how long does it take the average man to build a locost????

cause i plan to build the chassis over my christmas break and to finish it over my summer holidays, or is this to much work to try and do in such a short amount of time

[Edited on 6/11/06 by goodall]

Finding the parts is a bit of a drag, Cleaning reconditioning takes time, but I started to build and finished in about 9 months with a lot of help on the parts from established people.
Steve.

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Originally posted by goodall
how long does it take the average man to build a locost????

cause to plan to build the chassis over my christmas break and to finish it over my summer holidays, or is this to much work to try and do in such a short amount of time

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has any1 ever completed an all wheel drive locost before?

i really hope i can have it done by this time next year

[Edited on 6/11/06 by goodall]

Good luck!

I started collecting parts seriously about 2 year ago. It tooke me the best part of 18mths to reckon them all and get them in a condition i was happy with. Then it took me 2.5months to get my car to a stage where it was rolling and had the drivetrain installed and the majority of the bodywork done. I am hoping to finish it over xmas and easter and have it ready for next summer.

This was based on building a kit, and I am away at uni 30weeks of the year.

I would say your timescale is optimistic, but not impossible depending on the amount of time you have to spend on it.

David

i won't be doing anything else, so like about 5 or 6 hours if not more on average i'll put into each day. i'll probabily just build the car without doing anywork to the parts just install them as i find them and then once i get her goin with out the body but in a driveable state then i'll work on gettin the parts in tiptop condition.

i hope to just use most things of the donor car and use parts we have from other cars and parts we have that were never used

[Edited on 6/11/06 by goodall]

I would strongly suggest cleaning/tidying up all the parts before fitting, as once they are in the car, it'll be damn hard to take them back out again. Not physically difficult, but it looks like taking a few steps backwards and that's hard to do. Especially once it starts being mobile.

Bought my F27 plans when my son was 2 months old , started building about 2 years later , will be lucky to have it buit for next summer .............my son just turned 14 (years) .


moral

don't have kids and expect to have time as well

Good luck fro me as well it's taken me a year off and on so far.
And by the way I don't think you'll find any average men or women on here we're all far above average

To go against the grain a little. I completed my chassis in little over a week, Summer just gone but I was working 12-15 hours a day (single ) and more than one ex girlfriend has told me I'm less than average . Don't feel the need to rush though, seriously, cos you'll just cock it up and regret it later. If you're knackered or hacked off, just leave it. You'll be glad you did later.

That plan sounds like me last year! I now have a rolling chassis and am working on bits like steering and pedal box. I really want to get it substantially finished this Christmas, a good excuse for avoiding rellies! Hopefully on the road next summer

caber

i would give any moving parts a spay with oil and paint every thing with hammerite black, also i'll clean of most greasy things with petol useing the oil spayer but besides that whats the point sure its just goining to get drity again after 20 miles on the roads about fermenagh (if you've never been to fermanagh the roads constantly covered in mud {infact i somehow think a locost might be unsuitable for most of the road conditions})

i know were all above average here sure we're buildings locosts so maybe i should have said the average locoster!

[Edited on 6/11/06 by goodall]

I reckon you'll be pretty blinking lucky to get it done in that time.

If you'd done one before (or atleast something similar) then maybe, but if you have no experience, I would say you're out of luck. Rumour has it that Rob Lane (who's built a lot of similar cars) managed it in 3 months.
When Hicost re-chassis'd his it took a couple of months and that was with two experienced builders in a decent sized and fully kitted out workshop.

If that really is your timescale I would suggest you bought a kit from MK/MNR/GTS and built one of them... that *is* possible in that time.

At the end of the day, I think it depends how experienced you are.

Cheers,
James

P.S. And if you were that experienced.... you wouldn't be asking the question!

[Edited on 7/11/06 by James]

well i have experiance welding and working at cars. i've switcher engines in a weekend once and i have a large workshop with all the tools required for doing this. i have everything that is required for this to be pulled of in record time by one man

I built the car pictured on the left in about 6 mo, but I was not dealing with much body work and the wing came from a previous car. 6 mo is fast. Even with fab experance and just building to the book, doing one in a year is good. This assumes you have a day job that you need to keep.

