Never believe anything
you read on the Internet. Except for this build log of course, because we'll usually tell you when
we're making stuff up. Although not always. On the other hand, if someone on the Internet tells
you in a forum post, way back in July, that the state of California has just about given out its
last 2013 SPCNS Certificate of Sequence number under SB100, and that if you don't get one right
now you'll miss out, don't believe it. Because that's exactly what we read back in July, and we believed
it, and we just got back from the DMV and we now have a 2013 SPCNS Certificate of Sequence number.
To further define the full ramifications of this major milestone, we need to point out that not
only did we get our SB100 smog exemption, or at least the number and a promise that the certificate
was in the mail, but we also received a temporary registration and operating permit. Which means we
can actually drive the car. Anywhere we want. Legally. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that
it's both dark outside and a hundred below, we'd be driving the car right now. Incredible. We're still
kind of bewildered by the whole thing.
The clerk at the DMV knew nothing about the SPCNS program. We had to walk her through the first
part, where she calls Sacramento to find out that there aren't any SPCNS certificates left.
Naturally she didn't believe us, so she went to talk to her supervisor. The supervisor knew enough
to confirm what we said, so she disappeared into a back room somewhere presumably to make the
call. We fully expected this to be a simple two-minute conversation just to get the news that all 500
certificates were gone. So we waited.
The clerk returned 10 minutes later, and like a jury returning with a verdict she didn't make eye
contact. It was hard to read her face. But when she reached her desk she turned to us, smiled, and
gave us the thumbs up. As we stood there dazed and confused, she sat at her terminal and started typing
up forms, which she did brilliantly, asking us questions along the way, like whether the car had
two doors or four. Finally she clicked a print button, then riffled through a drawer and pulled out
a large pink card with a big number 2 on it.
Licensed to drive. Until February.
The pink card says "Temporary Operating Permit" at the top. The number 2 represents February of
2014, which is when the permit expires. The card also has our license plate number, and while we don't
have actual plates, the number is printed there so any cops who pull us over will have something to
write in the license plate box on the ticket. The pink card is supposed to be taped to the inside
of the back window, which in our case is the windshield, where it probably won't be particularly
visible until the officer actually approaches the car.
So we now have until the end of February to get our SB100 certificate filled out by a smog
referee, pass a brake and light inspection at a Bureau of Automotive Repair station, and return all
of the paperwork to the DMV for our permanent registration and license plates. Not that we'll need
that much time. We're thinking maybe a week and a half, and most of that's going to be spent waiting for
the certificate to arrive in the mail. On the other hand we have to make appointments, so you never
know.
Now that we're legal, we're looking forward to extending our test loop. It's tempting to take the car on a trip to
L.A., but I think we should first see how it does on a drive that lasts longer than ten minutes. We
still have potential tire issues, and the temperature gauge still goes past the halfway mark when
it's warm, which it did in the donor, although we never drove that car for much more than ten
minutes at a time either. But we won't worry so much about what the gauge reads as long as it
doesn't go all the way up to hot, and the car doesn't lose coolant.
Shift level now farther from switches
Meanwhile we're still making upgrades. We seem to be in the sorting phase right now. For a lot of
builders, this phase is all about getting the suspension to work or the car to run
with whatever mix of fuel and ignition management they're using. Our engine and suspension already
work perfectly, or you know, good enough, so we're just sorting aesthetics. And ergonomics,
which prompted us to buy a short shifter. It doesn't reduce throws, it's just shorter. About an
inch and a half. It looks way better and we're missing a lot fewer shifts, so well worth the $40 price.
Bolts now extend all the way through the nuts
We also replaced the extra-long clamp bolts on our upper A-arms. Due to some kind of organizational
mix-up early on in our build, the AN6-43 bolts we originally ordered were about 1/4" too short.
Maybe less. You could tighten them up, but the threads didn't quite extend into the nylon region of
the nylock nuts, which kind of defeats the purpose of nylock nuts. So last week we bought some new
AN6-44 bolts from Aircraft Spruce and installed them on the car, and we now have threads sticking out
of the nuts. Or at least one thread.
As we noted in our last report, we've started making a cover for the trunk area. After playing
around with various ideas for wood, fiberboard, or aluminum panels, and not coming up with a respectable
way to attach the panels to the chassis, we decided to go with a more traditional tarp-like cover that
snaps on. We found some cotton-backed vinyl that didn't look too thick to sew on our trusty Singer,
and drew some patterns in PowerPoint that we thought might work if we could just avoid the whole
zipper scenario. We're thinking Velcro, or possibly one of its cheaper competitors.
Possible future Locost trunk cover
The vinyl material, being cotton backed, doesn't stretch like your more expensive polyester-backed
interior vinyl from Moss Motors. So we should be able to make a taught and waterproof cover, as
long as we can get all of the snaps in the right place. We'll only have one shot at this, because
we have to drill holes in our freshly-painted aluminum bodywork for the snaps, and if there's one
thing we learned in two years of building a car from scratch, you can't easily un-drill holes. At
least not in aluminum. At least not easily.
Hood scoop may eventually be this shape
Our hood scoop is also coming along nicely. Okay not really. We finished the buck and varnished
it a bunch of times, but it turns out varnish doesn't dry as fast in November as it does in July.
So we have a couple of soft spots yet. I think we'll give it one more coat and another week or two
or five to dry before we lay up the mold. Once the mold is cured, we'll wax it up really good and lay up
the actual hood scoop, and if that turns out okay we'll let you know. In any case, the lack of a
hood scoop isn't going to keep us from driving the car.