A guy built his dream R1 Middie Locost only to see it burn.
Instead of scraping it he decides to rebuild it. Here is the video of the rebuild with every second equaling 1 hours of build time.
He's 27, what have you done with your life? What were you doing when you were 27, if you were like me you were wasting your life.
Here's a link to some more detailed pictures Locost forum
We can rebuild him...
I am 27. I own a 13-year-old Saturn and just learned to weld. Apparently I went wrong somewhere...
I am 27. I have an ESP mustang (in storage while I save to get a place to house it) and an STS miata that needs more prep and is a daily driver.
If I had a place to do it, I would probably be building something myself.
(got out of college late and just got my career started, living in an apartment SUCKS)
Yes, he has a nice garage to work in, that's just ONE of the perks of owning your own home. (Says the guy in the mortgage business.)
I am only 26 and am building a Toyota Starlet powered by a Triumph motorcycle engine. What do I win?! Also, I am not a fabricator and am stumbling through this so this guy wins. Also, He has a hot girl. Go him.
Wow
I'd be worried that the heat from the fire damaged the integrity of the metal.
I worry too much, probably.
Excellent. Props to him!
When I was 27, I scratch-built This Formula Vee.
But his car is tons cooler.
He has a much cooler head than I...If I thought, even for a moment, that a car I spent countless hours over years building, by hand, from scratch, was burned intentionally as an act of arson, my life would halt immediately, and every fiber of my being would be focused solely on making the motherberker pay ...dearly.
On an unrelated note, that car is friggin stellar. Props to him!
I'm 27 and it's all I can do to keep my 20 year old dd on the road. Luckily it's been good to me so far.
If I could free up the time or money to do this by the time I'm 27 I'd be lucky 
That guy wins at life.
I'm thinking that by the time he's 50, he will be retired to his estate in Aruba.
I'm 28 and have an STX Mustang. I can't weld or fabricate to save my life. I'm really good with electrical systems, but I sort of have to be since I'm an electrical engineer.
Apexcarver wrote: I am 27. I have an ESP mustang (in storage while I save to get a place to house it) and an STS miata that needs more prep and is a daily driver. If I had a place to do it, I would probably be building something myself. (got out of college late and just got my career started, living in an apartment SUCKS)
YOU! I KNOW YOU!
It's a tiny tiny world! (Yes, I do think you do know me! Running HG this weekend? I might drop by on Saturday)
BTW, B.S. in Engineering / Materials Science.
Apexcarver wrote: It's a tiny tiny world! (Yes, I do think you do know me! Running HG this weekend? I might drop by on Saturday) BTW, B.S. in Engineering / Materials Science.
Yesh, the Evil Pony and I shall be making an appearance.
I am very much flattered by the comments I have read here about my car.
Just to add some clarity and answer some questions, I feel I need to share some details. I am 27 years old as stated and have a Degree in Mechanical Engineering. People often times think that having a project like this requires a massive budget and an immense amount of free time, but I’m here to dispel that notion.
The dream of a project like this dates back further than my education in Engineering or the days where I even thought about girls in “that kind of way”. Rather it’s more accurate to believe I had this type of dream if you could have seen me as a kid playing with Lego’s for hours on end or dismantling nearly everything I could just to see how it worked. An education or access to a vast amount of tools or machinery does not give anyone the ability to set goals, focus on the end product while managing the small details, the drive to learn new skill sets, or the ability to manage your time down to the minutes of a year.
I started the car my Junior Year of College (2008) as a therapeutic escape to my life as I knew it. I was working full time (35-45 hrs/week) as an Intern for an Automotive interiors supplier, taking an average of 16 credit hours, working 10-15 hours a week on our schools FSAE team, and trying to keep myself financially afloat without tuition assistance from family or FAFSA. Bottom line is I needed this escape more than I needed a big LCD TV, cable TV, internet, or a 75* house in the Michigan winters.
I was lucky to have my garage above 45 throughout most of the build, so having the house at 62 or so actually felt quite warm. I did not have an abundance of time, rather I worked 20+ hour weekends on the car and squeezed in time during the week where I could. My friends, coworkers, and family dubbed me as the “Energizer Bunny” because I could work for days on end with an average of 4-5 hours of sleep a night. Think about Christmas Eve night/Christmas morning when you were a kid who believed in Santa, how much sleep did you get? Take that and extend it over a 2 year period. In fact, now that I work an average of 50 hours a week and have a live in girlfriend, I have more free time then ever!
Most of the car was built with an angle grinder, an assortment of cutting/grinding/flap wheels, a hand drill, and a Mig (gas) welder. Contrary to common questions and thoughts, I do not have a garage full of awesome machines and tools. I spent hours working on projects with the schools machinist and eventually when he felt I knew enough to be safe, he gave me a key for access to the Bridgeport and Lathe on the weekends.
A project like this is not about a financial commitment as much as it is a mental test to see how strong your desire is. Including the rebuild I would estimate I have roughly $8000 into the car, but I would estimate that $5000 would be far more accurate if it were not for the fire requiring high dollar parts to be replaced. Break down that number over 3 years and you have about $140 per month or $35/week. How much money could you save by avoiding those weekend bar bills and lowering your monthly utility costs as mentioned before? Trust me, anyone can save $35 a week if you put your mind to it and accept some sacrifices.
