My kit car blues

[Damon Hill]

So far I've spent £30 on steel for the chassis, and £500 on tools, and I haven't even got round to welding it together yet... Turning out harder than I thought it would be!

[steve_D]

Let me know when you get to £30,000 then we can talk about how hard it gets getting to £48,000.

Steve

[feet]

£530 quid. Jesus, I just spent more than that on a speedo.

[Avocet]

If it was easy, everyone would be doing it! Are you designing your own thing or building something like a Lo-Cost? Don't give up just yet. The rewards are huge when you get them but if you're doing something from scratch, be prepared for a couple of years hard slog.

[Jon Ison]

check out locostbuilders.co.uk for help advice and a friendly ear.

[Damon Hill]

Yeh it's a locost. I've never welded before, so I'm bricking it a bit!

(wonder what Steve D's building? £48000?)

>> Edited by Damon Hill on Thursday 13th January 21:43

[andygtt]

£48k... about right for a well spec'd Ultima.

[steve_D]

Damon Hill said:

Yeh it's a locost. I've never welded before, so I'm bricking it a bit! (wonder what Steve D's building? £48000?) >> Edited by Damon Hill on Thursday 13th January 21:43

See my profile.

Steve

[wolf1]

Damon Hill said:

So far I've spent £30 on steel for the chassis, and £500 on tools, and I haven't even got round to welding it together yet... Turning out harder than I thought it would be!

Seriously mate if your pissed that you've spent that much (little) and it seems to be taking ages. Then give up now it will save you a fortune in the long run. There is a certain stubbornness and refusal to give up linked to kit car builders. Take stock now or it'll be another unfinished project on E-Bay.

[Avocet]

Beware! It's relatively easy to get a sound looking weld with most DIY MIG sets but when they first start using the set, people tend to use them at too low a current 'cause they're scared of blowing holes in the tubes. This often results in a "cold" weld - i.e. one that sits on the surface of the tube but hasn't actually penetrated the full thickness of the metal.

Seriously, have a good think about whether you need to go on a course (fun in itself!) or, failing that, you cut the tubes and tack it together and then get a professional "coded" welder to finish-weld everything. Some bits of chassis you might be able to do yourself but there will be a number of welds (e.g. the inboard ends of the wishbones) which, if they let go at any decent speed, could kill you. (or worse, someone else!)

[huwbertus]

My local collage did a course lasting 6 weeks doing one day a week in the evening. cost about £45. (coleg meni in Bangor) not much help if you are the other end of the country though

[hal 1]

hi, can i assume that the £500 is for the welding equipment? if so then dont give up go on a night school course to learn how to do it properly these courses are worth their weight in gold i've saved myself loads of cash just working on my everyday motor getting it through the MOT when its needed and the amount of satisfaction you get doing it yourself will be worth it no-one says these cars are easy to build but if you take your time you'll get there good luck