Am sure everyone who is building could make tons of suggestions about doing things differently.
Mark
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I was thinking it may be useful to new builders to at least read the wisdom of those who have already finished
(possibly a different section of the forum?) The advice does not have to be followed but could help avoid others making the same mistakes.
For example if you make the 'front frame' (the four tubes that weld together behind the rad) as per the book it leaves 2
'knuckles' that stick out thru the side panels. Difficult to fit the panels around, look naff and have to be fitted with protection to pass
SVA. Had I known this I would have changed the design slightly to avoid this area coming thru the panels.
Another example is if someone had explained just how much work goes into making the scuttle complete with rolled edges etc I think I would have bought
a fibreglass one complete.
Just an Idea to add value to the site - Alan
as a 'relatively' new builder I completely agree! Excellent idea!!
Am sure everyone who is building could make tons of suggestions about doing things differently.
Mark
Alan my crystal ball says...SVA...at...Yeading..
Yeah. yeah, Ok...so I read the other list too..
Well done with the SVA.
Yes, things I wouldn't do again...is a good thread idea....although perhaps it may be better in the chat/locost related section....
Mine would be when doing moulds and bodywork...I'm doing it twice because I didn't design or model it enough first time around..Oh well you
live and learn...
I got one for you.
Don't buy an Avon.
Get married?
quote:
Originally posted by ijohnston99
Get married?
I have been married 24 years......
been buildign a car for 4 of those! 
will be sva'ing my car at derby
building a locost that looks like a morgan may or may not be a good idea
atb
steve
Things I would not do again- would be useful to me. I would rather learn from others mistakes than from my own.
As an offering... as an incentive for my wife to support me in my build (and to demonstrate my confidence of the cheapness of my plans) I said that I
will give her, in cash, the same amount that I spend on the car, so she is now very keen for me to spend as much as I want. However, she is also
keeping a close record of the accounts and so I am thinking of having my little locost packages delivered to another address!
Not a good idea.... 
and you realise thats not gonna be £250 right?
Sleeping with identical twins in the same bed without a months supply of viagra
Oh to be young again, a six pack and still have hair
Knackerd twat
I built to much complexity into my car. Next time, no heater, no fully trimmed interior, no lockable boot and most of all no ali nosecone.
KISS
Keep It Simple Stupid
And don't try to reinvent the wheel, whatever you're thinking of doing will have been done before, ask questions and respect the answers.
Cheers
Chris
The biggest gaff I ever made, which basically halted my drive and passion for building one-off cars, was moving from the beautiful and relaxed shire
of Somerset to bloody Australia.
Gawd it's miserable! Don't get me wrong...it's a fantastic place for a summer holiday, but an abismal place to live, and try to be
creative in.
Move back?
quote:
Originally posted by Rorty
The biggest gaff I ever made, which basically halted my drive and passion for building one-off cars, was moving from the beautiful and relaxed shire of Somerset to bloody Australia.
Gawd it's miserable! Don't get me wrong...it's a fantastic place for a summer holiday, but an abismal place to live, and try to be creative in.
Trust me, Somerset is pretty miserable at the moment too!
Where abouts in Somerset were you from?
Kingr
Har har Alan in Florida, Rorty in Oz makes u think they MISS the old country by yaking to us, stay where u are the weathers bloody awful here
Shug.
Just caught me on the way out to the airport.....better stay now.....
Tell us when the weather is nice....
about 5 months time
so don't hold yer breath
Metal Hippy:
quote:
Move back?
quote:
You risk being called a whingeing pom, Rorty!
quote:
Where abouts in Somerset were you from?
quote:
.....stay where u are the weathers bloody awful here
There was an article by Germaine Greer (dislike the woman's political views but interesting article) in one of the Sunday papers last week.
She said it's a great place to go on holiday and she's patriotic as hell but she actually hates the place. She's quite happy living
here!
Back on the topic of the thread:
I have to agree with ChrisG and Steve:
messing around with things and changing stuff from the book is not worth it!
I truly wish I'd stuck with a book chassis and a Cortina donor!
Oh well! We live and learn!
James
Back on topic people...
Learning how to weld before actually starting on the bits that matter is a REALLY good idea.
I found that as I got better and better with the welder, the worse those first welds looked and I ended up grinding a bunch of them off and doing them
over again.
That reminds me of a saying my welding instructor had: "The more you practice, the better your equipment gets."
Yup.
Im gonna have to try that one on the wife
atb
steve
quote:
Originally posted by stephen_gusterson
Im gonna have to try that one on the wife
Mostly I've got to backup what SteveG and ChrisG said- having a finished car is way more satisfying than doing something different which takes
ages longer and means the car takes much longer to finish.
Things that seemed a good idea at the time:
IRS, larger chassis (with Cymtrics' mods), Pinto.
All of which have very debateable benefits over a standard car with a Cortina donor and a bike engine!
HTH,
James
I know 4 people who have emigrated and returned for various reasons and one who returned from Canada and then went back again. They all seem to say
how great it was out there and how they miss the weather. One regret one of them had was having to leave his Cooper 'S' behind when he came
back.
yours, Pete.
quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
quote:
Originally posted by stephen_gusterson
Im gonna have to try that one on the wife
Hey Steve, you're not related to AlanB are you?
David
