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.
Side panels are almost finished, just need to finish up the fronts and transition to rear panel. Next on to the interior panels...then back to finishing touches on the chassis before prep/paint.
Looking back, I could have done everything without the sheet metal brake, the 0.040" aluminum bends easily over a corner if supported well. Building the brake was a good project, but it was time that I could have spent working on the car...
