Hello,
Im new to the forum and to all things Locost. I have been thinking about building a kitcar for as long as I can remember, and saw the original Champion book a few years ago in Halfords. I ended up borrowing it off a mate at work a few years later, and Im hooked.
Ive decided Im going to have a crack at making a car, but as you can imagine, I have loads of questions. I have read quite a few of the posts on the forum, too, and there seems to be a wealth of knowledge out there. Im just scared Im setting myself up for a big fall as I have not a lot of practical experience. Im a Mechanical Engineer and have been for 14 years, but always office based. Id love to learn all about cars and thats the idea (a car I can work on without a degree in computing, and one that I dont have to fix on Sunday night so I can get to work monday), but is building a car from scratch going to be ridiculously hard with only 1 days welding experience in 1998?
I want to try to build a similar car to Champions, though with a 1300 crossflow, and try to have a traditional slant like his. Im not bothered about it being too fast or fancy (or too expensive).
Are the ready cut tube kits up to the job (£160 off ebay)? I noticed you can buy the suspension brackets on this site, and there seem to be a few companies on the internet that you can get other bits off. Can anybody give me any advice? It all looks do-able in the book, but Im not fooled. Im sure its much much harder than it looks.
Im based in Clitheroe in Lancashire. Id be interested if there is a meet in the north west I could have a look at with others who have made their own cars from the floor up. Maybe I can get someone to talk me out of it!!
Any comments would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
Dom

Hi Dom,
i,m new to the mad world of building your own car too,
all i would say is believe in yourself & do it, there is so much help available from like minded folk that will help you achieve your build, in fact its cos of the community spirit on this forum & the haynes forum that decided for me to go for it.
i haven,t started my build yet as i,m waiting for the single seater book to be released, i was just about to start building a roadster.
as for welding, i,ve joined an 11 week course at a technical college & am enjoying learning to weld in preparation for my build.
go on you know you want to
good luck
andy

Hey up Dom. Don't be too fazed by it all, it is doable and this site will help you loads. In fact in my case I couldn't have done it without this site.
Starting at the beginning though. I'd done gas welding before but not MIG so I got some scrap and someone gave me a quick demo and I just practised on some scrap before having a bash. My welds ain't the tidiest in the world at all but I'm okay with them, it's my car so I'll be the judge and have to explain if my arse falls from underneath me If you didn't want to weld your own there's always pre welded chassis appearing on Ebay but the packs are okay I guess. I never had any experience of them, I bought the steel from a stockist and cut it and welded it myself. Without any sheet parts was around £80 but that was 2006.
There's a monthly meet of the Robin Hood boys towards Darwen way that you would be very welcome at. MitchB is the man to talk to on here about it. I've been once and should go again but work always seems to stop me.
I'm down in Bolton and there's Gav over in Darwen that've built our own, we're both BEC's (bike engined cars as oppose to CEC's Car Engined Cars).
Mines taken 3 years almost now but I've taken it easy I suppose and treat the build more like a hobby. It does seem to take a lot of time up but that's because you'll be rolling over things in your head all the time or searching Ebay for parts.
Give it a go, it's very satisying seeing the thing come to life and it moving under its own steam.

It's a doddle......honest...

Cheers,
Mark

Welcome on board Dom.

Take the plunge and go for it we need more nut's making their own cars.
I am down the road from you in Darwen/Blackburn area, there are a few other around and about. Not met them all yet but that will come. Doing the Haynes Roadster here, but there is a selection of cars to choose from and ways to express yourself if you wish.

Friendly bunch and plenty of advice on the forums.

Adrian

[Edited on 5-2-09 by AdrianH]

Evening Dom, welcome to the madhouse chum. A few pointers. If u want to build your own to keep the cost down the flat pack chassis works well Armoto's are just over the £230 Ish, but u should compare. Have a decko at the Locost and the newer Haynes Roadster. The roadster is bigger. If u stick with locost U need to settle on live axle or independant, or possibly a de dion setup, lots of info on all of them on here. The roadster is designed from the outset to use sierra (and other) back ends. If your not sure of your welding techniques, a quick night class with a Mig would work wonders mate. Lots of companies do the bits n bobs u need to finish the car at reasonable prices. E-bay is also a good source of all your bits. Your engine choice is "interesting" not knocking it but a wee bit dated, theres a few others out there with a modest increase in power that seem more attractive nowadays, but hey in the sprirt of the original car its not far wrong chum
regards
Shug

Didn't see the bit about the crossflow. Whatever floats your boat. Have a look at Fozzies car, the most fancy 'unfancy' crossflow here. I'd swap mine for it anyday.


Picture taken by Kitloony

Fozz hope you don't mind me borrowing the picture.

[Edited on 5/2/09 by mistergrumpy]

Hi Dom, i,ve been on my build 4 years now but fairly new to this forum, these guys are very help full plough on with confidence.

welcome along dom. im in accrington so not a million miles from you, i also as above dont think i would be were i am with the build without this site, it really is a wealth of knowledge and experience, im now looking, after about 4 yrs of building, to put her through sva next month just in time before the iva comes in.
take the plunge you will regret it if you dont, and there are a few of us reasonable local to you to help if things get tough

good luck
chris

[Edited on 5/2/09 by chris_smith]

quote:

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Originally posted by mistergrumpy
.....Fozz hope you don't mind me borrowing the picture.

[Edited on 5/2/09 by mistergrumpy]

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Thanks very much! Its really good to hear there are lots of people out there who have done it, and that some of em are local too!
Not made any firm and fast decisions about engines yet - just thought that if I ever wanted to try racing, a 1300 Ford Kent engine would be a good idea. My mate at work says dont be soft and put a bike engine in!! He reckons that for all my talk of not being bothered about having a fast car I'll change my tune. Not sure, I want something fairly simple to learn on. Not sure if a cross flow would be the one, I'll take advice on that (and everything else too!). Next stop, have a look at welding courses local to me!!

Hiya Dom,
I am in Carlisle, not exactly a million miles from you. Just about completed a book Locost with 1300 x flow after 11 years!!!! Come and look if you want. PM if you want my phone number.

Hi Dom,

Welcome. I've been a member for a fair while, but only been building in anger (lots of it sometimes! :mad for around 8 months.

Coming on well, and you will get oodles of help from the guys on here. Some are veritable Gurus and built several and plenty are like us on their first.

It's great fun and well worth the effort (so far )

Go for it!!

JB

Welcome to the mad house mate.

I too am looking to get myself on a welding course later this year and a quick search found one just down the road from you.

Link to Preston College

There is also a really good welding forum and there is a guy on there who is well worth chatting to if you want to buy a welder (Weldequip i believe - can someone confirm??)

Mig Welding Forum

Hope this is of help
Paul

Garage space and lack of money have stopped me being in the middle of building mine so far. I've got absolutely no welding experience and the most complicated thing I've done with a car is changing the brake pads and rounding off rusty bolts! I advise getting yourself on a course and maybe you can build bits of it there for free

I'm thinking welding is the hardest bit, until I've done it all then something else will take over like getting the suspension together

quote:

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Originally posted by Paul TigerB6
Welcome to the mad house mate.

I too am looking to get myself on a welding course later this year and a quick search found one just down the road from you.

Link to Preston College

There is also a really good welding forum and there is a guy on there who is well worth chatting to if you want to buy a welder (Weldequip i believe - can someone confirm??)

Mig Welding Forum

Hope this is of help
Paul

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