I made this thread to present the start of my Locost project which i call "Echidna". The name comes from Hellenic mythology where Echidna was the mother of the most important monsters of mythology. She had the head of a beautiful woman and the body of a wild flying snake.

It will be a BEC, most probably with a Yamaha R1 engine and i will try to keep the weight as low as possible. My first job was to build the bench. Below i have attached some pics from the build process of my bench. Now it is ready and very nice!

Big partner to this project will be my MIG machine, a Telwin Telmig 150/1 for which i am proud of!























[Edited on 23/12/07 by Echidna]

That's a good starting point!

Great start.

I made a few bits like that to start with.

Keep up the motivation

Were you able to keep this project under £250?
If so I think you should publish the plans quick

Thank you guys! My motivation is very high right at the moment and i hope that i will keep it there!

I had no intention to keep the project under 250 pound or under $xxx anyway. My intention is to build something as well engineered as possible for a reasonable cost. Again when i build my car it will sum up a cost a LOT LOT lower that a new Caterham or Westfield!

Cheers,
Teo

[Edited on 23/12/07 by Echidna]

Be careful no 60's sports car builders from the Excited States are reading this. There was a V8 powered sports car built in the 60's in Colorado as memory serves called Echidna, tube steel chassis with glass fibre body, limited production.

so what?

I thought an Echidna was an Aussie creature, a cross between a hedgehog and an ant eater.

Where I come from, an 'ECHIDNA' is a spiny ant eater. Sort of like a big hedgehog.

I was always lead to believe that the abo's called them that as well. Never knew the abos were greek, though.

Merry Christmas,

Syd.

There is the Echidna animal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echidna

and the Echidna of Hellenic mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echidna_(mythology)

http://www.loggia.com/myth/echidna.html

http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/greek-mythology.php?deity=ECHIDNA

[Edited on 23/12/07 by Echidna]

Awwww cute



or ....




[Edited on 23-12-07 by RazMan]

The second one obviously...

It's Ed China having a Christmas laugh

And here is the bench now with the base drawing complete. I tried to give the best accuracy possible and this took quite a lot of time but it paid dividends later. My maximum "error" is about 0.5mm and if you take into account the differing pencil tip width, this is quite nothing! I post some pictures below.
Now i am wiaiting for the Evolution Rage3 to arrive in order to cut (accurately) the steel sections.

My Rage 3 has just arrived and i have to say that this is a wonderful machine! Very robust looking and working. High quality machine for a relatively low price!
Also checked the accuracy of the cuts this machine is able to offer and wow! Just look at the pic with the tube!



[Edited on 19/1/08 by Echidna]

Today morning i bought the steel for the chassis and started working!
Without Rage3, it would be impossible to reach such precision! I have not yet tack welded the tubes on the bench, i just positioned them on the drawing to check the precision and "fit".

All the tubes of the base of the chassis, tack welded in place

I just completed the rather tricky face of the chassis! I cut and welded the upright tubes and placed the lond upper tubes on the chassis to have a first taste of the shape of the chassis. What do you think?

It turns to look like a proper chassis!

Here's my chassis so far. What do you think?

This is my progress so far.
I plan to design an inboard suspension for both front and rear ends.
I am currently searching for an engine. I really like the GSX-R K5. Fantastic engine with great technical features. I don't know if i will need a dry-sump setup though!

Looking good i wish that i took as many detailed pics, are you going to powder coat?

Yes, i would like to powdercoat the chassis. What's the price for powdercoating such a big item?

Welds looking nice

Some progress for the rear of the chassis. I used square tubes, not round ones.
I had a bit of delay, as the disc of my Rage3 went dead. I ordered a new one, i received it yesterday and i started work.
It's quite good to think that a Rage3 disc is still alive after building about 90% of a chassis!!! Very good and durable!




[Edited on 23/2/08 by Echidna]

I am in the phase of the chassis welding now and so am starting to think what i am going to do next and how to do it.
A few days ago i received at the post a catalogue of Rallydesign store (www.rallydesign.co.uk)

I got this idea. Given that i am building a BEC,so i don't need the engine/gearbox assembly, why go and buy a Sierra donor car, disassemble the car and get the used parts out of it and not buying the parts new or reconditioned from rallydesign store?

I will need the following:

Sierra uprights complete set -110 pounds
Steering rack, 2.4:1, LHD - 99.5 pounds
Wilwood front brake kit (4-pot calipers) - 220 pounds
Wilwood rear calipers (2-pot) - 140 pounds
Maxtorq Sierra rear discs- 18 pounds
Wilwood brake master cylinder - 79.5 pounds
Rear hub assemblies + driveshafts - 335 pounds
Diff - used from local used parts market - 150 pounds
Propshaft - used from local used parts market- let's say- 50 pounds

Total = 1200 pounds

What do you think?

As i have currently completed the rear suspension subframe, i have concluded in the shape of the rear suspension. It will be something like in the drawing of the photo below. This configuration will allow me to use 13'' open length dampers so i will have a good suspension overall travel which will anyway be lowered due to the wheel ration of the inboard suspension configuration.