For what its worth I have about 2 months just doing the FEA and I am just getting started on the floor and cutting tubes.

AW

I'm going to about the 2 year mark if things remain on track

Rich

mine took 5 years to complete ,worth it in the end!
could of been a lot quicker but i had a life at the same time

If you want to finish your car to a good standard it will take a long time. Try not to look at the big picture and look at each job as an entity in itself. Somebody said, "How do you eat an elephant?" Answer in small pieces.

If I can pass on to you my experience. I have built one scratch built car, have a second on the go and I started the Phoenix in February this year. I am lucky enough to have a nice workshop am able able to do most things myself. Being retired, I can spend as much time as I want working on the car. So far, I estimate that I have spent 600 hours on the Phoenix and it is not quite finished. Remember, this is a kit so the chassis was complete and ready to accept the suspension components that were also supplied. However, not all the bits fitted properly and a lot of time has been spent on rectification particularly with the bodywork. In a way, a scratch built car is easier and perhaps just as quick because everything fits properly because you have made it to fit.

Back in the 80s, I bought a Caterham as a kit and they stated a 100 hours build time. The body was completely panelled, wiring and instruments installed brake lines and master cylinder all in. All that there was to do was to fit suspension, mudguards and lift the dots to hood and tonneau. 100 hours was realistic so bearing in mind the huge amount of extra work in a scratch build I think 600 hours would not be unreasonable.

John

"Average" men don`t build Locosts
Kind of like asking how long it takes to have sex

Alex

and like sex the longer it takes the better you are

Took me about 5 years or so to get the chassis finished! Too many other diversions...
...however, with what I know now, I could probably build one from scratch in a couple of weeks (maybe less), as long as I had all the donor parts handy for measurements, etc.

Once I decided to actually finish the car I got it done in 10 - 12 months after finishing the chassis (spare time only).

Never under-estimate the time needed to do the finishing touches - an old saying goes "the last 10% takes 90% of the time" - if you are striving to do a good job.

It's a great feeling when you drive off in something you've made yourself...

David

If you had ALL the bits (and that's not as easy as it sounds as you only realy know from experience what all the bits you need are) sourced, bought or refurbished and ready to bolt together then yes, you could do it. If you'd built something similar before then it would be even more realistic - I built the second one in about 4 months of full timish work.

The problem you'll probably have it terms of the timescale wont be with yourself it will be with suppliers and the like letting you down, sending you the wrong/damaged bits, not sending what you ordered for weeks after you placed the order etc etc - and it WILL happen unfortunately .

It's probably worth mentioning as well that building quickly generaly doesn't usualy equate to building cheaply as you don't have the time to do as much bargain hunting and/or design and build as much stuff yourself.

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Originally posted by D Beddows
It's probably worth mentioning as well that building quickly generaly doesn't usualy equate to building cheaply as you don't have the time to do as much bargain hunting and/or design and build as much stuff yourself.

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In fact, to be absolutely honest, if you just want a car to drive rather than a car to build (which your timescale suggests?), don't want to spend huge amounts and don't mind a bit of work you should be looking at buying something like JoelP's car which was advertised a here recently - realisticaly you couldn't build that for the 3K he was asking AND it was SVA'd, spend a grand or so and a bit of time and you'd have a realy nice car at a price you couldn't build one for.

I picked up my donor Sierra on 23rd March this year and I had it stripped and the shell picked up for scrap on 7th May. Since then I've been reconditioning parts (engine, gearbox, brakes), bought an MK Indy starter kit and got it to rolling road stage with the wheels, steering and drive train in place - but no loom/brakes/fueling.

Unfortunately(for the build)/fortunately(for us as a family) my wife is pregnant and we're expecting a baby in March 07 so everything is on hold while I decorate the whole house, do the garden and assemble sufficient furniture for a small army to store their wares.

I was on target to complete my build in time for Le Mans June 07, but my build programme is out the window now.

