build diary

May 30, 2006:
Well, the autocross never happened.
The organiser didn't get his act together and cancelled it about 18 hours before it was scheduled to start. I'm not going to be making any plans around this particular organisation anymore.

I spent most of the weekend just puttering around instead. The Seven went out for a brief drive so I could follow SUVs at a crawling pace on the local fun roads. Yesterday was spent on a massive cleaning binge to empty the garage out for the next project. More information coming soon!
entry 1247

June 5, 2006:
Race action!
After a lot of goading and insults to my manhood, I was convinced to go to the drag strip on Friday night. For a bit of fun, I decided to take the Mini instead of the Seven. Why? Because I'd only go slower in the Seven than the testing in Texas, and the sheer ludicrousness of it appealed to me. I'm probably going to take the Mini to the autocross this upcoming weekend as well, just because it's fun.

The real question is - why is the Mini only 150 lbs heavier than the Seven, despite being fitted with four seats, wind-up windows, a trunk, etc? My Seven is typical for a car of its type, weighing in right about the same as the non-Superlight Caterhams. It's not exactly porky. It's certainly something I ponder as I look at the two parked together in the garage. Perhaps the secret is the 10" wheels and 7.9" brakes on the little car...
entry 1248

June 15, 2006:
The Seven hasn't seen a lot of use in the past few weeks.
I'll take it out this weekend to play with it. There is a track day in mid-July, but I think it's time just for some nice roads. I need to travel about an hour out of town to check out a possible autocross facility and that just happens to be near some great roads. Sigh, it's tough.

There's a new project taking shape in the garage as well. My friend Eric and I have decided to take on the Targa Newfoundland. It's a major race and we're building a special car. You can see more at the team website: TargaMiata.com. By request, I've also added a list of my other projects on the other resources.
entry 1249

June 16, 2006:
After cleaning out the garage, I parked the Seven and the Mini side by side for the first time.
I didn't expect them to be so close in size! Here's how they match up.
Seven:
Wheelbase, 92"
Length, 128"
Height, 42.5"
Width, 65.5"

Mini:
Wheelbase, 80"
Length, 120"
Height, 53"
Width, 56.7"

Okay, so they're not THAT close. Never mind. But the Seven looks quite a bit bigger when viewed solo, and parked side by side they appear identical in length.
entry 1250

June 17, 2006:
The Mini and the Seven parked side by side.
This was the decision that I faced this morning when I had to drive to work.
entry 1251

June 21, 2006:
Okay, we know the two cars in front.
But what's that one lurking in the background? It's the Targa Miata.
entry 1252

June 26, 2006:
Car and Driver time.
The August issue of Car and Driver is starting to appear. Yes, in late June. Someone needs to buy those guys a calendar. Why do I mention this? Because it has a 6-page article in it on a certain sports car! Not just about mine of course, but about the Locost movement in general and four cars in detail. I'm pretty happy with how the writeup looks and I'm very happy with the photography. The best is the last one - the car in a full, tire-smoking slide right across the bottom of the page. Ahhh, my poor tires.

On a completely unrelated note, I calculated that if my Cadillac had the same specific output as the engine in the Seven, it would make about 750 hp.
entry 1253

June 27, 2006:
More thoughts on Car and Driver.
I've been thumbing through the article over and over again. There's been a big goofy smile on my face since I got it. Of course I'm happy! I remember being worried that Larry didn't understand my car on his brief time behind the wheel but when you read the article, it's obvious he did.

For those wondering about the price, that is the cost of the car as it sat in Texas at full retail and including a purchase price for the engine. My own costs were less. For example, the pedal assembly quoted at $350 included the pedals, master cylinders, residual pressure valves - and actually only cost $287 at retail instead of $350. When I think about it, I have no idea where I came up with the $350 number. It must have made sense at the time. I also assigned a cost to random parts that were sitting around my garage. I did not include the cost for parts I did not use, such as my original tie rods or fuel tank. It's tough coming up with an accounting for a project like this but I think the cost shown in the article is fair. I've said many times that it would cost about $7500 to duplicate my car with a few changes. Those changes get rid of expensive items such as the high-performance engine (listed as $1500 for C&D, because that's what I paid for it), the ECU (listed at $1400 or so) and paint (I paid $385 for the beautiful Lotus Chrome Orange). I've added a cost spreadsheet to my site to show how it all broke down for C&D.

I must admit I've never been called a "crafty ringer" before though.
entry 1254

June 28, 2006:
If you see this magazine, buy it.
It has the story on Locosts that includes yours truly. There are also some great photos of the car in action.
entry 1255

June 29, 2006:
I've been hearing from a lot of people about the magazine article.
Thanks everyone! It's always good to see a note in the guestbook or get an email.

