Project WEEEEE Building my dream car

[kevv87]

Hey everyone!

Since this place seems to be the official Atom online community, I figure here is as good as place as any to document/discuss the multi year project I'm starting on.
Hopefully a really long build diary of sorts is allowed.

My objective is to have an open wheel/cockpit, mid engine/RWD, F1/Indy looking gokart that can be driven on the street and track, perfect for a 40 year old man child. Natually this criteria drops the available selection down to like 5 or 6 cars. The Atom, DF Goblin, SVE rocket, exobusa, TR-42, and the sierra alpha. I'm sure there are some others i'm missing out there too. Or of course one could simply build from scratch, which is pretty much what your doing with all those cars except the Atom.

As luck would have it, i have found and bought a 2013 Atom SRA. IMO the best looking and closest i'll get to that F1/Indy look. Doesnt hurt that the Atom has a proven track record as a top performer either! Its the perfect platform for my goals! I'll start at street legal, then move on to wings/paint, then i'll start on power.

First objective is to get it street legal. Since its an SRA, getting it road legal here in America is possible but its going to require some work. Part of the reason for this post is to provide some up to date information, as shockingly, there isnt whole lot out there regarding this process, and i've been strongly discouraged from doing this. Meh whatever. If it was easy everyone would do it.

First of all, as of summer 2023 TMI will offer zero assistance in converting an SRA car into a street legal machine. Sucks, but i understand i guess. I'm not sure which parts are off limits, but as i figure that out i'll update the thread.

So what does an SRA need to be road legal here in America. Well it varies state to state but generally speaking the SRA is missing only 4 things. DOT lighting (headlights, tail lights, blinkers, and reverse), horn, parking brake, licence plate mount/light, oh and street legal tires since the SRA is equipped with hoosiers. In my state of Kansas, i wont have to worry about emission laws. Or at least I shouldnt have to as we dont have any. But you never know when it comes to an inspector.

Speaking of inspectors, my sheriff neighbor suggested to me that I take the car out to a small town where they routinely approve things like atvs, SxS, tractors, dirt bikes etc. Logic is they tend to be more accepting of hot rod laws, which is the set of laws governing what i'm doing.

But if this becomes a pain in the butt, there is always the proven Montana method. Which may be they way I go anyway since i have a huge tax phobia and Montana wont make me pay a property or sales tax like Kansas will.

Here is a 2021 article with more explination.

https://www.dirtlegal.com/blog/how-to-m ... reet-legal

So first up is lights. Since i've already alerted TMI about my intentions to make an SRA steet legal, i'm betting they're not an option for lighting. Ariel in the UK might be an option, or skunkwurx. Or I build a custom setup, which is probably what I'll do.

Next up is the parking brake. I'm gonna gamble on this and hope a simple line lock will suffice. If not i'll have to fabricate one since again, i'm not counting on TMI.

Horn, easy barely worth mentioning, same with license plate mount.

Tires, well i'm not sure what i'm going with yet. So if you have a favorite street/track tire tell about them.

As i get the lighting figured out i'll document what I do so others can follow.

Lookin forward to many years of fun with this!

Kevv87

[kevv87]

Hey everyone! Been a long fall, with a whole lot of day dreaming, internet searching, learning, and very little driving. In fact almost none at all, less than 50 actually. The last time I did drive, I failed to check my ego, goosed it like a total rookie around a round-about spun out and spanked the curb with the passenger side rear wheel. Toasted the lower control arm, and wheel. Total dumbass driving.

TMI hooked it up tho, and had a replacement lower control arm on my doorstep 5 days later. So big shout out to the boys at TMI! Got it put back together that following weekend, took less than 30 minutes. Crazy easy car to work on!

Progress report thus far however:

I've settled on a lighting solution, horn, parking brake and tires. So the buying spree has begun. The goal is to be road worthy by March, so more build posts, and pics incoming!

I ended up ditching the idea of a Kansas plate for the time being and instead decided the LLC in Montana would be the best option. I used dirtlegal.com to do the paper work. Cost about 1500.00 to do. Here is what I needed. A simple Bill of Sale with a VIN number on it, pic of said VIN number, and then some basic forms filled out (naming my LLC, etc). I supplied the SRA serial number for a VIN.

This would have worked, however since its a "non-conforming" VIN it required a police officer sign off. Something I was trying to avoid. What I ended up doing was using the 17 digit VIN from the engine instead. Worked and now I have temp plates for the car.

Hagerty quoted me, and is willing to cover the car (hopefully). So that's good. If not Rally will be my next stop, which my friend tells me covered him and his SRA.

That's it for now, but over the next few weeks and months there will be lots more!

Kevv87

[FrankRizzo]

There's a guy over in the "For Sale" section with some lights for sale. He doesn't want to ship to Europe, but might ship them to the US? (They're already wired, and have the proper mounts as well).

[kevv87]

I appreciate the lead Frank. I saw that post a few months ago, but still decided to go my own way for no particular reason.

Any chance you or anyone on the site has a wiring diagram for the lighting? Or can let me know which of the existing capped off harnesses are for lighting?

Anyway, pics and more to come soon!