OK, so its Christmas day and Ive had The Book bought for me

Ive been following the threads on here for a few weeks and I was wondering what the best route was next

I should be in a position to be able to start building something by March or April (once the extension and double(ish) garage is built, but what do you think that I should be aiming to do

I currently own a vw campervan that I will be selling soon - this has given me a bit of bodywork welding experience and some mechanical experience along with it.

I am keen to get going on making a car as soon as I can, I dont fancy all of the bodywork stuff so i will probably buy that sort of stuff, however I am almost convinced that I should be building my own chassis, I have seen some mention of some other plans that I should use, any one know where I get hold of them?

Also I want something that will be a bit challenging to drive (eventually) so i dont really want to go down the 1100 route, but on the other side I dont want to spend a fortune on a 300hp cosworth car either.

Is there a real difference making a bike engine based car or should I stick to 'something ' else untill it has been registered ( I dont really want a Q plate - for no particular reason)

Thats probably enough for now

Any help will be appreciated

Steve

I would suggest that, if you don't already have an exact idea of what you want to do, then do exactly what the book says and build a car based on a mk2 escort though ideally with a 1600 xflow engine. When you are ready for it, buy glassfibre bodywork (available from a number of sources).
If in the meantime you decide you fancy a bike engined car (BEC) then do that instead.
If, like me, you change your mind half way through a project, then do exactly that. More than once I've reclaimed the vast majority of the steel in a nearly built chassis and tried something else.
One of the good things about a Locost project is that, apart from tools and somewhere to do it, the main expenditure comes towards the end of the project, when you need to buy wheels and tyres, decent seats, maybe get the engine reconditioned, pay for decent carburettors etc, so you don't need to spend much until you know the project is sucessful and nearly finished

John

John

hi mate,merry christmas.my little bit of advise to you is you must have an idea of what you would be happy driving,if you do then try and stick to it,cos if you get half way thro and move the goal posts,and end up doing something else,theres a good chance that you may not be happy at the end of the day.this happend to me on my build,i went down the route of putting a pinto in my locost(now calling there self luago)but after fitting the engine i went to a sprint day and saw a westfield with a 16v 2.0l vauxhal motor in it.wow i thought thats what i realy want to see in my kit.so i got home and set about ripping it out,and now ive got the motor that i want in the car (took abit longer ) but im happy that i did it. so if you got an idea what you want try and stick to that idea. oh sorry to waffle on.lol

quote:

---

Originally posted by billy
hi mate,merry christmas.my little bit of advise to you is you must have an idea of what you would be happy driving,if you do then try and stick to it,cos if you get half way thro and move the goal posts,and end up doing something else,theres a good chance that you may not be happy at the end of the day.this happend to me on my build,i went down the route of putting a pinto in my locost(now calling there self luago)but after fitting the engine i went to a sprint day and saw a westfield with a 16v 2.0l vauxhal motor in it.wow i thought thats what i realy want to see in my kit.so i got home and set about ripping it out,and now ive got the motor that i want in the car (took abit longer ) but im happy that i did it. so if you got an idea what you want try and stick to that idea. oh sorry to waffle on.lol

---

i am happy now cos at the begining of the build when i knew nothing about kit cars i was told that the 2.0 16v engine was THE engine to use in a kit car,and cos i had driven a astra car using the engine,i thought oh yes that would be 1 wild car to drive,so in my mind that was what i wanted. but i ended up spending loads on the build and changed my mind to put a pinto engine in,to save on cost,but from that point on i was never happy cos i knew what i realy wanted. then on seeing a car all finished and running i was pig sick that i never stuck to my original dream.so you live and lern

thanks for the swift replies, I have been told by the wife that I should buy a pre built chassis the first time so that I dont lose interest in the first stage!

It sounds like the Luego is a good choice from previous posts and they have some decent offers on at the moment, just hope the garage is finished before the offers end!

No doubt you'll be hearing more from me

Cheers

Steve

PS I still might end up changing my mind!

Although I am comapatively early on in the build process, from my stand point the biggest decision is going to be about budget and to a certain extent, time. It is entirely possible just to go for the "plough money into it" route, and provided your skills are up to it, you will end up with a very good car, or you can go the "stick to book budget" route (nigh on imposible it would appear so get any thoughts of £250 cars out of your head) which can result in very good cars, but from what I have seen, often doesn't. Or you can go for the middle ground that a lot of people seem to go for of a budget of around £2000-£4000 which should give you the financial flexibility to produce a car to a high standard, or you can build a complete dog.... the choice is yours.

