Haynes: Build Your Own Sports Car

[MTv Dave]

Anybody else going to be getting this? I'm thinking of using a little Diahatsu Charade GTti engine in something like the basic Seven copy it looks like it details. That or get a 4.0 Lexus V8 off fleabay
Also heard it uses Sierra as a donor to 'update' the Locost Escort MkI, though to me that's a bit odd as Sierras are a bit thin on the ground these days!

[r1ot]

theres a review in this months PPC about the haynes car. They mention that the sierra isn't probably the best choice as a donor car as sierras tend to get snapped up by companies that supply kit car bits. They mention using a BMW 3 series or MX5 but it only gets a paragraph, bit short sighted I think.

[dern]

Quite a lot of work had already been done by individuals and companies to update the locost idea to take sierra bits though so it took a lot less work to produce the book. There are still plenty of sierra kicking about. Using the mx5 as a donor pushes the price up so you'd consider simply building a single vehicle donor westfield I imagine. The bmw doesn't seem a popular donor for locosts though for some reason.

Mine uses a sierra diff and axles and cortina front end simply because you can't pick up mk1/2 escorts for love nor money these days.

[MTv Dave]

Well, I'll reserve judgement till I get a copy then. I'm really more interested in the pointers I'm hoping it will give than the detail of using the Seirra bits.

I've got PPC - it sounds like they are saying the chassis and suspension design is completely new rather than a modified LoCost - but maybe I'm reading more into it than they are actually saying (that advancements in CAD etc means the Haynes (or Mr Gibbs?) chassis is better).

[goochie]

I've been living under a rock over the winter so can someone clarify that haynes have made a new version of their previous kit-car book?

[MTv Dave]

Yup, it's out sometime this month with the title the same as the subject of this thread.

[anonymous-user]

Yep, I'll be getting a copy. I've already completed my Tiger but I love reading this sort of book. The Sierra does seem to be an odd 'updated' choice of donor - when was the last time you saw one on the roads? A good few years for me I think.

[MTv Dave]

I sold my track Seirra a couple of years ago (and it suffered from a Friday afternoon gearbox), but there is one that lives in the same town as me, so I see on regularly. But I think I'm the exception rather than the rule.

[iwingstein]

There's nowt wrong with the Sierra (and I've never been much of a Ford person)as a donor - still plentiful and parts are cheap (apart from the rarer diffs ratios).

I used one to build Deimos.

ATB

Simon

Edited by iwingstein on Wednesday 21st February 22:35

[Sam_68]

jimsupersix said:

The Sierra does seem to be an odd 'updated' choice of donor - when was the last time you saw one on the roads? A good few years for me I think.

Can't help feeling they are a bit late latching onto the Sierra as a donor. Won't be long before they start getting very thin on the ground, what with the gradual death of scrapyards and the fact that second-hand cars are now so cheap that even the chavs and pikeys can afford to run something just a few years old.

What's next, though, as a cheap and cheerful RWD donor? BMW 3 series, perhaps?

[Russ Bost]

Nobody - PLEASE, Nobody, mention how stiff they think the new chassis might be!!!!!

[900T-R]

Sam_68 said:

What's next, though, as a cheap and cheerful RWD donor? BMW 3 series, perhaps?

I think the prob with those is that by the time they've got to the point that they're breakers yard food structurally, the mechanicals are likely on their last legs too - if not from being genuinely worn out it'll be because of the skimping on maintenance by the last few owners (you might find a set of blinging alloys and a bootlid spoiler on them, cheap, though ).

The ideal donor car is a rust bucket with bulletproof mechanicals, and both are getting rarer by the day (although from the late '90s on, cars seem to start rusting again, so there's still hope for the future ).

[fuoriserie]

Sam_68 said:

[quote=jimsupersix]T

What's next, though, as a cheap and cheerful RWD donor? BMW 3 series, perhaps?

I agree with you, one of the few European cars with rwd., with Mercedes, maybe the old 190 or C series cars, could be considered.

Or just decide to go mid-engine using a fwd engine setup, and any would do fine.

[900T-R]

fuoriserie said:

Or just decide to go mid-engine using a fwd engine setup, and any would do fine.

That'd have been the real modern-day successor to the Seven theme, and I reckon it's about 10-15 years overdue...

