02GF74
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| posted on 3/1/17 at 05:53 PM |
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fao admin, request for some data
Ok, another year had gone by so may be a good time to ask this.
Is is possible for admin to do a few queries on the number of posts in engine, electrics, locost and car related section for each year for last 10
years and plot a graph?
I reckon the forum is dying, certainly seems fewer builders especially after sva came into force.
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tegwin
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| posted on 3/1/17 at 06:10 PM |
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I suspect the sva Iva thing plays a part along with the general lack of money people seem to have these days. Reflected I guess by hr downturn in kit
car shows.
I know there are hundreds of Facebook groups for car builders. All those people who used to post amazing things on here probably find faster
gratification on Facebook.
I don't think the kit car world is dying, more evolving.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Would the last person who leaves the country please switch off the lights and close the door!
www.verticalhorizonsmedia.tv
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coyoteboy
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| posted on 3/1/17 at 06:52 PM |
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There's also a general lack of people who would even consider building a car and that's becoming more common - practical skills, people
with patience to spend a couple of hours a week on a long term goal - all vanishing.
Doesn't mean it's dying.
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coyoteboy
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| posted on 3/1/17 at 07:00 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
There's also a general lack of people who would even consider building a car and that's becoming more common - practical skills, people
with patience to spend a couple of hours a week on a long term goal - all vanishing.
Doesn't mean it's dying. [/quote
quote:
I know there are hundreds of Facebook groups for car builders. All those people who used to post amazing things on here probably find faster
gratification on Facebook.
I've been saying for a while - this forum software/look isn't exactly user friendly and while I run another car forum that IS user
friendly, even there they moved over to a facebook group which gets nothing but spam posts and random rubbish on it but gives them their daily update
of nonsense. IT doesn't help to store answers, act like an info repository and allow nice browsing as a forum does. Weird though, because
there's plenty of forums that DO still live on happily (thinking RC vehicle forums specifically).
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snapper
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| posted on 3/1/17 at 07:06 PM |
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Ah the post Christmas new year doom & gloom
Facebook serves the surface user and is not rigged well for what a Forum such as this does.
If people on Facebook get serious they will look for forums such as this IMHO
I eat to survive
I drink to forget
I breath to pi55 my ex wife off (and now my ex partner)
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coyoteboy
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| posted on 3/1/17 at 07:15 PM |
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You say that, but we went from ~2K members (200 regulars) and 5 years of history/info/learning about a rare type of car and with the creation of the
facebook group the forum was utterly dead in 3 months. And I mean there's been 10 posts in 2 years.
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Andybarbet
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| posted on 3/1/17 at 07:21 PM |
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I must admit, I am on some other Facebook groups, not necessarily car related but if you want to search for info, you seem to hit a brick wall.
I like the fact that this is still very similar to when I joined over ten years ago.
I can find stuff relatively quickly, I don't have to scroll through days worth of junk to find out what I need.
This is actually my home page, the /today.php one, everytime I log onto my phone or pc, I get today's hottest locost topics, I love it :-)
Give a man a fish & it will feed him for a day, give him a fishing rod & you've saved a fish.
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gremlin1234
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| posted on 3/1/17 at 07:26 PM |
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another reason there may be fewer posts, is that so many of the questions have been asked before, and comprehensive answers given, all of which can
now be found with relatively simple searches.
I think this is probably a good thing though!
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Slimy38
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| posted on 3/1/17 at 07:32 PM |
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There is also the seasonal dip when garages get too cold to work in, so less progress, fewer problems, so fewer questions to ask.
I tried to get out to mine yesterday and my fingers actually hurt after about ten minutes. Metal and a cold garage just isn't fun.
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loggyboy
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| posted on 3/1/17 at 07:45 PM |
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Without a doubt the nature of the content on this forum it wouldnt suit a group, as mentioned searching and keeping upnwith postings is harder on FB,
especially if the group grows.
It was mentioned a few months ago about updating the forum,nI used a few sites on Xenforo and the functionality isnso much more useful. (Tagging
users, notifications to replys when logging on rather than emails, great search potential.) I would love to see this place given a new lease of life.
With the collapse some other kit forums i would be a good to expand its appeal to all kit cars, which it pretty much is already, but wouldn't
help emphasising it.
Mistral Motorsport
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ianhurley20
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| posted on 3/1/17 at 08:13 PM |
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I think this group and many similar ones are brilliant. I often had a problem when building my car and it was often solved by a search which gave me
the information I needed without looking an absolute plonker asking an often repeated question. I could never do that on facebook, its transient and
information fades into the past. Please keep this going, who cares if there is a dip - or rise - in posts - its enough to have this brilliant resource
and to be able to ask any question of the tremendous knowledge held by everyone who is part of this group.
