for several years now, and I'd love to have another project to work on.

I've spent the entirety of my engineering career working under the burdens of schedule and budget. By necessity, I've had to stop work on several projects before I felt the work was as good as it could have been. With this project, I run the schedule and budget. Here's a chance to do engineering on my own terms. That's why we have hobbies, isn't it?

I don't have a budget for this car. I'm a natural cheapskate, so I think the car will cost somewhere between $5000 and $10,000. But if it costs more, then so be it.

One of the best chunks of wisdom I've read so far came from the book Kimini, Kurt Bilinski's build guide. He said this was a hobby, and as a result he didn't feel the need to create artificial deadlines for his hobby. Sage advice!

2. Why build a Lotus Seven clone?

This question starts when I was 12. I started getting into cars and reading Road&Track regularly. The articles on various new cars came and went, but the "Side Glances" columns written by Peter Egan stuck with me. He's been my biggest automotive influence, and his love for British cars wore off on me in a big, big way.

I owned a black 1977 MGB in high school, but what I always wanted was a Lotus Seven. This was a real sports car - light, agile and dripping with British charm. I didn't care that their tops were a joke or that it was based on an ancient car. It was elemental and pure. A racer for the road.

Fast forward to now. Original Sevens are far too rare, and Caterhams are WAY too expensive for someone of my means. I don't know how, but I found Kieth Tanner's web site about a year ago and I was hooked instantly! I read his entire build diary that day which is not easy when there are over 1400 entries.

Project started out as a cheap way to get a Seven, is now a way to get my dream car. It won't be perfect, but it will be uniquely mine.

3. Why use a Miata as a donor?

There's a saying in cooking - a meal is only as good as the quality of the ingredients that go into it. This project is exactly the same.

Despite its reputation as a hairdresser's car, the Miata is a true sports car. I drive one daily, and I think it's the most wonderful car I've ever owned.

As a donor, it's nearly a one-stop shop. It's got a great engine and all the requisite rear wheel drive bits. I can pick up a beaten and abused Miata and have nearly everything I need to build the car. The parts I won't use are also still pretty valuable, so hopefully I can recoup most of the cost of the donor by selling the bodywork and interior on Ebay.

There's also a huge aftermarket community providing performance parts for the brakes, engine and transmission. That means I'll be able to increase performance as much as I'd like down the road by bolting on parts. There's also an awesome community supporting the Miata that I can go to for help.

Here's another reason to build a Seven. Few cars are awesome enough to require sub-titles during their test drive.

Start me up!

Starting this blog to save info for my eventual locost build, as well as to chronicle the design and build of my car.

For now I'm calling my locost the MX-7 (ripped off from Mark Rivera's build). It's going to be a scratch-made frame with IRS and will run with Mazda Miata guts.

I've got plenty of time to engineer and design the car, as I don't have a garage to start the build. Let's just call this a constructive outlet for my automotive fantasies.