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. In the January 2004 Photo Gallery you can see that 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 roll bar is a single hoop design with forward bracing for rigidity. This is a street and track day car, not a race car, and the roll bar design is more in keeping wtih the vintage flavor that the vehicle projects. 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 for either use the 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. |
November 2006 After a long hiatus to build the Ultralite, do some racing, work in Antarctica, etc., the Lozuki is back on the front burner. There are a lot of details that are coming together very nicely. Things like installing the perspex headlamp covers, fine-tuning the fiberglass body, particularly around the dash, and custom-fitting many aluminum panels. You can see in the photos the work that's being done. With the winter season still a few weeks off, there should be plenty of time to ready the car for track testing in the spring. |
December 2003 Much of the detail work that's required to finish a project car has been done. You can see the many changes in the December Photo Gallery. The dash has been reinforced with a steel plate and many of the gauges are mounted. Several tubes have been added to the front frame section and the front bulkhead has also been reinforced with a steel plate. The radiator is in place using the stock Hayabusa mounting points. The front body section is attached to the frame using a fairly elaborate system of reinforcing braces. The headlamp buckets, stock Datsun 510 pieces, are mounted behind their perspex covers. The new Hot Dawg space heater will make the winter's work quite comfortable. |
August 2003 The front end has received a lot of attention since the last update. You can see in the August photo gallery update that the front suspension is nearly complete. The front uprights, brakes, shocks and springs are right off the Lola 440. The lower A-arms are a spare set of Wheeler parts that were laying around. The upper A-arms started life as Lola lower arms, but they were flipped upside down, rotated side to side, and one tube was shortened on each side. The steering rack was a spare left over from an Argo SV. The rest is home made. The front frame will be given a few more tubes for rigidity, all of the tube ends will be boxed in, and both the forward footbox trapezoid and the dash will receive steel plate to increase torsional stiffness. The car is now a roller. The chassis looks quite different than the original Lotus 23 frame that appears in the photo gallery. After tidying up the few remaining details on the front of the chassis, attention will turn to the engine, which will receive plumbing and wiring. |
June 2003 The engine/transmission unit has been mounted to the frame and the rear suspension is in place. The photos in the Lozuki Photo Gallery show how the car is evolving. Note the upper and lower trailing arms and a-arms. The side pans have arrived--they are beautifully made of flawless fiberglass. The body has been set in place, along with the side pans, and some fettling will be necessary to make all of the pieces fit well. Interestingly, the nose of the Lotus 23 sits quite high. Tom is trying to keep the Lozuki's nose as low as possible without doing major modifications to the body. He plans to use the stock stock Hayabusa oil cooler, mounted in the right side pan. A NACA duct will provide the necessary air flow. |
The car is mocked up again to place the engine and suspension in proper relationship with the frame. You can see in the photos how the transmission output sprocket and the differential sprocket line up. The diff sprocket is the largest that will be used, so setting it in place shows the maximum clearance that will be needed. |
The Quaife differential has arrived. It's super compact and lightweight. The carrier is made of anodized billet aluminum with an integral carrier for the single Wilwood four-pot caliper and disc. The diff acts to equalize braking forces as well as accelerating forces. We've set the body on the basic tub with a mock-up suspension in order to place the suspension mounting points and the body in proper relation to each other. There' still some design work to be done on the front suspension before it can be built. Fortunately the rear suspension will transfer wholesale from the Lola. Tom plans to build a subframe for the Hayabusa and the suspension. Once the frame and sub-frame are completely built they'll be powder-coated. |
April 2003 The full Lola chassis proved to be a far too complicated foundation for the Lozuki. The footbox left much too little footroom for a 2-place vehicle, and there was no practical way to modify it. The Lola rear suspension will be retained, but the front had to go. Fortunately a friend of Tom's had an original 23 frame in storage and Tom was able to borrow it to use it as a pattern. As you see in photos in the Lozuki Photo Gallery, the new frame is built of much sturdier box-section tubing, but its basic dimensions remain true to the original. Tom built what you see in the photos literally in an afternoon. While I slaved at the South Bend lathe on my GTI shifter project, Tom "framed in" the Lozuki. A carpenter by trade, Tom's woodworking experience carried directly over to building the frame. It's a beauty. |
Lozuki Project Car |
The collection of parts is growing. The custom-molded body is sitting on blocks atop the Lola chassis to make sure everything lines up properly. The Hayabusa engine is on its stand in the corner. We'll be chronicling the construction of this one-of-a-kind concept as it becomes a reality. |
