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Author: Subject: Locost atom anyone....
#Rotor

posted on 7/3/07 at 06:26 AM Reply With Quote
I am indeed considering it, yes.

would the stresses at the bottom joint be more than at the top, or is it more a case of leverage being more on the bottom as a result of the cross-bar being there. I personally was a bit more concerned with the cross-bar not being strong enough and maybe bending, but got told by someone in the know, that since both ends of the bar will be pullingpushing simultaneously, it's as if you have only one single rod-end in the middle. granted that for wheel twist, one might want that joint a lot wider. It's the hole idea of having that rod at the bottom, for leverage to keep the wheel looking forward....I think..

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Fred W B

posted on 7/3/07 at 08:06 AM Reply With Quote
You want to be sure that you are not going to get any deflection that would cause movement in the toe in-out plane, as the handling would then be very strange.

Cheers

Fred W B

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sgraber

posted on 7/3/07 at 01:35 PM Reply With Quote
I am fairly certain that you will see some type of deflection (toe-change) across that lower bush tube under load. Which would be bad. I would possibly start possibly by gusseting it with a triangle shaped sheet steel u-bent along the outer chord and perimeter welded along each side. (Did that make sense?)

Wasn't it Stanisforth that noticed over an inch of deflection on the Terrapin rear suspension when the tire width was increased?





Steve Graber
http://www.grabercars.com/

"Quickness through lightness"

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akrallysport

posted on 9/3/07 at 03:34 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by MikeRJ

Everything looks very nicely made except the rear lower wishbones. I don't think the tube welded halfway along one of the wishbone tubes going to the upright is a very nice design at all, it's almost deliberately loading a stressed part in bending. It should also be mounted on a pivot if he is using that arm to adjust toe.
This was one of the first things I learned from my first Formula SAE car. Our suspension guy did this and proceeded to get whacked on the head (figuratively speaking) by a design judge. With only 65hp and 47ft-lb of torque we got massive resonance under power causing variations of +-2 deg of toe. Otherwise, a great design for a first-time builder.

#Rotor, don't worry about your modded front axle solution. Lotus has something very similar in the Elise. It's probably the cleanest, most cost-effective way of going about building middy uprights.

[Edited on 9/3/07 by akrallysport]






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kb58

posted on 9/3/07 at 05:45 AM Reply With Quote
I'm afraid I have to join in on the negative comments about the rear lower T-arrangement. It's going to cause toe-in/out under acceleration/braking. Going to make for some odd-feeling handling, at best. At worst, it'll cause the car to experience brake-induced oversteering; the last place you need that to happen.

It needs to be fully boxed, like the excellent job you did on the rest of the assembly.





Mid-engine Locost - http://www.midlana.com
And the book - http://www.lulu.com/shop/kurt-bilinski/midlana/paperback/product-21330662.html
Kimini - a tube-frame, carbon shell, Honda Prelude VTEC mid-engine Mini: http://www.kimini.com
And its book - http://www.lulu.com/shop/kurt-bilinski/kimini-how-to-design-and-build-a-mid-engine-sports-car-from-scratch/paperback/product-4858803.html

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#Rotor

posted on 9/3/07 at 05:19 PM Reply With Quote
Well a revised design is allready been sent to the laser-cutter..... a whopping total of R19.87 (that's like just over a pound) Materials included, will get both uprights, nicely boxed.... will have pics shortly....
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Fred W B

posted on 9/3/07 at 05:45 PM Reply With Quote
Jees Rotor, at that pricing can I send you some dwg files?

Port Elizabeth has only one lazer cutting company........minium charge of several hundred rand

Cheers

Fred W B

[Edited on 9/3/07 by Fred W B]

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#Rotor

posted on 9/3/07 at 06:55 PM Reply With Quote
Sure, I can have it priced and then you can decide.

just include the material, the gauge and how many copies there of..... I'll put it into my Template I use for them and lets see how much they will charge...

it's the kind of material that makes it expensive, the cutting itself is cheap....

for instance to make a fueltank from 304 stainless, would cost me just under R980. to do the exact same cut, but from mild steel, cost me no more the 260, same gauge, same everything, just the material...