[Edited on 25/3/08 by Echidna]

Teo, they will think you are insane as a Sierra can be bought in the UK for £200. In Greece i bet it is very hard to find one for less than 1000 euro and then it is the pain of having to get rid of it.
Keep up the good work..

quote:

---

Originally posted by Echidna
I am in the phase of the chassis welding now and so am starting to think what i am going to do next and how to do it.
A few days ago i received at the post a catalogue of Rallydesign store (www.rallydesign.co.uk)

I got this idea. Given that i am building a BEC,so i don't need the engine/gearbox assembly, why go and buy a Sierra donor car, disassemble the car and get the used parts out of it and not buying the parts new or reconditioned from rallydesign store?

I will need the following:

Sierra uprights complete set -110 pounds
Steering rack, 2.4:1, LHD - 99.5 pounds
Wilwood front brake kit (4-pot calipers) - 220 pounds
Wilwood rear calipers (2-pot) - 140 pounds
Maxtorq Sierra rear discs- 18 pounds
Wilwood brake master cylinder - 79.5 pounds
Rear hub assemblies + driveshafts - 335 pounds
Diff - used from local used parts market - 150 pounds
Propshaft - used from local used parts market- let's say- 50 pounds

Total = 1200 pounds

What do you think?

---

great start, I too am at a similar stage you are a little further ahead.

I have an evolution 3 saw and I think they are pretty good, also I'm in the middle of designing inboard suspension

quote:

---

Originally posted by ALEXARAS
Teo, they will think you are insane as a Sierra can be bought in the UK for £200. In Greece i bet it is very hard to find one for less than 1000 euro and then it is the pain of having to get rid of it.
Keep up the good work..

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by liam.mccaffrey
great start, I too am at a similar stage you are a little further ahead.

I have an evolution 3 saw and I think they are pretty good, also I'm in the middle of designing inboard suspension

---

I am in the process of building the pedalbox of the car. I decided though not to go exactly by the book, but to evaluate the parts designing them in CAD and using FEA software.


Throttle pedal
This pedal is not under any big stress during its operation but none the less, i would like to cut off a bit of steel mass. After the mods i made to the design, the final design weighed 141,36 gr instead of the 155,93 gr of the original. This is a slight improvement but it is something, also it will be more nice at the end!
For the original design the maximum stress was 6.766e+004 N/m^2 and for the final design the stress went down to 6,669e+004 N/m^2! Less weight, more robust! Not bad at all!





Clutch pedal
This is very similar to the throttle pedal. The original design weighed 159 gr and the final design was 144,79 gr. Maximum stress for the original is 8,315e+004 N/m^2 and for the final one 8,439e+004 N/m^2. That means that for 10% less weight we had only 1% more stress.





Brake pedal

That was the most important part of the analysis. This pedal has to withstand a lot of stress during operation so it must be robust, but as we talk about a sportscar it has to be light too!
Weight for the original design was 317,73 gr and maximum stress was 5,451e+005 N/m^2. My final design weighs 283,9 gr and maximum stress is 5,048e+005 N/m^2.
So we have a brake pedal 7% more stiff and 10% lighter!





[Edited on 18/6/08 by Echidna]

And this is what i have built up to now.

And here is the diff mounting plate, waiting for more design work.




[Edited on 18/6/08 by Echidna]

im building a +442 chassis, suspension design was partly in solidworks and partly by 1/2 scale model. the components im using would mean really ugly outboard suspension and the scoilovers im using are really too short for outboard.

the last pics i took are in this thread below,
Im further on than this now and in the middle of building my front wishbones


http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=86526

So, the clutch and accelerator pedals are 100% ready. The brake pedal is a bit more tricky so it's not yet ready.
What do you think?

Really enjoying your engineering.
Thanks

Thank you Andy!

What's your target weight for the car?

My target is less than 500kg. I know it is going to be hard to achieve but this is why iam trying to pay attention to the smallest detail.

My 3 pedals 100% ready and fully welded and almost ready (should be thoroughly cleaned) to receive powdercoating!

I have painted the pedals. What do you think? I think i don't like much the colour. Please share your opinions!



[Edited on 12/7/08 by Echidna]

Who will see them in the footwell? You could paint them any colour you want and then put your dirty feet on them they will soon look grey.

Now this is looking like a proper pedalbox...

here i come with my size 10,5

10.5?

At last, cash came in and i ordered the following parts from rallydesign. Excellent service BTW!

Sierra Donor - Powerlite - 257mm Solid Kit
- Style of disc: Plain disc
Ford Sierra - STD 2wd Front Uprights (pair) Genuine Ford
1 x ALLOY RACK CLAMPS Escort MK1 & MK2
1 x Escort MK2 2.4 Ratio Steering Rack LHD
1 x Powerlite 4-Pot Fast Road Light Rally Pads (Poly-E)
1 x Bottom Ball Joint (Maxi) - Pair
1 x Camber Adjuster (Top Wishbone) - Pair
1 x Drag Link (Top Wishbone) - Pair
1 x Sierra Strut Plugs - (mushroom plugs) - PAIR
1 x Knob Style Proportioning Valve
3 x Wilwood High Temp 570 Brake Fluid

Today i received the parts i have ordered from Rally Design. I am completely satisfied by the quality of the parts and RD's great service as well!
Rescued attachment Photo-0102.jpg