S2000 Locost Build Project: Release the beast

So the big news is that the engine is out. I finally managed to release the beast from the car over the weekend. I lowered the car down so the engine and trans sat on the dolly I'd made. I removed the trans support and front subframe, cut the front frame rail out and simply jacked the car up. The engine then easily rolled out.

Before I could remove the front subframe I had to remove the front suspension. This was relatively easy. I was amazed at the weight of the front uprights and brakes. Still trying to work out what to do with the front suspension. I like the idea of the single donor for most parts but still need to work out if I want to go with front upright from the S2000 or buy something different. If I buy something different it will likely cost me more money but may save weight and make the suspension design easier. Suspension design is something I need to spend more time reading up on. I've been reading bits and pieces on a forum about suspension design. I'm not sure if people just go way overboard with the designs and if it really makes that much of a difference.

I've managed to sell some more parts along the way as well. I'm well over the half way there to recovering my money on the original car. A lot of the big items are gone so I doubt I'll get all the money back. I do have a lot of parts to sell still so I might get close. We'll see. Its already a cheap engine and transmission for the engine I got. Add to this all the other parts I'll re-use like the wheels, differential, drive shafts etc and it was a good purchase.

Julie and the kids are heading away for a week so I'll have a full weekend (and maybe some evenings) to work on the car. I will probably cut the front end of the car off and cut it up to take to the scap metal yard. That will give me a lot more room in the garage to work. Once the front of the car is out I'll be able to drop the rear subframe out of the car. So more things to consider. I've seen people use the rear subframe of a miata for the back end of the car. I could do the same thing using the S2000 subframe. Weld in (or even bolt on) the rear subframe. It would likely save time and would make rear end suspension design easy. Again... something to think about.

After getting the engine out I was able to measure its dimensions. It is fairly compact but tall engine. I'll probably have to make the frame a little taller for the engine. Probably another 50 - 60mm taller.

So hopefully by the end of June I'll have the rear subframe out and the body will be all cut up and taken to the scrap yard. Before ordering the steel and welding up the frame I'll be doing a bit of work on the garage. I've got some paint for the floor to make the floors all nice to work on. I need to make a good work bench and generally get the garage ready for the build portion to start.