DIY Car part 2 - my progress so far

Although I haven't mentioned it since my first post, I have actually been doing a fair amount of work on the Locost, a sports car which I'm building. Although it's still very far from being finished it is now starting to slightly resemble a car, so I thought I would put up a progress update.

Building the Frame

The first major component to be built on the car was the frame. I should say, rather, that it was the first to be started as there are always a few more brackets and things to add to it as the build continues, but the major structure of the frame came together fairly quickly.

Start of frame build

Here is how it all started: four lengths of 1" 16ga rectangular section steel tubing clamped to a build table. Seems very simple, right? It's hard to imagine at this stage that this will eventually be where your butt will sit as you travel down the highway.

Bought a sailboat!

Although I wrote a post about land sailing a short while ago, I haven't had a chance yet to build and test a land yacht. However, since my interest in wind powered propulsion has continued to grow for several years, I decided to finally splurge and buy a sailing dinghy on which I could learn to sail in the spring (once the ice melts).

My criteria for boat selection were fairly straightforward:
1. It had to be small enough for me to be able to sail single-handed at times, including launching and recovering on my own. I also wanted it to be responsive enough to make a good learning boat. This limited my selection to dinghies, as opposed to larger cabin cruisers.
2. It had to be large enough to sail two-up with my significant other, and take along a passenger or two once we got a little more proficient. This eliminated the smallest and lightest dinghies such as Lasers, and slightly larger boats such as the popular Enterprise.
3. I wanted this boat to be relatively cheap since it was to be a learning tool so that necessitated a used purchase or probably an older boat.

What I settled on in the end was a CL-16, made by C&L Boatworks in Ontario, which is a copy of a Wayfarer MkII (more or less). The boat is 16 feet (4.8m) long, has a 6 foot (1.8m) beam, and weighs about 375 lbs. It's a bermudan rigged sloop with a 95 sq ft main sail, and a 29 sq ft roller furling jib. The boat came with a road trailer and all the rigging was in good condition, so it should be ready to sail first thing in the spring. Now the wait begins...

How to buy winter tires economically

Every year fall rolls around and people in Canada, the northern States, and Nordic countries start thinking about buying winter tires for their cars. Although you can drive around on "all-season" tires year round, their performance in snowy and icy conditions is dismal. In Canada, "all-season" really means three season (or May-August, depending on where you live).

Fuel your car with moving air!

Wind has been a source of energy used by mankind for centuries. In fact, one of the oldest ways to get around is sailing. Before the modern network of roads and railways sprawled out all over the globe the easiest and quickest way to move people and cargo from one place to another was by water, and sailboats were the primary vehicle of choice before steam power took over. Open seas and oceans were ideal since they provided lots of room to maneuver and didn't have any obstacles to slow the air, buy skilled sailors were able to navigate various channels and rivers as well. Wind powered vehicles do not, however, have to be confined to water.

Choosing your weapon (er, vehicle)

Many simple living enthusiasts promote pairing down the amount of stuff you own. After all, any item you possess will require some attention from you in the form of maintenance or other upkeep, some space to store, and will cost you some money. I agree with them in principal, however I think there is a case to be made for having a few different vehicle types available to you for different kinds of trips.*

Trikes aren't just for kids anymore

Most people in North America learn to ride a bicycle when they're a child. Before they finally discover the thrill of balancing on two wheels without skidding down the pavement on their knees, many go through a phase of riding a tricycle and/or a bicycle with training wheels. The appeal of trikes dies out fairly quickly once bikes are discovered, simply because they are slow and cumbersome in comparison. However, they don't have to be.

Recumbent bicycles have been around since the early 20th century. They were quite quickly found to be faster than conventional upright bikes, and just as quickly they were banned from the racing scene as a result. The conventional upright bicycle took over in popularity because everyone wants something like what the racers have (hence the popularity of 600cc and 1000cc sport bikes for cruising around town). Recumbent bikes never did die out though, and may different configurations of pedal powered vehicles were created over the decades, many of which perform much better than what you see in the Tour de France (most Human Powered Vehicle records are set with fully faired recumbents).

On being a fuel nerd

The wind in your hair, the sun glistening off of the metallic paint, the rumble of the exhaust as the pistons reciprocate inside their cylinders and control the repeated explosions of atomized flammable liquids to propel you across the country. These things are the essence of being a gear head. Unfortunately they are not at all what this post is about... Instead what I'm going to do is transition to the nerdy world of tracking your fuel consumption. As much fun as it is being out on the open road without a care in the world, when your Low Fuel light comes on you may pause and think for a moment what actually goes into making you move.

Roll Your Own: a DIY... car?

Whenever you start talking to people about General Aviation airplanes, or start reading about them somewhere, the conversation always seems to lead to Homebuilt airplanes (a.k.a. amateur built or kit planes). Homebuilt aircraft have been popular since the early days of aviation and, although they don't appear to be as prominent today because they are dwarfed by the number of commercially produced aircraft in the air, they are still a very significant share of the aircraft market.

Building your own aircraft makes a lot of sense, if you have the capability to do so. Often you are able to get much better performance for a lower price than you would with a factory built certified aircraft, such as your typical offering from Cessna or Piper. Homebuilts have to go through rigorous safety inspections before they are put to the sky, so the safety concerns that many people have about them are often moot.

So, if building airplanes is so popular, who don't people build their own cars? After all, you could reap the same benefits of lower cost, better performance, and a sense of pride that you get from driving around in something you made with your own hands. The answer is: people do. There are in fact many kit cars and scratch built cars both on public roads, and on race tracks around the world. They don't stand out very much, again due to the sheer number of factory build cars on the roads making them a fairly small percentage of the overall figures, but they are there.

Who cares about MPG?

Car manufacturers have been implementing various fuel saving technologies in their vehicles ever since the first fuel crunch in the 70's. A few decades later, the focus of a lot of consumers has once again shifted to fuel economy. The success of hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius and the gaining popularity of Hypermiling indicates that more people are paying attention to the efficiency of their vehicles.

However, although a lot of people notice L/100 km or MPG figures posted on car windows in car lots, one often overlooked figure is that of PMPG - Person Miles per Gallon (or L/P/100km?). Since the purpose of most vehicles is to move the occupants from one point to another, the PMPG figure is arguably more relevant than straight MPG. A person can decrease their fuel consumption by a few percent here and there by adjusting their driving techniques, tuning their vehicle, etc. but the fuel consumption per person can easily be doubled, tripled, or quadrupled simply by carpooling.

Pitfalls to avoid when going on a group trip

Recently I took a trip to Yellowstone Park with my girlfriend, a couple of her family members, and a couple of my family members. While the Park was a magnificent place to visit, I don't think any of us was quite as satisfied with the trip as we could have been with a few changes. Today I'll discuss some of the elements that may reduce the enjoyment of your next trip so that you can take precautions to avoid them.