Hi guys. Got the Ron Champion book for christmas and like many ,i'm sure, its got me thinking. Last autumn I was toying with the idea of a westfield but bottled it as it would leave me with no money for my everyday car, which at the time was breaking down like it was going out of fashion. To summize, westie too expensive at that time. So now I've replaced my tintop with a altogether much newer, nicer, faster etc... Golf GTi but whilst its lovely, I'm itching for a lowcost. Right now I'll get to the point. Building my own has a lot of appeal, I'm talking Stuart Taylor rather than literally from scratch. Also fancy the Fireblade option. Now, should I be trusted to make one of these beasts as my first 7 car? Can I build one myself? I'm no mechanical genius but I have done a lot of engine work before but not a lot else. Lastly, anybody fancy giving me a ride in a BEC based around Newcastle. All help very much appreciated. P.s How long does a ST car really take to build?
gadrego,
There are more than one company that makes lo-cost 7's, like M.K. Engineering and Luego.
All these companies will be helpful in the fitment of bike engines, as for mecanical genius time and patience(and this site) will get you through.
Time wise anything from 4-6months to 3-5 years depending on how money you can muster.
Welcome and good luck . Dan.
Do it, you know you want to!
No mechanical genius here either, but most of it just common sense. And as Scutter says, there is always someone in here who knows what they are
talking about (or at least appears to 
)!
We are building a 'Blade based Luego, never having built any kind of kit car before. Sure there are problems but that is half the fun of it, finding
ways to overcome them.
Welcome to the fold!
I also got 'the book' for christmas and then stumbled across this site.
I think that I am going to be going for a Luego chassis kit (one of the winter deals). Im going for a straight forward (hopefully!!) build using a
donor 1.6 escort as a starting point. I intend to build it, git it SVA'd then play in it for a while, maybe making some mods through the colder
months.
I must say that the advice thats available on here is excelent, there seems to be such a wide range of people that you can get an answer to most of
your questions.
If you want to initiate a long thread ask for advice on what chassis to get and whether to build it yourself - it worked for me
The general feeling seems to be that you should make your own chassis as this can save a good deal of money, but after my wifes advice I think that I
will buy it complete - that way it wont take as long to get the thing I really want - the car!
Good luck with it
Steve
Oh no Steve, you mentioned the 'self build' question! 
Decision was very straightforward for us. Neither of us could weld, so buying the chassis was the only really option (other than a welding course).
Thanks for the replies. I too am an imept welder so I'll definetly be buying the chassis and also the body parts pre made. I was just about to ask the question about which chassis but I guess I'll find an answer already on here. Just out of interest, anybody know of any BEC's for sale around the £6k mark. There's two on findit but I'm assuming they're now sold as the adverts are quite old.
Since my last post, I've had a bit of a rethink. I'm going to either buy a SH BEC or get one built for me, probably by MK. Before I start on the
questions, if anybody knows of any BEC 7's for sale at less than £8k please let me know. Right, being a bit of lightweight Fetishist, if I ask MK to
make me a car it needs to be featherweight. What parts should I be specifically interested in. Uprights? Hubs? Caliper's? etc..
At the moment, I'm thinking
IRS
No screen
Rear discs
No reverse
minilites
Blade Engine
GRP Seats
Digital dash
What do you guys thinks?
OZ Superleggras wheels are very light and £100 for 15" from lark speed
Gadrego,
Someone has said elsewhere on here that live axle is lighter than IRS. Also there is no need for rear discs as most of the braking effort is done by
the front end. Not sure if drums are lighter but I would have thought so as no need for caliper etc.
[Edited on 11/2/03 by StuartA]
With regards to IRS v live axle. My preference 4 IRS is probably more down to the fact that I want the car to be as friendly on the road as possible, however I see that Cateringvan fireblades use Live axle and they are excellent cars. I suppose going for live axle and keeping drums would free up some cash for some other tasty bits and pieces. Its probably the route I will now take unless somebody is about to tell me its a big mistake. One last point, if I had four pots on the front and drums on the back would I not have a fairly serious inbalance there. I know front brakes work a lot harder than rears anyway but?? Cheers for your help with all my questions guys. Its reassuring to know that you lot are here to help when need be.