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Doug68

posted on 10/3/07 at 10:11 AM Reply With Quote
Lovely.
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geoffreyh

posted on 10/3/07 at 06:13 PM Reply With Quote
Do you make the cutouts (I don't know how you call that in english) into the cylinder yourself or are they premanufactured?

How do you get it to the right diameter for the bearings?

Geoff

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kb58

posted on 10/3/07 at 07:16 PM Reply With Quote
Exactly!
quote:
Originally posted by #Rotor
here is what it should have looked like, yes?







Mid-engine Locost - http://www.midlana.com
And the book - http://www.lulu.com/shop/kurt-bilinski/midlana/paperback/product-21330662.html
Kimini - a tube-frame, carbon shell, Honda Prelude VTEC mid-engine Mini: http://www.kimini.com
And its book - http://www.lulu.com/shop/kurt-bilinski/kimini-how-to-design-and-build-a-mid-engine-sports-car-from-scratch/paperback/product-4858803.html

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#Rotor

posted on 26/4/07 at 08:08 PM Reply With Quote
well she started up on the 3rd try......
still busy sorting some glitches..... but the motor sounds awesome.....


[Edited on 13/9/07 by #Rotor]






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#Rotor

posted on 5/5/07 at 08:23 PM Reply With Quote
Well, She gave her first steps today.... a whee bit shaky at first, but after a little tweaking on the wheel-alignment and ride height, she got into some respectful shape....

The ECU is on a First-startup map and yet she has the responsiveness that makes all else fade into insignificance.... front brakes are positively potent,






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akumabito

posted on 6/5/07 at 06:53 AM Reply With Quote
Wow! Nice build
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#Rotor

posted on 9/5/07 at 05:28 AM Reply With Quote
Thank you


[Edited on 13/9/07 by #Rotor]






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rav

posted on 10/5/07 at 09:30 PM Reply With Quote
Really impressed by the standard of workmanship and proffesionalism of your build. And for daring to do a lot of the things most folk on here have got as far as talking about...

The fabricated uprights look superb. Any more info on them? Would love to know how much they ended up weighing and what geometry you went for - KPI, scrub radius etc?

Anyway, respect!

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#Rotor

posted on 13/5/07 at 05:46 PM Reply With Quote
now here she is fully dressed, only thing missing is the windshield....

this is looking more like something to be seen in......


[Edited on 13/9/07 by #Rotor]






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Uphill Racer

posted on 13/5/07 at 09:01 PM Reply With Quote
Looks good, one thing that stands out is the top wishbone inner location points (loads not fed into chassis but into tube) just one of my pet hates, but then, I am a grumpy old man.
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JonBowden

posted on 14/5/07 at 08:50 AM Reply With Quote
Very impressive.
How do you make the long sweeping curved tubes at the sides?





Jon

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Peteff

posted on 14/5/07 at 09:15 AM Reply With Quote
I like it apart from the scoop over the engine, it's going to create a lot of drag for little effect. If the engine was boxed in I could understand it but a flat deck with mesh in it would do the job.





yours, Pete

I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.

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#Rotor

posted on 14/5/07 at 05:39 PM Reply With Quote
true that scoop will be a lot of drag, but remember that the Intercooler sits inside that scoop, and it needs all the cool air it can get....

Uphill Racer, you have an interesting point there, yes. And I'm open to any suggestion as to solving it..... though I already have the second car's frame altered around the suspension mainly... to try and solve that problem...






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JonBowden

posted on 18/5/07 at 12:04 PM Reply With Quote
How did you make the curved side tubes?





Jon

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geoffreyh

posted on 18/5/07 at 12:11 PM Reply With Quote
If I remember correctly Rotor contracted the bending to a metal working company.

Another guy who is scratch building his Atom built something to bend his pipes.
Have a look on the following link.

http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1503&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=45

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Alan B

posted on 18/5/07 at 03:28 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by JonBowden
How did you make the curved side tubes?


This is what I did...

http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=56045

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#Rotor

posted on 19/5/07 at 07:52 AM Reply With Quote
indeed yes... I'm a very lazy person.... that much effort, and I'll just give up....


[Edited on 13/9/07 by #Rotor]






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