well - ron champion says you can do it for £250 - and i really can not see that being possible

did he miss a 0 off the end? what would a realistic budget be to build one? using a old oily pinto you may have lieing around, with a couple of sierra uprights and using IRS

yes you guessed it - soon as my current project is fully trackworthy im building me a locost

Mines currently cost me £4014.28 thats for all the major parts. Only things left are an exhaust system, seatbelts and headlights. Anything else is little bits like p-clips, brake pipe fittings etc.

That building from a kit, most other parts have been sourced second hand.

Hoping to be on the road for around £5k. Time will tell

im on about 10k at the moment for my DAX, but im buying a lot of stuff new.

If you make your own chassis and buy the steel rather than nick it, I've worked out you can do it for under a grand, assuming you have all the tools and you get a Cortina donor for around £300.

(thats the car made - not on the road)

The book title says £250 but in the second edition, the author qualifies this a bit. He says is was possible when the book was first written but prices have gone up over 10 years, especially of escort donors. He says that he had to build quite a few to get the cost down that low and that it was built almost entirley out of scavenged materials. Examples are free steel offcuts when a few long lengths are bought, aluminium cut from the side of a scrap van, steel for the floor cut from the donor escort roof.

In practice, you are not going to do this because you want your car to be nice. You are going to pay for chassis paint and you are going to fit new brake discs and a new oil filter.

£5000 for a book locost build isn't far from the mark.

We did ours for 1500 each - on the road. Since then, I've spent another 7-800 on it, and there's still some stuff to do.

Still cheap motoring though.

quote:

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Originally posted by smart51
The book title says £250 but in the second edition, the author qualifies this a bit. He says is was possible when the book was first written but prices have gone up over 10 years, especially of escort donors. He says that he had to build quite a few to get the cost down that low and that it was built almost entirley out of scavenged materials. Examples are free steel offcuts when a few long lengths are bought, aluminium cut from the side of a scrap van, steel for the floor cut from the donor escort roof.

In practice, you are not going to do this because you want your car to be nice. You are going to pay for chassis paint and you are going to fit new brake discs and a new oil filter.

£5000 for a book locost build isn't far from the mark.

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Surely the true cost of any locost is.

TFYTTW*2 + ALBEJIC

quote:

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Originally posted by omega 24 v6
Surely the true cost of any locost is.

TFYTTW*2 + ALBEJIC

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The figure you told the wife *2 + A little bit extra just in case. LOL

Hopefully for me around the 3 1/2 grand mark though.

I spent about £3000 for the car, including rebuilding all of the oily bits and all new/recon brake components. £300 for tools, i.e. weding set, rivet gun etc. £200 for SVA, registration and plates.

That's for a book built car.

Budget when I started in 2000 was £1300 + tools + OTR

Main thing I underestimated was the cost of all the minor elements, such as bolts, trim, bearings, and bits of hose etc. Towards the end I seemed to be forever spending £5 here and £10 there.

David

£5500 ish for mine, but then (I guess a bit like Ned) I regarded the build as a way of getting something that had the performance and appearance of a Ca*er*am HPC for a lot less money.

I know the locost chassis isn't as good, but I like the "pre-lit" westy look and the cater*am look, but I am not keen on the new big wide sevens, as they are not really very sevenesque in my opinion.

£5500 is not locost, but it is cheaper than doing the equivalent westfield or other alternatives.

This little lot soon blows the £250 budget out of the window!!!!:



exhaust 2

[Edited on 8/6/06 by NS Dev]

I'm at about 6500 complete - including 'fancy' everything and SVA TEST and possible fail + insurance.

My original budget was £5k - but you just can't help spending!

I've got a lot of parts nickle plated - well as many as can be and everything is new (except engine and donor parts) but they have all been reconditioned.

It can be done cheaper for sure - but the beauty of these cars is you can build it how you want to

Sitting aroungd £6000,

Alfa v6 Viento, but just about finished, another 500 including SVA.

But its worth it!!!

I must be doing something wrong then, mines going to come in at £3000.

Mind you I,m making as much as I can so body & frame is under £300 for materials... engine £550 wheels £250 Seats £200, brakes £400, its the hidden bits that add up.

You do end up with some nice tools, a lot of satisfaction and a disgruntled SWMBO so its not all bad !

Regards Mark

I spent £2300 for the build and about £300 getting SVA'd and registered. I did have all the necessary tools, got some amazing deals, and had access to a bodyshop!

I'm hoping to come under £1500 built. If I'm lucky this may get me on the road too. It all depends how patient you are and how willing to make things. I'm quite patient and am learning how to make stufff from scratch, so this'll safe me a fortune. But will take much longer to build.

i am not after a pristine kit car, not really bothered about all the bling, would rather have a car that feels good - and is fun to drive than a load of bling

As per my thinking. Shiny bits are nice, but cost more than something I've made and painted. The only bits I can't make that I don't already have are the new brake parts, lights and a couple of gauges. Everything else is being built or modified from something cheap or free.

There seems to be at one end, "the build at almost any cost", and at the other end, "build as cheap as chips".

I suppose I fall in the middle. My trade enables me to make stuff, but then I do blow cash on other stuff.
A set of 5 wheels, my shocks, steering wheel, seats, and engine & gearbox, there's 2k for a start.

In saying that, the car stands at £3800 at the moment, with the only one major outlay to come, the sva.


