Building an R1 Powered Seven: Axles Installed

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, October 4, 2009

Axles Installed

I assembled the CV joints and installed the axles today. The boots fit okay despite the larger diameter axles, although I won't be surprised if they develop cracks sooner than normal.

The picture on the left shows the original Miata axle on top, and the new axle from Dutchman Motorsports on the bottom. To the right is the assembled axle with CV joints.

Installing the axles went pretty well although I did need to "customize" a socket to get to the inner bolts. I expected to have to remove the uprights to get the axles in but since the inner joints slide I was to work them into place without taking anything apart.