Photos - Various minor components

Seatbelt retractor and upper pivot in their location and tacked in place

Mount for the seatbelt stalk located and tacked in place.

Lower seatbelt mount tacked in place.

Inside view of lower seatbelt fexible mount. All seatbelt mounts and positions were inspected and approved by an engineer.

Fly-by-wire accelerator pedal and brake pedal in place. Accelerator pedal was later moved further to the right. Brake pad area was narrowed from original MX5 auto to a Holden manual rubber pad to provide more room for feet in narrow pedal area.

MX5 handbrake and cables worked well. Due to the longer length of this chassis the MX5 tailshaft did not have to be shortened.

The brake system: MX5 power booster & ABS control module mounted and new brake lines installed. The benefit of using a single donor car was that everything matched and the anti-lock brake system could be incorporated into the Locost. The engineer was very impressed with the superb end result.

Now this is something you will not find on many Clubman cars! As a paraplegic I need hand controls to drive so here you have my modified hand control. Rather simple really - push forward to brake and pull back toward you to accelerate.

If you look carefully you can see how the hand control levers are attached to the pedals. 6 speed tiptronic auto requires only two pedals and a big footrest. Reasonable room for your feet in this Locost Clubman.

Custom aluminium radiator built to my specs by Aussie Desert Coolers. A bit costly but provides improved cooling and less weight - and it looks great. Down side is high cost of repair if it gets a hole. A conventional radiator would be cheaper and easier to repair.

Radiator and auto transmission cooler fitted

Original MX5 electric fan and shroud modified to suit new application. Early Toyota Corolla hoses used.

An aluminium fuel tank was custom made to suit this project, including an extended section that fits closer to the rear subframe. Capacity is around 40 litres.

The small sump in the bottom of the tank is for the MX5 fuel pump assembly, and along with baffles, assists in overcoming fuel surge at low fuel levels. The drain plug is also a helpful inclusion and often forgotten by builders. A tank full of fuel is very heavy to lift out of the Locost.

The Mazda MX5 in-tank fuel pump and guage sender unit, which has its own "swirl pot" to reduce fuel starvation. A clever design by Mazda that was worth retaining in the new fuel tank. The fuel gauge sender unit works but was difficult to calibrate accurately as the float is too close to the tank baffles - another minor error!

Fuel tank nestled in place and locked down. I must admit that I am a bit uncomfortable about what might happen if the clubman gets hit from behind and the fuel tank is squashed?

A Jaguar XJ6 series 3 Saloon provided a well presented and lockable fuel filler and cap, with the legally required restrictor for unleaded fuel.

After a bit of fiddling, the fuel tank and filler cap were joined together with a filler pipe and fuel resistant hoses.

To the right of the fuel pump is a breather that connects to the carbon canister to satisfy the ADR's as part of the sealed fuel system required in modern cars. Also in the breather line is a one way valve that prevents fuel flowing out through the breather if the car is rolled over. The line to the carbon canister was rerouted later in the build.

I wanted my Locost to have a spare wheel - knowing my luck I will get a flat tyre at some stage. Not everyone fits a spare to their clubman, but to me it offers piece of mind. Even the original MX5 did not have a spare and only provided a sealant kit and pump, which is OK for a small leak? But if you get a decent hole in the tyre then you are stranded.

Spare tyre mount easily removed for track days and also provides a solid mount for the number plate as well as providing a bit more protection for the rear of the car. NOTE: Fuel tank breather line to carbon canister has been moved to run up to one-way valve and then around fuel filler.

K&N Apollo Air Filter Pod designed for an MX5. The filter is inside the plastic housing to protect it from engine bay heat and an intake duct picks up cool air from outside the car. The standard MX5 Mass Air Flow Sensor is retained with this set up.

Left & right side mirrors are from a 2010 Suzuki GSX 650F motorcycle and provide a good size of mirror and range of adjustment. If I had to start again I would prefer mirrors with indicators built into the housing for greater safety.

The Suzuki mirrors were easy to mount and pivot forward or backward to provide a wide range of adjustment and prevent damage when hit or bumped.

The start of a windscreen. A template of the desired shape was cut from 9mm ply.

The frame for the glass was made from 12mm aluminium channel sourced from a hardware store (Bunnings). To assist with bending the channel around the top corners of the template, the aluminium had to be annealed (softened). Because aluminium does not change colour as you heat it you can end up with a molten pile of alloy where your channel once was. A simple trick to prevent this is to draw lines on the channel with a felt tip pen and then gently heat until the black lines disappear.

Once the black lines have gone allow the channel to cool and it's then soft enough to make the bends.

This is a great home made tool that I borrowed from another builder, who made it for his Clubman project. A great idea with this design is the flanges on the wheel that neatly fit on each side of the aluminium channel. With the flanges on the outside and the ply on the inside there is no room for distortion of the alloy and you end up with a smooth finish.

The channel is clamped in place and the bending tool attached to the template.

A touch of grease was applied to the channel and a small amount of effort required to bend it around the template.

The channel now conforms to the template with no kinks or distortion. The flanged wheel is the real key to this.

I found that the end of channel tended to flex back a bit from the template after the desired bend was achieved, so I made another small template with the corner a bit larger, thus enabling the channel to be bent slightly more than required and it then flexed back to the actual shape desired.

Still a bit of detail work to go but the windscreen frame turned out very well and a much easier job than anticipated, thanks to the flanged bending tool.

