Hi all! i'm new to the forum, and im planning to build a haynes roadster, been doing a bit of research and im slowly getting an idea of things id like to achieve, but as always got a few questions, so thought this was the best place to start (and maybe the haynes forum if i ever get registered!) so here it goes.. many thanks in advance!!

1) Build space needed, i have a single garage (2.4m x 4.8m) im thinking this will be sufficiant but cramped at times, what is everybody elses experience?

2) MX-5 or sierra? been doing a bit of research on this one but always hit brick walls, am thinking of going down the mazda route becuase of availability and the ever rising cost of sierras is putting me off. i would like to "supercharge" the car in some way, and think the mx5 engine is more likely to accept this, but obviously the book is built around the sierra so any advice here i should really consider?

3) build cost? now obviously this is a very subjective question but realisticly what am i likely to have to spend (i should state im an engineer by trade with lots of fancy equipment (laser cutters, cnc machines etc) at my disposal, so my metal cost will be barely anything)

4) build time? again another subjective question but what does/has it really taken people, i was guesing around three years


Im sure there are loads more i could think of but for now any help will be greatly appreciated!

1. Space. At the chassis stage, most things can be done from the inside out so space isn't an issue. After that a Haynes car isn't actually that big compared to most tintops so you should still have a decent amount of space (if you're reasonably flexible!). The main space issue I had was with the donor parts. The rule of thumb is that a car in pieces takes up twice the space as an intact car, and I have found that to be pretty accurate.

2. I am doing MX5, the book being Sierra based isn't a worry as there are enough people out there who have used modifications to offer advice and pointers.

As for the other two, the options are high build speed, high quality end product and low build cost. Pick two out of three.

thanks for the info,

well i can fit three cars on my drive bumper to bumper (we run two) and i have an 8x8 shed (full of crap!) or i could keep the donor of site and get what i need as and when? or is it really best to buy and strip the donor first?

any advice on what particular mx5 to source and maybe a point in the right direction for the changes?

and im in no rush really, so i guess id definately rather a high build quality whilst keeping costs as reasonable as possible

Hi.
I am right at the start of an mx5 haynes build.
I'm building it in a single garage and haven't found it a problem even if I was climbing over kids bikes etc! Now have a shed for all the non car bits.
When I built my build table I added a shelf on the bottom to store all the donor bits I will be using.
I stripped my donor before I started on the chassis and sold pretty much most of the bits, selling the parts you don't require should more than pay for the cost of the donor car.

I bought a pre cut kit from Talon motor fabrication, it is very simular to the Sierra book spec chassis and the differences are easily sorted by looking at others build threads and talon can also supply the dimensions and photos of the differences. I have the photos and dimensions if you ever require them.

Personally I went for a mk1 1.6 eunos roadster as I think most of the imports had an LSD fitted.
Also I think the later 1.6 mx5s power dropped to 90bhp where as the imports where all still approximately 115 bhp.

I haven't given myself a timescale but tell people it will be at least two or three years.
As for cost I'm trying to be tight having two young boys I don't have a massive disposable income so buy bits as and when.

Anything I else I can help.with just ask
Dean

Thanks for the info! Are you saying you stripped the car and now have all the bits and the room to build in your garage?

Did you sell all the bits on eBay? Good idea to make some money back!

Can I trouble you for those photos and dimensions please, as I'll be cutting the chassis myself

Yes I stripped the donor first and gradually sold bits and scrapped bits that where in to bad a condition to sell. I have the engine on a stand at the back of the garage everything else is under the build table I find I have plenty of room to get around the build table.

If you click on my photo archive you can just make out the bits stored under the table and get an idea of the room around the table.

I will send a u2u about the dimensions although they don't show the actual lengths to cut the box section as they assume you have the talon pre cut kit. But it may give you some ideas of the changes. It is built to take his own design of the diff cover.
The main differences are to the transmission tunnel and the diff nose mounting point.

Replied, thank you and I'll have a look through the photos, the wishbones are changed to aren't they?