Calzonii
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| posted on 26/4/11 at 05:05 PM |
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Viento for a beginner?
Hello all!
Just a quick question about whether the Viento would be a good car to start with to build? I have a budget of £5-6k, £7 absolute max. Im doing some
research and wanna make sure i get all the advice i can before i commit to one model of locust? Whats the Best kit to begin with? I was told a Viento
or an MK Indy will keep me enthused not that it is needed? Also what engine goes best with the Viento? something pretty common so if i run into
problems ill have a few people about to ask questions too..  I think a am leaning towards the MK at the moment but ive been told there service is
appalling. lol
Any one got any photos?
Thanks. 
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Snuggs
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| posted on 26/4/11 at 06:12 PM |
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Welcome to the best site around.
The Viento is a lot larger that a standard 7 and is usually only considered for the larger driver OR if you want to fit a large engine.
A Viento build on a budget of £7k may be possible but would be extremely tight
If possible get along to Stoneleigh Kit Car show this coming weekend and chat with a few owners.
Clive
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http://www.topcashback.co.uk/ref/snuggstcb
Spider pig, spider pig, does whatever a spider pig does.
I doubt therefore I may be.
Luposlipophobia : Fear of being chased by wolves around a freshly waxed kitchen floor, while wearing only socks on your feet.
My mind not only wanders, sometimes it leaves completely!
http://www.venganza.org
http://www.jesusandmo.net/
http://www.snuggs.co.uk
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tomgregory2000
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| posted on 26/4/11 at 07:06 PM |
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you have u2u
Tommy
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wilkingj
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| posted on 26/4/11 at 07:13 PM |
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I agree with Snuggs... A Viento isnt a cheap kit to start with.
Mine cost me just over £8k, and I did a lot myself. OK that was 5-6 years ago now.
They lend very well to a V8, or a 6 pot straight, like a BMW, or even a Volvo T5 etc.
IMHO a 1600 Xflow Ford would look a bit LOST undet the bonnet.
The MK is a reasonable kit and would make a good car with a 2 Litre 4 pot engine. ie its all in perspective for the smaller 4 pot engines.
Also be aware that a LocUst is not a a LocOst. The Locust is a different beast using a wooden body with an alluminium skinned body on the wood.
A Locost is a space framed job with a fi-glass and some ally panels.
They also probably handle a bit differently to each other. Although I have never driven a Locust. The overall chassis designs are somewhat
different.
Mind you if you build a Viento, you wont want to change it
Hope this is a bit more info for you.
1. The point of a journey is not to arrive.
2. Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
Best Regards
Geoff
http://www.v8viento.co.uk
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spiderman01980
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| posted on 26/4/11 at 07:15 PM |
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There seems to be a lot of company that make the haynes roaster, http://www.saturnsportscars.co.uk/ ,
http://www.agmsportscars.co.uk/agm_sports_cars_2_016.htm , http://www.alcorn.co.uk/prod02.htm , and a guy on ebay TALON motorsport sells the chassis
package at a good price, and its all based on the haynes roadster by Chris Gibbs and i belive that the MK indy is same as the haynes roadster, hope
this helps!
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hector
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| posted on 26/4/11 at 08:15 PM |
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Hi there
I was a beginner when i bought my Viento, took me 18 months to build and i stuck with a ford engine (2.8 v6) and this cost me all in of just over £6k.
Had a first time SVA pass and drove it for three troublefree years and sold it for about what it cost me!!
I would say go for it, the choice is endless as for what size/type engine you put into the Viento
cheers Colin
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Calzonii
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| posted on 26/4/11 at 09:16 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by hector
Hi there
I was a beginner when i bought my Viento, took me 18 months to build and i stuck with a ford engine (2.8 v6) and this cost me all in of just over £6k.
Had a first time SVA pass and drove it for three troublefree years and sold it for about what it cost me!!
I would say go for it, the choice is endless as for what size/type engine you put into the Viento
cheers Colin
Hi Colin,
Had you much previous experience with building kits? i have a 3 litre BMW engine that one of my dads mates says i can take off his hands. did you have
many problems building?
Cheers Cal
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jollygreengiant
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| posted on 26/4/11 at 09:18 PM |
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Greetings and welcome to the mad house.
The Viento would be as suitable as any other kit except for maybe the FULL caterham or westfield kits wich are basically dis-assembled cars for which
you pay a much higher premium.
With the Viento you would need to do a small amount of imaginative fettling, fixing and adapting, but there is nothing that can't be done by a
beginner. With the Viento you have a supreme choice of 'fittable' motive power, from the humble Pinto (boat anchor as fitted in mine)
right up to the very impressive Dodge Viper as was fitted by Big John (he has however had a change of mind but by god it WAS impressive). So engine
choice is basically what ever takes your fancy.
As regard to the body you would have a supreme ammount of room in the cockpit as most (with perhaps the exception of Snuggs) of us owners/drivers are
6 foot (+) tall and several of us are quite stout of build as well. I for one am more than happy with being in the car, rather than on the car with a
lot of other makes.
Hope this helps
If you would like to see pictures of builds then most of us in this section have fairly comprehensive build pic in our archives for reference puposes.