As a person who is now contemplating their 5th build though - the powers that be have made it much more difficult to achieve - £450 IVA etc - and that
must put many off building a car - it nearly put me off my fourth one 
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bi22le
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| posted on 3/1/17 at 10:36 PM |
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I think the site is fine the way it is. As previously mentioned facebook feeds too fast so conversions disappear in hours. Sone of the best input to
topics had taken days to build worth people coming on here every now and then.
I don't think it is slowing down. The are no posts sinew days, granted but other days I have loads to read. Also, look how many cars have
been bought our sold on here recently.
The worst thing about this site is picture management. The steps to get a picture on a post is epic.
Take picture
email to laptop
resize
upload into photo library with name and location
open picture
Copy code
write post
paste code
If this site could make that easier i think more would be shared.
FYI this site is also my home page on my phone and laptop!
Track days ARE the best thing since sliced bread, until I get a supercharger that is!
Please read my ring story:
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/forum/13/viewthread.php?tid=139152&page=1
Me doing a sub 56sec lap around Brands Indy. I need a geo set up! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHksfvIGB3I
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Hodor
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| posted on 4/1/17 at 01:13 AM |
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Here is some data, courtesy of Google Trends
 
Description
I searched on the term "locost forum" then again on "locostbuilders"
 
Description
As you can see, they decline over the last 12 years. I think the scale is an arbitrary 100 units on the y axis.
Regardless, you can say that in terms of searching for this forum, activity is well under half of what it was 10 years ago.
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pekwah1
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| posted on 4/1/17 at 08:37 AM |
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It is a shame, from a non-analytical view, i have certainly noticed that over the last year or slightly longer, the number of new posts seems to have
declined... I would regularly miss a number of new threads as they were getting posted more regularly than i looked at them, but looking at the
"new posts" bit on the front page, it doesn't seem to move quite as quick as it used to....
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Hodor
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| posted on 4/1/17 at 08:51 AM |
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My anecdotal observation is the number of cars put up for sale on this forum over the last 12 months has been significantly less than the previous 4
years I've been lurking. Not sure what that adds, but perhaps indicative that other outlets for selling a kit car, such as through the facebook
groups, are more popular?
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jps
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| posted on 4/1/17 at 08:53 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Hodor
Here is some data, courtesy of Google Trends
Is that showing hits on the website - or searches for those terms via Google?
If that's an arbitary 0-100 scale it may be that 0 = 10,000 and 100 = 10,100 ? ( exaggerated for effect...)
quote:
Originally posted by ianhurley20
solved by a search which gave me the information I needed without looking an absolute plonker asking an often repeated question.
I think this must be a big influence - in some cases I have seen "use search" as the response to posts asking questions - so personally I
read a LOT more on here than I post (and this is true for other forums too). I don't think that's a problem - but it will mean that over
time the forum becomes more 'read' and less 'write'!
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907
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| posted on 4/1/17 at 09:03 AM |
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We have in the past ( IMHO ) been guilty of shooting ourselves in the foot.
An example:-
New Member. I'm thinking of building a Locost. Where's the best place to buy steel box?
Replies. You don't want to do that. Buy a part finished off eBay that some poor sod has spent loads on, for next to nothing.
( That's actually shot in the foot with both barrels if you think about it. )
Another example:-
New Member. I'm thinking of going to the "Bla Bla" Kit Car Show. What's it like?
Replies. They're all rubbish. You want to go to Stoneleigh. That's the only one worth going to.
Guess what? It's now the only one TO go to.
Chris, (the other Chris) kept the Locost stand going from the money left in the Locost Car Club fund and when I last went,
in 2015 the stand had moved to the bottom of the field, and would have moved further if it wasn't for the river. 
Locostbuilders have no stand. No one to organise it I suppose. It's a shame.
If I were to build/restore something now it would be an MX5.
The local club does more per month than the Kit Car scene does per year.
Paul G
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nick205
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| posted on 4/1/17 at 09:17 AM |
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Yes there may be fewer kit car builders around, but the value of this forum for me exceeds just kit cars. In general you can get responses to most
questions on this forum. There seems to be a core of people willing to share knowledge.
Personally the LCB format works well on my laptop, tablet and phone. Hats off to ChrisW for operating it - I'm sure there must be costs and
time penalties associated that ChrisW incurs.
