Kit Car for a numpty

[jimothy]

I'm leaning towards building a kit car after watching many Mark Evans DVD's and getting all excited by bits becoming a car.

I'm after some recomendations of kits to look at if I do decide to go ahead with it.

Criteria are:

Cheap as possible (I'd need to sell my TVR Chim to pay for it, so not much more than 8-9k)
Easy for a numpty to do (I've done basic servicing/brake type bits but no more)
Comes complete - I don't have the space or inclination at this stage to dismantle an old sierra
Is usable as a weekend road car (so roof/all weather gear is a requirement)
Is fun to drive.

What should I look at?

Thanks

[Brink]

For practice, you could try taking your chimera to bits; right down to the last engine bolt; then try putting it together again.

[Davi]

jimothy said:

I'm leaning towards building a kit car after watching many Mark Evans DVD's and getting all excited by bits becoming a car.

I'm after some recomendations of kits to look at if I do decide to go ahead with it.

Criteria are:

Cheap as possible (I'd need to sell my TVR Chim to pay for it, so not much more than 8-9k)
Easy for a numpty to do (I've done basic servicing/brake type bits but no more)
Comes complete - I don't have the space or inclination at this stage to dismantle an old sierra
Is usable as a weekend road car (so roof/all weather gear is a requirement)
Is fun to drive.

What should I look at?

Thanks

Honestly?

Looking at your list, I'd suggest keeping the TVR

[jimothy]

Davi said:

jimothy said:

I'm leaning towards building a kit car after watching many Mark Evans DVD's and getting all excited by bits becoming a car.

I'm after some recomendations of kits to look at if I do decide to go ahead with it.

Criteria are:

Cheap as possible (I'd need to sell my TVR Chim to pay for it, so not much more than 8-9k)
Easy for a numpty to do (I've done basic servicing/brake type bits but no more)
Comes complete - I don't have the space or inclination at this stage to dismantle an old sierra
Is usable as a weekend road car (so roof/all weather gear is a requirement)
Is fun to drive.

What should I look at?

Thanks

Honestly?

Looking at your list, I'd suggest keeping the TVR

Why? Is it not something a numpty can jump into? Is it really that difficult? Sylva do one that seems to fulfil everything I need.

Oh - and when I say comes complete I mean the kit has everything in it, not complete as in already built.

[Meeja]

GTM Libra would tick all the boxes...... except for the £9k part.....

[jimothy]

Meeja said:

GTM Libra would tick all the boxes...... except for the £9k part.....

Doesn't float my boat I'm afraid - don't like the looks...

[Meeja]

To be honest, me neither.... but if you want a roof (I'm assuming a fixed head?) the choice is somewhat limited.

Which Mark Evans prog was it by the way?

The Cobra or the Westfield?

[Meeja]

jimothy said:

Oh - and when I say comes complete I mean the kit has everything in it, not complete as in already built.

Westfield probably the best bet then.... A friend of mine with (I suspect) a similar level of mechanical experience to you built one a couple of years ago..... bought everything from Westfield, including a refurbed Ford 1600 engine.

He built the car in about four months just working weekends, and enjoyed every minute of it (including the times when he took the skin off his knuckles when spanners slipped!)

He can be seen hooning around Derbyshire occasionally on dry days!

[Furyous]

If you need the roof, then I cant see you building a kit from scratch with that budget.

If you want spanner experience, I would suggest buying a cheap and scruffy locost type kit and strip and rebuild that.

Keep the Tiv, and if you do it right, the rebuild may even make a small profit when you sell it on.

[Davi]

jimothy said:

Davi said:

jimothy said:

I'm leaning towards building a kit car after watching many Mark Evans DVD's and getting all excited by bits becoming a car.

I'm after some recomendations of kits to look at if I do decide to go ahead with it.

Criteria are:

Cheap as possible (I'd need to sell my TVR Chim to pay for it, so not much more than 8-9k)
Easy for a numpty to do (I've done basic servicing/brake type bits but no more)
Comes complete - I don't have the space or inclination at this stage to dismantle an old sierra
Is usable as a weekend road car (so roof/all weather gear is a requirement)
Is fun to drive.

What should I look at?

Thanks

Honestly?

Looking at your list, I'd suggest keeping the TVR

Why? Is it not something a numpty can jump into? Is it really that difficult? Sylva do one that seems to fulfil everything I need.

Oh - and when I say comes complete I mean the kit has everything in it, not complete as in already built.

There is no reason a numpty can't jump straight in at all, it's more a case of, as others say above, you are unlikely to find one that fulfils all your criteria. Loosening up your requirements a bit will help no end. I'd strongly recommend getting yourself to one of the kit car shows if you can and having a look around for starters, chat to manufacturers and owners. If you could live with a seven type kit the market is huge so more doable, but it really isn't practical.

[Ozzie Dave]

You already have a kit, except that it was already built when you bought it~! Why not re-build the Tiv, it really is a good place to start. It may need some work to the chassis and a suspension rebuild, tidy it up and it certainly wont do any harm, its a good car to start with.TVRs have always had a basic design and implementation. Otherwise buy a part built kit and do it properly . Lots of people do kits for the fun so you often see them sold for less than even the true cost of the materials especially when they are told "just sell it" to clear it.

[Streethawk!]

How about an MK Indy?

[Kevp]

Are you intending to sell the TVR, then buy & build your kit? Building can take a few years! Do you have alternative transport?
The costs of a finished kit are very high (always seem at least 50% more than you thought. A more sensable idea is to buy an already finished (SVAd)then mod it up or re-build at your leasure.

[Snake the Sniper]

I brought my MK Indy Bird for £5k (which is about £1500-2000 too cheap!), so it may be a wiser bet to buy a car and mod it to your tastes, or buy a cheap car engine'd one and convert to bike/Zetec/Duratec power, or something like that. That way you still get most of the pleasure of fiddling, but without it sitting in the garage for 2 years whilst you build it.

[andy_quantum]

Sounds like you're looking for something Seven inspired. To go completely against the grain on what you're after, I'll shortly be selling my Quantum 2+2. It's not a Seven, it's not a tin top, and it's not going to be £8-£9k

It's based on an XR2, and will be cheap to run, insure, fix and maintain, might be worth looking at something along those lines to cut your teeth on before throwing quite a few grand at something

[Brink]

andy_quantum said:

Sounds like you're looking for something Seven inspired. To go completely against the grain on what you're after, I'll shortly be selling my Quantum 2+2. It's not a Seven, it's not a tin top, and it's not going to be £8-£9k

It's based on an XR2, and will be cheap to run, insure, fix and maintain, might be worth looking at something along those lines to cut your teeth on before throwing quite a few grand at something

Seven

[andy_quantum]

Brink said:

Seven

Whats that got to do with me?

[Ferg]

jimothy said:

Meeja said:

GTM Libra would tick all the boxes...... except for the £9k part.....

Doesn't float my boat I'm afraid - don't like the looks...

I know what you mean...that one's got a hideous Spyder front end on it......

[Paul Drawmer]

OMG - it's FERG, and he still likes the ugly OLD front!

[Ferg]

Paul Drawmer said:

OMG

Embracing hip 'yooof-speak' and garish tasteless redesigns of classic sportscars won't stop you being an old giffer, Paul.