Alas, the S-10 has been sold. We've moved to a new house, but now I have a garage I can work in. I'm now leaning towards a street legal car that I can still autocross that has a bike engine. At this point, it looks like the 2006+ engines are what I want to use. Decent HP (~170+ stock), and don't necessarily need a dry sump for use in a car.



2011-04-28 - After finding an ad on the LocostUSA Forums for a completed BEC Locost powered by a Yamaha R1, I flew out this AM to VA to buy the car and drive it back to IA.
Locost


The Plan:
Fly from IA to VA/DC on Thurdsay, buy the car, drive back home to IA by Sunday afternoon, avoiding the interstate.

The Journey:
Thursday:
I left Cedar Rapids Thursday morning with an 8 am flight to Chicago. From there, a quick flight to Milwaukee, then on to Washington DC. I'm lucky in that my aunt & uncle live in Alexandria, VA, so my uncle was able to pick me up from the airport and shuttle me around. From the airport, we headed to meet up with the seller, Kent, at the location where he had the car garaged. A quick look over the car revealed no major warts or any strangeness that wasn't reflected in the ad. I took the car for a quick drive up the street and back to get a feel for it. After a few stalls getting used to the clutch engagement point, I made it back to the garage. Thankfully, since it was a +442 frame, I fit the seat just fine. Unfortunately, the way the pedals were arranged, with the clutch fully out, my knee was pressed against the steering wheel. The brake pedal sits ~1" higher than the clutch, so I couldn't easily move my foot to the right, and going to the left put me into the side of the car. Hmm... this was going to be an interesting 1000 miles. We left Kent's garage and headed back to my aunt & uncle's house, which was about 20 miles away. I'm no stranger to big city traffic, having gotten my license in MD and learned to drive in the greater DC metro area. But boy, was it a little intimidating driving back to my uncle's in a new to me car, in semi-evening traffic, not quite knowing where I was going. Since I wasn't quite sure how to get back, I had to try and keep up with my uncle. Not 5 minutes after leaving, he caught a yellow light that I couldn't make and I had to brake quickly. Suprise, the car pulls to the left on heavy braking, which put me ~2ft from hitting the car next to me. Thankfully I didn't, but boy was that embarrassing. To top it off, the gentleman in the passenger seat rolled down the window to ask if it was a Caterham, so he was at least familar with what the car was supposed to represent. We made it the rest of the way home without any further incidents, but man, what a good feeling to pull into their driveway, knowing I had at least a few hours until I'd have to be on the road back to Iowa. Already my mind was swirling, the car was LOUD, with that 3.90 rearend, even the 55 mph we had made it to coming home the RPM's seemed quite high. And there was the heat. I left Iowa in 55 degree weather, landed in DC in mid 70's degree weather, and promptly roasted in the city traffic. Could I handle 2 1/2 more days of this? I had brought a small assortment of tools with me to cover basic roadside repairs, but I had wanted to pick up a small 1-3 gallon gas can as an emergency reserve not knowing my range or what sort of mileage I'd be getting. Plus, I wasn't sure how far apart gas stations might be coming through West Virginia. Off to the parts store to buy a small gas can, get it filled and grab a bite to eat. With those items checked off my list, it was back home to get a cigarette lighter socket installed to power my cellphone. After a quick hookup w/ some wiring I'd brought with, I was done and ready for bed. The DMV opened at 8, and I wanted to be there as close to open as I could to avoid a long wait and to be able to get on the road as soon as I could. I set my alarm for 7 AM, laid out my clothes and packed my gear into my drybag and hit the sack.
Friday:
Morning rolled around and I was awake by 6 AM, restlessly trying to fall back asleep for that last hour of sleep. I had some butterflies in my stomach as thoughts of 'What have I gotten myself into?', 'Will I really be able to drive this thing all the way home?', 'Should I admit defeat now and just find a U-Haul to get it home?'. I got up and got ready, studying my phone for directions to the DMV. At a little before 8, I was off. As I snaked through the residential streets, the loud buzz of the car probably annoying the neighbors, I got into a rythm with the car, shifting up and down, slowing carefully. I eeked my way through Alexandria traffic and started getting warm. Deciding to pocket the key to keep it from flying away turned out to be a not so good idea, as when I would stall, I'd have to pull the key out of my pocket to restart the car, precious seconds that seemed like eternity with traffic backing up behind me. After doing this move for the third or 4th time, I looked for a spot to pull over and put the keyring on the safety wire as Kent had previously done. I'd just have to remember to pull it off when I stopped and went in anywhere. About 20 minutes later, I managed to find my way to the DMV. Not without first having to initiate a front wheel lockup 'panic' stop, which caused the passenger front brake to remain locked. Not what I wanted to deal w/, but figured I would make a plan once I could get moved off the road and to the DMV. I got to the DMV around 8:53, later than I wanted, but still earlier than I had originally anticipated. I waited about 25 mintes before my number was called and I headed to the counter. As I explained to the woman behind the counter, I needed to obtain a temporary transit permit to get the car out of VA, something I had confirmed with 2 separate people over the phone prior to the trip. She dissappeared to the back room with my driver's license and title for a few minutes before coming back out to inform me that they didn't issue temporary transit permits to out of state residents. Confused, I asked what if I get pulled over, to which she replied "I dunno, get a ticket?". Great, just what I wanted to hear. Knowing it wasn't going to get me anywhere arguing, I thanked her and made my way back to the car. I made my way from the DMV back to Route 50, the main road I'd be driving for the next 8+ hours. As I got further away from the city, traffic got lighter, the scenery got more rural, and I was buzzing along quite nicely. I decided to stop for gas about 12:30, having put about 80 miles on. I figured it was a good time to see what sort of mileage I was getting. Boyce, VA would be my first gas stop of the journey. I filled up, topping the tank off with ~5.8 gallons, which gave me a rough mpg of 22