Windscreen posts cut from 3mm aluminium, held by the mirror mounting bolts, plus one extra lower bolt. Windscreen angle is approx 30 degrees and about 300mm high. Angle and height arrived at after juggling appearance and functionality to arrive at best compromise. Laminated glass will be fitted during final assembly. No windscreen wipers will be installed and the screen will not be fitted at registration time. It will be an accessory item that I will fit once the clubman is registered.

UPDATE: I left the previous ten photos in place (how I built the windscreen frame), as the information may be helpful for some builders. However, as shown in the next couple of photos I eventually fitted a wind-deflector rather than a full windscreen. I stored the windscreen parts and in the future may fit a full windscreen?

After driving the clubman without any form of windscreen I knew something was needed to make it more comfortable. With no wind deflector at all you are constantly pounded by wind and noise which becomes irritating after a while. So a wind deflector was fitted using three custom made aluminium support brackets finished with satin black epoxy paint.

The wind-deflector is actually a "bug deflector" for truck bonnets. It was the ideal size and just needed support brackets fabricated. To be legally accepted as a wind deflector the driver must look over it rather than through it. If you look through it then it's a windscreen, which must be laminated and fitted with wipers & washers and a demister system.

The power steering and air conditioning pumps were removed and the ribbed drive belt shortened and rerouted. This is the original set up with the power steering pump on the top right corner and the airconditioning pump on the lower right corner. The belt tensioning pulley to the left of the crankshaft pulley was also replaced. The following photos explain the changes.

Compare this to the previous photo and you can appreciate the cleaner and simpler drive belt set up with the power steering & airconditioning pumps deleted. The original belt tensioner pulley has been replaced with a new idler set up to enable the drive belt to clear the crankshaft sensor. The power steering pump has been replaced with a new idler pulley that also provides the belt tensioning via an integrated offset cam.

And this is the great little set up that made the change to the drive belt possible. Excellent quality parts manufactured and supplied by EuroSpeed Motorsport in Queensland. Unfortunately I beleive they are now out of business as there is no longer a web site for them.

The original Mazda belt was approx 2240mm long and the new belt is only 1340mm, a massive difference of 900mm! For anyone contemplating the same conversion the part number for the new belt is 6PK1340.

The new top idler pulley bolted up to the original mounting points. Drive belt tension is adjusted using a ring spanner on the central cam and locked in place with an allen key.

This lower idler pulley is required to keep the drive belt away from the crankshaft sensor.

Two views of the fabricated transmission rear mount, which utilises a HQ Holden gearbox mount. This replaces the MX5 "alloy ladder frame" that originally mounted the transmission and diff together. The alloy ladder frame would have required a wider transmission tunnel so the fabricated mount eliminated this problem.

Found this well designed and built heater on the web in the UK. T7 Designs developed a range of heaters and accessories for Clubman and Kit Cars (see Links page for details) and offer quite a few options. The aluminium heater is compact and leightweight. The mobile phone gives a comparison for size. UPDATE: Since I purchased this heater T7Designs have introduced new and improved heaters and options.

The heater assembled and ready for installation.

The heater's compact size means it can fit in the confined space of the dash/scuttle area. If you look closely you will notice that the scuttle is reinforced with an additional 3mm aluminium plate to help spread the load of the heater. Wiring was improved later to protect it from the heat of the matrix.

Engine side of the scuttle showing the inlet and outlet fittings for the heater.

A universal heater temperature control valve installed, with cable to rotary temperature knob on dash.

Two rotary control knobs from T7 Designs (UK). One for three fan speeds and the other to control heater temperature.

MX5 exhaust headers and catalytic converter were left standard and in original configuration to make registration easier. Factory CAT attached to headers meant quick and clean engine warm up and running and an easy pass for emmissions testing.

Custom made tubing that transfers the exhaust under the engine and out the passenger side of the vehicle. Tucked up high between rear of sump and auto trans to maintain ground clearance, it was wrapped with insulation to reduce heat transfer into the engine and trans.

MX5 exhaust is on the drivers side of the Duratec engine but I wanted exhaust down passenger side. After the catalytic converter (mounted below the header) a sharp bend was fabricated to cross under the car between the engine & auto trans and then this pipe ran out the passenger side.

A temporary exhaust system was made to meet registration requirements, fitted with one large and very effective muffler. It exited the rear of the car through a small tailpipe. Mild steel heat shields were fabricated and painted black. Neat, effective and very quiet, it easily passed noise requirements for registration.

Once the Locost was registered a new stainless exhaust system was fabricated from under the engine to down the passenger side. It utilises two “hot dog” style mufflers to provide a not too noisy, but satisfyingly sporty sound.

Exhaust heat shields were hand formed from perforated aluminium. A simple jig was made and the aluminium rolled to suit the job.

A few basic tools and a bit of gentle persuasion had the heat shields conforming to the desired shape.

Hammering over a 20mm lip on each long edge added rigidity to the heat shields.

The final product came up a treat. The heat shields work effectively and can be easily detached by removing a few small fasteners.

The heat shields are easy to maintain and clean. Just wipe over with a scouring pad and they look like new again.

The LED tail lights were installed onto their fibreglass mounts. I then decided to finish them with carbon fibre wrap rather than paint them.

The fibreglass tail light mount that I made earlier, plus some carbon fibre wrap and basic tools and I was ready to proceed.

Nearing the end of the wrap. Just a bit more heat and some trimming and job done…..

Not too bad for my first attempt at a carbon fibre wrap finish.

The final product looks rather neat and a little bit different.

Locost Clubman build

Some of the many bits & pieces a Locost needs

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