Hi there,

I just wanted to introduce myself (and ask some questions). My name is Phil, if you hadn't guessed , and I'm a student at Keele Uni.

I've been entertaining the idea of building a kit car for a while, and also decided I'd like to race too, so the Locost series seems fairly ideal.

Whilst avoiding essays this last week I have been reading a lot on here and looking at various places on the internet, and bought the 'book' the other day. I just have a few questions so I can talk properly with my dad about getting him to help/using his garage space next time I go home.

First off, the donor car. I was wondering how much you actually need out of it, and how much you can get from other places. Obviously I know I'll need the engine and some other bits from an Escort if I'm going to race it. I spotted this over the weekend:

http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=23847

and so my question was leading to whether that'd be all the stuff off a donor car I need and wouldn't be able to get from somewhere like Leugo. Obviously I know it'd probably be cheaper getting a donor and stripping it.

Secondly, from reading around here it seems like the old Escorts are getting a lot tougher to find so if I do spot something like this is it worth getting it when I can rather than waiting till I'm ready to do any proper work on it?

Trying to think what else I had to ask now.....

It'll probably come back when I go back to work on my essay

A little bit annoyed that I found out Luego have got an open day this weekend, I went back home to Peterborough the weekend just gone. And there was a show in stafford a week or two ago as well I think that isn't too far from me now. Oh well.

Anyway I will stop rambling (avoiding essay) for now, and say thank you in advance for any responses.

Cheers

Phil.

From the escort all you would need is the engine, gearbox, axle, steering rack and anything else useful (like clocks etc.). You could get away with buying it all separately, but it wouldn't be cheap.

Adam

i dont know what you need specifically for racing, but for general road use you are better buying a full sierra cos there are some many little bits you can have off it.

hopefully a racing boffin will be along soon to give some details about the regs!

Welcome to the madhouse Phil
Firstly if you do want to race in the locost series you have to do your ARDS to obtain your National B racing licence. You have to prepare your car as per the 750 motor club locost regulations Link here :

http://www.750mc.co.uk/Racing/regulations/pdf/2005%20Regs%20-%20Locost.pdf

Your car will have to be what is called a 'book chassis' which is Escort based. If you want to put it on the road as well as race it, then you will have to build your car to SVA regulations....that is another story!

Have a look in the 'Racing' sections, there are loads of people who will give you loads of advice and point you in the right direction.

ATB fozzie

don't forget the supposedly hard to find/expensive cortina uprights that won't be part of the escort..

Ned.

i only live about 5/10 mins from keele uni, so if u want 2 look at neally drivable locost (and will be hopefully in about 2 weeks), with a different body, give us a u2u

Phil M

Thanks for the replies guys.

Seems that it is probably going to be a bit of a bugger and expensive finding some of the bits from the escort and cortina.

I think I will probably keep looking over the next few months to see how often and cheap these things appear (without getting my hopes up much) and then decide how to proceed, whether I carry on hunting or try racing in a different series where I can possibly source parts more easily.

Or even just build one for road use first then move into building a racer later.

quote:

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i only live about 5/10 mins from keele uni, so if u want 2 look at neally drivable locost (and will be hopefully in about 2 weeks), with a different body, give us a u2u

Phil M

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