cr9ig
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| posted on 31/5/18 at 10:45 AM |
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New Build Advise
Hi Folks,
Back in the late 90's I found the original Ron Champion book and talked about building a Locost on & off for years, then bought the second
edition which switched to Sierra IRS however the kids came along and all thoughts and reality of having a two seater sports car died 
So recently I'd been looking for something to build that my 9 year old son could get involved with, I'd looked at MK and GBS kits but I
just cant justify those initial costs and after a while I started to look back into the Locost build.
I am looking for a little advise first though, as I read up on the Locost I see a lot of further development has gone on by not only Haynes but also
private individuals, there seems to be multiple chassis options ie: McSorley, Saturn & Vodou, there may be more but these are the ones I've
seen. I'm a bit bamboozled by the options and what the actual difference in these frames would be. I intend to use a second gen MX-5 and would
like to know the best option to suit my build so I'd really appreciate your thoughts/experiences.
Thanks
Craig
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Ugg10
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| posted on 31/5/18 at 11:31 AM |
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If I were in your shoes I think the MX5 build would be towards the top of my list too. Reasonably cheap donor, if road legal you can run it for a
while and check all of the running gear is Ok (engine, wheel bearings, calipers, gearbox, diff etc.). If possible I would look for a 1.8 version with
5 speed box (not sure the 6 speed will fit) and a torsen diff (note MNR do a standard nosecone if you do not like the MNR one). The MNR mx5 starter
kit looks good value https://mnrsportscars.com/mnr-cars/mnr-vortx-mazda/ and can use lots of the mmx5 including loom, ecu etc., 140hp in a seven is
still entertaining. Also ripping apart the donor should be good fun for the young 'en particularly as the mx5 body can be lifted off the chassis
in one part leaving the oily bits exposed.
The alternative is to keep an eye on ebay for a part built kit that someone has lost interest in, Indy/Avon come up fairly often.
---------------------------------------------------------------
1968 Ford Anglia 105e, 1.7 Zetec SE, Mk2 Escort Workd Cup front end, 5 link rear
Build Blog - http://Anglia1968.weebly.com
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cr9ig
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| posted on 31/5/18 at 01:04 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Ugg10
If I were in your shoes I think the MX5 build would be towards the top of my list too. Reasonably cheap donor, if road legal you can run it for a
while and check all of the running gear is Ok (engine, wheel bearings, calipers, gearbox, diff etc.). If possible I would look for a 1.8 version with
5 speed box (not sure the 6 speed will fit) and a torsen diff (note MNR do a standard nosecone if you do not like the MNR one). The MNR mx5 starter
kit looks good value https://mnrsportscars.com/mnr-cars/mnr-vortx-mazda/ and can use lots of the mmx5 including loom, ecu etc., 140hp in a seven is
still entertaining. Also ripping apart the donor should be good fun for the young 'en particularly as the mx5 body can be lifted off the chassis
in one part leaving the oily bits exposed.
The alternative is to keep an eye on ebay for a part built kit that someone has lost interest in, Indy/Avon come up fairly often.
Hi Ugg10,
Thanks for your reply,the MNR kit does look good but again goes back to that initial cost which I'm intending to avoid by building a scratch
built chassis, the main thing I'm interested in is the differences between the alternative chassis designs & is there a particular design
that suits the MX-5 best?
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Slimy38
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| posted on 31/5/18 at 01:52 PM |
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I am currently building one using the Haynes 'Build your own sports car on a budget', along with the plans originally published by Saturn
sports cars. I've also made it slightly harder for myself as I'm using an Austin Healey replica body shell instead of the usual layout.
However it has kept my costs right down, with the shell and the MX5 donor being the biggest costs so far. In terms of metal I reckon I've paid
around £200 for a full set (that's about £100 for the chassis and another £100 for the suspension tube). I paid £350 for my MX5 donor, and the
shell is costing me £1000.
The McSorley one is good if you want a slightly bigger layout (the '442' in it's name refer to the extra inches you get in each
dimension), and there was a reason I stayed away from Vodou but I have no idea why it was now. Probably just more information available for the Saturn
design.
I was also about to suggest taking a look at Talon Motorsports stuff as Phil makes some great stuff. I have one of his diff cases for the MX5 diff and
I think it's a much better solution than using the original Mazda diff case. Problem is his website seems to have gone so I don't know how
to get in touch with him. He used to be on here, he might still be?
Edit: I've just realised, I think the McSorley is based on the original locost book, not the newer Haynes version. That would put me off.
