Birkin S3 Kitcar Build....
Discussion
My Dad and I have started a build on a Lotus 7 style kit car. Its a "Birkin" which has been imported from South Africa. We've gone for one of these rather than a Caterham or any of the other options mainly due to the high quality engineering involved with these kits. Its the best we've seen......and we've looked at them all. 
The crate arrived with all the parts and the chassis is not in pic - waiting to be unwrapped
We have sourced a brand new 2L Ford Duratec engine which will run throttle bodies. Target figure is around 180-200bhp when finished so in a lightweight kit car it will be plenty.
Colour scheme to be metalic silver with a dark anthracite stripe down length of car and around tip of nose cone (same colour as the wheels)
I'll keep this updated....things should move pretty quick......my Dad doing most of the build, i'm very much a novice and learning as we go!! Also my Dad is retired so he's got plenty of time to crack on with it!!
So far..........
Chassis unpacked and on build stand ready to start...first job was putting together all the suspension. It will actually be ready for wheels quite early on in the build so Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2's have been ordered with Yoko Paradas. Yeah..I know these are common wheels now but they look the part and the "Graphite" colour will suit our colour scheme.
Front Suspension etc starting to come together, also steering column/rack in place.
Wheels arrived from Demon Tweeks and diff and gearbox also arrived.
Wheel colour doesn't show up that well in pics but its called Graphite (its a new colour) but i'd say its an anthracite type colour.
Front and rear suspension complete and hubs/brakes on. Front brakes are all Wilwood stuff which comes standard in the kit. Not sure on the rears. Wheels go on pretty soon and then it comes off the build table.
My Dad has also altered the fuel and brake line runs through the cockpit. They came in place on the chassis but he's changed them to make it better and anchored it all better too. The rubber brake lines are also getting swapped for braided stuff.
Also, the low level sump, flywheel and clutch assembly have been ordered. Sump was pretty expensive but its aluminium etc. http://www.raceline.co.uk/products/part_section.as...
Flywheel is going to be a lightened version.
I'll keep this updated as and when progress is made!
The crate arrived with all the parts and the chassis is not in pic - waiting to be unwrapped
We have sourced a brand new 2L Ford Duratec engine which will run throttle bodies. Target figure is around 180-200bhp when finished so in a lightweight kit car it will be plenty.
Colour scheme to be metalic silver with a dark anthracite stripe down length of car and around tip of nose cone (same colour as the wheels)
I'll keep this updated....things should move pretty quick......my Dad doing most of the build, i'm very much a novice and learning as we go!! Also my Dad is retired so he's got plenty of time to crack on with it!!
So far..........
Chassis unpacked and on build stand ready to start...first job was putting together all the suspension. It will actually be ready for wheels quite early on in the build so Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2's have been ordered with Yoko Paradas. Yeah..I know these are common wheels now but they look the part and the "Graphite" colour will suit our colour scheme.
Front Suspension etc starting to come together, also steering column/rack in place.
Wheels arrived from Demon Tweeks and diff and gearbox also arrived.
Wheel colour doesn't show up that well in pics but its called Graphite (its a new colour) but i'd say its an anthracite type colour.
Front and rear suspension complete and hubs/brakes on. Front brakes are all Wilwood stuff which comes standard in the kit. Not sure on the rears. Wheels go on pretty soon and then it comes off the build table.
My Dad has also altered the fuel and brake line runs through the cockpit. They came in place on the chassis but he's changed them to make it better and anchored it all better too. The rubber brake lines are also getting swapped for braided stuff.
Also, the low level sump, flywheel and clutch assembly have been ordered. Sump was pretty expensive but its aluminium etc. http://www.raceline.co.uk/products/part_section.as...
Flywheel is going to be a lightened version.
I'll keep this updated as and when progress is made!
Edited by Ben Jk on Monday 11th July 17:51
Tim.C said:
Dare I ask, but what are you expecting the build to cost?
It looks very nice by the way.
Caterham money to be honest.It looks very nice by the way.
Some people may be thinking why didn't we go for a Caterham then.....but dare I say it we believe these to be better engineered than Caterhams, and alot rarer. The Caterham was our second choice though.
Also we've had import costs and duties to include.
The plan is that this will stay in the family for many years to come, so no corners are being cut etc.
Nice to see a new Birkin being assembled in the UK. I looked at them a few years ago (when there was last a UK agent) and agree with your comments on the quality. I liked the touches like the adjustable pedal box, but there's more that I don't remember.
You should have something really good there when done.
PS - like your wheels, but disagree about the Paradas !
You should have something really good there when done.
PS - like your wheels, but disagree about the Paradas !
Paul Drawmer said:
Nice to see a new Birkin being assembled in the UK. I looked at them a few years ago (when there was last a UK agent) and agree with your comments on the quality. I liked the touches like the adjustable pedal box, but there's more that I don't remember.
You should have something really good there when done.
This.You should have something really good there when done.
Definitely a labour of love though.
Birkin's have an excellent reputation for quality, although I would be personally wary of dealing with a company based so far away.
Nice pics btw......
Paul Drawmer said:
Nice to see a new Birkin being assembled in the UK. I looked at them a few years ago (when there was last a UK agent) and agree with your comments on the quality. I liked the touches like the adjustable pedal box, but there's more that I don't remember.
You should have something really good there when done.
PS - like your wheels, but disagree about the Paradas !
I wasn't sure about the Paradas as I wanted some road legal track tyres like R888's but my dad wasn't so keen, so we went for the Yoko Paradas because they are quite soft so should be nice and sticky. Tbh if they aren't up to it we will change them.You should have something really good there when done.
PS - like your wheels, but disagree about the Paradas !
Wacky Racer said:
Paul Drawmer said:
Nice to see a new Birkin being assembled in the UK. I looked at them a few years ago (when there was last a UK agent) and agree with your comments on the quality. I liked the touches like the adjustable pedal box, but there's more that I don't remember.
You should have something really good there when done.
This.You should have something really good there when done.
Definitely a labour of love though.
Birkin's have an excellent reputation for quality, although I would be personally wary of dealing with a company based so far away.
Nice pics btw......
We also had a concern about dealing with a company based in SA and tbh it hasn't been stress free but now there is a new UK agent its made things a bit easier.
Ben Jk said:
We also had a concern about dealing with a company based in SA and tbh it hasn't been stress free but now there is a new UK agent its made things a bit easier.
The reason I mentioned this was nearly twenty years ago, I built a Westfield from scratch, the build wasn't without it's little niggles, (Although I must say the technical guy at the time John Grosvenor was very helpful), but even living only around a ninety miles away from the factory at Kingswinford, I found this to be quite a problem if I needed to change/alter something.Very interested in your Birkin build though, please keep us up to date with the progress.....
Fantastic looking car, all the best! I DARE you to post this in the Caterham section!!!! :-)
re; the Parada Spec2's??? I had them, shocking in the wet I found but keen to hear a good report. Mine stated they were not designed to be used in temps below 7 degrees to give you some idea, bit Ok in the dry
re; the Parada Spec2's??? I had them, shocking in the wet I found but keen to hear a good report. Mine stated they were not designed to be used in temps below 7 degrees to give you some idea, bit Ok in the dry
h4muf said:
My 888's are fine in the wet as long as you bear in mind their semi slicks
Durabang with tb's will be around 175 bhp.
Keep up the good work!
Tbh 175bhp will probs be plenty to start with whilst learning to drive it properly!Durabang with tb's will be around 175 bhp.
Keep up the good work!
200bhp is the target figure I think so we may need to look at some internal work in future.
Nice Westfield you've got.....what's your Zetec putting out?
Gassing Station | Kit Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff