Break is over- back to work.

There are two sayings you’ll hear quite commonly among car guys. One is known as the “Hotrodders Creed” and states, “fast, cheap, and reliable… pick two”. The other isn’t so much a saying but rather a guideline stating, “whatever you think a major project could take as far as time and money- even in your most conservative estimates- triple each of them and you’ll probably be getting close”.

 How do these apply to my Locost? There’s no doubt the car will be pretty spirited in a straight line and should be a monster in the corners. By basing it on a Miata I should also have a large degree of reliability and affordability built in. My downfall will likely be the upgrades I’d like to build in such as aftermarket retro gauges, a dual master brake system with remote balance bar control, and the fancy racing pedal assembly. While not all completely necessary I think my ideas will add to the driving experience enough to justify the added costs.

With the budget presently remaining under control the only variable that has been slipping quite a bit has been time. Hosting an exchange student, taking a large family vacation last month, and spending a lot of spare time goofing off with my boys had placed the project on hold. I’ve recently been sneaking back into the garage for an hour or two every couple nights and have made some more progress! As of now the donor Miata is sitting on jack stands waiting for the transmission to be pulled. After that I can pull what’s left of the rear subframe/ differential and gas tank. On the front of the car I have yet to pull the dash and have nearly everything ready to lift the engine out. Once those things are complete I will try to sell or cut up the unibody in addition to selling off more parts. Hopefully I can generate the money quickly and begin welding a frame together yet this Fall… my original plan was to have the frame largely completed by winter.

Here you can see the suspension arms are gone as is most of everything else.

The engine is also becoming a lot easier to work on and will be pulled out soon.