is anyone interested in establishing a website and forum dedicated specifically to Mid engined homebuilt cars?

I have access to a server to do this, forums are simple as they are presetup software.
Website content would need a little more help from the community out there, tech articles, features and the such.

there would be place for build diaries and such for people who don't have websites already.

considering the homebuilt community is so small web traffic wouldn't be huge, so only cost would be domain registration.

Thoughts?
if there is enough interest I could have the forums and basic site up within days if not hours.

[Edited on 22/12/03 by violentblue]

I'm certainly in favo(u)r in principle and would support it.

However, my concern would be in diluting what we have here...I would visit both. but I'd be concerned about losing potential input and feedback to one or the other..

Just my 2 cents (pence)

I agree with Alan 100%. "Oh Yeah, what he said..."

I am currently posting/monitoring on 7 boards and it gets time consuming when you type/think as slow as I do!

'course, I have nuttin better to do.

Graber

are there a lot of other mid engined forums out there?

well the question would be , is there enough interest to justify laying out the cash for domain registry, otherwise I could always set it up without the .com and use my existing .com adress (www.sandstuning.com)

Not that I'm aware of.....

Some are donor specific or kit specific, but this is the premier home built middy place that I know of.

So far...........

in my opinion, forums are more useful if they have more people on them, assuming there are no tossers on them, which there arent here! So, unless there is a real need for another forum, or unless you know you can make a really busy one, there maybe isnt much point. Good luck if you do do it though!

edit: i might add im not building a middy and i dont know of any other forums for middies...!

[Edited on 23/12/03 by JoelP]

I was thinking more along the lines of creating a centralised source of information one the self built mid engined car.
the locost bords and resources are very helpfull but hardly specific to what we're trying to do.

so a forum and website for discussion/ tech articles and features, much like any other brand/type automotive website.

I don't want another "ME TOO" website but there dosn't seem to be anything else out there.

So I guess I'll just build the site and forum, and if it works great, if not It'll get canned a couple months down the line.

I'll look into getting it setup over christmas.

I'd be interested in having a couple tech articles done up for the kick off.
pm, or email me if you are interested in helping

Yeah, as I said earlier, I'm interested in getting involved...keep me in informed and I'll see what I can do to help...

I can see a bunch of articles being useful....proven solutions to common problems.......junkyard finds......parts and sourcing......tech and theory articles....

Yeah could be good as a supplement to here...let's see how it goes..

let me know if you go ahead with another forum, I'm building an audi-based middy too.

Giel

Steve and I will Lurk in the corner if u start your site and may be able to give u a few bits of tech help, however I have to
say the previous comments are spot on, with the exception of a couple of mid engine self build diaries (we all know who they are gents), this forum is about as good as they get, some very gifted people (and nutters) on here
Shug.

I will lurk in the opposite corner, if you don't mind, Shug....



Steve.

Steve
Ok if u think I have BO just come out and say it and I will get someone to buy me soap on a rope and smelly in the sales, bound to get a cheap deal
Merry Xmas one and all
Shug.

quote:

---

Originally posted by violentblue
is anyone interested in establishing a website and forum dedicated specifically to Mid engined homebuilt cars?

I have access to a server to do this, forums are simple as they are presetup software.
Website content would need a little more help from the community out there, tech articles, features and the such.

there would be place for build diaries and such for people who don't have websites already.

considering the homebuilt community is so small web traffic wouldn't be huge, so only cost would be domain registration.

Thoughts?
if there is enough interest I could have the forums and basic site up within days if not hours.

[Edited on 22/12/03 by violentblue]

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actually I'm based in canada

untill its established content will be the biggest concern, moderators are easy to come by

Eh close enough.
Good content is very hard to come by. but there are several members here with good basics to start with.
If they are willing to let you use their info

I think it would be a great idea.

This place is great but a site with articles and tech stuff would be cool too!