The other factor, time, appears to be quite strongly controlled by how much you deviate from the book, as Mr. Gusterson will tell you. I'd recommend you buy the tiger book, which although some poeple slag it off, and it's not a very good book in it's own right (I think most people can work out how to own a tiger without the need for an entire chapter to explain it) it does compliment the RC book very nicely, and brings thinks up to date a bit (motorbike engines and IRS).

As regards the book plans, although I don't have any personal experience of it, the opinion seems to be that some of the measurements are perhaps a little "creative". I have used the McSorley plans and so far (only about 2 more tubes to place) I can only give them praise. There were a couple of points where I couldn't find a specific dimension that I needed, but a quick bit of trig and that was sorted. So, thank you very much Mr McSorley. They are located at : mcsorley.net .

So, good luck and have fun, whatever choice you take, I'm sure we'll see a lot more of you on here

Kingr

P.S. The other good thing about the McSorley plans, is that when asked about what you're building by someone down the pub, you can perfectly innocently say, "I'm building a McSorley" which they will almost definately never have heard of but sounds infinitely better than "I'm building a locost" that just makes you sound like a prat, and almost always merits the reply "low cost what?".

I agree entirely with KingR about the Mcsorley plans, I used the Book chassis plans which were fully sorted and accurate.

Where I would differ, is deciding which plans to go for. I started on my chassis before I had a donor thinking I would get a Mk2 Escort at some point and carry on from there. THERE ARE NO MORE MK2 ESCORTS LEFT!!!, they all wrapped up in 1"x1" RHS! I used a Capri rear axle and did (eventually) find a pair of Mk5 Cortina front uprights. The Capri axle is wider than the escort and I now wish I had used the wider McSorley plans which would have given me more arse room and more lattitude with the diff casing where it enters the transmission tunnel. I still dont have a donor as such, but I do have a rolling chassis ready for Sierra engine, box and steering column.

I would get yourself a rear axle first (with or without the rest of the donor) and then choose the plans - they are GOOD.

The image is to show you what I was forced to do with the transmission tunnel to accomodate the rear axle at the expence of the available seat room (I will have to move the seats 2" forward to compensate.
Rescued attachment DCP_0373sml.jpg

quote:

---

Originally posted by steves1966
thanks for the swift replies, I have been told by the wife that I should buy a pre built chassis the first time so that I dont lose interest in the first stage!

---

I agree with Steve, building the chassis is a relatively quick job and will help to keep you motivated due to the satisfaction factor.

Talking about nutters....some people don't even put their engines in the same end of the car as the book......mental

This is quite good, it seems like I can ask almost any question and get a reply!!

Is there somewhere that you can get pre cut metal for the chassis? I like the idea of building my own chassis, but am concerened about the overall time it is all going to take. I fancy idea also of one of the luego kits that have just about everything included except a donor car (theres a MK2 escort for sale in the postoffice window for 125 - tatty but running) if anyone want the number I can get it cos I wont be ready for it for a few months


Still undecided

Steve

I'm sure that Luego sold the chassis kits in pre cut metal form (but I may stand corrected). But honestly, the chassis is the easy bit, even if you cut the metal yourself. It took me about three weeks to have the chassis fully made from lengths of steel. What is time consuming if building yourself is stuff like fabricating suspension brackets, IMO extremely repetitive, and quite difficult to make accurately, especially with tools found in the average shed! Best to buy stuff like this in.

Hello steve

Depending on how much working room you have should determine your work schedule,getting the donor 1st would be a good idea if space is minimal.
Strip out all the parts you want to keep and pile them up in corner or under bench,the mk3/4/5 cortina is a good choice as it has a majority of the components needed.You can always swap the heavy and tall pinto for a x/flow or whatever takes your fancy,if your going book version then the x/flow would be best and easier to follow.
I would have definatly taken this route if building my own chassis,but thats my opinion and i'm sure there will be lots of suggestions for you to mull over.

Where abouts are you anyway ?,there may be someone building local to you.

