Opinions on the banham sprint?

[Jaegerknack]

Well here goes. First proper posting and all?

What does anyone think to the sprint as a first kit car to be done on the cheap?

or are there better/cheaper kits about?

[mattstead]

Welcome to the forum, now, how about the sprint, er, well, it's cute looking if you like sprites (which I don't). As a first kit it could be a real possibility, but probably not advisable if it is your very first forray into car building, engineering, and particularly welding. The price of Banham kits are very tempting, but so they should be, they tell you how to make your own chassis out of someone elses car...now wheres the expense in that? I think that the idea of doing a cut and shut kit car really does sound appealing, as at first glance it appears that you arn't having to do that much regarding building up multiple components and transfering parts about...but are you really ready to be welding up your own chassis out of an old mini? if the answer is yes, then go for it.
A second area of note is do check out fibreglass quality when you look at kits, some are great and some WILL require a costly paint job..I will say no more.

[Ex-Biker]

Welcome Jaegerknack

I also looked into a Banham. I talked to a person who built one and I can only re-iterate what Matt is saying.

Things that turned me off were:
The need to be a competent welder, refurbishing the original cars floorpan, GRP quality, panel fit and the probable need to paint (extra cost).

I still like the idea of building a Bat. (or the misses likes the idea of me doing it).

Ask yourself why there are so many part build Banham's in the classified section of Kit Car and WK?.

Now if you are a competent mechanic, good welder and have the right skills to fit (and possibly shape) the bodywork, all of the above argument is invalid. If so, then good luck with your build.

Otherwise you could always take a look at a part build. It'll be cheaper and some one else will have done a lot of the work (welding etc)

[meeja]

Just to re-iterate what Matt and Mark have already said....

I looked at Banham's once (Mrs Meeja also likes the Bat!).... and I thought the "New Speedster" looked good when you looked at the cost of the kit.

However (I don't like the word "But")

Unless you are competent in welding (and I mean competent rather than enthusiastic) then a Banham kit would provide a BIG challenge.

If you look around the web for Banham build stories, this may help your decision making.

[chris_n]

I'm not that familiar with the Banham kits, out of interest, what do you have to weld?

[jaegerknack]

Hmmmmm. While i am a competent welder, me thinks i need to do more research. plus findig the right type of mini base seems to be a bit tough up here. Ah well.

Cheers for the advice anyway

[Ex-Biker]

chris_n said:

I'm not that familiar with the Banham kits, out of interest, what do you have to weld?

Chris

Basically you take the original donor, normally a Metro (but could be a Mini or a Skoda) and cut it just above the sills and around the arches, so you have a floorpan, inner wings and dash area. You can do this with the engine and all ancillaries still fitted.

Then you weld in supports inside (I seem to remember) the sills, as there is rarely a roof as strong as the original. Weld supports around the dash areas and other supports to mount the new bodywork.

Often there are parts of the original floorpan that might need new metal welding in aswell.

Jaegerknack
Have you looked on Banham's website? Also try typing Banham into a search engine. There are a lot of people who have websites with build info and diaries.

[chris_n]

Blimey, I can weld reasonably competently, but that sounds like a lot of effort.