There's a comment in the article about how my car feels tighter than the others, and it's hypothesised that this is due to the frame. I think that does a disservice to Mark, Chris and Jon. All the frames are built to much the same design, with only slight variations for packaging reasons. I think the real difference is the result of the amount of time spent on the car dynamics. Chris and Mark's cars had only been running for an extremely short time before the test. It's not shown in the published pictures, but Mark's didn't even have any rear bodywork! Give them two years to work on their car setup and I expect those cars will feel pretty darn good as well. For example, I've changed brake pads, rotors, master cylinder sizes and brake bias since the first time my car turned a wheel. Had the test been done that first August weekend two years ago when it hit the track, the comments about the brakes would have been quite different. The same goes for other aspects of the car. The purchased frame gave me a head start on my build, but I don't think it necessarily made the final product any more effective.

So what's next for the little orange car? Well, there's a track day coming up on July 9th. Since the very first drive was on July 4th, 2004 I think it will be a good opportunity for celebration. Will I be able to take a bit of time off the track record again? Hard to say. It's going to be hot. I'll definitely enjoy myself, though. It's been too long since the car was used for anything more than driving around local roads.
entry 1256

June 30, 2006:
The guys at the magazine were kind enough to send along some digital photos.
The pictures are interesting on a few fronts. First, to see how a pro takes these shots. Second, to see the amount of tweakery used in order to turn an overcast Texas day into brilliant sunshine. And third, to see what someone else finds interesting about the car. I'm going to make high-quality prints of a couple of these, they're great shots. And of course, the big slide is my favourite. Hey, I paid for the tires, I might as well get some joy out of it.
entry 1257

July 1, 2006:
A track shot of the car.
The car's in a really weird stance here. I'm just going to ignore it. Looking through these pictures, it's obvious that I have the ability to make a goofy face any time I'm behind the wheel.
entry 1258
A naked Seven in Texas.
entry 1259
Larry driving, me riding shotgun during the Texas photoshoot.
This is why I'll never make it as an extra - check out the doofus looking right at the camera.
entry 1260
Wheeeee!
The big slide. This is Larry Webster driving, although I did manage to get the car this crossed up a couple of times for the camera. His consistency was a lot better than mine - good thing, if he's being asked to do this sort of stuff on a regular basis!

There's also a large version of this picture available to download.
entry 1261

July 7, 2006:
Two years since the first drive, and it's time to hit the track again.
I'll spend some time tomorrow making sure the car is in good shape, but mostly it'll just be a matter of doing a quick nut-and-bolt. The temperatures are looking fairly reasonable and as long as the thunderstorms stay away it might be a good day for times.

Someone commented that I needed a faster steering rack. It certainly wouldn't hurt, although it's not going to be cheap unless I simply install a steering quickener. It's only on the autocross course that it seems necessary, and even then it's primarily in the slaloms. Something to think about, anyhow. It's always good to have a project!
entry 1262

July 9, 2006:
The Seven is a great track car, but it's not a good wet weather car.
With absolutely no weather protection, I certainly think twice about heading for the track when the weather is poor. After looking at the forecast, I prepared both the Seven and the Mini just in case. This morning, that proved to be a pretty good plan. The skies were nasty looking. I headed for the track with the Mini and about a half hour before we started, it started pouring. It was my first experience on the track with a front wheel drive, and I have to admit it was my first adventure on track in the wet. So it was a learning experience as you might imagine. You can read about the Mini adventures on its own web site. Given the constant precipitation, I didn't really regret bringing the car with a roof! Well, maybe a little as I watched my friends slide their rear-wheel-drive cars around.

After lunch, it looked as if the skies were clearing. The sun came out and it got truly hot. So I scooted home between run groups to grab a more orange car. It might only be a large kart track, but it's also only 10 minutes from my house! When I lined up for my first session, we'd decided to run the track backwards to give it a try. So no new lap records (much to the chagrin of a certain high-horsepower Evo 8 who had plans but never got within 3 seconds of my time) but a new challenge.

First off, the Seven shocked me after driving the Mini. That car is pretty quick, responsive and full of character. But it's nowhere near as aggressive as the Seven is. It's apparently been too long since I've had the chance to really stretch its legs. By the time I was going in to the second turn, I was starting to recalibrate myself for the acceleration, braking and grip of the orange car. Holy cow, it's a ferocious thing.

