Messenjah
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| posted on 6/1/06 at 09:24 PM |
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o btw im thought i posted on here evidently not im no longer looking for a first car im going on my mums landrover isnurance and paying the
difference so that i get some more driving experience and maybe not buying a car till i need one so in my year out when im working
and joel that was the plan to have it finished some time after my 19th lol
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gazza285
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| posted on 6/1/06 at 10:09 PM |
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It's usually more like your 29th going by some of the peolple on here.
DO NOT PUT ON KNOB OR BOLLOCKS!
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Spyderman
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| posted on 7/1/06 at 10:53 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Messenjah
i know the basics and a bit more but would like to learn more then i know i also want to do automotive design and engineering at uni hopefully
bath
the idea is tho i want to build one and was thinking about a welding course 
i get where you are coming form and maybe a kit would be a better option
and yeah you are right there is no rush to start tomorrow at all i am to have it complete whatever route i go down by around may time not next year
but the year after which will be about halfway through my year out after a levels and then ill go on a trip round europe in it which is why i want to
build rather then buy so i can fix if it breaks on the trip
as at that time id be 19 which gives much more scope for actually being able to afford to insure it lol and then id have it in time for uni lol
I hope you are not taking English as one of your A-levels! 
My two-penneth!
Clear out the garage, get yourself a MIG welder and play with it!
Then play with it some more until you can cut the welds open and compare them to the examples that can be found on this forum somewhere.
If you can do that then you are equipped to build your own car from scratch! Have fun! 
If that seems too daunting then buy a kit!
Good luck!
Spyderman
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steve_gus
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| posted on 7/1/06 at 11:09 PM |
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Joel - if most of the fun was in the fabrication...... didnt you scrap your build and buy something in?  Bit too much fun then
atb
steve
http://www.locostbuilder.co.uk
Just knock off the 's'!
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rusty nuts
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| posted on 8/1/06 at 10:27 AM |
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I'm sure some who have successfully built cars with help from this forum knew less than Messanjah about cars when they started. Others have
taken 5years or more and are still not on the road .Whats wrong with helping a youngster to build his dream? Remember we were all young once and we
all had to learn.
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JoelP
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| posted on 8/1/06 at 11:12 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by steve_gus
Joel - if most of the fun was in the fabrication...... didnt you scrap your build and buy something in? Bit too much fun then
atb
steve
ha ha! very funny steve i scrapped it to make space so that a new project could satisfy 70% of me, and bought a finished one to satisfy the
remaining 30% . The first car was a learning curve, and wasnt worth finishing. And yup, im having great fun with the trailer at the minute
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caber
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| posted on 8/1/06 at 12:10 PM |
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Messenjah
Build it yourself! I started with fixing Land Rovers and going on a welding course that taught me a lot about arc welding and a bit about gas I have
had gas welding kit for years mainly used on Landies and bought cheap TIG kit for the locost. The main tub of the chassais was completed including
cutting between Boxing day and 3 January working everyday satisfaction level very high cost about £100 in steel and £40 in welding gas £20 in grinding
disks! It was also a good excuse to avoid over exposure to relatives!
See if you can get on a local technical college NVQ or SVQ course then you have a bit of paper should you ever want to do more welding, it is good
fun
Best of luck with the bild
Caber
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Mix
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| posted on 8/1/06 at 03:31 PM |
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Steve_gus
Just curious......how did you learn to weld??
Mick
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steve_gus
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| posted on 8/1/06 at 08:12 PM |
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I learned to weld as :
1. My father was a time served toolmaker / welder.
2. I worked next door to a company in Wellingborough, Northants, that sold welding stuff (amazingly called Northants Welding) and picked up details
from them.
3. got advice from a guy I worked with who was a welder. (In fact my company at that time used to x-ray welds for the gas and oil industry).
Why did I do all this? Cos I had spent a loada money on getting a metro turbo in a nice state, inc a full engine rebuild, when someone hit it up the
rear right quarter.
This wrote it off. I bought the wreck and cut off the rear, part of the boot floor, all of the right side. I bought the matching 'quarter'
from a contact at work, and then basically trimmed it to suit the missing bits on the car. This wasnt a cut and shut, just an attempt at keeping costs
down and not buying a whole boot floor when I just needed 9ins of a corner.
However, none of that means im a decent welder.
So, I spent time over 3 or so years doing the renovation work, during which time I learned to weld bits of car to other bits of car.
It gave me the 'grounding' to think I could attempt a scratch build.
Rustynuts - the speed I build my car at is down to me, and it had no bearing on any advice does it? My car isnt as simple as a 'book' car
and is a scratch build. Its going to take some time, (but i didnt think this long)! Perhaps it gives me a little more ability to describe where the
pitfalls of getting in too deep may be.... (like having a change of circumstances that had me park the build for 15 months)
I am not trying to dicscourage messnjah, just trying to see the situation as it is.
Perhaps Im reading it wrong, but what I see is.....
Someone living at home wioth parents.
Someone that has no access to a garage and will have to do all the build outdoors. (telling himto get his parents to clear out what seems to be a
'spare room' isnt really viable is it?)
Someone that appears to live life for the moment, and likely wants to spend time with his mates.
