Hi guy's and girl's, I hope im not going to ask a question that has been asked to many time and i also hope you can help me!

Basically iv done a couple of track days in my current car and iv seen how your little kitcars handle and perform and i now want to build one. My problem is im a qualified mechanical engineer but i have no welding or fabricating experience!

What is my best option, i havent got an awfull lot of money so i cant afford to buy a kit in full, i was ideally hoping to buy as i was going along! Is this possible? Im not in anyrush to complete it but im just after the best options for my situation!

thanks for any advise guy's!

[Edited on 22/7/09 by jamesbaa]

well, first up, welcome

er, you'll see in the photo archive, my car is very different, so i don't have any experience of the kit car companies, or anything, but it is possible you can buy a full kit from one, or just a chassis, or chassis and donor pack, etc, so all the welding and most of the fabrication is done already. you might find the odd bit you need done, plenty of top folk on here can help.

perhaps not the best answer ever, but surely someone else will be along to help more. might be tomorrow though

Sounds like Chris Gibbs' book, "Build your own sports car on a budget" would be good.

mac1motorsports allow you to build in stages as you please

http://www.mac1motorsports.co.uk/index.php/Cars-Kits/Type9R.html

Only welding I had to do to my factor MK chassis was weld on a bracket here and there and make engine mounts. The rest was bought off the shelf so to speak

Exhaust was another item I ended up welding but that was becasue I couldn;t find a supplier locally

The cheapest route is probably to buy a basic completed and SVAd car. There have been a few for sale lately that have gone for less than it would cost to build them.

Stu

I'd be looking for someones unfinished project as a start point - there's always plenty around

Choose a shortlist of manufacturer's - MK, MNR, MAC#1 (and don't rule out a well built Locost either) and then look at a few part builts to see what you'll get for your money.

You'll save a fortune over buying the kit and all the parts from scratch and you'll also get some of the enjoyment and satisfation of having built something.

Familiarise yourself with the new IVA test regs before you start looking so you can make a judgement on suitability of what your looking at.

You'll get all the kit car help you need on here and if you want/need it you'll also fin that you can get help on pretty much anything else in life from this reourceful bunch of people

Enjoy!

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Originally posted by jamesbaa
Hi guy's and girl

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similar to you i wanted to do a book locost but knew i couldnt weld i bought a basic chassis kit from MK and i had little engineering experience and defo cannot weld that was going to be needed. I did not have any built up funds for anything other than the chassis.

it was quite easy just to go along and save for bits as i needed them, they hardest thing was the waiting.

went to MK for all the extra bits i needed like exhaust and manifold and roll hoops etc. Only diffulcty there was a needed to take the car with the engine in situ to get the exhaust done.

Only once did i need some welding at home and i paid a local fabrication firm to come out with a "portable" welder to fit the mounts for my seatbelt mounts. IIRC it was less than an hour and about £60.

as said above an unfinished project may also be an option, although i worried i would spend more time undoing things than doing them.

pif

buy a part built, thats the way I did it as I couldn't afford a £12k build cost, £3k instead of the 8k the previous owner had spent already. Plenty around just have to be careful as there's a lot of poorly built cars about.

You then get to build the car to your chosen spec and have the fun of the build. You can then pick your budget, i'm going for £6k total for a zx12r powered fury.

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Originally posted by jamesbaa
My problem is im a qualified mechanical engineer

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thanks for all the quick replies, i wasnt quite expecting to wakup and have so many! what are the best companies to go for that sell parts as you go along? does anyone know of any good part built kits for sale?

Welcome James, thats exactly how I did my scratch built locost using the mcSorely plans, just had a mate set up my welder and practised until I got it right then off I went. Nearly 4 years later and £1800 (+sva,ins etc) later I had my car on the road.

To be honest that was quite an enjoyable part to the build was sourcing the bits that I could make fit!

Have a look through my gallery below for insperation. And use the search feature on this forum as most questions will have already been asked and answered many times!!

Cheers

Rich

Keep an eye on Pistonheads and on here if you want part built.