steve briance
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| posted on 6/10/20 at 03:37 PM |
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KNN 324V complete registered build ready to recommission
Locost car for sale. KNN 324V
Built in 2001-02, complete car, registered with an age related plate and road legal on 26/04/2002 and in use until 2007 when the last tax disc
expired. Needs winter project recommissioning to get fully back on the road.
The car was registered on the V5 as a ‘Locost Type 7’ as a nod to the Lotus 7 heritage, the build was started following the plans from the Ron
Champion Haynes book but it quickly dawned that building a sports car for £250 was nonsense and the project took a more bespoke route once the chassis
was 90% done.
The chassis is hollow square section steel as per the book and wishbones, trailing arms, panhard rod and roll over bar were all purchased from MK
Engineering at the time. The suspension parts were chrome plated and Poly bushes fitted. The fibre glass nose cone front cycle mudguards and rear
arches were all purchased from a seller at the Newark kit car show for the project. The rest of the panels and windscreen frame are aluminium or
Polycarbonate plastic and fabricated to fit the chassis.
Painting was done with 2K etch primer, high build primer then Daihatsu AO1 blue gloss top coat with no clear coat.
The donor vehicle was a Mk2 Ford Escort 1600 and the car went for SVA at the VOSA station in Derby with the 1600 Xflow that came with the donor,
Cortina front hubs, Escort 4 speed box, live rear axle, Escort steering rack and column = sufficient original parts to earn a non Q plate
registration.
Spax adjustable coil overs fitted to provide adjustment to spring loading and damping.
The car was only ever taxed for 6 months each year and after a couple of years of service with the Xflow engine, a Toyota 4AGE was fitted and to get
that to work; a Raw engineering clutch bellhousing was purchased to join it with a 5 speed sierra type 9 gearbox. A Raw engineering 4 into 1 stainless
steel exhaust manifold and re-packable stainless silencer was purchased. A fabricated inlet manifold was needed because the original Toyota TVIS
manifold would clash badly with the bonnet, a low profile sump was also fabricated to stop that clashing with the ground and a 4.1:1 ratio
differential was fitted into the live axle housing to make the most of the higher revving power delivery of the Toyota engine.
Component highlights.
Toyota 4AGE.
Oil cooler.
FSE adjustable fuel pressure regulator.
100amp circuit breaker under bonnet.
4.1:1 ratio differential (3.54:1 comes as a spare)
Smith’s dials for rev counter and speedo with digital tachometer.
VDO dials elsewhere.
Braided stainless steel flex brake lines.
Fibreglass bucket seats (comfy alternative seats will come with car but they were taken out to save circa 25kg)
Sabelt 4 point harness.
Raw Engineering 4 into 1 stainless exhaust manifold and silencer.
Mountney steering wheel.
Mini light alloy wheels.
Yokohama 048R road legal track rubber. These are fantastic tyres and still have legal tread but they are old so likely need replacing.
Side screens but no other weather gear other than a cover to put over the cockpit if you have to park up in bad weather.
The was mainly used on the road car but has been driven to the Nurburgring, Cadwell Park and Mallory park for track days and performed excellently, it
was corner weighted and now has a near perfect 50/50 front rear weight distribution and that shows in the handling which is lovely and neutrally
balanced. The car was moved from a garage at my rented accommodation to the home I bought in 2010 and it drove into the garage. I didn’t anticipate
never driving it again but the house turned out to need more work than I thought, then the garden, other classic car projects and now a baby.
Sadly but realistically I know I will never have the time, sapce or available money to keep the car and the time has come to let the car go and
hopefully be used and enjoyed somewhere else as I need the space in the garage to complete the restoration of a classic Saab.
On 3/10/20 I checked and found the following: the engine turns over freely, the rubber belts have no obvious signs of perishing, the fuel tank as far
as I could see with my inspection camera was empty but had no sign of rust, inspection camera into the engine showed bores also ok but some oil added
just in case I tried turning it over... The battery is completely dead and won’t hold any charge but with a spare battery hooked up all the electrics
work.
