looking for a new kit
did not want to pay to much this time
had the tiger 2lt
just got rid of mr2 mark2
now looking at next kit
seen this robin hood

link

what do you think when i had tiger the robin hoods seemed to be frowned upon why
bad bits
good bits
thanks colin

Somewhat heavier and less sophisticated than the usual MK/Luego/Mac#1 etc

But if you just want comfortable open topped motoring with 7 looks then should be a cheap option.

cheers

Mark

The have a bad reputation because they are essentially a loose collection of bodges held together with pop rivets and cable ties.

The main problem with Robin Hoods is the complete lack of any proper engineering in it's design. I will concede the new Zero is quantum leap in terms of design and build quality, but then again it costs rather more than the old kits.

I have just completed a long build of a 2B...

And I would never, ever in a million years do it again....

Badly designed, doesnt fit together properly...floppy rear suspension pickups...

I would have been better getting a better kit, or simply started from scratch...

Dont buy one!

Please dont buy a RH. As above - they are simply put, not a well engineered car. Then again - Tiger's are pretty agricultural in their engineering too!!!

There has always been a general bias against Robin Hoods on this site so i would suggest that you go to the RHOCaR site for a balanced opinion and go and meet people from the club at the shows.
The 2b is heavy but you are riding around in a full body roll cage, they are a collection of bits and pieces but there are more on the road than any other kit. Any build problems have been engineered out by the club members.
The new Zero is a square box frame and ally panels so no difference to any other 7 in design
If i was to do another 7 well currently i like the Aries, both the kit and the man, if i was going to do one from scratch then the Haynes Roadster would probably be the one

I second the advice about the bias against RH cars, there's a very active RH forum and the RHOC membership is huge.

The car you linked to is the monocoque version, so comments concerning their space frame cars won't be relevant.

Whether it's good value or not will depend on what price it goes for, and that hasn't been decided yet

John

With a barge pole touch not !

quote:

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Originally posted by britishtrident
With a barge pole touch not !

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The series 3 is not too bad at all and i would have no issues with getting one at all, i always liked the looks and proportions of this particular model and wanted one for my first kit but by the time i had saved up it had gone out of production so i bought a 2B instead, biggest mistake i could have made, it really was terrible quality and design.
If the S3 goes cheap enough then i would say go for it.
Cheers

When I was initially looking at kits prior to buying the Indy I called RH to ask if I could go for a drive in one and have a look round the chassis. WHoever I spoke to advised me to call a day or so before to make sure the test car was available as, and I quote "we sometimes take bits off it if a delivery hasn't turned up rather than let a customer down".

That didn't really inspire me with confidence. PLus at the time they seemed a bit uncertain about BEC options.

From what I have seen, you can make a very nice Robin Hood car.

However, to get a good finish, you have to spend a lot more time, fettling and sorting out. ie as people have said things may not fit as well, edged needing to be smoother out and finished off.

So if you dont mind a lot of work making things really good, then its a good option.

I would look at the Mc Indy, or the Mac1.

Basically as with most things in life you get what you pay for.
Ive seen some nicely finished Robin Hoods out there, so it can be done.
At the end of the day, the effort you put in will reflect in the finish of the car and its final value.

I've seen quite a few very nicely turned-out Robin Hoods, and I've seen a couple of horrors. As said above, it's all down to the amount of effort the builder puts into it.

For this car - on the plus side, he's saying all the right words, e.g. "correctly registered". On the minus side, he says that he's not mechanically minded - and ALL these sorts of car do require some mechanical knowledge to maintain.

But, if you're only looking for a car to enjoy on country roads on nice days (ha!) then it'll be as good as anything else. It will never make a rewarding track-day car, but that may not be your intention anyway.

If it takes your fancy, go and have a good look - take a friend with a critical mind to counteract any rose-coloured glasses tendency!

[Edited on 14/9/08 by David Jenkins]

I've got one of those in the garage now. Undergoing total redesign. The rear suspension mounts are so inadequate it's unreal. The only thing stopping the whole rear of the car folding up on a line about the roll bar main tubess is 4off M10 bolts.

The front suspension geometry is all wrong with the sierra arb installed, will need replacing for tie rods.

The single bolt in the top of the sheet pedal box cover is the only thing stopping the pedal box folding back as the brake is depressed. The chassis will crack about this point in the end.

Front suspension upper w/b pivots are too weak (1-1.5mm sheet) they require ploating or similar to increase the strength. The chasis will also crack just behind these mounts too.

The diff is bolted to the boot floor directly, (sheet 1mm)

I've admitted to myself a long time ago that it's not a kit car, not even a good design, but a pile of stainless which I'm going to turn into a useable strong car in the end. I have had to build a full cage linked to the rear beam and shock mounts, braced forward against the "armrest" bits, then study the weak points which have now moved up the body, fit bracing there, flex it, add more triangulation and bracing, refabricate pedal box with adequate bracing, and so on, and on, and on, and on


So, in summary, incomparable to a properly designed spaceframe 7, chalk and cheese. They deserve the bias against them (I'm allowed to say that being an owner) If it's been built to the
"instructions" then it won't last long before you have all sorts of things tearing out/off/bending/cracking...

If however you have the time to strip it to bits and make it properly, then I'm sure you can make it into a good car, I hope you can at least!............

having worked there , the monocoque cars are better than the 2b , and easier to make better - beware of chassis cracking tho .

if you have any doubts about it look elsewhere .

Excellent, some good news then for mine! I will make it work, I will make it work, I will make it work, I will make it work, I will make it work, I will make it work, .................

I bought a very cheap RH (series 3 I think...it had a folded steel monocoque with Cortina front and rear suspension) as a donor for my locost. The floor pan had hundreds of nuts and bolts hold various panels together, and if you jacked up one corner you could visibly see the whole chassis twist.

It wasn't all bad though, the rear bodywork fits a +4" locost quite well though, and the Cortina uprights were useful

quote:

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Originally posted by snapper
There has always been a general bias against Robin Hoods on this site

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With the way the economy is these days, the time of year, and generally poor selling price of kits at the moment - especially a part built, it seems to be a buyers market at the moment.

Dare i say it but with so many part built's out there, its an opportunity for a buyer to go out and get a bargain with what could be seen by many as a much better quality kit such as MK etc