eddie99
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| posted on 26/8/08 at 07:30 PM |
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Thinking of building a locost!
Hiya all,
Im thinking of building a kit car and trying to plan on my budget.
I have bought both books 'Build your own sports car on a budget' by Chris Gibbs and 'Build your own sports car for as little as
£250' by Ron Champion and have done some research on prices and searched this forum quite a bit.
First do you reckon that you could get a decent locost on the road for under £3k?
To start, i have been looking at buying a chassis, maybe from Aries Motorsport for about £600 and then buying a 1.3 pref, but probably a 1.6 (more
common) Sierra donor car. Have you all bought a donor car? or pieces of a donor car? Speaking to a owner of a locost, he has said that the pinto
engine is big and heavy and that there are some better ones around. Through my own research and some fun videos on youtube, maybe using a R1 1litre
engine would be better!
The books seem to be more based around a sierra or escort donor car, But have many others used differnt donor cars?
Using a Bike engine has the disadvantage of no reverse gear... From reading it seems expensive to fit one and not easy but i may be wrong.
Is Aries a good chassis? or Mk better? or are their any others that i havent been able to find?
Thanks in advance
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NOTE:This user is registered as a LocostBuilders trader and may offer commercial services to other users
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MK chippy
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| posted on 26/8/08 at 07:40 PM |
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Hi
£3000 maybe, decent i doubt it. im building an mk indy with r1 engine and im expecting to spend atleast £6500.
MK sell a donor pack not entirely sure on what you get with that but worth checking out if your thinking bec. (good choice if you do)! For the bec
reverse apparently you can get a leccy reverse for around 300 quid and you dont lose power through having a gearbox with reverse.
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flak monkey
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| posted on 26/8/08 at 07:40 PM |
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OK, firstly welcome to the site.
If you want to do it for under £3k on the road you will have to build everything yourself really. The chassis steel should be under £120 and in a few
weekends you would soon have a complete chassis.
Sierra donor is the way to go, escorts are nearly impossible to find. 1.6 is the smallest engine you will find in a sierra, either pinto or CVH.
If you are building on a budget the pinto is a good start. Try to get a 2litre, you should be able to pick one up for under £50 with a gearbox. They
are so cheap to tune its silly and my own pinto engined car has suprised more than one person out on the road.
Bike engines are fine if you want a car for track days and short journeys. But if like me you get around a bit (ooo err) and regularly plan long
journeys to shows and meets then they are very wearing (7500 rpm ish at 70-80mph!). In my opinion you wouldnt build a BEC for £3k, CEC no problem
though.
The issue with reverse is going to become bigger in april next year when the new 'SVA' test is brought in which will require all vehichles
have a reverse gear. An expensive option on a BEC!!
Hope some of that helps.
David
Sera
http://www.motosera.com
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ecosse
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| posted on 26/8/08 at 07:50 PM |
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Hi
To keep it under 3k I think you would probably need to go the donor car route, build the chassis yourself and use as much of the donor as possible.
I'm at 3k and not finished spending (by a fair way) yet, and a BEC at that money would be a struggle IMO.
Cheers
Alex
PS
buying the parts bit by bit
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001Ben
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| posted on 26/8/08 at 07:51 PM |
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for sale: sierra rear end - ideal for a kitcar
Image deleted by owner
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Paul TigerB6
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| posted on 26/8/08 at 07:58 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by 001Ben
for sale: sierra rear end - ideal for a kitcar
Image deleted by owner
You forgot to mention the Pinto in the background Ben - as well as the few other bits you have cluttering that dinky garage!!
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big_wasa
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| posted on 26/8/08 at 08:01 PM |
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£3k is do able if you keep it basic and dont get the upgrade bug.
You would be looking at standard clocks standard induction ect and as much of the donor car as you can use.
Making your own chassis may not be as cheap as you think.
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RichieW
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| posted on 26/8/08 at 08:20 PM |
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£3000?
I hope you have a lot of tools in your garage already. You can do it for 3k if you are very handy with metal and if you have a lot of tools already.
Once you start trying to keep costs down and make everything yourself you may find you end up buying lots of gear just to hand build the
'cheap' parts/chassis.
Personally I think the best part of the build is the fabrication skills and experience that you can pick up along the way.
I've easily spent about half of your budget on tools alone. Didn't need everything I bought though. I dont regret it for a second as I
see it as an investment and a continuing hobby. I think you will really struggle to keep it in budget unless you are really disciplined and extremely
resourceful.
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eddie99
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| posted on 26/8/08 at 08:42 PM |
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Thanks for all your very fast and great responses, i think im going to go down a 1.6 sierra donor car, but still buy the chassis from either aries or
MK, considering my welding skill isnt perfect and i wouldnt trust my life with it! :p Seeing a Mot'd till June 09 1.6 good condition for
200pounds on ebay, few days left, keeping my eye on it!!
Going to ring Mk and Aries tomorrow and find out some more information about their chassis.
I have alot of tools, nearly every tool in the tools sections of the books except engine crane which im sure is hireable...
And i guess i will have to increase my budget gradually but i hope to make a good start with a donor car and chassis..
