kit car bad taste
Discussion
I was talking to a mate this morning about the MEV cars (exocet and rocket) and thinking it would be cool to do a rocket (MR2 mk3 version).
I think in 340R colours and carefully finished it would be a nice piece of kit to thrash about on a Sunday.
I googled MEV rocket and looked at a few and I could find one... single... nicely done one. The rest were overwheeled, underfinished tacky messes.
What is it with kit car owners when faced with a choice of wheels do they go for the cheapest, fake split rim nastiness as opposed to something lightweight and subtle like a matt black set of Team Dynamics Pro Race?!
Seats? yeah these old ones from my old Dutton Phaeton will fit... ?!?! F**cking moron!! How cheap are you? You can buy carbon shelled ones from the bay quite cheap or buy some sparco's!
Colour choice? hmmm... OK well I've got exposed laticework and some panels so I'll choose completely clashing colours that neither work cohesively or f**king work with the wheels!!
So maybe you're thinking; who cares he probably wants it to just be all go and no spend money on prettiness... bullsh*t! If I saw 888's on there and a set of willwood brakes and then just the gel coat on the panels I'd be giving the guy high marks out of 10 for choosing to go down that route!
But noooo, the cars I've looked at have linglongs and standard running gear.
It takes a lot to wind me up, and I know I shouldn't care but it, today, is boiling my p*ss.
I think in 340R colours and carefully finished it would be a nice piece of kit to thrash about on a Sunday.
I googled MEV rocket and looked at a few and I could find one... single... nicely done one. The rest were overwheeled, underfinished tacky messes.
What is it with kit car owners when faced with a choice of wheels do they go for the cheapest, fake split rim nastiness as opposed to something lightweight and subtle like a matt black set of Team Dynamics Pro Race?!
Seats? yeah these old ones from my old Dutton Phaeton will fit... ?!?! F**cking moron!! How cheap are you? You can buy carbon shelled ones from the bay quite cheap or buy some sparco's!
Colour choice? hmmm... OK well I've got exposed laticework and some panels so I'll choose completely clashing colours that neither work cohesively or f**king work with the wheels!!
So maybe you're thinking; who cares he probably wants it to just be all go and no spend money on prettiness... bullsh*t! If I saw 888's on there and a set of willwood brakes and then just the gel coat on the panels I'd be giving the guy high marks out of 10 for choosing to go down that route!
But noooo, the cars I've looked at have linglongs and standard running gear.
It takes a lot to wind me up, and I know I shouldn't care but it, today, is boiling my p*ss.
My pet peeve - Lotus Seven-alikes on 17" wheels and low profile tyres. They look stupid. The car can just about live with a 15" rim but looks best on 13" wheels.
Don't get me started on Tim Dutton's abominations. There's one I see fairly regularly which looks like someone's motorised one of those plastic pond liners you can buy from B&Q. It's got bog standard 1.8 litre Sierra underpinnings and perforated black vinyl seats. I hate the car deeply.
On the other hand I've always had a thing for the Fisher Fury. A nicely put together Fury with either a big motorcycle engine or a fairly small 4-pot car engine, a 1.4 K-series maybe and 13" wheels would be great fun.
Don't get me started on Tim Dutton's abominations. There's one I see fairly regularly which looks like someone's motorised one of those plastic pond liners you can buy from B&Q. It's got bog standard 1.8 litre Sierra underpinnings and perforated black vinyl seats. I hate the car deeply.
On the other hand I've always had a thing for the Fisher Fury. A nicely put together Fury with either a big motorcycle engine or a fairly small 4-pot car engine, a 1.4 K-series maybe and 13" wheels would be great fun.
I am almost 100% certain it comes down to these 3 things (in this order):
1) Technical/Mechanical ability (i.e. the ability to work with what you have and customise)
2) Time
3) Patience
My good old Dad is currently 3/4 through a Westfield build, which (and I can say with confidence) will be one of the best on the road. Now this is the case because he hasnt taken the mouldings/components as they are and just bolted them together. He has spent the time filing, shaping and blending so that things fit properly, and if necessary re-engineered bits. (90hrs expected build time, he must have doubled that)
Now he has plenty of time, is mechanically minded, and has made countless calls etc to the factory for advice and ideas. If you simply see the kit car as a giant piece of plug and play mechano, you are doomed to fail or build a shonky car...
