Hi all,
I have been approched by a friend with a very interesting bet. We are both car nuts and wish to prove superiority over eachother in driving ability, but at a budget. So the challange is to buy or build a car for under £1000 and to race on a private airfield with a track layed out. To this end the car does not need to be road legal, just safe. To my advantage I have my trusty MX5 which I bought almost a year ago for not much money, the bodywork is okay at best and I have been wanting to use the shell for another little project anyway so I am using this as an excuse to strip it out and use it for parts. It has a prestine 1.8 engine, gearbox, rear diff etc and I have some very tasty individual runner throttle bodies for it in the garage.

What would be the best plan of attack to achieve the goal? Should I go custom chassis or is there a manufacturer out there who can sort me out? The welding of the chassis is not really a problem as I have a good friend who can do that, it is more the wishbones I am worried about making. I could possibly go by the book for the chassis and purchase the wishbones from a supplier. The car is to have no bodywork really, atleast for this race.

I am thinking as I am building the car anyway to get the bare minimum done to get it safe and running, then after the race when funds permit to get my hands dirty in fiberglass (or something more exotic hehe) for a custom body, with a nice interior and some weather gear.

That is also what worries me as to where I can get good weather gear, or if there is anywhere that can have some made for me.

Also the problem of a heater/demister. How have people come around this problem?

Sorry for asking a lot of questions.. I have done some research but I have not been able to find definitive answers to my questions.

The best bet for me seems to be to go for the westfield conversion but that does not fit into the criteria of under £1000. Even the chassis alone is about twice that. I have a donor vehicle already which should help the cause though. Ideally I want to upgrade to a standalone ECU (megasquirt) so the budget for a rolling chassis is about £650 if we really look at it.

All opinions and options considered. Once again sorry for asking all these questions all at once.

Cheers

Saahil

You want to build a running chassis for £650 using your MX5 donor and megasquirt!!!!! ................. good luck!!

Go and buy a 200sx turbo would be my advice!!

Pretty sure you're gonna be pretty stretched on that budget....

but atleast buy Keith Tanner's "Build a sportscar" Locost book as that's based around an MX5 donor.

As for budget: Bearing in mind if you're not buying bodywork and if you used *everything* (seats, clocks etc. etc.) from the donor then maybe.... hmmm.... possibly.

Good Luck

Cheers,
James

Lol ah so not a possible idea then?

The way I figured it I need box section for the frame, sheet metal for the floor and sides, a fuel tank, wishbones, shocks and springs, a few little fixings and bits and pieces. The rest I should be able to just nick off the MX5. Surely I can manage all that for £650? If not just using the stock ECU could manage that for £1000.

I have a feeling I may have missed something very important here. Have I?

nuts, bolts, washers, wiring, bushes, steering components (modifying the MX5 bits??), fuel hose, brake lines and fittings......the list goes on......and on and on

Not saying it cant be done - but look around on here and i bet the average buget is well in excess of £5000

[Edited on 27/8/08 by Paul TigerB6]

If you are willing to spend the time and make loads yourself from scrap steel then maybe.

I paid about £70 for a fuel tank.

Shocks cost me £300!

You got tools already? If you gotta buy grinder/drills etc. etc. I think you're in trouble.

I'd forget the Megasquirt at this point... is the Mazda ECU *really* that bad?

Cheers,
James

[Edited on 27/8/08 by James]

Ah right all the little bits and pieces really do add up don't they.

The MS is so I can use the IRTB's on the car for that extra power and throttle responce and tune it agressivly for a healthy ammount of power at the wheels in a lighter then normal (lack of bodywork) locost. But a car that goes and stops is a bit more important then one that goes fast and falls apart .

Steering components are all taken from the MX5.

I shall have a buy of that book and take a read, I just located it on ebay so will pop a bid on.

The main thing in this will be how much I can pick up cheaply second hand and from mates and how much of the mx5 I can use.

I am budgeting in around 200 for box section (from what I have seen on ebay for precut). The rest of the components I will price up and see how cheaply I can have it without compromising safety.

After the race I want to keep this car and put a body on it, with a dash and etcetera and make it my short term project with the aim to street it in the summer time.

EDIT: With regards to tools I have access to comprehensive workshop/garage. I will not lie I am not the best with hand tools but I am atleast able, and there are people around with some mechanical sense to lend a hand too. A good get your hands dirty and do something together project for not much outlay is what I am hoping for really.

[Edited on 27/8/08 by saahild]

Buy a set of decent tyres for the MX5 and spend the rest on driving tuition, would probably be more effective

If it's just a one off race I'd chuck all the unneccesary crap out and buy a second hand nitrous kit of the Bay

whay dont you enter next years practical performance car magazines £999 challenge ,you build something for under a grand and thrash it out with others at a dragstrip but with a slalom course as well thirty cars were in this year and it looks like next year will be bigger and better ,i had a cracking day and spanked everyone in my little reliant

Using the donor car complete would be cheating a tiny bit though. And I wanna build a Locost . That Practical Performance Car thing sounds very interesting. Will try and see how under budget I can keep it then . But under £1000 seems unlikely or impossible seems to be the general concensious I take it.

BIt late with the post, but to prove superior driving ability, you will be required to use the same car.

Spend £300 (between you) on a Mini and time yourselves in that.

ATB

Simon

I still think you could build a Locost for a grand, especially as you have an ideal donor car. If you're not scared of welding, then everything to rolling chassis can be fabricated, all you need then is a bit of bodywork and some shocks. Making it road legal isn't an issue, so I'd go for it