Best places for locost info?

I'm getting an itch to build a car from scratch,my production based race car has progressed over the last 10 year of building it and I'm at about the limit I wish to take it. I want a 1000 lb car I can really enjoy driving,I've been trying to sift through all the info online but thought I'd ask the group of people that will certainly be the right to ask-so please point me in the right direction. Car will mostly be used for autox and track days,possibly street legal for a sunday drive occasionally.

http://www.locostusa.com/forums/index.php

This should keep you reading for a while. A lot of good info, but still some sifting.

There's also the big UK site: www.locostbuilders.co.uk

But you can't post on the UK site without a phone call in the sign up process which is a big expense and hassle.

And they come up with a Beg screen every few clicks with an almost hidden "Thankyou for reading! Continue to the thread you requested by clicking here." Where you have to click on the word here.

Really? That wasn't the case when I signed up. The begging screen can be a bit annoying, but there's an easy fix if you think you're getting good info There's a much deeper pool of knowledge there, IMO. Some of the most confident posters in the USA forum aren't always spreading good info, but there are some excellent builds going on there.

I built mine using a 1982 Toyota Corolla donor and it ended up weighing 1380 lbs:

http://picasaweb.google.com/marktsui1975/MarkSLocost#

To get it under 1000 lbs, you may want to look at powering it with a motorcycle engine.

What kind out time/money budget do you have in mind? Most of them seem to end up costing between $5000 and $10,000 to build. In terms of time frame, that is usually all over the map. It took me just over 3 years to finish it, working on it twice a week.

Mark

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Locost_North_America/messages/

What I found particularly irksome is that the beg screen kept on coming up, even after I sent a contribution! But it is a hell of a good resource. The yahoo group may be old- school technology, but I still like it too:

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Locost_North_America/

Toyman01 wrote: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/index.php This should keep you reading for a while. A lot of good info, but still some sifting.

When I'm slow at work, I bounce in between this forum and the locostusa.com forum. Its slow at work right now, sorry for all the post guys.

mainlandboy wrote: I built mine using a 1982 Toyota Corolla donor and it ended up weighing 1380 lbs: http://picasaweb.google.com/marktsui1975/MarkSLocost# To get it under 1000 lbs, you may want to look at powering it with a motorcycle engine. What kind out time/money budget do you have in mind? Most of them seem to end up costing between $5000 and $10,000 to build. In terms of time frame, that is usually all over the map. It took me just over 3 years to finish it, working on it twice a week. Mark

I intended it to be a bike engine build,'busas need to fix oiling issues when mounted in a car and the entry cost of the engine is steep(for my budget) and I know 175hp won't be enough.I'm thinking of going with an R1 engine with boost,a buddy of mine has 280hp in his snowmobile that uses the R1 engine(yamaha RX1 sled for those in the south)and its all stock except boost and fueling etc. I have a miata donor,not too sure how much other hubs,brakes,rear center section,steering rack etc I could use.Too save further money I think I'll build the frame instead of buying.

For total budget I'm thinking a realistic cost of 6 to 8k.

Mine was 2-1/2 years, $5700 CDN ($5000USD at the time), and weighs 1275lbs.

Lots of stuff on www.gwellwood.com/automotive/locost.html on ~my~ build, but the locostusa site and the Locost_North_America Yahoo Group is where I frequent the most.

I'm planning my next build and my goal is to get as close to 200lbs lighter as I can. It will be a stretch with a car engine, for sure.

G

1200-1400 seems to be pretty typical for car-based builds. My car's at the low end of that range, while a co-workers bike-engined car runs under 1000. However, his skimped a bit on what I'd consider necessary for this sort of car. It does not have a rollbar that would make me comfortable on the track, and I don't know how much weight he gained going from a carbon kart seat (terrible piece of kit) to a real race seat. Still, there's a good 200 lb weight penalty for a car engine.

I keep telling him I'm going to set up an autocross course where you have to do a three-point turn. No reverse gear, you see...

mainlandboy, your engine and trans probably weigh 380, so the rest of the car is about 1000. The Rolla suspension parts are also pretty heavy.

SkinnyG, that would be about 12 LEU's, which is about what I figger it typically costs to build one.

Keith wrote: I keep telling him I'm going to set up an autocross course where you have to do a three-point turn. No reverse gear, you see...

I can think of a way to do a 180° turn in a Locost without reversing...

J

And I know how to put cones down to stop you from doing that :)