1) Technical/Mechanical ability (i.e. the ability to work with what you have and customise)
2) Time
3) Patience
My good old Dad is currently 3/4 through a Westfield build, which (and I can say with confidence) will be one of the best on the road. Now this is the case because he hasnt taken the mouldings/components as they are and just bolted them together. He has spent the time filing, shaping and blending so that things fit properly, and if necessary re-engineered bits. (90hrs expected build time, he must have doubled that)
Now he has plenty of time, is mechanically minded, and has made countless calls etc to the factory for advice and ideas. If you simply see the kit car as a giant piece of plug and play mechano, you are doomed to fail or build a shonky car...
rohrl said:
My pet peeve - Lotus Seven-alikes on 17" wheels and low profile tyres. They look stupid. The car can just about live with a 15" rim but looks best on 13" wheels.
Don't get me started on Tim Dutton's abominations. There's one I see fairly regularly which looks like someone's motorised one of those plastic pond liners you can buy from B&Q. It's got bog standard 1.8 litre Sierra underpinnings and perforated black vinyl seats. I hate the car deeply.
On the other hand I've always had a thing for the Fisher Fury. A nicely put together Fury with either a big motorcycle engine or a fairly small 4-pot car engine, a 1.4 K-series maybe and 13" wheels would be great fun.
wholeheartedly agree! I have no issue with 7 clones.. especially locost's. They give access to a half decent version with a lot of them nicely done. 17's though? Just goes to show the lack of understanding in the concept.Don't get me started on Tim Dutton's abominations. There's one I see fairly regularly which looks like someone's motorised one of those plastic pond liners you can buy from B&Q. It's got bog standard 1.8 litre Sierra underpinnings and perforated black vinyl seats. I hate the car deeply.
On the other hand I've always had a thing for the Fisher Fury. A nicely put together Fury with either a big motorcycle engine or a fairly small 4-pot car engine, a 1.4 K-series maybe and 13" wheels would be great fun.
Ideas men are usually procrastinators otherwise they'd be millionaires, and alot of kits are assembled by first timers and it goes a little something like this..
M: Hey honey I wanna build my own sportscar
W: Sounds expensive
M: No everything you need can be bought for about £3.5k, Ill have a donor on the driveway for a month or two till I get the parts I need of it but then I can weigh it in and get nearly all my money back from that.
W: OK it can be your project have fun
1year later...
W: WTF is that rusty heap still doing pissing oil on our drive!? I want to park my car outside my house and I want to get into the garage, you said it would have been finished 2months ago!!
M: Oh I might need some parts I havent thought of so dont want to scrap it till I finish the car, I got a bit disinterested in the project but Ill get stuck in and finish it asap
MK: Well f'ing do it then!
7months later...
W: How can you need more money to finish it, you said £3.5k and its already been £6k!
M: I just missed a few bits and pieces out when I was working it out, I just need some nice seats, ebay have nice carbon ones, and some nice metal flake paint mixed
W: b
ks you have those seats sitting in the garage, another set in that stheap on the driveway and theres plenty of paint left over from painting that invalid carriage for your granny so get it fking done!
6 months later it is sold with 500miles on it and many corners cut to get it finished for as little time and money as possible, and totally avoiding expensive professional help
M: Hey honey I wanna build my own sportscar
W: Sounds expensive
M: No everything you need can be bought for about £3.5k, Ill have a donor on the driveway for a month or two till I get the parts I need of it but then I can weigh it in and get nearly all my money back from that.
W: OK it can be your project have fun
1year later...
W: WTF is that rusty heap still doing pissing oil on our drive!? I want to park my car outside my house and I want to get into the garage, you said it would have been finished 2months ago!!
M: Oh I might need some parts I havent thought of so dont want to scrap it till I finish the car, I got a bit disinterested in the project but Ill get stuck in and finish it asap
MK: Well f'ing do it then!
7months later...
W: How can you need more money to finish it, you said £3.5k and its already been £6k!
M: I just missed a few bits and pieces out when I was working it out, I just need some nice seats, ebay have nice carbon ones, and some nice metal flake paint mixed
W: b
ks you have those seats sitting in the garage, another set in that stheap on the driveway and theres plenty of paint left over from painting that invalid carriage for your granny so get it fking done!6 months later it is sold with 500miles on it and many corners cut to get it finished for as little time and money as possible, and totally avoiding expensive professional help
Decky_Q said:
Ideas men are usually procrastinators otherwise they'd be millionaires, and alot of kits are assembled by first timers and it goes a little something like this..
M: Hey honey I wanna build my own sportscar
W: Sounds expensive
M: No everything you need can be bought for about £3.5k, Ill have a donor on the driveway for a month or two till I get the parts I need of it but then I can weigh it in and get nearly all my money back from that.