The brake balance won't be a problem if you opt for a balance bar system(except a little more cost), but if you thinking of 4 pots them a little
extra cost won't matter.
Dan
Hello - my 2p
IRS
Live axle may work out lighter overall (but heavier unsprung) but IRS gives easy LSD and rear disc option (LSD definately worth thinking about with
all those ponies). Having said that a 'book' escort-based car would give you slighly lighter front uprights (sierra ones are lardy), and you may be
able to find a 2.8 capri LSD live axle (or just not care about LSD). Dunno. Helpful, arent I?
No screen
Reety ho. Not my cup of tea though.
Rear discs
See above. If you want to put powerful 4-pots on the fronts, would probably be a good idea to have discs on the back too. A BEC will have much less
of a front weight bias than a normal car.
No reverse
Yep - 'fred flintstone' reverse worked fine for my mate's bec. Just make sure you dont inadvertently park downhill facing a wall and not be able to
push it back up.
minilites
Careful with your minilites - unless you can afford the nice magnesium ones, they're not all that light for their size. Like MK9R said - OZ
Superleggera are amazingly light (for a cast ali wheel) and cheap. Check out www.wheelweights.net. I want Desmond Rega Master Evo's or
maybe some Volk Racing rims - mmmmmm, if only I lived in Japan and had money (actually they're not badly priced)
Blade Engine
Mmmmmm. But everyone has those! How much more is the less popular ZX12R? That would be tasty.
GRP Seats
Get some nice cussions or dont go very far at once. I'd sacrifice 10kg for decent long voyage/frequent use comfort any day. Depends what you want to
use it for I s'pose.
Digital dash
Mmmmmmm. I'll have one too when I'm rich.
Enjoy,
Liam
Digidash - the way to go, I'm getting the first of the new batch from EM, hopefully this week.
If you want to go lightweight and have excellent stopping, then go for Willwood alloy 4 pot front calipers and disks, not cheap, around £380, but
superb.
ZX12R's are much more money, most I've seen are at least £1500+, why not go for a ZX9R??
As for wheels, the OZ are undoubtably good, but a cheaper alternative at £350-£400 are Rimstocks from Mark at Mach1, price includes good tyres....
quote:
Originally posted by Jasper
ZX12R's are much more money, most I've seen are at least £1500+, why not go for a ZX9R??
). quote:
Originally posted by Liam
No screen
Reety ho. Not my cup of tea though.
In the difference between ZX12 and Hyabusa engines, having owned both (although they have been in bikes not cars) the hyabusa engine has more torque
than the ZX12 lower down however the ZX12 has a sh*t load more about it than the ZX9 (not had one of those but have riden one).
With the hyabusa bike you can comforatably (?) go from 30mph in top to an indicated 190mph without any need for the needle to rise faster where as the
ZX12 feels lacking low down in the rev range. This lacking is not something that is an issue unless your used to tearing the tar off the surface of
the road as you can with a busa, you are limited to only ripping the chippings from the tar with the 12.
I guess what Im trying to say is that both are 'adequate' but there is a noticable difference between the two on the road in bike format so I guess
that would be there in car format so I guess thats why the busa engine is a bit more expensive
phew
Steve
With regard to engine choice, I am torn between the Zx9r and the fireblade and have heard very little to decide between them. The ZX9 seems to be highly recommended but I think I would take some comfort from the fact that the Fireblade is more widely used. I'm also gonna keep my eyes peeled for an R1 at the right price. Correct me if I'm wrong but would ZX12's and Busa engines not require dry sumping, which would add a considerable amount to the cost of the install. This won't be a money no object build, I am on a fairly tight budget but I would just prefer to get it right first time so I'll be taking my time over this especially with regard to engine choice. I've also got to wait till I move in to my new house as I have no garage at the moment. Still haven't decided between IRS and Live axle. I'm not the most decisive person in the world!