Our application to the
Bay Area Maker Faire was accepted again this year, in part because we claimed our website will draw
visitors from all across the state to see the M.G. Locost in person. We don't actually know any of
the Maker Faire people who approve applications, but possibly one or more of them saw our exhibit
last year and weren't completely turned off by it. We think it helps that we're one of the easier
exhibits to accommodate. No requirements for power, water, Wi-Fi, or even a roof. Just stick us out
in the parking lot with a couple of folding chairs and we're good.
M.G. Locost at the 2016 Bay Area Maker Faire
We also don't make any noise, although we would if they'd let us, and we do draw a fair crowd (no
pun intended), although we think that's mostly due to our placement directly between the entrance
gates and the food court. Still, as long as we're going to be part of the show, we'd like the car
to look nice, or at least better than the cars parked next to it. To this end we've been reviewing
our upgrade options with respect to three specific areas of the car: wheels, bonnet, and mirrors.
Some of these are doable, probably not all. But we've made some progress.
Over the years we have been relatively happy with our Yamaha side mirrors, mostly because they
were large enough to see what was behind us when the dash-mounted mirror was flipping around in the
wind and showing us a meandering collage of trees, sky, road signs, and the occasional car. Even
when we discovered that superglue could be used to keep the rear view mirror steady, it still showed
us mostly spare tire. But all that changed last fall when we lowered the spare tire during the great
cracked spare tire mount debacle.
Yamaha mirrors functional but ungainly
Once we could see what was behind us out of the dash-mounted mirror, the Yamaha mirrors were
suddenly way too big. The side mirrors we'd originally wanted for the Locost were the period-correct
Raydot replicas. Much lighter than the Yamaha mirrors, the aerodynamic Raydots look like they
would've come standard on a Lotus 7, or been installed on one by a 60s-era racer. Unfortunately, as
with just about everything else we've ever wanted for the Locost, Raydots have a downside, their
cost, an additional $38 over the price of a Yamaha mirror.
So we waited for one of our Yamaha mirrors to break down, crack or something, but no, they
continued to perform flawlessly. They did vibrate slightly, which considering their thin mounting
tubes isn't surprising, but it was nonetheless unlikely we'd ever lose one on the freeway. So it
seemed we were stuck with them, until it occurred to us that if one of the Yamaha mirrors were ever
to vibrate loose and break, we wouldn't have a spare. We'd be stranded, unable to drive the car
until we could secure a replacement. And who knows how long that might take?
Period-correct Raydot mirrors also save fuel
So it seemed only prudent to buy spare mirrors right away, and probably Raydots because they'd be
easier to replace, and probably two because different mirrors on either side of the car would look
stupid. So we ordered the Raydots, then decided the Yamaha mirrors would work as spares every bit as
well as the Raydots, and the Raydots improved aerodynamics would begin saving us money on fuel right
away. So when the Raydots arrived, we bent up some aluminum straps for mounts and bolted them to the
car, then stashed the Yamaha mirrors someplace where we might be able to find them someday.
Installation of the Raydots proved to be fairly easy. We removed the Yamaha mirrors with little
damage to the scuttle paint, and were able to reuse the original Yamaha mounting holes. As expected,
the new mirrors look excellent, like they came with the car. Raydots have 1960 written all over
them. The 1/8" thick 6061-T6 aluminum mounting straps turned out to be at least as sturdy as the
Yamaha mirror stems, and the Raydots are so light that 90% of the vibration is gone. Despite a
slightly smaller and rounder surface area, the view to the rear is actually improved.
Vinyl still hasn't faded to proper shade of green
With the mirrors done, we have to do something about the bonnet, something that will probably
involve paint. The vinyl currently wrapped around the bonnet has served us well, but unfortunately
it's not the correct shade of green. We haven't heard any complaints so far, at least not out loud,
but at the Maker Faire the car will be subjected to close inspection by thousands of visitors, who
will spot the difference immediately and raise a ruckus. So we have to do something, and as always
we're not looking forward to waiting for paint to dry, so we'll keep our options open.
Meanwhile, we've gotten the junior Locost on its wheels. It steers and everything, although you
have to push it to get it moving. The steering wheel may look nice someday if we ever get around to
attaching wood to it, but the steering gear already looks impressive with its chain drive and
quick-disconnect sprockets for fast steering ratio changes. Adjustable pedal mounts bolted to the
steering column support slide back and forth to accomodate drivers of different lengths, which is
also cool. Yes, it was a lot more work than we expcted, and no, it wasn't worth it.
Chain-driven steering looks cooler than it is
As we might've mentioned earlier, building a half-scale electric Locost has turned out to be only
slightly less work than building a full-scale electric Locost, 'less' referring to components being
somewhat easier to pick up and move around. The little Locost has almost as many tubes as the big
one, and we had to make a lot of things for junior that we just unbolted from the donor or purchased
from Moss Motors for its big brother. We're hoping the interior and bodywork will be easier, but
we're not counting on it. We'll know more after we try to build a scaled-down fiberglass nose.
The fact that we're still willing to work on the junior Locost despite the level of effort involved has us
thinking of building a full-scale electric Locost, or 'Electricost' as we'll probably never call it.
The Electricost (maybe just this once) would still be MGB-based, since we have all the jigs and we
really like the way the M.G. Locost handles. We might go with an RX-7 rear axle to save weight, and
move the steering wheel half an inch to the right, but that's it. Of course a project like this
wouldn't start for at least another year, and we could easily change our minds before then.
Miniature rolling chassis actually rolls
Our build plan for the junior Locost only required us to have a rolling chassis for this year's
Maker Faire, but our progress to date has us considering a foray into next year's plan, like for
instance the drivetrain, which involves only batteries, switches, and some wiring. Plus maybe a few
other things. Our test motor is already bolted to our rear axle housing, and we've found a speed
controller online that has everything we need to get it running, including connectors for the
battery, motor, throttle, lockout switch, brakes, and even a low-voltage indicator light.
But we're not promising anything, because for one thing batteries and controllers don't grow on
trees, and for another we're not sure what all of those connectors are supposed to plug into. We
don't know right now what the throttle is going to look like, or the brakes, and we don't have a
dashboard, so obviously we can't have a lockout switch or a low-voltage indicator light or any of
those other things. Which means we have a lot to figure out if we want the junior Locost roaming around the
Maker Faire this year, so no promises.