At the risk of opening a can of worms, being a beginner to Locost building. What is the best donor car to build from. I dont want a racer, just a cheap car to have some fun in.

Wanderinstar.

Cheapest route would be Mk4 or 5 Cortina. You'll have most of the parts you need there, but you'll need wider rear arches (a plus point in some camps).
Mk2 Escort or Capri would be close second, then Sierra. Sierra is ok if you want independant rear suspension but involves surgery to chassis.

Marcus

Looking at your profile and seeing you are building a Sierra based Locost. May I suggest a Sierra

Seriously though, it depends whats available and how much your budget is. First thing I would look at is diff ratio's of each model. If for example, you want a limited slip diff, then you need an XR4x4. If thats not an issue, then it opens up a stack of Sierras to choose from.

Yes I did put sierra based, but I have edited it now.
If I use cortina instead of wider arches could I widen the chassis? Would that just be a case of extending the cross chassis tubes all through.

You can extend the tubes either side of the engine bay to make the seating area wider and carry it on back from there to save the trouble of getting a wider nosecone. You'll have to make a wider scuttle and modify your plan to suit, either lose a bit of length in the seating area or add a bit on to suit, shouldn't be too hard to do.
Rescued attachment chassis.jpg

quote:

---

Originally posted by wanderinstar
Yes I did put sierra based, but I have edited it now.
If I use cortina instead of wider arches could I widen the chassis?

---