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Hodor
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| posted on 4/1/17 at 09:36 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by jps
Is that showing hits on the website - or searches for those terms via Google?
Google trends show what people search for on Google.
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joneh
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| posted on 4/1/17 at 09:43 AM |
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Here's my opinion:
Its the lack of a "Locost" book. What got me into this was stumbling across uncle Ron's face and car on the shelves at Halfords. I
wouldn't have thought of searching for the term Locost without finding the book. Whilst this site is a fantastic fountain of knowledge for all
kit car builds, its targeted mainly for self builds. i.e. not buying an off the shelf kit with an instruction manual and a dedicated owners forum.
I believe the general downturn is the lack of new comers to car building due to the lack of commercial advertisement for proper hairy arsed car
building.
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nick205
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| posted on 4/1/17 at 10:08 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by joneh
Here's my opinion:
Its the lack of a "Locost" book. What got me into this was stumbling across uncle Ron's face and car on the shelves at Halfords. I
wouldn't have thought of searching for the term Locost without finding the book. Whilst this site is a fantastic fountain of knowledge for all
kit car builds, its targeted mainly for self builds. i.e. not buying an off the shelf kit with an instruction manual and a dedicated owners forum.
I believe the general downturn is the lack of new comers to car building due to the lack of commercial advertisement for proper hairy arsed car
building.
Well put! I too "found" uncle Ron's book in Waterstones. Bought it and was immediately hooked on the idea of building. Given my
circumstances at the time I opted to build a kit (MK Indy) and personally enjoyed the build as much (if not more) than the end result.
The gaping mouths of family, friends and acquaintances when I told them I'd built the car were quite something - most people had/have no idea
you can do such a thing!
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ianhurley20
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| posted on 4/1/17 at 11:18 AM |
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Interesting thoughts Nick and Joneh. With me I had already built 3 cars before 1972, two from kits and one a rebuild of a Lotus 6. I had always
fancied another Seven but I am not the size I once was so started looking at ebay, visited Tiger and GBS and eventually became more familiar with the
various versions of 7 around. A visit to Stonleigh Kit car show with a tape measure gave me an idea what I could (or could not) fit into. Still no
idea about this forum. Internet research on build blogs threw this one up. The cost of buying and completing a kit put me off so I decided I had to
reduce costs and I decided to look for an incomplete Robin Hood 2B+ as one I could afford and fit into. Before that this forum led me to the Chris
Gibbs book. I bought it and eventually built a Haynes Roadster. Without this forum I would not have known about the Gibbs and Chapman books and it
has also led me to a future project, the Midlana.
Maybe in my case the books have come behind finding the forum but they, and more particularly this forum, have kept me going with my build together
with the less active Haynes forum. Perhaps together they are all inspirational.
I think there will always be a core of car builders but many must be put off by the number of incomplete projects around and doubt about their own
ability to build to a high enough standard to pass IVA (and perhaps the small matter of £450 for the test).
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SteveWallace
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| posted on 4/1/17 at 11:25 AM |
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I would suggest that the slow down in this forum (if its even real) is down to external factors rather than the quality of the site - which I find to
be still the best source of information available.
In particular, I think that the demise of the kit car show is playing a part. When I was thinking of getting into this I did a little bit of lurking
on here, but I really made the decision after visiting a couple of kit car shows and having a look for what I wanted 'in the flesh'. I
don't think that I would have got going without seeing what was out there and the buzz associated with the shows.
Why the shows have gone down in popularity is another discussion, but I think that we have had a run of bad luck with the weather in recent years that
has kept numbers down and made some of them economically unattractive to run.
No doubt macroeconomics has also played a part with people not feeling that they have as much disposable income to risk. This is exacerbated as scrap
yards where you can potter around for a day or two and get a lot of donor parts for next to nothing are getting thin on the ground (I know that e-bay
helps though).
I could also start sounding like an old fart and go on to say that they younger generation want a quick fix and may not be as prepared to spend the
time and effort building a car as in years gone by.
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SteveWallace
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| posted on 4/1/17 at 11:28 AM |
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A further thought...
In terms of this forum, there are a lot of people out there restoring old cars (me included with my MG TC), so perhaps this forum would benefit from a
'Restoration' section divided up into some popular models like the current 'car specific forums' section is.
Not only would this tap into a good sized interest group, but the demographic would tend to be people like me who are more comfortable with forums
than with Facebook and Twitter.
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scootz
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| posted on 4/1/17 at 11:29 AM |
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It's probably due to most of the questions having been asked and answered.
The search function on this website is a great source of info.
It's Evolution Baby!
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