Hello all. New here -been lurking for a while so thought I should show my face .

I'm after a bit of advice too... of course.

I've been hoping to build a seven of some sort for a while. Usual things in the way over the years - cash, commitments, space etc. I'm close to having the cash (although the latest skyline bill has relieved me of my weighty wallet pretty smartly ), need a hobby to keep me out of mischief, but still have a problem with space:

Behold the garage:



Never mind the 350Z - just showing off my cleaning skills (or should that be skillz in modern speak?). It's the 20ft shipping container in the background. Local council won't let me build anything as it's greenbelt land

I'm not a complete stranger to building cars - found some old pics of the Titan 3 which the Dear Old Dad and I built a looooong time ago when I was at university...







Was a real hoot - around 600kg with me on board, toyota 1500 engine, and a piece of just about every car in existence scrounged and attached somewhere. No rain gear, and I lived in a flat (student life!), so seats were just foam pads that could be taken out and hung up to dry. It was my only transport, so I drove it everywhere - including the 1200 mile round trip home for the holidays - and in all weather. As long as I kept moving, the rain went over the top. When I stopped at the lights, I popped up my umrella ! At least it gave other commuters something to smile about.

So anyway, I need to scratch the engineering itch again. Limited facilities at the moment mean I'm probably going to have to start with a part built or complete car that I can mess about with. I'm hoping to have a look at Kipper's car at some point - if I can find the time to get up there.

What I would like to hear from forum members is what 7 they recommend, and why. I'm looking for personal experience here - there are plenty of build sites and threads, and I'm working my way through them, but I'd like to know why you chose the car you did, whether you'd choose it again, what you like(d) about it, hated etc. It would be really useful to hear from people who've built a few cars.

What am I looking for?

• Bike engined - I just feel that these cars should howl (and I've grown to love the skyline's high-revving RB26)
  
• Track/weekend toy - but I do want to be able to drive it to and from the track as I don't have a suitable tow car.
  
• As its a first build, I guess the easier it is to work on, the better.
  

I built a Stuart Taylor - the design is now owned by Aries Motor Sports.

I bought it because it was smaller than most cars and hence lighter than most cars. It also looks pretty close to the original Lotus Se7en Series 3 that I always wanted.

This design also won many a Locost race (750MC race series) and seemed to be more developed than most of the others - at least at the time I bought mine around 2003.

It was also prettiest although that's quite subjective I guess

Anyway; the finished car weighs 565kgs and has 116bhp which makes it quite quick enough. The best bit is the handling, it's point & squirt just like a go-cart but does over 100mph and hits 60mph in 6 seconds or so.

hi just a heads up really if you need more building room/space
a friend of mine had similar problems and he put two (2) containers side by side and cut the inner walls out and sealed the gap in the roof
its one helluva big space and nobody pays it any attention
cheers les g

What am I looking for?
*You need to get yourself to a show and have a look at some in the flesh

Bike engined - I just feel that these cars should howl (and I've grown to love the skyline's high-revving RB26)
*Good choice you wont be disapointed and you wont go far wrong with any of popular choices of Jap 4 engine

Track/weekend toy - but I do want to be able to drive it to and from the track as I don't have a suitable tow car.
*No problem thats what many of us do

As its a first build, I guess the easier it is to work on, the better.
*Again there's not much to chose between any of the most popular makes, very much personal choice, so good to see them and make your own mind up.
None of them are hard!

*And now you've found this site there is nothing that you need to know that some here don't already, so welcome aboard and remember the "Search" button is your friend!

quote:

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Originally posted by ReMan
What am I looking for?
*You need to get yourself to a show and have a look at some in the flesh

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Why's Jenson Button sitting in the Titan 3??

quote:

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Originally posted by BenB
Why's Jenson Button sitting in the Titan 3??

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Whereabouts are you?
Anywhere near Bruntingthorpe?
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=89649

quote:

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Originally posted by ReMan
Whereabouts are you?
Anywhere near Bruntingthorpe?
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=89649

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Open invitation to come to Tamworth and Lichfield College (Tamworth Campus) to discuss our experiences of building an MK!

u2u sent

Martyn

Thanks Martyn - I'll definitely take you up on that. Off to Millbrook tonight/tomorrow, so will give you a call later over the w/end

[Edited on 23/5/08 by bernmc]

Well, last event of the day at Millbrook yestreday was a hoon around in CAT's ex-race Caterham. Mad timed shootout around cones etc.

It's made me even more determined to own one - I loved it! High rev-ing car engine was very good too, so I'm (slightly) less adamant about bike engine being a must. I definately don't like the way the pinto cars drive though, and still fancy a sequential...