Budget Build

[lockmaster55]

Hi there
I am looking to build a kit car, unfortunatly, due to certain circumstances, i do not have a very large budget, i.e, an upper limit of £8k for the whole project. I am looking to build a car with a lotus 7 type look to it, (i like the way the exhaust pipes come out of the dax rush, and would like to have a car with this feature).
Any suggestions?

[fuoriserie]

Go for a Raw Striker or any Locost (MK Indy, Stuart Taylor, Luego, ecc .) it seems they offer a lot for their money.

For this kind of money you should get a pretty good build, you could even consider a mid-engine Sylva Mojo 2, if you like mid-engine cars.

Hope it helps

Italo

[liszt]

Hi there,
I am currently building a V8 rush and think that 8 grand is not enough for a Rush.

Would suggest you look at Tiger or MK or Stuart Taylor.

Regards,
L.

[Paul.B]

£8K is a very good budget to build a Se7en type car. You should be able to build a Zetec/Vx powered car to a very nice spec. Look at Tiger, Stuart Taylor etc. A browse through any of the kit car mags would be a starting point. Visit a few factories and find a car that suits YOU! Don't let someone tell you X is best or Y is crap. Find the right kit that you like. There is the biggest kit show at Stoneliegh next month. A must before you buy anything. Well worth the trip.

Good luck

Paul.B

[docevi1]

Stoneleigh is the worlds (?) largest show and is happening over the weekend of May 1st. Must be worth spending a little of your budget to see almost every kit available in one room...

[lockmaster55]

Thanks alot guys, i'll go to stoneleigh and check out what is there. Just out of interest, how much should i expect to pay for a sierra? And is the westfield single donor option quite expensive for what you get?
Lock

[MooSchmoo]

How much is a Sierra.. well I paid 20 quid for mine and drove it home. So you can get em real cheap!

[Bertram]

In my opinion the Westfield SDV (single donor) is a lot of Westfield for the money. Westfield isn't the cheapest, that's obvious. Maybe you can consider to buy a SDV kit and use a Zetec i.s.o. the Sierra engine ?? This would give you a very nice car for a lot less money then if you would buy a Westfield full modular build 1.8 kit. Dunno if it can be done for less then 8000 pounds though...

[elanturbo]

I am in the middle of a budget striker build myself.
I wish I could put my hands on 8k!
Got a second hand striker for buttons and have taken it apart. Am reconditioning the chassis (wire brush, sand, prime, undercoat, paint) and sorting out or replacing the bits ready to go back on.
All I'm hoping to pay for is a pair of front calipers, sandpaper, paint and a respray for the fibreglass.

ps. have you seen whats available on e-bay?
Bargain central!

[MooSchmoo]

I had a budget of about 8-9k and ended up going for the Striker. R

AW have always been very helpful when I've contacted them, nice personal service.

For that sort of cash I'm hoping for the 20v 4age lump ~150bhp out of the box, nice and light too!

There's a review of the whole outfit in one of this months kit car mags.

HTH
Matt

[d-man]

MooSchmoo said:

I had a budget of about 8-9k and ended up going for the Striker. R AW have always been very helpful when I've contacted them, nice personal service. For that sort of cash I'm hoping for the 20v 4age lump ~150bhp out of the box, nice and light too! There's a review of the whole outfit in one of this months kit car mags. HTH Matt

Hmm thats exactly what I'm looking at Have you got the kit yet? If so how are you finding it?

I rang Mel one morning last week and arranged to drive the demonstrator on Saturday... He rang me back in the afternoon to say he's booked Llandow circuit for the day and to go try the car there, which should be fun

[EDIT] Looked at your profile now and seen the link to your website pop rivetting fun? [/EDIT]

>> Edited by d-man on Thursday 7th April 21:25

[MooSchmoo]

hehe .. well it's my first go at anything remotely practical, and tbh it hasn't been too bad so far.. apart from the pop rivets

When's the llandow day booked? Might have a blag of that myself to try the Toyota lump

[d-man]

Erm tomorrow! So you'll have to be quick

[MooSchmoo]

Hah! Just called him and I'm welcome to come along for a blat

See you there!

[sorrento205]

hi guys. im researching locost's at the moment with a view do building one myself. i know i wont have a big budget, id be looking to keep it as low as humanly possible really! would prefer a kit that uses wholly sierra based donor parts rather than trying to source mk2 escort or cortina bits etc as i believe some kits require.

what kits are favoured generally?

im quite liking the MK indy/locost but i know theres a great deal more, all at different prices. robin hood lightweight (if it gets released and stays cheap), tiger avon, gts locost, shawspeed, stuart taylor, raw striker also the ARA locost.

massive choices

Cheers

[stuart_burt]

I also am trying to buy a lotus7 style kit and use a single sierra donor. It's my first project and was looking to spend under £3000. Any suggestions.

[MR2Mike]

stuart_burt said:

I also am trying to buy a lotus7 style kit and use a single sierra donor. It's my first project and was looking to spend under £3000. Any suggestions.

That's a pretty tight budget. Steer away from Robin Hoods, they are cheap in every respect. I would keep an eye out for an unfinished Locost project, you can often pick up some real bargains when people get fed up with a chassis cluttering up their garage.

[paolow]

MR2Mike said:

stuart_burt said: I also am trying to buy a lotus7 style kit and use a single sierra donor. It's my first project and was looking to spend under £3000. Any suggestions. That's a pretty tight budget. Steer away from Robin Hoods, they are cheap in every respect. I would keep an eye out for an unfinished Locost project, you can often pick up some real bargains when people get fed up with a chassis cluttering up their garage.

Robin hoods can be done for <2k - mine was, but they are a LOT of work. the final build quality is down to you though, they can be made poorly or they can be stunners - just depends on how much effort and care you want to put in. the finished item is probably heavier than many kits but mine hugs the road far better than my 309 GTi so no complaints on that score.
i would echo the statements above about buying a part built, but you need to be VERY careful that youre not buying the worlds biggest/most expensive headache.
under 3k though options may be limited and for ideas apart from the locost/RH angle you might be struggling a little. you could pick up a dutton for less, even built, or an old nova with beetle mechanicals off of ebay. id be wary of any company no longer trading though and whatever you do, whichever kit you buy, make sure that at least someone has got one through the SVA! if the design of the car doesnt 'conform' youre in for some depressing nights! ill scratch my head a little and see if anything else comes to mind. one more thing tho- before i started my robin hood, i could only change oil and plugs. now i can rebuild an engine. hard work, but what a learning experience! worth it just for that!