The shift linkage is completed from the shift knob to the transaxle. The Kirkey aluminum seats are securely mounted in place, and the roll bar has been added as well. The front Minilites have been converted to the original 5.5" width. In the photos you can see that both the track and street tires are the same dimensions so that track and street handling will be as similar as possible. The original Lotus 23 fuel tank unfortunately doesn't fit the pod, due to the additional bracing in the Lozuki, so a new tank will need to be fabricated. |
January 2004 Work on the Lozuki has been moving along well. Thanks to Tom's new HOT DAWG garage furnace, things stay nice and toasty despite the cold weather outside. |
2004 Lozuki Gallery |
Copyright 2004 Birchwood Design |
January 2004 Work on the Lozuki has been moving along well. Thanks to Tom's new HOT DAWG garage furnace, things stay nice and toasty despite the cold weather outside. |
The shift linkage is completed from the shift knob to the transaxle. The Kirkey aluminum seats are securely mounted in place, and the roll bar has been added as well. The front Minilites have been converted to the original 5.5" width. In the photos you can see that both the track and street tires are the same dimensions so that track and street handling will be as similar as possible. The original Lotus 23 fuel tank unfortunately doesn't fit the pod, due to the additional bracing in the Lozuki, so a new tank will need to be fabricated. |
February 2004 Things are really coming together. A crossflow exhaust system has been installed that uses the Yoshimura muffler. The tip of the exhaust will fit through the clamshell when it's closed. The stock Hayabusa air stacks were used in a custom air filter assembly. Oil cooler mounting was accomplished via two small tubes on the passenger side of the cooler and one on the driver's side. Cool air from a scoop on the rear deck will be ducted directly through the cooler. A spun aluminum fuel tank fits where the original Lotus item wouldn't. And the battery box has been installed. |
July 2004 The brackets for all of the components that will be attached to the frame have been put in place. For example, an expansion tank from a VW Jetta was placed to the left of the Hayabusa's head and behind the driver's seat. The coolant tubes run to the left of the driver, snaking inside the left front shock/spring assembly. The wiring harness is back from a Hayabusa specialist who did some prep for installation in the car. It will still take a lot of work. The frame is now stripped of everything that was attached, and final welding and cleanup is being done in preparation for powder coating. After these steps it'll be weighed. Our crude guesstimate using bathroom scales is that it currently weighs around eighty pounds. |
October 2004 After a three month hiatus for vintage racing and dealing with some inevitable mechanical issues, the Lozuki has been placed back on the front burner. There is a lot to report. The most noticeable thing is the newly powder coated frame. Clad in silver, it's looking both beautiful and robust. As it turned out our estimates of the frame's weight were significantly low. According to the weighmaster at the local scales, it's 150 pounds exactly. While this is more than our estimate of 88 pounds, it will form the basis for a very light and rigid Lozuki. The chassis components are gradually being added as you can see from the photos. Additionally, the new aluminum oil sump has arrived. The original equipment sump was less than optimal for the track because it was designed bike use, i.e., to be leaned into the corners. Since the Lozuki will do anything but lean into corners the new sump, with its windage tray, modified oil pickup and larger capacity will help keep the oil where it belongs. Because, however, of its extra width, some modification of the sump and/or the titanium headers will be needed. |