Or what about using the longitudinal Audi or Saab (99/900) set ups to create something along the lines of a Rocket - a two-seater variation on the '60s 'cigar' mid-engine RWD theme? With the latter (slanted engine over the gearbox - weight partly above the driven wheels rather than in front of them, more compact) you could even transfer the whole unequal length double wishbone set up, putting the wishbone mountings on a spaceframe chassis on the same place (relative to each other) they're attached to the Saab body looks quite simple to me...

Edited by 900T-R on Thursday 22 February 08:47

[MTv Dave]

fuoriserie said:

Or just decide to go mid-engine using a fwd engine setup, and any would do fine.

That's what I was wanting to do with my engine, but there aren't many chassis to take an FTO V6

There are a few chassis out there to take FWD to mid-engine but they seem to all have their own wishbones etc, which isn't really a problem, but does mean them cost more. The modifications to the LoCost to do this looked good too, but I'm not sure if the new one will get the same treatment?

I'm also not sure if all FWD engines are food for it - like the standard K-series.

[fuoriserie]

900T-R said:

fuoriserie said:

Or just decide to go mid-engine using a fwd engine setup, and any would do fine.

That'd have been the real modern-day successor to the Seven theme, and I reckon it's about 10-15 years overdue...

Or what about using the longitudinal Audi or Saab (99/900) set ups to create something along the lines of a Rocket - a two-seater variation on the '60s 'cigar' mid-engine RWD theme? With the latter (slanted engine over the gearbox - weight partly above the driven wheels rather than in front of them, more compact) you could even transfer the whole unequal length double wishbone set up, putting the wishbone mountings on a spaceframe chassis on the same place (relative to each other) they're attached to the Saab body looks quite simple to me...

Edited by 900T-R on Thursday 22 February 08:47

Is something like this Ok for your mid-engine Seven ???.......

[900T-R]

Yep, that'd be just the thing! From the proportions it would fit the mid-engined Saab drivetrain configuration like a glove (well, the space between the rear axle line and the bulkhead may have to be a bit more than that as it's obviously penned for a transverse application - but the chassis width out there is spot on, and you'd save yourself a lot of hassle trying to fix the upper mounting points for struts near the wheels). Windowline even's got something Saab/jet fighter-ish...

Only thing is that it looks a bit advanced for a 21st century locost project, but then you might already have a few ideas how it could be don on your owm (would be interested to hear them!).

I do like it a lot .

Edited by 900T-R on Thursday 22 February 09:33

[fuoriserie]

900T-R said:

Yep, that'd be just the thing! From the proportions it would fit the mid-engined Saab drivetrain configuration like a glove (well, the space between the rear axle line and the bulkhead may have to be a bit more than that as it's obviously penned for a transverse application - but the chassis width out there is spot on, and you'd save yourself a lot of hassle trying to fix the upper mounting points for struts near the wheels). Windowline even's got something Saab/jet fighter-ish...

Only thing is that it looks a bit advanced for a 21st century locost project, but then you might already have a few ideas how it could be don on your owm (would be interested to hear them!).

I do like it a lot .

Edited by 900T-R on Thursday 22 February 09:33

Well this project started with as a Sylva Mojo/R1OT chassis set-up, a Replica Stratos windscreen, and a modern Ford Zetec Se engine configuration.

I think you could redesign it, making the new car slightly longer and wider, to accept any engine configuration., but we are hijacking this thread..........

Sorry....

Edited by fuoriserie on Thursday 22 February 09:49

[Russ Bost]

Is this modern looking enough for you?

[Sam_68]

900T-R said:

fuoriserie said:

Or just decide to go mid-engine using a fwd engine setup, and any would do fine.

That'd have been the real modern-day successor to the Seven theme, and I reckon it's about 10-15 years overdue...

Not overdue, just never cauight on!

There have been many attempts; earliest I can think of from the top of my head is the Nota Fang (introduced 1968), but there have been plenty since then. The current batch includes cars like the Sylva Mojo and R1ot and the Onyx Mongoose; both are pretty competent cars, but sell in relatively tiny numbers compared to Seven look-alikes.

Despite what most people would tell you about wanting the most performance and handling for their money, it would seem that what the market really wants - at least partly - is to latch onto the Lotus Seven's image.