Specs:
Engine: 2003 Yamaha R1 motorcycle engine, Barnett clutch conversion done, baffle plate installed, per Jason
Hawk Driveshaft adapter, part number 20-3013, 30mm x 13 spline, bolts to Spicer flange SPI-2-2-899
Transmission: 6 speed sequential integrated in engine
Rear End: IRS from 1985 Toyota Celica GTS
Front End: IFS using modified struts from 1985 Toyota Celica GTS
Wheels/Tires: 215/50-R13 front/back on 13x7 wheels with 1.75" backspacing (Note: Celica bolt pattern is 4x114.3 or 4x4.5" with 8mm offset)
Frame: +442 sized 'book' frame
Weight: 1198 lbs, full tank of gas, no driver.
Corner weights: Drivers Rear - 360 lbs, Passenger Rear - 308 lbs, Drivers Front - 261 lbs, Passenger Front - 269 lbs
1985 Celica GTS Vin example, in case I need for parts - JT2RA65LXF0015343
1985 Celica Supra Vin example - JT2MA67L9F0157464

Improvements/Changes to car:

Steering/Suspension Exhaust Windshield - lexan? Go in on a piece w/ Del? Or see about getting a piece of glass cut?
Misc Paddle shifters?
Gearing - different gear ratio for rear end, 3.58 from the MT over the current 3.91 from the AT or go quickchange? If going stock Toyota, I want a F382/F383(LSD)-3.417, F372/F373(LSD)-3.583 Heaven would be a F/T272/F/T273(LSD)-3.364. Should be able to swap to the 6.7" 'T' code rear diff and only have to fab a couple new brackets to locate the top of the diff. Axles are supposed to be the same between 'F' & 'T' code rear ends.
Seats - lower seats or mount on sliders
Body Fueling - fuel level sender?
Braking Lighting - different style headlights? HIDs? Upgrade to Hella lights? Figure out why dr side headlight is out - bulb or wiring?
Electrical Cleanup - figure out where vaccum lines go to on throttle bodies


Improvements/Changes implemented:



Misc Links
CelicaSupra.com Forums
Racing Aspirations Suspension Geometry Calculator
Dwarf Car Parts Classifieds
Wheel Tech

Local:
Junkyards
Sunline - 319-364-4000
K's Acres - 319-365-4248
Marion Auto Parts - 319-377-8764
Beckers(atkins) - 319-446-7141
Dealer
Jim Miller Nissan/Subaru
393-0640 Parts M-F 8-5, S 8-1
www.jimmillernissub.com
Performance Shops
JR Motorsports
362-2580 M-Th 9-6, F 8-4:30
www.jrmotorsports.com

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