Will shortly go to uni. Currently doing GCSEs
Hasnt got much funding.
I have spent 500+ hrs on my overcomplicated car, and I think there is a relationship between time available, motiviation, and resources. The more you
take on, the less the chance you will finish.
Its hard enough building in a cramped garage, but for a 17/18 y/o to build in the open, when hes got commitments such as gcse and uni and all the
rest, would give him an unpleasant task and heavy workload.
I dont feel inclined to say 'go for the dream' cos the reality is days out in the wet and cold in a race agaisnt time to build the car
before it rusts or you run out of motivation.
I think he will have a much greater chance of 'living the dream' if he looks at the resources and time he has, and takes a route that will
allow him to get a result without falling foul of a lack of resources.
I would have finished my car yonks ago if I had been more realistic and kept to a simpler build. I know (as im sure most of us do) how much time it
takes, all the costs of tools you never thought you needed, etc, etc.
If he gets a kit and a donor, there will be a much greater chance of a result than if he gets a donor and a pile of steel.
Put yourself in Messenjahs situation, and ask if you think a scratch build or a kit build is going to get the biggest chance of a finished car on the
road.
Wish you well Messnjah, just trying to tell you not to bite off more than you can chew. If you can convince your parents to clear out the garage, and
get your dad and mates to lend a hand (for more than the first 2 weeks!) - then id advise differently.
Take into account that when I stated that half dont do a scratch build a couple weeks back, it was thought that most people on here buy in a
kit......
atb
steve
[Edited on 8/1/06 by steve_gus]
http://www.locostbuilder.co.uk
Just knock off the 's'!
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irvined
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| posted on 8/1/06 at 10:39 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by steve_gus
If you dont have a decent garage, and welding experience you would be TOTALLY NUTS to attempt a scratch build.
A person needs a little madness, or else they never dare cut the rope and be free.
I built mine in a driveway and a car port with a pants welder with no serious metalworking experience. Its not the best chassis in the world, but its
up to sratch and it was good fun and I learnt a lot.
The conditions were not ideal, but as long as you've got a good build board, plenty of patience and a big hammer you'll be fine.
It takes a lot of motiviation to get the chassis finished, but its worth it when its done. I got a real feeling of achievement as it started to take
shape. It took about a weekend to get it cut and tacked together. Depending on the duty cycle of the welder it can take a very long time to fully weld
up, it took a good few weeks of grafting after work for me to get mine more or less sorted.
At the end of the day you'll need to learn to weld to get your brackets bolted on and to make all the random bits of bobs during the build, its
a good skill to have anyway. Don't look at it as a cost saving though, what you will save on not buying a chassis, you will spend on tools,
electricity bill etc.
In short, if you want to get finished quicker, buy a good chassis ready made, if you want more fun, lots of blood sweat and tears, (Mainly blood and
sweat.) then build it yourself.
HTH
David
http://irvined.blogspot.com
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Messenjah
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| posted on 9/1/06 at 12:00 AM |
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a levels not gcses i crapped out on them
A , B, B, B, B , B , B , C , C , D
with an extra 5 makrs on each paper tht wud read
A* , A , A , A , A , A, A , B , B , D lol
a bit of revision wouldve done it
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robinbastd
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| posted on 9/1/06 at 12:05 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Messenjah
a levels not gcses i crapped out on them
A , B, B, B, B , B , B , C , C , D
Are you telling us that you took 10 A levels?
Only a dead fish swims with the tide.
http://smuttygifts.com/
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Triton
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| posted on 9/1/06 at 12:17 AM |
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Or has the alphabet changed since i was at school?
My Daughter has taken over production of the damn fine Triton race seats and her contact email is emmatrs@live.co.uk.
www.tritonraceseats.com
www.hairyhedgehog.com
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Messenjah
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| posted on 9/1/06 at 12:48 AM |
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no im telling you that im taking a levels atm and that i took 10 gcses but thats wrong i took 11 i missed out another b
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Simon
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| posted on 9/1/06 at 01:11 AM |
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Messenjah,
See my archive pics to see how far you can get in a couple of days.
Preparation is the key.
I'm on the road for under three grand and that INCLUDES insurance/registration/ year of RFL etc etc etc.
Go for it, but remember your priorites - and that ain't the car
ATB
Simon
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SilverFox
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| posted on 10/1/06 at 05:10 AM |
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If only I could turn the clock back and be young and enthusiastic without the wisdom that years bring.
From an off-shore perspective, we see so many excellent builds for sale (MK's Tigers, et al, in the mags anywhere from 4K to 6K for a good un ,
it begs the question why build at a tender age when it will likely cost the same (maybe more).
If one assumes cash flow is the demon, why not stash away a little each week while pursuing academic (or other) youthful interests, until you get say
3K together, and then decide - you could buy, scratch-build or kit-build and probably be further ahaed than many of us whichever way you go.
In the meantime, read a lot and possibly re-draw the entire vehicle to understand it
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steve_gus
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| posted on 10/1/06 at 01:26 PM |
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almost exactly what I was saying
atb
steve
http://www.locostbuilder.co.uk
Just knock off the 's'!
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