The track is huge fun in the opposite direction. The back "straight" is normally uphill and has a couple of little kinks in it. Going backwards, a faster entry and the assistance of gravity turns it into a very fast sweeper that keeps changing radius. It was all I could do to keep my foot flat to the floor until my braking point, and I don't know if I ever actually managed. There's one short straight section at the end which was just long enough for the Seven to brake hard and get slowed for the tight corner at the end, and the brakes were very reassuring and effective through here. I suspect it would be a lot less comfortable in a heavier car and I was taking full advantage of this ability. I had a hard time getting a clean lap going because the Seven was going drastically faster than everyone else, but I ended up with a 1:04.432 on my first fast lap. Technically that's a lap record because it's the first time cars have been timed this direction. Since the karts usually go a second slower in this direction, that puts my right on my usual pace. Nobody else broke 1:10. I hope we get to run the track this way more often. It's more entertaining and more challenging.

One of the most enjoyable parts of the day in the Seven was the last lap. My girlfriend Janel was driving her supercharged Miata out in front of me and I ran right up on her in the Seven. Now, usually I try to be nice to others on the track, but I was feeling mischievious. I locked on to her back bumper and hassled her for the whole lap. A year ago, she would have been flustered, distracted and nervous from having such a fast car so close behind her. Instead, she responded by driving harder and really working her car around the corners. When we pulled into the pits, we were both laughing. It's good to see her having fun on the track!

As soon as we were done that session, we threw everything in the cars and bolted - there was a massive rainstorm coming in across the desert. I made it into the garage just as the first drops started to fall. Phew.
entry 1263

July 10, 2006:
Chasing (and catching in a big hurry) a Starion on the track.
This is as we go backwards, so there's still a pretty big variance in line. I'm braking as hard as I can to shed 50 mph or so for this corner. You can see the looming clouds that chased us away just a few minutes later.
entry 1264

July 18, 2006:
There's a track day in Pueblo this weekend.
I'm combining it with a night out at a musical as well as a friend's wedding, so towing the Seven around isn't really going to work well. Luckily, Bill from Flyin' Miata is willing to drag the little orange car over the mountains for me and back. We'll share the car on track. Every time he's driven the car, something has gone wrong. So let's hope I break his streak! There should be a couple of other Sevens in attendance. Ben at RMSCI might bring his SV again, and it'll be interesting to see what my modifications have done to the relative speed of the two cars. When we shared the track at Aspen last year, I was still on my soft springs. This should be fun but there's the usual chaos of fixing the trailer (new tires and it needs a bit of wiring), making sure I have all the bits and pieces (tires for a couple of cars, gas tanks, tools...) and also trying to get some work done. You'd think I would have more of a procedure by now.

Westfield has announced a single donor kit for their Miata-based SEi. It should run $13,995 at the port in NJ and theoretically needs nothing more than a ratty Miata to complete. I wonder what would be involved in fitting a 1.8 with the longer engine and larger differential? Who knows, I may get the chance to find out someday.
entry 1265

July 21, 2006:
Track day tomorrow!
This has been fun. It started when I went to pick up the trailer from where it lives at a friends house. All the wiring to the lights had been cut. Oh well, that needed some attention anyhow.

I had some new tires waiting, so I jacked up the trailer to pull off the wheels. That's when the axle broke loose of the frame! That's not good. At least it happened when the trailer was parked in front of a shop with full welding gear and not on top of a pass in the middle of the night with the Seven on board! I flipped the trailer up on its side, pulled off the wheels, took them in for the new tires, welded the axle to the frame (it had not been a stellar job last time), welded up a couple of other small cracks, rewired the whole lighting system from scratch, reinstalled the wheels and then went home to pack. Hey, we do this because it's fun, right? Sometimes it's hard to remember. The trailer is going to need some fundamental attention in the next year or so as it's about 30 years old.

Car and Driver has aired the radio show with a segment on "the homebuilts". It's not a high point in broadcast journalism and the hosts really don't say a whole lot worth listening to. Their research seems to consist of looking at pictures in the magazine after the segment has already started and making disparaging comments about the looks of Jon's amazing homebuilt nose cone. Larry Webster does have a number of good things to say about my car though, identified as "the expensive one". You can listen to it here. Things really get rolling around the 9 minute mark. Don't take the opinions of the hosts as being representative of Car and Driver, they're just typical guys who are hired for their ability to talk on demand as far as I can tell. One note - I'm not under 30. C&D just decided I was for some reason.
entry 1266

The day before a track day and my trailer is undergoing fairly major surgery.
Of course.
entry 1267
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