[Edited on 31/5/18 by Slimy38]
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cr9ig
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| posted on 31/5/18 at 02:02 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Slimy38
I am currently building one using the Haynes 'Build your own sports car on a budget', along with the plans originally published by Saturn
sports cars. I've also made it slightly harder for myself as I'm using an Austin Healey replica body shell instead of the usual layout.
However it has kept my costs right down, with the shell and the MX5 donor being the biggest costs so far. In terms of metal I reckon I've paid
around £200 for a full set (that's about £100 for the chassis and another £100 for the suspension tube). I paid £350 for my MX5 donor, and the
shell is costing me £1000.
The McSorley one is good if you want a slightly bigger layout (the '442' in it's name refer to the extra inches you get in each
dimension), and there was a reason I stayed away from Vodou but I have no idea why it was now. Probably just more information available for the Saturn
design.
I was also about to suggest taking a look at Talon Motorsports stuff as Phil makes some great stuff. I have one of his diff cases for the MX5 diff and
I think it's a much better solution than using the original Mazda diff case. Problem is his website seems to have gone so I don't know how
to get in touch with him. He used to be on here, he might still be?
Edit: I've just realised, I think the McSorley is based on the original locost book, not the newer Haynes version. That would put me off.
[Edited on 31/5/18 by Slimy38]
Hi Slimy38,
Thanks for getting back to me. If I'm understanding correctly you're using the original Sierra based plans with the Saturn
modifications.
Funnily enough I've spent a short while this afternoon trying to find the Talon Motor sport website with no luck however I did find Talon
Products in Ebay selling the modified diff case so have sent a message via Ebay and will hopefully get a reply.
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Slimy38
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| posted on 31/5/18 at 02:12 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by cr9ig
Thanks for getting back to me. If I'm understanding correctly you're using the original Sierra based plans with the Saturn
modifications.
Funnily enough I've spent a short while this afternoon trying to find the Talon Motor sport website with no luck however I did find Talon
Products in Ebay selling the modified diff case so have sent a message via Ebay and will hopefully get a reply.
Yep, that's correct. I've also took a few pointers from various places to draw on people's experiences, for example the front frame
should be built slightly differently to the book in order for the suspension brackets to sit better. They're not huge changes but they're
worth considering.
And yes, that's the same guy. Note the lead times, I believe he makes things from scratch and it can take a while. And he doesn't appear
to be listing his chassis at the moment, either in kit or fully built. Perhaps it might be worth asking him about that, I seem to remember his kit
chassis was well priced for what you got.
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cr9ig
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| posted on 31/5/18 at 03:08 PM |
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Thanks,
I'd found that when I Google TMXR rather than Talon Motorsport I get a lot more information regarding the stuff he's done in the past. I
saw that his plans are available to download also but will go down the route of getting him to supply the steel or I may just get the chassis pre
built depending how flush I'm feeling at the time.
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MikeR
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| posted on 31/5/18 at 03:30 PM |
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Phil (talon) has stopped producing bits full time. It basically want paying the bills. He it's still doing bits occasionally. If you talk to him
and are prepared to be flexible on dates I'd anticipate he'd be happy to make something for you.
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cr9ig
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| posted on 31/5/18 at 03:33 PM |
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Thanks Mike,
I think after 20 years of "thinking" about building this car I can wait a bit longer🤣
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jps
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| posted on 31/5/18 at 03:36 PM |
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Phil posted recently that he was stopping doing his Haynes stuff as his margins were so bad.
Edit : Mike you beat me to it...
[Edited on 31/5/18 by jps]
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cr9ig
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| posted on 31/5/18 at 05:11 PM |
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That's a shame, it looks the best option I've seen so far.
With any luck I can at least get a kit from him and use the plans.
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Slimy38
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| posted on 31/5/18 at 05:29 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by cr9ig
That's a shame, it looks the best option I've seen so far.
With any luck I can at least get a kit from him and use the plans.
As a counter point, I deliberately didn't go for a pre-cut kit because I wanted some 'extra' steel. It's amazing how many
little odds and sods need to be done that aren't described in the plans or plate measurements. If you go for half a dozen lengths of steel of
the 19mm and 25mm then you'll have lots of extra metal for seat rails, headlight brackets, engine mounts etc.
The only thing I bought pre-made were the suspension brackets, purely because there's so many of them and they were cheaper/easier to buy. For
those I'd thoroughly recommend Rogue engineering, https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/daveo1121.
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