Paul G

If I had the money I would get the engine I want now. However, to spread the potential cost out a bit and so I get to learn my car I'm starting with an 1800 cvh, rather than a tuned 3lt v6. Oh, and I forgot about the shocks. If I had the money, I'd buy some shiny/go faster bits, but I have to persuade the swmbo first. And that ain't easy.

Bling is expensive but sweat is not. Time is either free or expensive depending on weather the the build is a hobby or build to schedule. An ultra light racer I am sure would cost much more than a nice road car. I am at around $2200 Cnd or 1100# and I would not doubt if I double that by the time I get bodywork/paint and tires.
Dale

its very interesting how different the budgets are - id be aiming to build one (not sva etc) for about 2k maximum - with the outlay over several sections - i have a feeling bodywork will be the most expensive

i dont know if this is realistic - but will be one hell of a challenge finding out

What you want to do with the car very much determines what it'll cost to build. If it's a track car and you want to win, it means light weight wheels, sticky tires, and double-adjustable *good* quaility shocks. These items alone can be upward of $4000-$5000...

I keep a spreadsheet list of all the money I have spent on parts and materials, and have a cell at the bottom where I divide the total by the number of months I have been working on the car. At the moment the monthly average figure is about SAR 1 800 (about UKPounds 145).This make me feel a bit better about the R50 000 I have in a car on which almost nothing is finished at the moment!

I do have almost all the mechanical bits, including some expensive parts like:

MSD ignition system
Electric water pump
Willwood brake parts
Full set guages
Custom machining of flywheel
Aluminium Coil Overs
Custom aluminium machined parts
13 row oil cooler, oil thermostat + remote filter mount parts
Sabelt seat belts


I also cheat by not including consumables like spray cans of paint, masking tape etc, and no tools.


Cheers

Fred W B

[Edited on 9/6/06 by Fred W B]

I have a spreadsheet divided into subsections (eg Chassis, Suspension, Electrical, On Road etc) with all of the purchases, actual and projected. I have two amount columns, one for spent and one for projected, so I have totals for spent to date and remainder to completion as well as an overall total which drifts up and down as items get bought and shift from projected to actual columns.

The overall total is currently about $17k (Australian dollars) - a little under £7k or US$13k. This is for an own-design mid-engine clubman with 20-valve Corolla drivetrain and meeting Australian registration requirements.

Needless to say SWMBO does NOT get to see this spreadsheet

Dominic

ditto what nsdev says but i have spent a lot more. it also depends on how mnay of the tools you have before your build, i've probably spent at least a grand on tools over the last 3-4 years during my build.

Ned.

I have most tools required to work on cars with - engine hoist, all sockets spanners, pipe flarer, spring compressors, hub nut, various weights of sledgehammers - various different crow bars etc etc etc

only thing i dont have yet is a welder

Bodywork is expensive UNLESS you trawl round the kit manufacturers for seconds. Parts with a gelcoat bubble or a slight crack are often available. The only piece I paid full price for was my scuttle (MK).
In total, my bodywork cost £100, plus the cost of paint to get it all the same colour!

quote:

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Originally posted by DIY Si
As per my thinking. Shiny bits are nice, but cost more than something I've made and painted. The only bits I can't make that I don't already have are the new brake parts, lights and a couple of gauges. Everything else is being built or modified from something cheap or free.

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All well and good if you happen to own a machine shop. For most of us mere mortals things have to be kept a little simpler, ie mild manifold, cable clutch etc......

What I am planning to do is build my car as cheap as possible and have it running/driving well. After that, look at whats left of my budget and then see what upgrades I can do make it faster and better looking. How do budgets go again? First estimate, add $1000 and then double the total right?

Mine is going to be a low dollar car though. More a lesson in fabrication than anything. My real toys don't have a budget, just whats in the bank .
Cheers.

well I'm at about £1300 for a bare chassis and an engine!

time to get selling some of those surplus bits I seem to have accumulated!

I'd be quite pleased if it comes in under £3k. But I'd rather make it how I want than be too rigid on budget.

Don't get me wrong, I'm trying to be as tight as poss, but if I see something that will make a big difference to the way the car looks/feels and I think it's worth investing in, I'll probably get it. Budgets always have a little extra hidden in somewhere. It's mainly wether swmbo finds out or not!

wel so far I done everything on my own

600euro(400GBP) for chasis, forks and metalistic bushes and some tools

get the rear axcel and a trany from LADA as a gift

still have to by a welder that is the biggest expens for me ....

and waiting for some cache to buy engine from fiat 2.0 16v for 400euro and set of alloys with tyres for 400-500 euro ...

than we will se ... hope that it wont cost over 2000euro but betwen US here I think I allready spent 500on fuel to collect everithing in one place ....

Hi, I can tell you how he could build his cars for £250.

I visited him when he was still at Oundle School where he taught Automotive Engineering. This school specialises in Engineering and in its time has turned out many very well known engineers. Many of the boys parents have engineering companies and a large proportion of the materials were donated even donor vehicles. The school rented a small industrial unit and when I was there, I saw a smallscale production line of Locosts being built by 6th Formers all very cheaply, probably within the £250 because of the donated stuff that was not included in the sums. Nevertheless, to give Ron his due, his book has been an inspiration to many to get building and the car is in the best traditions of the 750MC. So, Good on yer Ron, I say.

John