Photos of latest la Bala Progress
sgraber - 19/9/03 at 10:37 PM
I have uploaded some photos to my website. You can view them here.
http://www.newtier.com/graber/mid-engine/Images/09-19-03/pages/IMG_9708.html
I'd like to know what you think of the exhaust system and the routing of the coolant lines...
It's all just tacked together right now. Waiting for some feedback before commiting to the torch...
Thanks
Graber
JoelP - 19/9/03 at 11:30 PM
Should point out theres photos in both directions on the slide show, so people dont miss some.
Looks cool fella. not a very technical answer, maybe, but true enough.
Quite liked the simplicity of the throttle linkage, better than my mess...!
Provided you know the wheels all clear the exhaust, all is well i guess. Couldnt spot the coolant pipes, that makes me sound ignorant so im off for
another look!...
...ah of course, i though it was an oddly plated side impact bar! is the pump ok for the length? and temp in the area is no prob i guess, so i suppose
its good. is there a piccy with the radiator in or is that classified?!
kb58 - 20/9/03 at 01:46 AM
Looks like you and I are at about the same point in construction.
pbura - 20/9/03 at 02:47 AM
Steve,
The dual exhaust was a big surprise! Did you blow air thru the Y to check the balance? Nice work, very clean layout. I am wondering how
you're going to handle the exits through the bodywork.
My first thought on the coolant piping was that the long length of copper pipe is going to be doing a lot of cooling all by itself 
Noticed also that you're starting to hang on some prestige bits and bobs: "Momo" and "Willwood". Saw that you did that
with the Ferrari clone, too, to good effect. That was a great-looking car
Kurt,
Are you going to buy a mini body? If so, that would put you close to the finish line, unless you're going the hair shirt route of Mr. G 
Congratulations! I'm voting silver for the chassis.
Pete
Spyderman - 20/9/03 at 12:54 PM
Steve,
Looks good!
Why did you use two tail pipes? I'd have thought one would be enough.
I would put a heat shield above the exhaust to protect bodywork and electrics.
The coolant pipes look fine to me, but I would have routed them through the passenger cell at the front and panelled over them instead of over
chassis. It would make water proofing easier, from front wheel arches area.
Not sure about the throttle linkage though, as the passenger could unwittingly rest their foot on pedal!
It looks as if it could flex a bit as well.
Terry
sgraber - 20/9/03 at 02:46 PM
quote:
Answering various questions posed by the collective...
Guys, thanks for the positives, this encourages me greatly to forge ahead. I have a nasty tendency to overwork my decisions to the detriment of
actually DOING anything! 
Accelerator - The accel pedal will have a cover on the passenger side. It is quite rigid, works like a charm and is lightweight to boot.
- Exhaust: Two is ALWAYS better than one! The exhast will exit the bodywork through an oval shaped opening behind the wheel. The heatshield idea is
great. I will do that. There will be a wheelwell liner protecting the exhaust from rocks and debris. I think it will look the dogs bits. I am hoping
the twin cans will impart shock and awe in all who see/hear it... 
-Cooling lines: The MR2 donor has rad at the front and the pump worked on that... The area at the front of the passenger area where the copper lines
run up and out would actually be considered to be 'inside' the sealed passenger area. That whole area needs to be finished soon.
The 'prestige' bits are nice, they keep me motivated and trying my hardest not to build a piece of crap. The seats were a freebie from a
neighbor and the Momo wheel was $109 on ebay. It's a bit garish for my regular tastes, but I don't think that anyone will think it out of
place once they see the twin exhaust cans...
kb58 - 20/9/03 at 02:51 PM
quote:
Originally posted by pbura
Kurt,
Are you going to buy a mini body? If so, that would put you close to the finish line, unless you're going the hair shirt route of Mr. G
Congratulations! I'm voting silver for the chassis.
Pete
I already have the shell, though it'll require a LOT of work to clean up. About the color, when you say silver for the chassis, you mean for the
steel portion, right?
I'd prefer silver for the body shell too, but my wife says no light colors.
If the shell is Lexus Grey, then yes, either a light blue or
silver steel chassis color would complement the shell. My thinking is whatever the chassis color is, it must go with carbon fiber, the shell color,
and aluminum paneling. Light blue would fit those requirements though I'm keeping silver in the back of my mind.
[Edited on 20/9/03 by kb58]
pbura - 20/9/03 at 03:49 PM
quote:
Originally posted by kb58
About the color, when you say silver for the chassis, you mean for the steel portion, right?
Yep. Had another thought today, which was white Either would look good, I think.
I also like a royal blue for the body, or red like the new Minis. Sikkens has a pearlescent purple (from a product line called Special Effects) that
is very nice, saw it on a picture of a Caterham once. Figures, though, that I can't find it today.
