Well, ive been back to the drawing board....again.... as most have.
Ive finally had my metal delivered from Armoto with blistering delivery time. I reckon he was hiding behind my hedge waiting to knock on the door with it. It really was that quick. Less than 24h in fact. BIG thanks to him.

So, ive marked out my 8x4 sheet and start the build ASAP. I bought a 2.9 Cosworth engine today too, so that should keep the Anti RV8 mob happy!!
In all seriousness, i took on board all comments made and i must admit, although REALLY cheap, the V8 didnt really tickle the spot, if you know what i mean.
So, Modern (ish) and shed loads of power still in the Cosworth, and that little bit special.
I calculated tonight, that with the 192hp as standard, i reckon i could relatively easily up that to 230-250 by supercharging, porting, custom exhaust etc, which would give more than enough performance too.

I need to sell the Bike to make room for the build though, so if anyone wants a TL1000R give me a shout!

Ive also been looking at putting the power down to the floor. I once fitted 12x15" wheels to the back of a ford pop hotrod, which when the wide fronts were fully locked, still pushed the car along the tarmac!! I was thinking of something along these lines for the Locost. Anyone got any comments on this idea?

So there are the two main components purchased. All i have to do now is put it all together!

Cracking choice of engine my friend

All the very best with the build...

EDIT: 255s with an LSD keeps things happy at the back with a stock lump in mine...

[Edited on 26/9/2008 by NeilP]

Ive been thinking that the rebuild on the engine is going to give it a set of golden robes. Polished Stainless fuel rails, nice powdercoat, stainless headers, new gaskets and seals etc etc.
I would like to make the engine as pleasing to the eye as the performance figures!

Ive been doing some reading, and the engine i have is a BOB, whereas a lot of people have said that a BOA is better? Personally, i like the idea that mine fixes stuff..........

The only thing that goes against the BOB is that it has a simplex timing chain, which has been known to break, and total the engine, so renew those chains my man. The BOA on the other hand has a duplex chain, and I have heard cases of the engine siezing solid and the chain staying in one piece. But as always you pay's your money, ( and all that). Best of luck with your build. Cheers Ray

quote:

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Originally posted by MakeEverything
I once fitted 12x15" wheels to the back of a ford pop hotrod, which when the wide fronts were fully locked, still pushed the car along the tarmac!! I was thinking of something along these lines for the Locost. Anyone got any comments on this idea?

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... and if you have loads of big, sticky grip on the rear and loads and loads of torque you could end up upside down pointing back the way you've come

Thanks for your response Mr Henderson.

Ive already thought of the disadvantages you mention, and to over come them, im going to eat lots of mcdonalds for the next year, and marry a fat bird.

Seriously, eventually, the car will have a LeMans type shell, which will overcome the drag and aerodynamic co-efficients. The weight side of things, i estimate to be around 600KG (Maybe less), but a wider surface area will grab more tarmac and like you say, with a larger footprint (certainly a carbon one anyway) get the power down a little more. Are there any other tyres to sticky ones then?

The weight of these wheels and tyres, is not a great deal more than normal 225's (they are alloy) and with the power output of the engine, it wont really make that much difference to performance other than a slight reduction in accelleration. Bit then, if it accellerated any quicker, it would spin the wheels...

quote:

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Originally posted by Richard Quinn
... and if you have loads of big, sticky grip on the rear and loads and loads of torque you could end up upside down pointing back the way you've come

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Ray, think that 's the wrong way round?

BOA is a simplex chain, BOB is a duplex but the BOA bottom end is supposed to be stronger so a hybrid of A block plus B top and chains is reckoned to be the biz...

No, Chippy is right. BOA engines have a 6 foot long duplex chain wheras the BOB engines have two 3.5 foot simplex chains.

My BOA engined granada was awesome in kickdown, holding to just over 6k revs in every gear - amazing sound! Wish I still had it...