Ultimately what differentiates this type of project as a dream versus a reality is not anything money can buy. It all lies within you as a person and the innate ability to focus on a dream, keep the desire alive over 4000+ hours of work, brush off 99% of the people around doubting you, and to not give up when it seems as if the finish line gets further away as you dive deeper into the insane thought of building your own car from scratch.
Now take what I have said and fast forward to 2010 with a little under 30 miles of seat time… Imagine getting a call about a fire at the University garage… Imagine the fear of that loomed during the 20 minute drive… Imagine the hurt, the anger, the frustration, the unanswered questions, and the numbness of looking at a car, like a child of your own, burnt to a crisp…
It took about a year before I really touched the car as the depression surrounding it was like a force field keeping me away from the garage. The one thought that never subsided was that I could not give up. Come April 2011 I found a complete R1 engine on craigslist for steal of a price, so I made last minute plans to drive from Chicago to Detroit to pick it up. After staying the weekend downtown with a friend of mine, I drove home Sunday with an R1 motor in my Jeep Grand Cherokee, and the phone number of a gorgeous, understanding, and supportive girl in my pocket (who is obviously still in my life). One day sometime maybe January 2012, something sparked and I worked like a madman to get it running before the end of the 2012 summer. I set a goal to rebuild it better; lighter, faster, stronger, and more visually appealing. I cut out/replaced anything and everything that could have been affected by the heat of the fire. I redesigned 80% of the suspension, the entire fuel system, the entire cooling system, entire oil cooling system, entire rear differential, and more. Fast forward an estimated 1800 hours and you have my car now… still a work in progress, but a project that I can now enjoy!
Feel free to share thoughts, comments, or questions as I welcome them all.
Blood, sweat, gears, tears, but absolutely no fears…
(Jerome.Fisher@Gmail.com)
(P.S. She is even insane enough to enjoy trackdays in the passenger seat!)
Welcome. I hope this wasn't just a one time post. Stick around. We think you'll like it here. This place is fun.
Sweet! I always say it is easy to crash the hard part is picking it up and putting it back together.
I am amazed by your humility and determination, enjoy that thing!
You sir are an inspiration. I keep threatening to build an R1 powered A Mod car and this gives me a bit more 'push'.
Awesome! Love to see it when people rebuild after disaster. Oh and I'm 19 and have a 39 year old British car in pieces, well less pieces than it was.
I'm really pleased you rebuilt the car after the fire. I was gutted for you after it happened.
P.S. More camber gain needed? 
Appleseed wrote: Welcome. I hope this wasn't just a one time post. Stick around. We think you'll like it here. This place is fun
I have actually been on here for a while, but more as an infrequent lurker due to time constraints of my over commited life. I am sure I will stick around a bit as it seems like there are more then just a few people with my type of thought process.
benzbaronBaryn wrote: Sweet! I always say it is easy to crash the hard part is picking it up and putting it back together. I am amazed by your humility and determination, enjoy that thing!
Yea, no doubt its hard. The first 30% of the rebuild was quite depressing as the car went from an assembled and burnt car down to a bare frame. It was like working backwards, causing emotions to spin everytime I stepped into the garage. Finally when I felt I had surpassed the level of the previous pre fire iteration, it was like a flood of inspiration and energy to get it rolling.
Curmudgeon wrote: You sir are an inspiration. I keep threatening to build an R1 powered A Mod car and this gives me a bit more 'push'.
Go for it! Just remember that the hardest part will be staying dedicated to the build. You will hit pockets of lost interest and times where you feel burned out, these are your worst enemies. Keep plugging away and it will eventually get done. Finally, dont try to commit to deadlines as everything will take 4x longer then expected, which will only lead to frustration.
VonSmallhausen wrote: Awesome! Love to see it when people rebuild after disaster. Oh and I'm 19 and have a 39 year old British car in pieces, well less pieces than it was.
Very cool. One build in the que for me is a small roadster build, probably an Austin Healey. It will look stock, but the suspension will be completely redesigned with new mounting points, custom arms, coil overs, ect. Under the hood ill throw in a turbo FI 4cyl or I6. It will have the retro look, modern power, and track capable handling.
Winston wrote: I'm really pleased you rebuilt the car after the fire. I was gutted for you after it happened. P.S. More camber gain needed?
Thanks. The car has a long way to go before I can really consider the suspension setup as optimal. I had it setup in my "street mode" (bit more travel and a slighly lower ride Freq.) which offers me a bit softer rear wheel rate, where as I have a second option for the pushrod mounting point on the rocker arm that increases my wheel rate and slighly decreases travel. This "track mode" equalizes the suspension frequency F/R and decreases the rear roll of the car. I also have adjustability in the mount between the front upright and the upper control arm to alter the camber curve. Like I said previously, its going to take a few trackdays of "test & tune" before I am satisfied. Then I will start all over next summer with some nice sticky slicks and a slighly larger contact patch 
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