Thanks again
[Edited on 26/8/08 by eddie99]
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NOTE:This user is registered as a LocostBuilders trader and may offer commercial services to other users
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wilkingj
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| posted on 26/8/08 at 08:56 PM |
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For the budget, have a good look at the MK Indy. Car engine is the way to go.
As for a Sierra Donor, dont waste time. I went o my local scrappy last weekend, and they usually have 3-5 Sierra's. They said they had not seen
on in just over a Year.
They are begining to get scarce.
With the price of steel, any scrap steel if finding itw way to India and China.
So dont hang about getting the running gear.
Keep on this forum, there is lots of good friendly types, and plenty of help.
Also put your rought location in your profile. The people know where you are, whihc is important, if you are buying or selling, or asking for helping
hands etc.
Finally... Welcome to the Madhouse... Its not that bad really
1. The point of a journey is not to arrive.
2. Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
Best Regards
Geoff
http://www.v8viento.co.uk
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RK
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| posted on 26/8/08 at 09:33 PM |
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Double or triple your budget if you want to be realistic. It is hard to resist certain things once you see pics of them on other cars, and unless you
do EVERYTHING yourself you will need to hire out certain jobs! Are you good at welding exhausts? Propshafts? etc etc
Sometimes, the build will be lots of fun though. This is what I have been told.
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eddie99
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| posted on 26/8/08 at 09:43 PM |
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I see Both Mk and GTS Tuning have some kits, does anyone know the differnce in quality considering GTS tuning is a fair bit cheaper?
Thanks
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NOTE:This user is registered as a LocostBuilders trader and may offer commercial services to other users
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les g
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| posted on 26/8/08 at 09:44 PM |
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hi mate
check out frankieboy's car on the Haynes roadster forum nice car very creditable build with some nice add ons (etb clocks & mk exhaust
system )etc his build cost was £3500
hth les g
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skodaman
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| posted on 26/8/08 at 09:44 PM |
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'Sometimes, the build will be lots of fun though. This is what I have been told.'
Cheer up RK you must be relatively close to finishing yours by now.
Skodaman
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Paul TigerB6
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| posted on 26/8/08 at 09:47 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by eddie99
I see Both Mk and GTS Tuning have some kits, does anyone know the differnce in quality considering GTS tuning is a fair bit cheaper?
Thanks
Pass the popcorn!!
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caber
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| posted on 26/8/08 at 10:02 PM |
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Mine was £2000 at SVA, self built chassis, Pinto 1600 ( I got given 2 free!) capri back axle ( 2 for £50 from scrappy) Lots of second hand bits from
here and Ebay, looks old skool which is what I wanted, currently getting 83 BHP at flywheel but Webbers not set up properly yet. Mine is predominantly
a road car and it is plenty fast enough to win traffic light GP against anything modern!.
When I started the chassis I had only just learned to TIG weld, by the end I was pretty good. Do some test welds on 1.6mm box section, cut them open
and if you are getting good penetration go for it, you can dress any really nasty looking welds, remember they are almost all hidden once the body is
on.
Best of luck
Caber
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RK
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| posted on 26/8/08 at 10:15 PM |
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GTS? Never heard of them...
Seriously, do a search. And keep searching, because you may not find him.
In response to Skoda above, I am actually not far off: nothing another $5,000 won't solve. I have a lot of trouble actually, but I don't
waste time and am on it every day.
[Edited on 26/8/08 by RK]
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iscmatt
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| posted on 26/8/08 at 10:37 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Paul TigerB6
quote:
Originally posted by eddie99
I see Both Mk and GTS Tuning have some kits, does anyone know the differnce in quality considering GTS tuning is a fair bit cheaper?
Thanks
Pass the popcorn!!
Haha, thats what i was thinking
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907
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| posted on 26/8/08 at 10:52 PM |
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Hi
Mine is a scratch build, but its the nice bits that can't be made where the money goes.
Wheels/tyres, shocks and seats cost over a grand.
About 4k so far, and not much more to buy.
The way things are going though I'll need to save up for a tank of fuel. 
Paul G
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RK
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| posted on 27/8/08 at 01:50 AM |
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Honestly, from what I've seen, once you get an engine and transmission, you can spend whatever you want, and it doesn't really look like
it has to be a lot if you are very careful and don't go nuts on wheels etc. And don't even breathe the words "carbon
fibre".
If I were in the UK, I'd head down to MK and go for their donor kit and you'll be done in no time.
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Paul (Notts)
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| posted on 27/8/08 at 06:25 AM |
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You will need to budget for SVA insurance and road tax - This will cost the best part of £1000 soon.
SVA £ 600 by the time you finish
Road tax ? 200
insurance £200
Paul
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adam1985
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| posted on 27/8/08 at 07:01 AM |
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ive set myself a budget of 3k and so far so good im always on ebay just looking for cheap bits even if i dont need them yet one thing i didnt skimp on
though is the engine i got a part built project and am planing on doing the exhaust my self i will then upgrade the bits i want in the winter months
when i can aford
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eddie99
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| posted on 27/8/08 at 07:25 AM |
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Ok great, i have got a good idea of where i stand now
I think a 3k budget will be able to get me most of the way to the car running and working, but not sva'd.
I already have the seats and wheels/tyres for the first build, so that cuts some costs
Thanks for the help!
Eddie
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NOTE:This user is registered as a LocostBuilders trader and may offer commercial services to other users
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