Hi,

I am new to all this, so you may have to bear with me.

I am doing a welding course in readiness for making the chassis, and in the meantime, I wanted to get a donor and do the necessary. I wanted to build an MC powered locost..... so which car would be the most appropriate donor....

I was thinking a sierra, is there a 'best' year/model??? Also, if you think an MC powerd car is a bit ambitious for a first build, what year sierra's have the pinto
engine???

Thanks in advance for your help.

Ross

welcome along Ross!

by MC I assume you mean motorcyle? If so then no, I don't think a BEC (Bike Engined Car) is beyond a first time builder. Particularly if you take advantage of the knowledge on this site

A Sierra is probably your best bet. If you're using a bike engine, then the donor engine doesn't really matter. Look for one with manual steering as opposed to power steering.

Above all, keep asking questions

To be honest, with a BEC, you might be as well trying to source the parts separately rather than pulling a donor apart, as there's not that much you actually need/use.

I got a donor pack for my BEC (first build, probably actually easier than a car engine due to compact gearbox and the engine goes in a simple cradle).

I've ended up with loads of spare parts from the donor left over because I found it easier to buy a lot of things brand new/recon'd (like a new master cylinder for £18 from Ebay - why bother with the old one!).

Thanks for the replies guys.

OK, for a BEC, the donor would provide the running gear, brakes, Hubs etc, and the rest comes from the bike? Does the chassis in the Ron Champion book take a sierra running gear, or is it not wide enough. Do I need the other book (with a sierra donor) by Chris Gibbs.

Thanks Again

Ross

The book chassis can be made to accept Sierra bits, just remember that the rear axle will be 4" wider than the escort, so extended back arches are required and probably wider front w/bones, unless you either shorten the axle or go with a wider chassis design.

Unless you have the time and space I would go as suggested with buying the bits rather than a full donor car (but I'm biased as thats the way I'm doing it )

Cheers

Alex