Rescued attachment Ken&car.jpg
Obviously we all know who this is aimed at.... I 've been curious for a while about one or two things though. My Locost/7 type things share a
garage with my fathers Morgans and to be honest I can see nothing much in common with the Lotus 7 concept - after all Morgans have a ladder chassis
with a wood based coach built type body bolted to it rather than any type of spaceframe chassis. What are you doing for doors? cutting up the
spaceframe (and surely compromising the rigidity of it in a BIG way) or have you a more cunning plan?
Having being talked into helping grease Morgan suspension components on more than one occasion I know there are definate improvements possible but you
do know that any charm regarding Morgans is all about...well the Morgan ness of them - I'm not taking the wee in any way but I am interested in
the thinking behind your project.
Cheers
Dave
I miss Ken Walton too btw.
(quote from D Beddows)
My Locost/7 type things share a garage with my fathers Morgans and to be honest I can see nothing much in common with the Lotus 7 concept
'blimey!! does your daddy have a man in to polish 'em all too ?..
Steve G, how dare you aspire to these lofty heights with your "pretend" "morgan". Don't you know your place ? !
[Edited on 28/3/03 by jonti]
[Edited on 28/3/03 by jonti]
Before I started, I went thro a lot of ideas - at one point even a replica delorean.
When I found 'the book' I didnt give it serious consideration as a seven replica, cos basically, I didnt like them.
Before everyone gets upset, my views have changed a bit. I have got to quite appreciate the seven, and seeing the cateringvan prog the other day just
puts my mind a bit more in the 'why didnt I build a bike engined seven' mode.
But if I did I know I would keep it less than a year. If anything in this choice situation I would have bought a bike.
I had a xjs previously, and it wasnt family friendly, and went in 2 years. No one liked it in my family except me. I dont want a car I cant use much,
and when I do its on my own. I have a compnay car that I must use all week for work. So this is a weekend car only.
On the basis that the seven didnt suit what I wanted, I wondered how all the guidance in the book could be adapted to give me something thats a bit
more of a tourer. Something that perhaps, as well as a local blast, could convince my wife to take weekends away in it.
One thing to remember, is I try to avoid calling the car a Morgan replica. Its a look-alike. Would take too much time and effort to be a purist.
Also a space frame couldnt be used!
Look at the SHAPEof a morgan against a seven - ignoring the rear of course. Strip all the bits of a morgan or indeed an old MG and you get the basics
of a lotus.
I am putting all the bits back on.
I have never been convinced that chapman was that radical a genius - the seven is very similar in shape when stripped down to other cars of an earlier
age.
My car is about a foot longer (mainly at the back) six ins wider and has the same height frame but is running about 8 and a half ins above the ground.
This allows the exhaust to go under the car and gives a more suitable height for a tourer.
If I recall, the height of the sides of the std car is 13 ins.....?
My doors drop a section along the car to 9 ins for the doors. This is less than 2 feet long.
The frame under the doors is made of a doubled up rhs section - so basically the bit under the door is 9 ins, is made up of a frame of 2 ins by 1 ins
doubled 1 inch rhs, and the five inch gap in the centre is fully welded 1.6mm plate.
Into the rear of the car is a structure that has about four diagnonals bracing into the back bulkhead - the original locost has one. The bracing goes
right into the under door section.
Into the front of the car, I didnt use single 19mm round diagonals....I used TWO crossed diagonals of inch rhs at all points where the book used a
single frail 19mm round tube.
My centre tunnel, which forms an additional backbone, is made of inch rhs, braced into a substantial rear bulhhead which has a transverse 2 inch
sqaure section, whcih has a further two beams going back to hold the diff and support a full width rhs 2 ins section across the rear.
All my suspension pick up points are DOUBLED inch rhs sections. The engine mounting bars are also doubled up.
This has not been built to be a weak car.
Its obvious that making the sides less tall at the doors will tend to create a 'fold point' in the beam structure. By making a fully welded
centre tunnel braced into a substantial rear bulkhead, a really tougth under door section, and lots of bracing either side, I dont expect a
problem.
If I do, there is still a further improvement.
The car runs at 8.5 ins high. It has, or will have, running boards. There is lots of scope to position substantial extra stiffening beams along the
car, at the sides or under.
Having parked the project 5 months over winter, whilst extending my garage, Im now making the fibreglass boot and rear wings.
In a couple months I will put up some fresh pics and you will see if the concept is showing signs of working.
The car looks bigger than both a locost and a morgan, but as I said, its a look alike.
atb
steve
[Edited on 28/3/03 by stephen_gusterson]
quote:
Originally posted by D Beddows
I miss Ken Walton too btw.
Well I don't think it would bend ..not even with me it !
An' if mine looks half as nice as Ken's when its finished (If it ever is !) I'll be a happy bunny
[Edited on 28/3/03 by jonti]
I had a look at your website before I posted my initial message btw but there wasn't much detail and I've been curious for a while about
your car. Sounds like you've got a decent plan and I'm looking forward to seeing how it develops - believe it or not I'm no great fan
of the '7' concept myself, I might possibly disagree with your assesment of Colin Chapman but then again I've never never lusted after
any of his road cars either.
Ken.... we spoke on the phone a couple of times and exchanged regular e_mails - now he's gone I hugely regret that I didn't get to Mallory
to meet him the last time he came over - he was a character certainly, but like you say he had a great attitude to life and loads of decent advice to
offer... I miss him
Jonti 
On purchase of a Morgan one always needs to employ a 'man' to polish it don't you know (I even think there's a section
on how to employ someone suitable in the owners manual) ........ he he he, if you ever find yourself at a race meeting that includes a round of the
'Morgan Challenge' series you will find that half the field actually seem to (one has to find time for tiffin after all) and the other half
are proper racers and just jet in from the Channel Islands for the race..... My Dad has a Plus 8 because his father died and left him a decent amount
of money - he'd always wanted one and because he's a top bloke the rest of the family told him to go any buy one, he loves it, does all the
maintenance on it himself - nothing wrong with that surely
My Dad has a Plus 8 because his father died and left him a decent amount of money - he'd always wanted one and because he's a top bloke the
rest of the family told him to go any buy one, he loves it, does all the maintenance on it himself - nothing wrong with that surely
its not so much an out of date site, rather than I started it almost 2 1/2 years into the build and am writing it from memory!
I have a few more pages to put up soon, but as I had a lazy winter on the car im trying to put a few hrs on the build.
I have a couple nearly completed pages to add, but they are a bit low priority.
Im just at the point where I am about to lay up my first body panel in fibreglass. I hope my next post isnt about how to unstick a stuck part from a
mould!
atb
steve
atb
steve
quote:
Originally posted by stephen_gusterson
......... I hope my next post isnt about how to unstick a stuck part from a mould!
atb
steve