Building an R1 Powered Seven: I can see!

Building an R1 Powered Seven

A few years ago I got it in my head to build a kit car. After months of searching I came across the Locost concept. In short, quite a few amateur hobbiests around the world have built their own Lotus 7 inspired cars from scratch, following plans available on a variety of Internet sites and published in a book by Ron Champion.

I started gathering parts and finally began building the chassis in July '05. In August '10 the car was titled, licensed and is now street legal. The following blog captures the progress of the build and driving experiences after completion.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

I can see!

Two lines can now be crossed off the to-do list.
-Mount Headlights
-Mount Nosecone

I'm pretty happy with how things went. To mount the headlights I cut a 0.4" length of 1"o.d. x 1/2" i.d. tube (fits the 1/2" bolt on the bottom of the headlight) and welded to the end of a 3/4" tube about 6" long with one end smashed down to match the 0.4" thickness. The 3/4" tube fits snuggly into a 7/8" tube welded to the chassis. This makes the lights easy to remove, or adjust the position side to side.

I used dzus 1/4 turns to mount the nosecone. First I riveted the 1/4 turns to the nosecone and attached the mounting plates (after marking and trimming to size), then positioned the nosecone on the car and tacked the mounting plates to the chassis. The nose comes on and off easily. I still need to repair some cracks in the nose, but that can happen at a later time...

Next two items on the list are to mount the steering column bearing and fabricate the shifter. I have the push-pull cable and am planning to make a mechanical paddle shifter.