[Edited on 27/12/02 by bob]

[Edited on 27/12/02 by bob]

Yes, Cortina is a good choice if you can find one, those front uprights are used on just about everything bar Sierra-based cars. And, of course, you can swap bits you don't want for bits you do (hopefully)

John

[Edited on 27/12/02 by interestedparty]

But which ever route you take, there will be times when you wished you had never started it. If this happens, try and grab a ride in a car.....just to remind you of what it's all about

[Edited on 27/12/02 by Stu16v]

Yep stu is right it really does help if you blag a ride now and then,you can actually get garageitus as mrs bob has offen told me.

Thanks for the support, I will probably end up building the chassis and buying the harder bits - I can detect a bit of a theme coming out in the responses.

I am close to Fareham, which is half way between Portsmouth and Southampton, if there is anyone close (ish) that fancies letting me have a look at a locost in the flesh it would be much appreciated.

I have seen that there is a kit car show on March 8th, whic I think I will go along to (with a friend who seems to have been bitten by the bug a bit as well)

I have downloaded the McSorley plans from McSorley.net, what are the sort of differences between these and the book drawings that I should be looking for?

Cheers

Steve

The McSorley plans are just 'Book' plans with all the inaccuracies taken out. I used them and they were stop on. Print 'em up and use them to cut the angles out on, your don't even need a protractor...

As for what route you decide to take, I think it comes down to 3 things, the use you want to put the car to, budget, and how much you're gonna enjoy the build process.

I decided that I wanted a racer, for local use around the country lanes in live in, and track days, so no windscreen and very light weight. I also decided I want to build from scratch as I wanted to learn to weld and I've really enjoyed the process. As for budget, I knew I really wanted a bike engine car (I've owned a few bikes) and thought I would save a few quid building the chassis to put into the engine. I've also been able to adapt the chassis to fit me and the engine. PS I've got very little mechanical experience.

There are Cortina/Escort donors out there, I got mine in under 2 weeks of looking for £30.

Getting a ride is a great idea, I've only been in bike engines cars and they've done nothing but scare the poo out of me!!

Whatever you decide to do enjoy. I live near Brighton and your welcome to come over for a visit....

Steves1966, you're not in too bad an area for locosts.

I organize a meeting every third monday of the month at the Sir John Barleycorn Inn at Cadnam,near southampton. There's a group of about 8 of us at various stages of build, including 2 on the road !(might not be about during the winter months, big girls blouses).

And if you need a fry up,(who doesn't) I can recommend visiting the west london mafia(Don't let the name scare you, there a likable bunch).

You can drop me an E-mail off list if you wish.

Take care and good luck.

Dan.

Hi Steve.

I would like to offer you some advice. I would grab that £125 Escort now if I were you. Buy it now and store it somewhere. I can almost guarantee that you will not be able to find one when you finally decide you need it.

Getting all the donor parts from one Escort will definitely make your life easier, plus you will get a log book for an age related plate.

Go buy it now!

hmmmm

Finding somewhere to store it could be the fun part, then theres always the convincing the wife that I 'need' it.

Wonder if I can get away with it!

By the way Dan, thanks for the info, I may take a spin down there one evening


Steve

Hi Steve,

I'm in Southampton and you're more than welcome to pop over and have a look at my car. (Book spec with race tweaks)

It's at the rolling chassis stage with just the engine, seats and exhaust to fit.

I have to admit my motivation has dropped off a bit recently, my garage leaks like a seive atm.

Reading the SVA manual that put the wind up me a bit too and knocked my enthusiasm a bit too.

It would be good for me to have some other Locosters locally to kick my arse back into gear.

BTW "SCUTTER" if you read this - I would like to attend your next meeting if thats ok? U Gonna come as well Steve?

Good luck

Dave

Hi Dave

Thanks for the invite, I'll probably take you up on it some time. Im pretty interested in going along to the club one Monday so we'll have to sort some thing out so the 2 new boys can turn up together

If you want o to get me off here my email is steve@sjsconsulting.co.uk

cheers

Steve

I wouldn't worry about the "new boys" syndrome, I have enough problems getting every other bugger to turn up.

BTW Sideways keep plodding along, the farm building i'm using leaks and doesn't even have a double door on it yet.

See you both soon. Dan