Ohh and what part of Canada are you in? I am guessing Ontario, everybody cool is in the East (I am in Alberta).

I'm actually in Lethbridge Alberta

quote:

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Originally posted by violentblue
I'm actually in Lethbridge Alberta

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http://internetautomart.com/forums/
I haven't assigned it a topic yet.
So I can easily make it a midengine forum if people are interested.

Why dont you try speaking with chrisw the owner of this site,he can always change the mid engine section to whats needed.

I made the mistake of thinking we needed an MK owners forum,but i have my doubts now.

just my tupence worth,happy new year

Bob, I think that was the point I was trying to make earlier.......this is pretty much what we want here, however I will support any efforts along the lines suggested......then just see how it goes....

I'm certainley not leaving here though..

Why not just have a site to support this forum then? There doesn't seem much point in duplicating what already exists. I could imagine a resource with useful files, links and articles would be very well received.

Kingr

I agree with kingr. What's lacking here is a good technical archive. If anything, just build a compilation of articles, photos, links etc to supliment this forum.

So why doesn't someone create a Yahoogroups site? every week or two someone could post a "find us all at the locostbuilders web site" and we'd get lots of storage space, somewhere for pictures, polls etc etc etc

Suppose if someone wanted to moderate it we could make it members only to post so we don't get spammed.

Just a thought, oh, happy new year

Has anyone given chrisW a call yet re more space or archives for mid engine section.

I will see him sunday at box hill,i'll give him a nudge

Bob, u looking ahead to your NEXT project by any chance
Shug.

Just looked in after talking to Bob over the weekend. Certainly happy to help out if you mid engine guys want to put something together. If you want to do a site I can arrange midengine.locostbuilders.co.uk (or similar) address and the relevant space. Failing that, if you just wanted to expand the forum a bit then I can arrange that too.

Just let me know what you want and I'm sure I can help, either by email or in this post. I'll keep an eye on the discussion for a few days

Chris

Chris W. - I'd be quite happy if locostbuilders became a one stop shop for all things related to the home car builder. And were not talking about kit builders right? There are lots of sites for kit builders, just not much out there for us scratch builders. The most questions I get at my site are related to "How do I design the suspension then?" My suggestion to those people has always been to buy a book or two and read about it. But immediate gratification is what everyone wants, So I think a Primer on suspension design, with some nice illustrations would be good.

idea was for scratch built cars

no problem if someone wants to do it here thats fine. I'll even submit tech articles.

I'll revisit the idea of a stand alone site in a month or so and see what we think.

Steve (graber)
I've heard Steve Gusterthingy mentioned a free suspension prog on a yahoo list somewhere. i guess it's finding the info and piecing it all together. who's willing to write/compile the info and articles? I'm personally in favour of expanding the middie section to have an archive or techinal section, you could give it its own domain name as chrisw suggests if need be. drive trains and suspension design IMHO appear ot be the two biggest area of newbie type questions.

Ned.

Ned, I think that being able to point people to those resources is great. That should be a section.

For the sake of efficiency and maintaining a critical mass of members - Do we need to split off into a "middy" domain? So much about building a Middy car has carryover from the Front engine and BEC realms. I would hate to see the pool of knowledge diluted by a desire to compartmentalize, categorize and seperate. IMHO Suspension design, chassis design, electrics, et al are all so similar (the numbers may be different, but the procesees are similar). Drivetrain and bodywork are of course, dissimilar...

As an alternative to the offshoot, should Locostbuilders simply start a new area off the main website (Not the forum) for articles, and have that area subdivided into Chassis, electrics, fE drivetrain, mE drivetrain, etc... Opinions?

You've hit the nail on the head with regard to my future plans for the site. A technical archive for building including sections for middy's, BEC's, and of course ones relating to the common cars (Viento, Indy, etc) must be the way forward. My only worry is where to source the content.

Perhaps a Wiki is the way forward? Those with an IT persuasion will know what I am talking about. It's kind of like a book that anyone can contribute to. Comments??

