Haynes : Locost

[_Al_]

Hi guys,

I'm just about to finish my degree and I've got a job lined up. Wondering how to blow my first paychecque.

When haynes say 'build a car for £250' how close are they to the truth?

I know I'll have extra expenses hiring equipment and buying tools, but can anyone give me an estimate?

Also, how long will it take to build working weekends only?

Cheers,

Al.

[Stig]

To build one for 250 quid would give you a shed of a car.

Given that a MKII Escort donor will cost at least 150 these day, the cortina uprights are 50quid a pair from the scrappy, raw materials for the chassis will cost 100+ and about 250 for the GRP (you can see where I'm going here ) it's gonna cost you a lot more.

That said, there's no reason why you couldn't have a half decent car on the road for 1500 quid or so. But if you want a reasonably finished example, more like 3k.

Or you could build a race one and spend 6-7k+!

Time taken to build depends on how much you're willing to do, how much is pre-fab and how much cash you've got.

It's very rewarding though. Have a look at my Locost racing site (if you haven't already) www.locost-racing.com for a complete build etc.

[AJLintern]

I doubt you'd be able to do it for £250. The book assumes you'd find a rusty MOT failure Mk2 Escort for a few quid and make absolutely everything yourself using offcuts of metal tube. I'd be looking to spend about £2k if I wanted to do it properly on a budget.

[_Al_]

That's more like what I was expecting, and currently out of my price range, but not for long.

I've been mad on the idea of building my own car for ages now. I think I'll buy the book and see what I can do with the methods it mentions and the local scrapyards.


Vauxhall Carlton as a donor car maybe... Completely self-designed chasis.

I just want practice for now. Road legal would be nice. My dream is to build an Ultima, (inspired, I don't mind admitting), by Stig's car!

[Stig]

_Al_ said:

That's more like what I was expecting, and currently out of my price range, but not for long. I've been mad on the idea of building my own car for ages now. I think I'll buy the book and see what I can do with the methods it mentions and the local scrapyards. Vauxhall Carlton as a donor car maybe... Completely self-designed chasis. I just want practice for now. Road legal would be nice. My dream is to build an Ultima, (inspired, I don't mind admitting), by Stig's car!

Good man!

Remember, once upon a time the Ultima was just a dream for me too!!

[AJLintern]

I really want to build my own design of sportscar one day, so I bought the book for ideas really, to see how one would go about building that style of car. I want to build a lightweight mid engined GT, similar to a Ginetta G12 - maybe with a 993 flat-6

[_Al_]

AJ, that's exactly what I was thinking (though not the Ginetta, entirely my own design). I was drooling over a written off MR2 a while back. Front end smash otherwise fine.

I think I'll do something Locost esq and practice on a trackday or two before re-assessing my budget. I've told a friend about this now and he wants to get involved, both helping and financially, so that's first class news!

Cheers guys, 'talk' to you later.


P.s, that's a great Site Stig. It's killed my afternoon beautifully.

>> Edited by _Al_ on Thursday 14th August 17:01

[peetbee]

If you're still interested in this, especially for changes to the chassis or the donor from the book, then try www.locostbuilders.co.uk They even have a sections for bike engined and mid engined cars.

There is a lot of useful information and advice on there. I have also heard rumours that Haynes will be doing a new version of their book that is meant to use the Sierra as a donor which could make life a bit easier.


>> Edited by peetbee on Friday 15th August 09:21

[_Al_]

peetbee said:

mid engined cars.

The one featuring the sierra sounds worth waiting for. Think I'll use the time till it appears to try and find a welding refresher course.

[Mark Benson]

One word of advice - the book doesn't give the complete novice a step by step guide to building the car. Quite often he skips from part to fully-built component with no explaination of how he reached that point.
Stigs site and the Locost builders site are great resources, if you go the Locost route, you'll use them a lot.

[_Al_]

Mark, as mentioned above I'm going to try a 'throwaway' project first. Going to try and gut a rear-drive car for mechanicals (say a vauxhall carlton) then try and squeeze it into a small car, building/buying frames, mounts, new suspension and other necessary bits as I go.


Does that sound like a good way to practice? Anyone recommend a small car that'd take a carlton setup easily?