W: OK it can be your project have fun
1year later...
W: WTF is that rusty heap still doing pissing oil on our drive!? I want to park my car outside my house and I want to get into the garage, you said it would have been finished 2months ago!!
M: Oh I might need some parts I havent thought of so dont want to scrap it till I finish the car, I got a bit disinterested in the project but Ill get stuck in and finish it asap
MK: Well f'ing do it then!
7months later...
W: How can you need more money to finish it, you said £3.5k and its already been £6k!
M: I just missed a few bits and pieces out when I was working it out, I just need some nice seats, ebay have nice carbon ones, and some nice metal flake paint mixed
W: bks you have those seats sitting in the garage, another set in that stheap on the driveway and theres plenty of paint left over from painting that invalid carriage for your granny so get it fking done!
6 months later it is sold with 500miles on it and many corners cut to get it finished for as little time and money as possible, and totally avoiding expensive professional help
M: Hey honey I wanna build my own sportscar
W: Sounds expensive
M: No everything you need can be bought for about £3.5k, Ill have a donor on the driveway for a month or two till I get the parts I need of it but then I can weigh it in and get nearly all my money back from that.
W: OK it can be your project have fun
1year later...
W: WTF is that rusty heap still doing pissing oil on our drive!? I want to park my car outside my house and I want to get into the garage, you said it would have been finished 2months ago!!
M: Oh I might need some parts I havent thought of so dont want to scrap it till I finish the car, I got a bit disinterested in the project but Ill get stuck in and finish it asap
MK: Well f'ing do it then!
7months later...
W: How can you need more money to finish it, you said £3.5k and its already been £6k!
M: I just missed a few bits and pieces out when I was working it out, I just need some nice seats, ebay have nice carbon ones, and some nice metal flake paint mixed
W: b
ks you have those seats sitting in the garage, another set in that stheap on the driveway and theres plenty of paint left over from painting that invalid carriage for your granny so get it fking done!6 months later it is sold with 500miles on it and many corners cut to get it finished for as little time and money as possible, and totally avoiding expensive professional help
I recognise that conversation as it was EXACTLY the conversion I had with myself before I bought a kit-car. I went factory built as whilst I CAN, I don't ENJOY, so felt the extra money was worth it in my case. It was more fun fixing it when it broke, as they do inevitably.
OwenK said:
It's reasons like the above that make me think the kit car industry should be employing modern technology and manufacturing processes to make the build process as Meccano-like as possible. There's no reason that they should be complex to assemble and require so much fettling.
Which adds cost, so removing the main advantage of kit cars.OwenK said:
It's reasons like the above that make me think the kit car industry should be employing modern technology and manufacturing processes to make the build process as Meccano-like as possible. There's no reason that they should be complex to assemble and require so much fettling.
That's what MEV seem to be striving for.I would agree that some are poorly finished with strange choices but what's to stop you :
a) building your own.
b) Buying one of these badly finished ones and re-finishing them yourself.
?
ewenm said:
Which adds cost, so removing the main advantage of kit cars.
Not inherently; good design costs nothing & the increasing prevalence of CAD software makes it easier than ever. Sub-OEM level CAD software is now cheap and any good supplier will be able to make components from CAD data, sites like Alibaba.com can put you in touch with Chinese (etc) suppliers who can produce your components at relatively low cost (even at low volume), and new processes such as rapid prototyping and CNC mills capable of machining full-scale car body bucks can be combined with traditional processes to produce parts too.This is why kit car manufacturers like Factory Five in the US are doing so well - embrace the opportunities given by new technology!
A lot of the time people who are building the cars are ona a budget and as such will make decisions that do not compliment the overall finish. If the car needs painting, a £400 mates rtae job will look just like it sounds. But having said all that some of the people I know have made fantastic jobs of cars with little knowledge and less cash. Others have done fantatsic jobs with loads of money, and like in other areas some who have produced crap from both camps. What is undoubtedly true is that most builders of cars have a pride in what they have done even though many who have just bought a nice car look down on them and are generally nice people.
OlberJ said:
OP, search for Mabb's rocket to see a perfect example of this rough finishing nonsense.
http://www.mevowners.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=rocket&action=display&thread=563&page=20For those of you with time on your hands...
That's a nice build definitely. That sort of thing demonstrates the point though. It can be done to a very high standard. Even with the basic costs implied (Jenvey's and carbon everywhere won't suit all budgets) you can learn to weld, fabricate and lathe stuff and re-engineer any flaws along the way.
I don't even know what the blue thing is? :S
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