Double white stripes down the center, naturally
I like the bright colors for defensive coloration on a handbuilt car (i.e., difficult to have fixed and maybe not a good insurance recovery value). I
plan to polish the aluminum on mine so it will be visually painful to be within a quarter mile of it on a bright day, or with headlights on.
All IMO, of course
[Edited on 20/9/03 by pbura]
kb58 - 20/9/03 at 04:43 PM
The Mini will look like a child's toy, being 10ft end-to-end... yet like something out of the movie "Road Warrior" because of the large
fenders. If I don't want it to look like a toy it must be painted a very "un-toy-like" color. An earlier choice had been blue, like
on the Subaru WRX and the Nissan 350Z. But I feel that color, and most colors, would reinforce the toy-like image. IMO the only color that says
otherwise is grey. Manly grey. Lexus Grey. It means "all business." I haven't decided on stripes yet... I was all for them at
first but not I'm not sure.
I forgot to mention in the above post that the chassis color must be light. If any of you have ever worked on a black tube frame car you know it
literally sucks all the light out of the interior, making it very hard to see. So that'll be light... silver, grey, light blue, something like
that. I already have the obligatory red calipers... might also go for a red valve cover...
pbura - 20/9/03 at 05:49 PM
Well, OK then, kinda like putting a spiked collar on yer poodle if you ask me 
Just kidding, of course. I was reinforcing the toy image. Everybody loves these cars because they're "cute".
Gray metallic with the silver bones would be very serious and would look good. I suggest that a navy metallic with white chassis would be seriously
sporting as well.
Dark BRG and yellow would work, too. There's an old Jaguar color that's almost black, nobody would screw around with you
Pete
P.S. Body-color paint on headlight rims, mirrors, bumpers, etc., too
[Edited on 20/9/03 by pbura]
kb58 - 20/9/03 at 05:53 PM
Guess we kind of highjacked this thread... sorry.
sgraber - 20/9/03 at 06:00 PM
No problem here.
I am thinking that a black body with gunmetal black rims would be quite sinister. Especially if you had some touches of yellow. You could do the
chassis in light grey or white and it would be awesome.
pbura - 20/9/03 at 06:02 PM
Oops, my bad; sorry, Steve
Now, with Steve's car there's not a lot of room for debate. Yellow it is!
....or red
sgraber - 20/9/03 at 06:11 PM
quote:
Originally posted by pbura
Oops, my bad; sorry, Steve
Now, with Steve's car there's not a lot of room for debate. Yellow it is!
....or red
Please don't apologize Pete! For PETE's sake, let's just go where the conversation leads us, there's plenty of bandwidth.
Yellow huh? or red.... hmmmm. I haven't thought too much about it really. Too far into the future that bodywork is...
Pete, I think polished ali is an excellent choice, I think that it will be hard to keep shiny tho.
pbura - 20/9/03 at 07:13 PM
Well, I'm back. Taking a break from changing a fuel pump in one of the motor pool sleds
Yellow does look fantastic in your styling exercise, Steve, but maybe there's a clash going on with your black and red interior bits. Maybe not;
I'm no good with the more adventurous color combinations
Black would look great, one of those lighter metallic ones, or deep and flawless ($$), but what about that AZ sun? Then there are those very light,
chunky-looking Merecedes silver metallics. Red would be a natural, as in your original design, which I still think is interesting btw.
You can log some serious garage time staring at the finished bodywork, trying to decide what kind of color wants to come out of it
As for my car, when I drive down the freeways I wonder how I'd respond if a shiny Seven suddenly popped over the horizon. I think I'd crap
a brick, actually
I've liked the shiny aluminum since I first saw it on Rob Lee's car, so I'm going to copy it, of course. Thekafer mentioned some stuff
called Zoop Seal the other day, for coating polished aluminum. It costs about $120 for 40-50 square feet, sort of pricey but what the hey,
that's cheaper than a paint shop. You can't tell that it's there, and it wears about like paint. It was made for coating alloy
wheels, btw. Misplaced my link, unfortunately.
Later!
[Edited on 20/9/03 by pbura]
Alan B - 20/9/03 at 09:43 PM
Red
Alan (man of few words)..
Hugh Paterson - 25/9/03 at 09:05 AM
Got to be the YELLOW, then no one can complain that they didnt see you coming. damn bargain of an exhaust system
Shug.
sgraber - 25/9/03 at 08:21 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Hugh Paterson
damn bargain of an exhaust system
Shug.
Every once in a blue moon you can find a real bargain on ebay! You have to keep looking and not jump at the first thing that comes along.
Later,
Graber