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Tyson admittedly restricted budget. Then the JC Locust add came
into view. This seemed to be the one. The cost initially seemed
within reach and so a Locust it was to be.
Before undertaking the task of putting together his kit John felt
it may be prudent to take a look at a finished Locust so he made
the trek to the Newark show of 1987. On finding the JC stand he
encountered the finished car that makes up the other half of this
feature so on being impressed with what he saw our man placed his
order for the build up plans in July that year and four weeks later
the project began.
In truth John took something of 2 risk in starting the build of
his kit by beginning with the body and delaying the acquisition
of a chassis until a later dare when he could be sure of completing
the car. The aluminium needed to complete the bodyshell cost a mere
thirty quid and with this finished he initially endeavoured to make
his own chassis This he was unable to do due to various reasons
and so it was back to JC Cars to order one from there. This arrived
promptly thus necessitating the sometimes exasperating search for
the donor vehicle.
Five years previously John had owned a Cortina Mk 2 which he sold
to a local man with whom he had chance to meet again just after
the arrival of the chassis. Now the Locust is designed to accept
either
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Spitfire or Escort donor parts but our man reasoned that the difference
between Escort and Cortina would be minimal and. on learning that
his old Mk.2 was up for grabs for a mere f20 due to the condition
of the bodyshell, he snapped it up. Enter one donor vehicle.
John hit a rather nasty problem from almost minute one when, on
trying to fit both engine and steering rack discovered that some
holes had been drilled in the wrong place. He rang John Cowerthwaite
who informed him that he had been the unlucky recipient of one of
a batch of five rogue chassis that had inexplicably escaped from
the factory. Rather than go through the time consuming process of
ordering a replacement chassis John simply filled the original holes
and drilled new ones himself. Once the engine is in place it is
normally necessary to cut an aperture in the engine cowling to facilitate
the fitting of a performance carb. John wanted the carb but not
the hole in the hood so to skirt around this particular problem,
he lowered the mounting of the engine by five inches. This does
leave the oil sump a little on the low side but John is working
on a repositioning this.
Using an engine for which the chassis is not initially
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designed provided another test of the owner's skill
in metalwork. The 1600E sump and starter of the 1600E engine are
on the opposite side to that of a standard Escort power unit so
John merely hacksawed his way through the front rails and inverted
them so to enable the chassis to accept the engine at its lower
position. At the rear end of the car the bottom links of the trailing
arms were lowered to stop any axle rolling and improve rigidity.
The exhaust was re-routed and the silencer relocated to reduce noise
and John came up with his own design for the spare wheel bracket.
Parts used to compete the job which were not taken from the original
donor include the front suspension from a Mk 3 Cortina, the rear
suspension which originally formed the front configuration of a
Spitfire with coil shocks fitted, steering rack from a Mk 2 Escort
which was stripped and re adjusted and Marina hand- brake and shortened
cable. On top of this John made his own prop shaft and 7 gallon
fuel tank Despite the problems en- countered along the way, John
still felt the build up of the kit reasonably easy and quick. Indeed
the most time consuming aspect of his venture into the kit car world
was his own trial and
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error experiments on various sections. He reckons the total cost
of his Locust to be approximately! £1,750 and he is delighted with
the outcome and help received from JC Cars feeling it has been money
well spent.
I must admit to having spent only a minimal amount of time in John
Tyson's Locust but during my brief jaunt around Humberside. the
car certainly gave a good account of itself. The seats again made
by the owner himself. were comfortable if a little short on thigh
support while finding a comfortable driving position was simplicity
itself. Turning the ignition the 1600E engine fired first time and
increasing the pressure on the throttle revealed just how quiet
the car is. In fact if anything a little bit too quiet. Moving away,
the car accelerates reasonably well albeit without any great excitement
and the general ride was smooth and minus any bumps and bangs. The
handling of the vehicle also impressed with the steering responsive
to all deviations of the wheel. As stated a short but satisfying
journey and an impressive vehicle when one considers the budget
price.
Finally, details of the Locust can be obtained from JC Sports
Cars P.O. Box 298, Sheffield S12 2DT Tel: 0472 700532
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