I was going to fit a 2.8 T9, so no kickdown, just redline in every gear until it pops!!

When i pick the engine up, ill settle the dispute as to which has the duplex timing chain! - though surely if it has two chans, then that is Duplex, and one long chain is Simplex?

[Edited on 27/9/08 by MakeEverything]

Right lets put this to bed!!! Simplex is, putting it in simple terms, single roller chain, ("ie" BOB) Duplex on the other hand means twin roller chain, ("ie" BOA).
Not too sure what you mean by using a BOA block and BOB heads and chains though Niel, as the BOA chain has never been known to break, whereas the BOB one's do. Both engines suffer from flex on the crank/main caps, and the only good way to overcome this is to fit a main cap girdle, (not locost!!) BOB and BOA heads are basicaly the same, so cant see how changing to BOB would make any diference, change the cams, sure, that will add a few BHP and better torque to the BOA. Cheers Ray

Chippy, youre right. The BOB has Dual Simplex and the BOA has single Duplex...
Confusing to say the least.

The BOB produces 206hp as standard as opposed to the 195 BOA. Torque figures are up too on the BOB.

I didnt realise that there were such significant visual difference between the two. The intake system was changed completely on the BOB, and the gearbox line pressures controlled electronically to adjust with engine torque for smoothness.

So there it is! Still a quick engine though. I cant see me ragging it all of the time, unless on track days, and if its serviced correctly, there should be no problem...... but then it wouldnt be as much fun now would it......

Hi Richard, well here's another odd thing, that if you fit the BOB cams to a BOA you actually end up with more BHP, and better torque than the standard BOB, now exactly why I have no idea, but my BOA makes 217 bhp, with 240 lbs torque. All of that though is about to change over the winter, with hopefully 240 bhp, and a fair bit more torque, but we will see how it all goes. Regards Ray

My error - I was confusing no. of chains with no. of chains if you get my drift. I was told from a reliable source that stretch on the long BOA could be a problem and that and the tensioner are key to check for signs of fatigue.

Don't know exactly why the BOB head is better aside from the cams but it did get a tweak according to Ford.

Ray - Are you going for turbos then?...

Turbos are an option, but im going to try and use as much power from the supercharger ive had in my garage for the past 2 years, and see what i can get from that.

Change of plans again today, as i went to a Scorpio Graveyard in Upminster today (really helpful Guys) to pick up my new engine, and through talking, pondering, and thinking things over again after seeing the guts of scorpio engine bays all over the place, i decided that the technology in the Cossy, would be too much, and not in keeping with the LOCOST theme. So...... I went for a 12V instead, for the same price but with ALL of the ancillaries. All i would need to do is megasquirt it, work out the existing EFI, or put a Carb on it from an Essex V6. Then once its running and SVA's i can play with the supercharger etc.

So even though out of the blocks for a few days, you can still end up back at the starting line at any point...!

Chassis has been started, and engine arrived. Check out my photo archive.

Ok, the chassis is nearly finished now. I realised that the front member that holds on to the rearmost front wishbone bracket (top) was in the wrong place by about 50mm!! Derrr.... Schoolboy error!

So, ive moved it, and all is good with the help of Ian Mittell by email. Ive got to the transmission tunnel where i have discovered that four peices of the pck i bought from armoto are either missing or incorrect, which to be honest is still really good considering the complexity of putting the pack together.
Ive tried emailing him, but have not had any reply. Does anyone know if hes still around? His advert did say he would send out any replacement parts if needed, and it has stopped the build temporarily.

In the meantine, my serra hubs have arrived, so they need cleaning, as does the engine.......

Progress.

The parts have arrived from Armoto which have lead to major progress on the rear of the chassis. I also picked up a Triumph Dolomite Sprint axle (1:3.45) which (using the gearing calculator) works out fine with the 2.0 sierra Gearbox, 2.9 V6 and 16" Wheels.

More pictures will be added tomorrow.

R.