April 2003 The full Lola chassis proved to be a far too complicated foundation for the Lozuki. The footbox left much too little footroom for a 2-place vehicle, and there was no practical way to modify it. The Lola rear suspension will be retained, but the front had to go. Fortunately a friend of Tom's had an original 23 frame in storage and Tom was able to borrow it to use it as a pattern. As you see in photos in the Lozuki Photo Gallery, the new frame is built of much sturdier box-section tubing, but its basic dimensions remain true to the original. Tom built what you see in the photos literally in an afternoon. While I slaved at the South Bend lathe on my GTI shifter project, Tom "framed in" the Lozuki. A carpenter by trade, Tom's woodworking experience carried directly over to building the frame. It's a beauty. |
The Quaife differential has arrived. It's super compact and lightweight. The carrier is made of anodized billet aluminum with an integral carrier for the single Wilwood four-pot caliper and disc. The diff acts to equalize braking forces as well as accelerating forces. We've set the body on the basic tub with a mock-up suspension in order to place the suspension mounting points and the body in proper relation to each other. There' still some design work to be done on the front suspension before it can be built. Fortunately the rear suspension will transfer wholesale from the Lola. Tom plans to build a subframe for the Hayabusa and the suspension. Once the frame and sub-frame are completely built they'll be powder-coated. |
Copyright 2006 Birchwood Design |
The car is mocked up again to place the engine and suspension in proper relationship with the frame. You can see in the photos how the transmission output sprocket and the differential sprocket line up. The diff sprocket is the largest that will be used, so setting it in place shows the maximum clearance that will be needed. |
June 2003 The engine/transmission unit has been mounted to the frame and the rear suspension is in place. The photos in the Lozuki Photo Gallery show how the car is evolving. Note the upper and lower trailing arms and a-arms. The side pans have arrived--they are beautifully made of flawless fiberglass. The body has been set in place, along with the side pans, and some fettling will be necessary to make all of the pieces fit well. Interestingly, the nose of the Lotus 23 sits quite high. Tom is trying to keep the Lozuki's nose as low as possible without doing major modifications to the body. He plans to use the stock stock Hayabusa oil cooler, mounted in the right side pan. A NACA duct will provide the necessary air flow. |
August 2003 The front end has received a lot of attention since the last update. You can see in the August photo gallery update that the front suspension is nearly complete. The front uprights, brakes, shocks and springs are right off the Lola 440. The lower A-arms are a spare set of Wheeler parts that were laying around. The upper A-arms started life as Lola lower arms, but they were flipped upside down, rotated side to side, and one tube was shortened on each side. The steering rack was a spare left over from an Argo SV. The rest is home made. The front frame will be given a few more tubes for rigidity, all of the tube ends will be boxed in, and both the forward footbox trapezoid and the dash will receive steel plate to increase torsional stiffness. The car is now a roller. The chassis looks quite different than the original Lotus 23 frame that appears in the photo gallery. After tidying up the few remaining details on the front of the chassis, attention will turn to the engine, which will receive plumbing and wiring. |
May 2003 |
How do numbers like this sound? 1300cc, 170+ horsepower, 1100 pounds, 6-speed sequential gearbox. Add to it a beautiful sunny summer day in Leelanau County or on Old Mission Peninsula and you have the stuff of dreams. |
December 2003 Much of the detail work that's required to finish a project car has been done. You can see the many changes in the December Photo Gallery. The dash has been reinforced with a steel plate and many of the gauges are mounted. Several tubes have been added to the front frame section and the front bulkhead has also been reinforced with a steel plate. The radiator is in place using the stock Hayabusa mounting points. The front body section is attached to the frame using a fairly elaborate system of reinforcing braces. The headlamp buckets, stock Datsun 510 pieces, are mounted behind their perspex covers. The new Hot Dawg space heater will make the winter's work quite comfortable. |
November 2006 After a long hiatus to build the Ultralite, do some racing, work in Antarctica, etc., the Lozuki is back on the front burner. There are a lot of details that are coming together very nicely. Things like installing the perspex headlamp covers, fine-tuning the fiberglass body, particularly around the dash, and custom-fitting many aluminum panels. You can see in the photos the work that's being done. With the winter season still a few weeks off, there should be plenty of time to ready the car for track testing in the spring. |
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. In the January 2004 Photo Gallery you can see that 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 roll bar is a single hoop design with forward bracing for rigidity. This is a street and track day car, not a race car, and the roll bar design is more in keeping wtih the vintage flavor that the vehicle projects. 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 for either use the 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. |
Take one part Lola Formula Ford, one part Suzuki-Hayabusa, one part Lotus 23-like sports racer body, add generous portions of creativity and hard work, and you have the Lozuki. |
