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For the Locost & Haynes Roadster Enthusiast

Latest News

Grille and Slam Panel

13th May 2019

I've started my version of a 1939 Chevy grille shell. This was my first real attempt at hammer and dolly panel beating. Hopefully it will be strong.

Mocking up the bonnet & Rookie Mistakes

28th April 2019

Making the bonnet is going to be a huge challenge, so I decided to mock it up. There was still plenty of fabrication to finish on the inner wings, but…

Inner Wings

31st March 2019

I've started the inner wings. The first job was to get the flange onto which the wing mounts done.The U-shaped bonnet slam edge is still just propped into place. To…

Bonnet Frame

10th March 2019

With the scuttle 80% done, this Locost was starting to look less and less Hot Rod and more 70’s saloon. I want this car to look like a modified late…

Windscreen Surround

10th February 2019

Motivation to complete my windscreen surround has been lacking. Poor health means I'll never drive this Locost. You can take the man away from his Hot Rod, but you can’t…

Bespoke Steel Scuttle

1st January 2019

I wanted a steel scuttle but the MG Midget has a bolt on aluminium item designed for a soft-top roof. A lot of custom sheet metalwork would be needed. Apart…

Steering - latest

Custom Sierra 4×4 Uprights Part 2

This is not a DIY Sierra brake upgrade, more of a complete re-think. A set of W220 Mercedes callipers came up for less than £25 (inc. delivery).

Custom Sierra 4×4 Uprights

Ackermann angle geometry is a tricky subject and often over simplified.

Ackermann Angle and Sierra Uprights

If you swapped uprights from one side of the car to the other the Ackermann Angle would be very wrong.

Steering shaft and new UJ

The Citroen BX rack has meant several changes to the steering, propshaft and exhaust manifolds

Haynes Roadster Steering Rack Part 2

Haynes Roadster / Locost 4x4 clearance problems left me to move the steering. I used one from a 1991 Citroen Zx.

Haynes Roadster Steering Shaft

Haynes Roadster Steering is long and complex and often has a number of joint in it. Eliminating loose joints can be tricky.

Suspension - latest

Kit Car Cantilever Suspension

Setting up Inboard suspension on a kit car is a time consuming process. one that involves hours of measuring, clamping and tack welding.

Haynes Roadster Mushroom Adaptors

Ford Sierra Mushroom adaptors are available from many Haynes Roadster and Kit Car sources, but I needed some special ones to fit my 4x4 uprights.

Push Rod Suspension

Push Rod suspension doesn't have to be complicated, many kit cars or Haynes Roadsters could have it at virtually no extra cost.

Push Rod Cantilever Suspension

The push rod suspension on the rear of this Haynes Roadster is almost complete. The reduction in un-sprung weight should help handling, but more importantly they look GREAT.

Front Suspension A Arms

Ignoring the hours spent doing the CAD work, plus those making the brackets, the front A-Arm mounts took me 10 hours to get in the right place.

Haynes Roadster Lower Front A Arm

The Lower front A Arms have been made fully adjustable so that they can control both caster and camber. I Have changed the standard Haynes Roadster or Locost design to…

Brakes - latest

CAD - latest

Rover V8 CAD

The BW35 bellhousing for the Rover V8 hasn’t arrived, so I’ve started drawing up other parts of the engine. This may look like just another rocker box, but in fact…

Sierra 3.9:1 Front Differential

The Ford Sierra Front Differential is available in two ratios. 3.62:1 and 3.92:1.

Jaguar AJ-V8 CAD

As you may imagine the CAD and measuring process for the Jaguar AJ-V8 has been very slow. Apart from the fact that every dimension seems bigger than my height gauges…

Supercharged Jaguar XJR V8

A Supercharged Jaguar AJ-V8 4.0 litre in a Haynes Roadster can't be too hard, can it? Why 400+BHP and 4x4 a few things may need changing.

Sierra Front Propshaft

Putting 4x4 into a Haynes roadster is not easy and there are plenty of clearance issues to contend with. Especially when you are using a Duratec v6 or Rover V8.

Massive Brakes

When using 19" wheels, exactly how big can the brakes be?360mm Audi A8?

Megasquirt - latest

Rover V8 MegaSquirt P38 4.6 – extraEfi – 2

I’ve been working on the Megasquirt ECU for my 4.6 P38 Rover V8. Progress has been slow, partly because it’s summer but mostly because everything I do seems to get…

Rover V8 MegaSquirt P38 4.6 – extraEfi

The original plan was to utilise a John Earle Engineering tweaked ECU, but along came a bargain cheap MS1 Rover V8 Megasquirt made by extraEfi previously fitted to a 4.6Litre…

Differentials

4×4 Haynes Roadster

I’ve started to mock up the front 4×4 system. In CAD everything looked extremely tight. I spent ages moving components back and forth to get everything to fit. So far,…

Kit Car 4×4

Building a 4x4 Kit Car isn't easy. Building a 4wd sports car from scratch is even harder. Getting the Sierra front differential to fit has been slow but surprisingly simple.

Sierra Front Differential Part III

A Haynes Roadster 4x4 needs a special Ford Sierra Front Differential. The Sierra one needs a far bit of modification, but it'll be worth the effort.

Sierra Front Differential Part II

Haynes Roadster 4x4 are thin on the ground. The Ford Sierra Front Differential needs a fair amount of modification to fit. As does the chassis and sump.

Ford Sierra Front Differential

When you are building a Four Wheel Drive (4x4) Haynes Roadster, the engine will sit a long way behind the front differential. Therefore, there will need to be some pretty…

Kit Car 4wd Front Differential

There are not many Kit Cars with 4wd, I am starting to work out why. Hopefully, I have everything sorted now and this Rover V8 Haynes Roadster is 4x4.