Chris

I too was thinking about the problem of copyrighted material. If the information presented originated from ideas read from a book, do you need to obtain permission for reprint even if you paraphrase the content?

Although I have never contributed to a Wiki, I think it might work. But I've always wondered how do you keep "garbage" out of the Wiki?

ChrisW do you want to start a new thread on this topic?

I think maybe a new topic in 'anything else' is in order. I've been investigating a little (This site sums it up pretty well). I think moderation comes in the form that anyone can edit/delete/change pages so garbage is cleared very quickly by 'someone' meaning there is little point in doing it. I'm thinking it's not too difficult a concept to program so perhaps an integrated system using our usual login names, is the way forward. Most people are intelligent enough not to post garbage in the forums so I can't see any additional problems with a Wiki style system? I can also tailor it to our needs as I feel a little more should be made of who made what comments.

If there are a few people nodding in agreement I'll perhaps write some concept code this evening and see how we go.

Chris

I bet I'd agree 100%...if I knew what a wiki was..

Anyone care to enlighten me?

Ok I read the wiki wiki link.......

Erm...perhaps I still need it explaining...

It basically a site which anyone can add pages, edit pages, cross link page etc. The traditional system is completely unregulated - ie anyone is free to do anything they like relying on the fact that as the next user along can simply undo their changes there is little point in vandalising what is there.

If I was to adopt something similar I think I would force a little more regulation but still keep the 'anyone can do anything' concept.

That help Alan?

Chris

Yes it does...thanks..

Have a look here. Proof of concept only so it's very rough and ready. Feel free to play with it, add stuff, delete stuff. I've only had a few mates play with it so far so whats on there is mainly bollocks.

If you guys think it's an interesting idea we can let the rest know about it!

Chris

Hi all, i was lurking your site and comments for a time cause i`d like to build a car from scratch like you (The only problem is that i`m from Germany and we`ve the hardest SVA ever ;-) )

Now i want to help you as a thank you for your nice tips & tricks on this site...

I`ve a domain called http://www.xcars.org and i`d like to share it with you guys for a special midengine scratch build site.

As the domain ends with the .org i think it describes that i don`t want to make some money i only like the idea to build my own car (since i was 16 - long time ago)

So please tell me what you think and i will make it open for you guys!

cu
Tom

ps: Steve Graber - I love your car!

(Sorry still working on my english)

[Edited on 7/1/04 by TomTool]

I'm in the midst of setting up a web server, once it is done I can definatly host the site and get the basics rolling.

xcars- thats a cool name and would abe an appropriate description of what we're all about.

as far as making the locostbuilders site the center thats fine, but we need someone to get the ball rolling, I'll do what I can and if we decide to move it over here, thats fine.

Umhh? After i followed a link to the mr 2 frame from Steve Graber i found a site called xcars.com with some infos about the Toyota MR2 - i swear - i didn`t know!!!

But as you see "Nomen est Omen" - I hope you like the idea...

cu
TomTool

how adout a rating system for the articles, if thats what you meant about garbage, so if something seems inacurate or just downright wrong or if you just have general comments on a particular article, then you could just click a link which takes you to a add comment page or whatever. as well as having a star rating etc. i think they have something similar at piston heads, but it links you to a forum topic specifically for the artical in question.




Russ.

quote:

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Originally posted by ChrisW
Have a look here. Proof of concept only so it's very rough and ready. Feel free to play with it, add stuff, delete stuff. I've only had a few mates play with it so far so whats on there is mainly bollocks.

If you guys think it's an interesting idea we can let the rest know about it!

Chris

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Hey it's cool...I'm getting the hang of it..

quote:

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Originally posted by Alan B
Hey it's cool...I'm getting the hang of it..

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If you delete a wikiword it won't delete the page. Just insert the same word somewhere else. At the same time, you can add the same WikiWord to multiple pages to link to the same page.

