Finishing part built kits
Discussion
An idea I had a week or two ago has just been brought back to my the front of my thoughts by a comment made by andycanam.
Looking through the classifieds in KCM and WK?, there are quite a few part built kits at silly prices - just a few hundred quid for the kit, donor parts and extras that would have cost £000s new. Then looking at the price of the completed kits, even a relatively cheap locost style 7 (MK, ST or such) comes in around £5K once completed.
Obviously it's going to cost that, if not more if all the bits are bought from one of the suppliers, but if starting with a part built, does anyone reckon there's enough margin there to be able to make a bit of pocket money out of finishing them off? Or is there a major flaw to my cunning plan that I've missed?
Looking through the classifieds in KCM and WK?, there are quite a few part built kits at silly prices - just a few hundred quid for the kit, donor parts and extras that would have cost £000s new. Then looking at the price of the completed kits, even a relatively cheap locost style 7 (MK, ST or such) comes in around £5K once completed.
Obviously it's going to cost that, if not more if all the bits are bought from one of the suppliers, but if starting with a part built, does anyone reckon there's enough margin there to be able to make a bit of pocket money out of finishing them off? Or is there a major flaw to my cunning plan that I've missed?
meeja said:
With a part-built kit, you don't know how well it has been put together so far (without taking it to bits again to find out!)
I'm sure part-built kits are a great idea for someone experienced in this field.... but as a novice builder, it is not something I feel I could consider.
I don't agree, I think it depends on what you buy. Obviously if you pile a hashed up pile of welded tubes and wonky rivets then you should expect to have to do a lot of corrective surgery.
However there are high quality part-builds out there that have been lovingly built, but the owner has reason/circumstances that cause them to want/need to sell.
I'd consider myself to be quite inept when it comes to kit building, yet I took the part-built route and now have a fantastic car for a fraction of the total cost paid by it's previous owner.
In my circumstance I wanted a se7en but had no time in which to build (only home at weekends and need some quality time to myself etc.), so I initially looked to get a pre-built 2nd hand se7en, but saw a part built that fitted the bill. In my case it was 80% complete.
The obvious thing is to take someone who knows kits/cars with you to look at whats been done and read up on the SVA before viewing. That way you know what to look for and that is perfection (or what can be easily perfected!).
BTW I'd do this when looking at a pre-built car too.
I would say I'm more satisfied with my car now I know that I put the effort into getting it through SVA. And knowing that I made some alterations where a couple of short-cuts had been made by the previous owner. And I'm obviously happy that I've spent in total less money than you would building from scratch, and I've spent less than you would buying a good pre-built 2nd hander, including getting mine through SVA. So VFM its been a good investment too.
Ta.
I really don't think that there would be much money in it - especially if you put a price on your time.
The thing with kit cars is that they are spread out all over the country so you could clock up a lot of miles before finding the right part built kit. This will eat into any potential profit.
Then you've got to be sure you can get the car through SVA - is it an SVA specc'd kit? If not you've got more work/expense.
I think unless you can get an absolute bargain which you can be sure of selling on and your passion is the actual build then I would say it will turn out to be a very expensive gamble.
Just my 2p
John
www.madabout-kitcars.com
The thing with kit cars is that they are spread out all over the country so you could clock up a lot of miles before finding the right part built kit. This will eat into any potential profit.
Then you've got to be sure you can get the car through SVA - is it an SVA specc'd kit? If not you've got more work/expense.
I think unless you can get an absolute bargain which you can be sure of selling on and your passion is the actual build then I would say it will turn out to be a very expensive gamble.
Just my 2p
John
www.madabout-kitcars.com
Thanks guys, there's some interesting thoughts there.
TBH, I wasn't expecting there to be oodles of money involved, it just seemed that there might be enough to cover the cost of the build and maybe a bit of petrol to enjoy the car before selling it on.
On the other hand, I'd be gaining more and more experience at bolting the cars together, would be using the time to develop skills, workshop and tools collection and having a bit of a laugh at the same time. Who knows, might even end up with one or two build stories to offer to John and Den.
Might have to start keeping an eye on eBay and the classifieds over the next few weeks and months...
TBH, I wasn't expecting there to be oodles of money involved, it just seemed that there might be enough to cover the cost of the build and maybe a bit of petrol to enjoy the car before selling it on.
On the other hand, I'd be gaining more and more experience at bolting the cars together, would be using the time to develop skills, workshop and tools collection and having a bit of a laugh at the same time. Who knows, might even end up with one or two build stories to offer to John and Den.
Might have to start keeping an eye on eBay and the classifieds over the next few weeks and months...
what about this as a starter for ten
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2451796409&category=29750
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2451796409&category=29750
I saw that one when I had a quick shufty at eBay earlier.
My initial thoughts were that it only has a chassis and nose cone and various other parts (not listed so could be all sorts missing). It also looks like it's just been dumped in the corner of a garden and left to rot for a while.
Having said that though a bidder called thekitcarworkshop has just put in a bid - could it be THE kit car workshop, the Northants agent for Fisher cars?
If I actually had the workshop setup already I might well have given it a shot, but for now I'll just have to stick to planning and plotting.
My initial thoughts were that it only has a chassis and nose cone and various other parts (not listed so could be all sorts missing). It also looks like it's just been dumped in the corner of a garden and left to rot for a while.
Having said that though a bidder called thekitcarworkshop has just put in a bid - could it be THE kit car workshop, the Northants agent for Fisher cars?
If I actually had the workshop setup already I might well have given it a shot, but for now I'll just have to stick to planning and plotting.
Now that's a serious amount of work. Andy, It makes yours look like a weekend project.
Looks like you've either got to buy most of the body etc or manufacture it yourself.
I wonder whether the bidders realise you can buy a new chassis for around £400 and a nose cone is fairly cheap too.
I would add that I didn't set out to make money out of my purchase, my main focus was the desire for the finished product even if it had cost me a little more. I was just lucky that in my case it worked out in my favour financially.
If/When I ever sell I'd say it's worth what I paid that's all, so there was no money to be made.
Ta.
If/When I ever sell I'd say it's worth what I paid that's all, so there was no money to be made.
Ta.
Don't be hoodwinked by any vendor telling you their kit was "pre-SVA" so it won't have to do one -or that it was bought during the "temporary dispensations" in the SVA test that were introduced to give people a chance to finish off non-compliant kits bought before the introduction of SVA.
The truth is that unless it uses the original, unmodified donor chassis or shell, it WILL be required to go through an SVA test. For some kits still in production and with supportive manufacturers, the cost to upgrade it to SVA spec might be minimal. For others, whose creators have long since crawled back into the woodwork, you could be really stuffed!
The truth is that unless it uses the original, unmodified donor chassis or shell, it WILL be required to go through an SVA test. For some kits still in production and with supportive manufacturers, the cost to upgrade it to SVA spec might be minimal. For others, whose creators have long since crawled back into the woodwork, you could be really stuffed!
Agree with avocet on that one. I nearly fell foul of that. After many discussions I'm OK as my Spartan uses the original chassis
PS there's a dutton melos for £25 start price thats complete but not been driven for a while on ebay
>> Edited by spartan_andy on Tuesday 6th January 08:58
PS there's a dutton melos for £25 start price thats complete but not been driven for a while on ebay
>> Edited by spartan_andy on Tuesday 6th January 08:58
Here's a body:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2452409596&category=23012
Now all you need is a chassis . . . .
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2452409596&category=23012
Now all you need is a chassis . . . .
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