I didn’t intend putting any time into getting the car running but as it looked like no work would be required; I added 5 litres of fresh fuel and the
car started and ran after around 30 seconds of turning over. Clutch also operates so isn’t stuck on the input shaft splines. Yes, the exhaust smoked
and yes it could probably do with a decent run but the car works 10 years after it last ran.
To get the car usable you will need: new battery (005 spec circa £50+) engine oil, gearbox and differential oil, engine coolant, brake fluid flush and
refill, timing belt and check the state of all rubber hoses for coolant and fuel. I had to change a short length of fuel hose under bonnet as it was
weeping and losing system fuel pressure on shut down. I’d be checking the rest of them as a matter of priority.
If I was going to keep the car, I was considering fitting bike carburettors to the engine purely to simplify what is under the bonnet and ease of
tuning with jets and emulsion tubes rather than ECU reprogramming which is outside my skill tools set. If going for carbs; a solution to firing the
ignition coil would be needed but there are plenty of folks out there who have done it and report on the internet great improvements on what is
already a great engine - in standard form the 4AGE revs to 8500rpm from the factory and is a great match for a light car. (650kg from memory)
KNN 324V is a complete running ‘recommissioning project’ car, it has been through the challenge of the SVA (IVA) test and given many miles of
enjoyment. I appreciate that to any new owner it would be someone else’s work they would need to understand when working on it but it offers anyone
opportunities to get on the road or track with a car that can easily be personalised in the future with whatever engine / ECU / Carbs throttle bodies
etc you choose.
I am asking £2000 for what you see in the pictures plus some spares (ECU and injectors) to reflect that although complete, it does need some time and
work to get it back on the road.
Vehicle is near Hinckley in Leicestershire and would need to be trailered away.
Please feel free to ask questions, I will answer as best I can and take more photos if that helps. I can't work my way round the current issue
of photo uploads but please ask via private message for photos to your email while i keep trying to fill my album!
Cheers
Steve
Is this a TRADE ADVERTISEMENT?? Click HERE to report it!
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steve briance
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| posted on 6/10/20 at 08:29 PM |
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https://imgur.com/a/AnlymNY
I may have added some photos to Imgur...
If these work and stay working, i will add more!
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steve briance
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| posted on 6/10/20 at 08:51 PM |
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https://imgur.com/a/AOKnTIu
more photos.
Happy to take more and post up if people want.
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Flick
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| posted on 6/10/20 at 10:22 PM |
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U2U sent
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steve m
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| posted on 6/10/20 at 10:59 PM |
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After my Locost caught fire, i broke it up, and sold every thing salvageable on ebay
5k + later, not a bad result
steve
Thats was probably spelt wrong, or had some grammer, that the "grammer police have to have a moan at
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Edwardo
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| posted on 7/10/20 at 02:12 PM |
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Absolute bargain this! If only you had advertised this in Feb I'd have been on the short hop up the road to Hinckley with a trailer within
seconds!
If you decide to sell the 3.54 diff separately by the way I'd be very interested.
Cheers
Tony
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jps
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| posted on 7/10/20 at 03:49 PM |
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Looks very nice, sounds like an absolute bargain for someone and seriously puts me off looking at what i've spent so far on mine (well more than
£2k / car nowhere near finished).
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steve briance
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| posted on 7/10/20 at 08:25 PM |
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Thanks for all the comments, the forum member who came to see it tonight has left a deposit and the car starts it's new life on Saturday with
him!
It will be sad to see it go, it's been brilliant and hugely satisfying experience making and using it but times and projects have moved on and
the space is much needed. Sadly my Pie in the sky plans to make a bigger garage fell foul of planning restrictions 
I will be lurking in the background looking for updates on it if the new owner posts up progress with his plans
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