hi,

i have been looking at the procomp la gold locost and at seems to be fairly decent? is anyone in the process of building one or even better has anyone built one? can you buy it in kit form or are you only able to buy the chassis for example? roughly how much to build?

cheers
mark

I've built one, quality kit - everything fits as it should and is very well made (top quality GRP too). Matt (aka 'procomp' who will be along in a minute no doubt) and Ivan are top blokes and know exactly what they are talking about as well. How much it costs is up to you and how you build it obviously but the kit itself is no more expensive than any of the rival ones.

[Edited on 23/1/07 by D Beddows]

Probably one of, if not the, best 7's on the market.

Properly engineered by engineers hence the lack of adverts.

They win a lot, handle right and are the right price, you won't go far wrong.

sounds promising... anybody got a price list? how much roughly to build a basic road car (possibly with roll cage)?

how is the kit i.e. can you buy it in several specs basic/full etc?

a good engineered kit would be high up my wanted list.


edit: also what engines can you fit straight in apart from the pinto and x-flow?

[Edited on 23/1/07 by mark_mcd]

Hello mark

Give them a call.

procomp

I'd u2u Matt, user name 'procomp' on here to check on prices etc - he looks on here most days (there is a link to their website on the 'links' page on here as well).

To be honest they mostly supply cars that are built to be race cars but you're best having a chat with them yourself about what you're after.

one thing i'll say for procomp is this - he's turned down business!

Might seem a strange comment but i always respsect someone who's prepared to say, "we can & will supply you with that, but to be honest, i don't think its what you want. You want this supplied by them because .....".

It shows to me a level of integretty often missing in business and means i trust his oppinion a lot more than other peoples & he's more likely to get first dibs at my money.

Yep, I came close to buying one. To be honest what swung it for me is that it's a more involved build that a MNR. To do it properly as Matt advises, you'll need 3000 rivets for a kick-off. That's not to say it's bad, I just wanted to be on the track this summer.

Both Matt and Ivan talk a lot of sense. I'll probably be taking my finished car to them for set-up.

One other thing to mention, is that the GRP is aimed at the racer and is therefore not the best cosmetically. I'd expect to want to paint it.

Great car though.

TC

To be honest the GRP they sold me a few years was excellent - AND it fitted properly unlike some I've been sold.....

so a good kit then by the sounds of it. i am based in scotland (aberdeen) so seeing/finding out about kits is not that easy for me! the only thing that worries me is part supply as it seems escort bits are getting rarer now and thus more expensive?

3000 rivets is a lot of rivets is that just for putting on the floor (surely not)? i presume it can be done with a regular gun or must it be an air powered version?

[Edited on 23/1/07 by mark_mcd]

quote:

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Originally posted by mark_mcd
i presume it can be done with a regular gun or must it be an air powered version?

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Just don't bother setting them



side panels

Seriously I've never heard a bad word said against Procomp, which is always a good start.

ATB Dan.

In one car ? Mine are 4" apart, it would be 30' long to use that many

4" spacing is for wimps No, to be serious I can't remember it being quite 3000 - it was definitely well over 2000 though and yes I did do them by hand (I got to about 750, realised I should have got an air riveter but decided that as I'd come this far......and yes one forearm was noticably bigger by the time i'd finished )

Fellow racers then grumbled we'd built a semi monocoque chasiss........

3000 rivets does all ali panels with a rivet one inch away from the next.

Matt's point is that this adds to the strength of the chassis by 'almost' creating a monocoque.

You could do it by hand, but I wouldn't want to. That's why I went for something else. I'd still like a LA in ali and metallic maroon though.

Axle can also come from a Lada by the way - apparently Ford sold the tooling to Fiat who then improved on the design and provided parts for Lada.

Ring Matt - he knows all this stuff much better than me.

[Edited on 24/1/07 by TimC]

sounds good. are these rivets supplied with the kit? just looked around the net and can't see many places you could get so many... would most likely do it by hand as this would be a budget build...

the lada axle is a good tip away to look that up!

so could you realistically build one of these cars for around 4-5k?

With all those perforations, wouldn't it tear easily along the dotted lines?........

Phil

I would imagine nowadays finding a Lada axle is virtualy impossible as all the old Ladas got exported back to Russia

Any decent engineers merchant will sell you boxes of (usualy 500) rivets. If anyone is considering doing it by hand I'd recomend a: thinking again and b: investing in an top quality riveter as I went through 3 of the standard quality ones

The 'tear along the dotted line' theory holds true for all monocoque chassis as well though - the recomended way to do it is to bond the panels on with something like sikaflex as well as all the rivets and the theory is that they become a structural rather than just a cosmetic element of the chassis.

[Edited on 24/1/07 by D Beddows]

i think you should decide what you want to use the car for, speak to the different companies on the phone and make it to a show (stoneleigh?) then talk to them in person, look at the product and find fellow builders cars to look at (you're probably more likely to find the LA's at the track) - that should help the decision.

Its always helpful having builders close by & if they've all got a particular model, that can be a good reason to go for that (they've already made the mistakes you're going to sort of thing).

Whilst a lot of people have posted on here about having problems with GTS and supply, Calvinx and some others will give you a different perspective. Add the two together and make your decision.

Other people have posted about the MK rear end, read the posts and look at other peoples views & make your decision.

Then you've got your MAC1, your Stuart Taylor, your MNR & do the same for all of them etc etc....

me personally, i've got an opinion on all them. I've formed it by using this forum, talking to the manufactures, owners and dealing (buying off) some of them.

If i was buying a car i know who it would be between and procomp is one of them. Who'd get my money - well thats my business but those who know me also know it would probably stay in my pocket cause i'm a tightfisted northern git

I'd go for it..

Their chassis is HIGHLY accurate.
Their bush-arrangement (no, not a brazilian or similar!) is spot-on and will have the same benefits on the road as on the track.
You'll end-up with a classic looking 7 - it's about as close as you'll get to a Cat'ham in looks.
Their good guys. Not as cheap as say an MK starter kit, but I know which I'd go for now.

(This MNR had better be bloody good! )

Wise words there from MikeR - EVERY 7 alike has its pros and cons and actualy seeing a few completed ones realy helps because they're definitely not all the same (just don't look at too many Caterhams because you'll probably find you realy want one )

Take a lot of the banter about the pros and cons of different manufacturers on here with a pinch of salt, if you want a car mostly for road use there realy isn't much between them. I'd seriously consider taking CaLviNx up on his offer though as, although he has his 'moments' on here, he knows what he's talking about and could potentialy be a big help to you.

oh yeah, you don't have to use 2000 rivets - they do that for the race car to get as much as possible out of it. you could just use as many rivets as the rest of the manufacturers.

No, I think you actualy have to agree to over 2000 rivets before they'll sell you a chassis

Has anyone noticed that a thread about a 7 kit manufacturer hasn't disolved into an all out row for a change - must say something..... however I'm possibly mentaly scared for life by that comment about Ivan and Matts 'bush arangement' by TimC, thanks mate!

Hi thanks all for the kind words.

Having missed all this due to a dental treatment if mark_mcd would like to U2U me with any specific questions or if interested in pricing please feel free.

cheers matt

Top Blokes! Helped me out a lot in the past, their cars have been developed on the track and geometry is second to none. I have been up a few times and had a look at the cars close up, the attention to detail is on par with caterham/dax.