also put this in another section as not sure where to put it ?

build or buy ?

done a search on this and it didnt seem to get me anywhere forlward.so now i have saved hard my 6k and believe me it was hard
do i build or buy ?
if i build it would be a kit most likley an mk indy
if i buy it would probabley be the same as
1. its in my price range
2. never seen a bad example of one

so you see the problem if i buy i get one now for summer but is it wimping out
as ime a fitter/welder by trade so building would be a straight forlward task i think?
and factor number 3 the wife if i dont spend it soon you bet your life she will

and if i build will i get fed up along the way anyone know whats the average percentage of kits sold before completion

just thought of this now what about buying a part built indy
now thats 3 options to go for
HELP NEEDED

Buy a complete and SVAed car. You probably won't spend any more on it than if you were building yourself but you will save yourself time, hassle and heartache. Of course you won't have all the fun of building but you'll be doing the seller a favour.

Buy a part built project for next to nothing and finish it yourself. 90% of the work will be done but 40% will probably need redoing. You may get 90% of ll the parts for 30 - 40% of what they cost. More hassle but less money.

Build it yourself. You get exactly what you want and it will be built to your satisfaction / skill level (whichever is lower).

Whichever way, you'll get a great car. More so if you buy an MNR VortX

I’d be very wary of buying a part-finished locost that the owner had welded up the chassis. I know that many people have done terrific jobs (you only have to look at the pictures in the archive to see that) but I think I would go to the extent of actually measuring the frame very carefully against the plans to make sure it wasn’t twisted, quite difficult if the panels are on. I’d imagine that some sellers might take offence to doing that but you need to be sure. I have also seen pictures of welds (elsewhere) including roll cages that have been ‘tidied up’ with body filler! Definitely another thing to check for.

As for the MK chassis, I have been please with the quality. Certainly I haven’t been able to find a single fault with anything supplied with my kit even though it’s quite and early example. Its only real shortcomings are the lack of brackets for the pedals etc. all resolved on the newer chassis. So I’d recommend one of those if your lucky enough to find one for sale.

Hope that’s of some help…?

Cheers, Scott.

quote:

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Originally posted by offroad biker
if i build it would be a kit most likley an mk indy
if i buy it would probabley be the same as
1. its in my price range
2. never seen a bad example of one

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I would always recommend building your own kit,you will have a idea how you want your car to look when its finished,and you don't want to be buying somones elses problems buying a part built kit.
set yourself a realistic time limit to complete it and stick to it,I would always say its best to have funds in place before you start to complete the build,the longer the cars sits in the garage part built,the more likely it is to not get finished and sold on as a part built kit.
As a welder/fitter you would have the skills to build you own chassis,but in my opinion its just not worth the hassle.for what MK charge for building one for you.
For 6 grand you will be alble to build a very nice MK INDY,but don't forget to take a look at the new spec-r MK chassis,having owned and driven both cars,its well worth paying the extra £600 for the new chassis,for details of this,take a look on the webb site,there's also a few pictures in my archive

hi

oliwb just so you know its on the track people are more concerned about the castor thing

on the road and on a general track day your MK,ST,MAC,MNR will be some of the best handling cars there

Id build one buy the deluxe kit and get started hows your relationship ?

can you go in the garage for an hour here or there and then one day on the weekend

if so you could do it in 6-8 months

PS dont forget your R1 engine

ta chris

[Edited on 3/1/07 by zxrlocost]

quote oliwb

Don't settle for not test driving it as plenty of ppl come on here complaining about this and that and the way it doesn't "feel" quite right, eg the MK locost racer and no castor.

6 grand, had I only known at the start...

wasn't it supose to be £250...

If it was your first kit, I would definitely say buy one fully SVA'd and built.

I did and was not dissapointed. Over the past 2 years, just by maintaining it my mechanical knowledge has increased ten fold. I am now in a far better position to build from scratch than before.

Plus of course you get to drive it straight away!

Phil

oh I think I've seen your car an while ago. Sure it was a striker.

Each to their own but I decided to buy a ready built car so no SVA issues.
I bought it cheap and then have had my enjoyment out of driving it while still upgrading and improving.
I may build in the future but at least now I know I would want to keep it.
I spent many years building and racing cars and now run a large workshop for a living so a build would present little problem. I just decided it would be more sensible to buy one until I was sure I could live with one.
By the time I have finished all the upgrades I probably won't need to build one though

Mine has gone from this with a Pinto...

http://locostbuilders.co.uk/photos.php?action=showphoto&photo=2My%20Car.jpg

to this with a Zetec on TB's

http://locostbuilders.co.uk/photos.php?action=showphoto&photo=Back%20Home.JPG
[img]/upload/Back Home.JPG[/img]

Well, it will have done when I have finished the engine swap

[Edited on 3/1/07 by TangoMan]

Why don't my photos show

[Edited on 3/1/07 by TangoMan]

My fist seven was a westy I bought a few years ago, decided after selling it (too many debts) I wanted to build one this time.
Picked up a part built Indy for under a grand on ebay, bloke had only got it as far as getting the diff, steering in etc and painting the chassis but had collected a fair few parts so there was not much he could have bodged.

After selling the zetec gearbox and ther bits I didn't need for an r1 install I reckon it cost me about 600 quid plus the fuel to anglesey and back

Realy enjoyed the build so far though I must say, not done a great deal due to lack of funds, but the engine should be ready to go in within the month which will be a nice marker in the progress

Building is really enjoyable and is what I did.

However if you buy carefully I think you will get more for your money buying a completed and SVAd car than building one.

An under £6k build [inc SVA] will mean compromising on several areas, whereas I've seen some great cars for sale around that money.

Stu

You could buy mine.

Build your own and enjoy it.

The help you get on here is terriffic.

build it yourself.

simple reason for me saying this is no 2 kit cars are the same so if anything goes wrong, when you know what the problem is you know exactly what you're fixing/replacing as you put it there in the first place!

i bought my indy as a rolling (just!) chassis, all in all it probably saved me about a grand but then it probably took me another 50 hours work time putting the bits right that i didn't like.

my personal opinion is buying a fully built kit car just defeats the object of the kit in the first place!

Be carefull buying a part build. I bought one for a ridiculously low price (a grand) and was told by the seller all it needed was seats, instruments and headlights. Hmmm. Got those bits. The wiring proved to be a mess, the headlight dip switch put on the dip, main and sidelights. The standard of the wiring fixing was diabolical, bolts needed replacing, etc, etc. And it still failed the SVA. The good side is what it failed for are all cheap and easy things to fix, will take about the equivilant of two days to fix. The good side is the car on the road with SVA, reg and Tax will have cost me less than 2 grand.

Make it easy on your self . just buy and enjoy.
Buying the right car you can enjoy it, and nealy get your money back after you have had your fun. Build and you don't stop spending.