If like me, you buy in a chassis, wishbones and bodywork, send large items away to be reconditioned (engine/gearbox), have the money ready to buy new/reconditioning parts as and when required (brakes/loom/fuel system/interior), and have an understanding partner who will let you spend either a coupe of nights per week or one day at the weekend in the garage, my schedule was set to 12-months with 2-months for testing/sva/teathing trouble. Oh, and I'm a project manager so it was realistic and accurate to the n'th degree!

I have currently spent at least 1500 hrs on my car. My 5th year, & its not finished yet!
Maybe I'm just slow, but for me this is as much about enjoying the journey, as actually getting there.
If I recall the book says that when the chassis is built you are 50% there.
No chance!! I would estimate that the chassis is only a couple of percent.
Every week I set my self a mental target for what I want to achieve & I reckon I get 25% of it done.
I have built up & stripped down again so many parts of the car that I could now do it in my sleep!.
Don't rush it.. enjoy it & make something that is truly unique to you

i'm building this because i have always want to completely build a car for myself but i also want to build her to be my first car for when i'm 17 next year.

i was going to build an awd car at the start but i don't think anyone has ever finished one, so started to think about just going rwd but rwd is just so simple i want a challenge, because i like a challenge and i have about 4 months of nothing comeing up in my life soon and if the exams go badly wrong (which i hope doesn't happen)i'll have an other few months of nothingness to contend with.

So you honestly reckon building a car (forget how the wheels are driven for the moment) completely from scratch in 4 months isn't actualy a major challenge in itself then..........

9+ years for me and about 3000hrs.

Building a car in four months is possible only if you already have all the parts and tools, have done it before, get help... and work at it 10hrs a day.

[Edited on 11/7/06 by kb58]

I built my first chassis in 2 weekday evenings and a day and a half at the weekend..........

but that was with the use of a cast iron jigging floor that I could bolt the whole chassis down dead flat to, a cnc bandsaw, cnc plasma profiler and full fabrication shop facilities.

My new car has taken 2.5 years and is now about finished!!! (and I bought the chassis for this one! )

yeah i hope it won't be too much for me to do in 3/4 months.
i have my dad to help me with any of the major things i can't do yet, hes got 30 years or more experiance at worken ford cars.
thats about 3 solid days then you build the chassis in, thats sounds too anbitious for me, i'd double that and maybe add somemore on again

Little brackets and electrical take up far more time than their small size would imply.

Built my Viento over 18 months with 5 months off for a operation on my hand.
Mostly evenings and weekends.

If you buy all new bits, ie no recon or cleaning up to do, then you will reduce the timescale.
BUT DONT RUSH IT...

Make it look excellent... not just good or "thrown together"

Take your time, as a well finished car that you can boast "I built that" will get you far more girlfirends than you can handle.

It will be the cheapest "Fanny Magnet" you could ever own

PS... put a decent engine in it or a Bike engine, so it will trash the other Magnets (cars) in your area.
Then you will know exactly who is inadequate, and it wont be YOU

18 montyhs in chasis done and now starting the panelling. What you have to include is the fact that almost all jobs have to be done two or three times to get to the level of finish that will satisfy you.

This car isn't going to cost just £250 as well is it by any chance?

Hasten to add, that 3 days to build my chassis was to an excellent standard, but equally I would say that building a chassis to plans is perhaps 5% of the work of building the car!!

For example it took as long to prep and paint as to make it!!

I was also working part time as a fabricator in a prototype workshop so was kinda used to kncocking bits up out of steel, and we had a cad station just devoted to the cnc plasma too so I made all the chassis brackets in 15-20 mins (cnc pressbrake too which could bend all the brackets in one stroke in one line)

sometimes with I still worked there!!

it would be great if i could build it for £250 but i think we all know that is rather the impossible!!

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Originally posted by goodall
it would be great if i could build it for £250 but i think we all know that is rather the impossible!!

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To answer the original question:

"Twice as long as they first thought"

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Originally posted by chriscook
To answer the original question:

"Twice as long as they first thought"

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quote:

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Originally posted by chriscook
To answer the original question:

"Twice as long as they first thought"

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