Beware of the Goldfish in the tulip mines. The ONLY defence against them is smoking peanut butter sandwiches.
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Irony
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| posted on 27/4/11 at 07:57 AM |
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Aha, finally a post I can post on where I know what I am talking about. I am a complete beginner who generally starts every sentence with 'I
know nothing but can you help me please'. I am also building a Luego Viento. The reason I chose a Viento was because I think they look cool
and the extra leg room for the driver and passenger will when I get it on the road be a godsend. Both me and girlfriend have long legs (in her case
36 inches - one reason why I maintain a long distance relationship with her that eats into building time).
I think you should build a Viento because you want one. In my opinion they are one of the best looking seven-a-likes there are, only possibly matched
my the DAX Rush. As a kid I just loved the sound of a V8 and I still do - so therefore I am putting a V8 in it. It's not going to be a monster
track machine but a country lane cruiser with the soundtrack to match. Yeah yeah its not going to be economical but I have a diesel Golf for that.
Putting it together I must admit has been and still is a challenge. I have managed to fully rebuild the engine and now its in the car. Luego
didn't and don't provide any sort of manual which is my opinion is completely rubbish. Writing a manual in my opinion should be the
easiest part of owning a Kitcar company. To be honest detailed photos of every single part before, during fitting and after fitting would be enough.
If your looking for a budget car it seems to me that the after sales support from most companies is pretty bad. There are hundreds of posts on here
about bad customer service on most companies. Not answering the phone is just unforgiveable in todays climate. Your best source of information is
right here at Locostbuilders. Without these guys I wouldn't even have the wheels on.
Knowing what I know now I would still probably buy a Viento but I would buy a fully built one and strip it back down to the chassis and then rebuild
it. That I think is the best way to stretch you budget as far as it would go. The other option is I might consider one of the 'newer'
breed of kitcar manufacturers such as MEV who seem to believe in 'customer service'.
I know your in Belfast but fly over and get to a show. All owners say their type of car is the best but just look at them all and talk to the
builder. If you look at one type and think thats cool then thats the one for you. I know I do with the Viento. Hell, I think it looks cool without
wheels, up on trestles in the garage!!!!
[Edited on 27/4/11 by Irony]
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wilkingj
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| posted on 27/4/11 at 10:24 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Irony
Both me and girlfriend have long legs (in her case 36 inches - one reason why I maintain a long distance relationship with her that eats into building
time).
[Edited on 27/4/11 by Irony]
As is tradition on this forum... Plenty of pictures....
So where are the pictures of her 36" legs....
1. The point of a journey is not to arrive.
2. Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
Best Regards
Geoff
http://www.v8viento.co.uk
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Irony
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| posted on 27/4/11 at 10:47 AM |
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True - no photos means it didn't happen! hehe.
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Scotty
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| posted on 28/4/11 at 06:30 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Irony
Luego didn't and don't provide any sort of manual
[Edited on 27/4/11 by Irony]
hi i dont know if it helps but i've still got a copy of the original build manual they supplied to me, not brilliant but might be useful. U2U
with your email address if you want a copy
its in word format so is quite large (34mb)
PLEASE NOTE! All comments made by this person are to be considered "Tongue in Cheek" and are not meant to be taken seriously in any way - so there!
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simonk
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| posted on 10/5/11 at 08:21 AM |
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IMHO, if you start with a Viento kit and a Pinto or V6 Sierra you should be able to keep the build cost manageable if you re-use all that you can.
Also simplifies registration as you should be able to keep the reg of the donor as you'll have enough points - obviously will still need IVA
though..... V6 XR4i best bet as you get the best combination of brakes / diff etc.
If you then can't resist the idea of a V8 later you can fit a Rover easily as there are adapters out there for RV8 to Ford type 9 box as it was
a common swap/upgrade for the Sumo Cobra guys......
Also IMHO ignore photos of the Viento and go and see one for real - for some reason the proportions often look strange in photos, but in real life
it's a well proportioned car with a lot of prescence
Good luck
Simon
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SteveWallace
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| posted on 10/5/11 at 05:59 PM |
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I'm about half way through my Viento build and having great fun. My previous experience was only keeping an old Fiesta on the road when I was a
student, so to all intents and purposes I was a complete novice as well.
The guys on this forum are a great source of advice and inspiration, especially if you can get to one of the shows and see the finished product. The
trick is to treat each part of the build as a mini project. You will start each by not having a clue what you are doing (at least, I did), but by the
end of each you will have learnt a new skill.
Viento's are not the cheapest cars on this site, but I think that they have a lot of advantages over many of the others. The wide choice of
engines means that you can build something truely unique if you want to or follow a well trodden path if you don't. I'm putting a 2.8
straight 6 BMW engine in mine (which is not without its challenges) with a view to swapping for an M3 later when I really want to scare myself
Don't forget as well that you can spread the cost over a couple of years. The cheapest approach is to strip your own donor car, but I did not
have the space. It means I have spent a little more, spent a lot of time on e-bay and became familiar with my local scrappy, but it was not all spent
at once. Shop around and take your time and you can find real bargins. For example, you could spend a lot of money on bling wheels with any kit, but
you don't really have to.
Regards
Steve
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