Confused? You will be!!

Chris

Yeah I found that by experimenting with InDex......cool I like it..

Glad u all like it I'll try and fix a few bugs tonight and persuade a few others to play with it.

Chris

I've had a play with it.

Nice concept. If that can develop it'll be very useful I reckon.

Although to be honest I think anything would be better than splitting off a source of resources from this one central location. In my opinion that would be a bad move that would inevitably cause people to miss out on useful stuff.

I've had a little play and although interesting I can't see how it will benefit the forum!
Perhaps it's just me being dense!

Terry

quote:

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Originally posted by Hugh Paterson
Bob, u looking ahead to your NEXT project by any chance
Shug.

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Posted by JoelP

in my opinion, forums are more useful if they have more people on them, assuming there are no tossers on them, which there arent here!

I resemble that remark

Mick

i do apologuise mix, one tosser is always welcome. but thats me, so maybe we can stretch armstrong it to 2!?!

Just had to bring this up again.
as part of my job I've set up about 20 of these bullitin boards, as well I've just got my second server up and going so to throw annother forum up would be super easy.
But Steve Grabber has got a forum set up on his page too.

so would this be just redundant or is there a real desire/need for a dedicated 1 off (or prototype) mid-engined forum?

This little corner of locostbuilders has already established itself as the best part of the best car building forum on the internet.
There's a huge pool of information already on here that would take a long time to amass on a dedicated site. We can pick the brains of hugely experienced people (I'm thinking of Mark Allanson and the welding advice he gives as an example) who help because we are all part of locostbuilders,not because we are middybuilders
Good of you to offer,but IMHO it might not be everythingyou/we would want it to be.
I hope I haven't caused any offence,
Ian

no offence, I had offered some time ago, but never got a clear answer. Im in a better position to actually create something worthwile now, and wanted to see if the need and/or desire was out there.

yes this is the best site I've come across for the pool of resource it is, but theres still a number of issues I'd like to deal with, but maybe I';ll have to build a site to amass this info rather than a forum.

This forum is fantastic as it is, but an area within locostbuilders for more extensive tech info would be welcome.

I'd be happy to give suggestions of topics, being in the startup stage myself.

Cheers

This forum is far and away the best resource of its kind available anywhere. It's due to the critical mass of quality builders sharing information.

Adding a "technical resources section" in the form of a Wiki, or whatever, would streamline the search process for accessing the data that is already available on the site and has typically been posted multiple times.

I need to do some ali annealing for my diffuser. I did a website search and found a number of posts with no useful information at all. But one from Gusterson stating that he had already posted the information multiple times in the past. Well that wasn't directly the info, but a pointer to the info, so I did a search for Gusterson, Soap and Annealing. Finally found the info. The information is in there, it just needs to be better organized...

But I haven't said anything new now have I...

hi - to put in my two ha'pennies i agreee that this forum is hard to beat in terms of overall technical content, its just near impossible to find sometimes. ive had many google searches return threads from here - everything from audi transaxles to setting up carbs to ideas/designs for pedal boxes. im tinkering with both a home-build front engined and a (semi home built) middie so my searches tend to be varied, and both subjects lead me here more often than not.
its the indexing and retrieval of the info thats a bit difficult. often past posts are referred to, but with hundreds of threads under each subject, and a listing that only allows incremental steps, and goes back to the beginning with one wrong move (yes i know it can be configured differently but the same issues arise), finding what your after is not always easy. a search or something (within the forum) might help, but im sure there are better solutions.
it seems a real waste of worldwide expertise, often ammassed through bood sweat and tears, that it is lost so quickly. surely it would be of benefit to the entire car building community (and motorcycles/restorators etc) if a "knowledge database" were set-up, either as an annex to this forum or at least collecting the knowledge of such a group of creative minds.

sorry to keep rambling, have been mulling it over for some time and stumbled accross this, which set the cogs in motion again.

atb,
zane