hi racers,

i bought a part started car from some bloke who was planning on racing it. i was building it up as a road car but then thought, why not try a few races? i still want to build it as a road car, but im thinking with a bit of forethought i could remove the "road parts" - windscreen seats etc for weekend races, the (all being well and no major damage sustained), revert back. id get it sva'd without windsceen so dont have to fanny about with demisters etc, and self imposed weight penalty of extra seatbelt mounts and wiper prob not too bad, considering there is min weigth anyway.
does anyone else run a road/race car, and is it even possible? accept that prob wouldnt be most competitive on grid, but happy to run near the back (though not miles behind!) when starting out.

guess the question leads on to some of the parts you use - radiator and exhaust fairly pertinent at the moment.

thanks for any input. hopefully be seeing you on the track mid/late 2005.

Hello

Racing with a modded road-spec Locost is getting harder and harder, i think. As far as i know there weren't any cars on the grid this year that would have a chance at passing an SVA test (DickieB can confirm/deny this as he's more knowledgeable).

I do know that there was a guy racing occasionally last year whose car looked road-going. It wasn't very competitive at all, however.

Ultimately though, i don't see why it would be too much of a disadvantage. Some cars carry shedloads of ballast (Dickie has enough steel to make another Titanic tucked away in his passenger footwell) so the extra weight of the SVA-friendly stuff need not be a critical problem, just inconvenient in that you can't lower it or distribute it in a nice way.

Which radiator? Like many i use a VW Polo rad. It works brilliantly, so long as you make sure that air goes through it, not around it and can escape out of the engine bay somewhere.

Exhausts i'm not too sure about. I've heard the name 'Tony Law' bandied around quite a bit but i don't know any more than that really.

Good luck and i hope to see you on track in '05!

There are some guys racing in the Westfield championship whos cars are road legal so I don't see why it shouldn't be possible.

Not sure if it's advisable to drive to races though - you never know what could happen during the race!

Pete

[Edited on 23/11/04 by scoobyis2cool]

I have a Tony Law system, it sounds luverly and I'm sure road legal, but the single pipe from the 4 branch to the silencer needs a kink because it is straight which make to end of the silencer almost on line with the outside edge of the rear arch

cheers for advice guys, looks like its not totaly unrasonable.

whos this tony law chap? where can i get one his sytems?

see on track

The Contact details for loads of people the Locost racers use (inc Tony Law) can be found in Locost Link - the racers newsletter. Download it here:

Locost Link (pdf)

Regards

Des
www.desandalracing.com

My car has been SVA'd and has plates - but I have it SORN'd and use a trailer! I think your biggest problem for SVA would be the cage - but just fit it after SVA! Other than that no major dramas - all cars have to be MOT-able. You'll just need to be careful on where you put the lights, radius of edges, seatbelt height etc - but these are concerns for any kit going through SVA. It would be handy to be able to drive it on the road to test-drive mods/bed in new brakes etc. But I never have, and can't be bothered with the extra £3-400 for tax, MOT, insurance. Shame as I used to have a road-going Westfield and I miss it! (So does the wife, so I've been ordered to get another one when this racing bug is out of my system - could be a while)
Dickie

cheers.
this cage malarky, is it required or is roll bar as in book ok? thinking possibility of hood etc. want to do minimum for sva, get through, then prep for race.


cant wait to get on the (back of the) grid, and road

fozzie's car passed sva with cage, the examiner liked it and the safety aspecvts, along with the plumbed in fire system!