I've been on this board
since well ..have
a look see ,06 or so .and I have noticed this board is no longer about 'Locost' . Its about guys with big money...able to write a cheque to other guys also with big money able to satisfy their whims and supply them with ready built 'locost' cars lol!..Supreme irony or what? I really have no problem with wedged folk .Problem I have is wedged folk hi jacking something designed for those not so well off as they are.After all that is what this board is about no?...Building Lotus 7 lookalikes on the cheap!...Or have I got it all wrong?

Hi Fatgadget,

To be honest I don't see a problem. Whatever pastime / hobby / club /or just random group of people you think of there
will always be those that buy, and those that get more out of spending less, and a million categories in-between.

I'm sure that if you have built, are building, or wish to build, a Locost with the minimum outlay, if you post your progress
or lack of as the case may be, then you will get a response from the Locostbuilders community.


Again, to be honest, I doubt if anyone has followed "Uncle Ron" to the letter in order to save money. Cutting the sides from
a Luton van to make aluminium bodywork for instance.


So you do what you can and buy what you can't, or learn how to. No amateur builder is an expert in every aspect of the car.
For me, and I suspect many others on here, some things come easy and others require help from the masses.
Many thanks to those that have helped me over my many building years.


Cheers
Paul G

When "the book" first came out I believe it had a significant impact on the industry and you could build a car for very little money because it was possible to find parts cheap - it was after all nearly 20 years ago. My donor car was £25, Spax adjustables £10 from an auto jumble etc. Whole car cost less than £1000 (probably looked it as we'll) and then down to my local MOT station to get on the road.

However with so many building "cheap" parts dried up the SVA and then IVA demanded certain standards and so the costs increased. A whole load more companies appeared on the scene, MK, MNR, producing parts which significantly under cut the existing players notably Caterham and Westfield. Suddenly the gap between DIY and buying in cost narrowed and for the extra money you arguably got a better car, and the opportunity was open up to those who didn't have welding and fabrication skills.

So things have moved on, we are all richer than we were 20 years ago and if you are going to have to spend £4,000 to get a car why not spend £6,000 and get a really good one? After all even I blew £300 on unnecessary new bits in the last few weeks of my build.g Finally remember the Locost was low cost at the time when compared to a Caterham or Westfield of comparable spec and performance, ok the numbers are bigger these days but I suspect that many of the wonderful machines being discussed on this forum are still low cost if compared to the equivalent Caterham or Westy.

Each to their own.

907 +1
I started out and had the idea that I could do it as cheap as possible and then thought " this is my car for me so why compromise", so what if I have to save for a bit to buy the item or materials that I want. believe me I am not a bloke with a big wedge, but I get great pleasure in building it up and seeing it evolve. Indeed just the other day I caught my wife casting her eye over it and she said "its come on so far from when you started, you should be proud" and you know what I am
I have enjoyed every minute so far of the build, yes sure the wiring was hair pulling but the satisfaction of the first startup, of seeing the lights work then the brake lights then the fog etc makes for a great feeling of achievement.
At the end of the day as 907 said there is the original book concept and there are proffesionaly built cars and many many stages inbetween but, and its a BIG but, the end result is we are all like minded folk taking enjoyment from what we do culminating in driving a remarkable car again in many directions motorsport, touring or enthusiastic blats on a sunny day.
imho it really doesn't matter and I welcome anyone into the fold , however they choose to do it.

Gary... Well said.... You should be a politician! Whoops sorry that won't work.. Apologies for the insult....

Pretty much how I saw my build... Sad to say I probably ended up spending 10k over 7 years of my build... but I did it with help from the great group of guys on here and I bought bits on,y when I could afford them!
Dave B

My 'car' still stands me at a few pence under £600. I bought it as a pre-registered project car off Ebay for £102 and pretty much all the bits are home made, second hand or lucky finds on Ebay. My brand-new huge alloy radiator was £16 off Ebay! The de-dion rear axle is home made from an old lamp post (free). The rear callipers are from a crusty old Hyundai (£10). Front brakes are Mondeo (Swapped for a wheel barrow wheel). The current engine is from a Pug 406 Coupe (£100) and the gearbox from a Sierra (£40).
It is possible to build on a tight budget and even though I did have a bit of spare wedge during the 'build', I've never felt the need to spend cash on my car, mainly because it's crap. If I was building a nice car, I'd be happy to buy shiny new trinkets. It has been often said that if I'd spent my time on a a better car, I'd have an excellent car but then I'd have a load of cash sat in the back of my barn doing nowt!
This site has helped my with the stuff I know little about as well as some bargain purchases. I've met new chums and been to new places.
Long live Locostbuilders!!

£600

Kin'el.

I can add a nought to that, and few have made as much of the car as me.

Paul G

Yebbut....just look at it!!

It's shit but it's my shit....

I personally like doing stuff on the car as cheaply as possible where I can, but doing my best to make it work well. For example my bike carb setup cost about £120 all in, the dearest bit being the Pipercross filter at £60!

Given how much use my car gets though I can't really justify spending loads on it, but for me the great thing about these cars is they cost peanuts to run, so having one sitting about in the garage most of the time and doing only a thousand miles a year seems more paletable.


Stu

Its very difficult to do things locost if you don't use everything from a donor. Just my brakes have set me back over £200 replacing lines and refurbishing the calipers.

quote:

---

Originally posted by joneh
Its very difficult to do things locost if you don't use everything from a donor. Just my brakes have set me back over £200 replacing lines and refurbishing the calipers.

---

I've noticed an increase in the number of chequebook chariots around here since I joined. I've not got a problem with that, I'm still happy as a pig in a lake of poo when wandering round the scrapyard. This can still be a cheap (ish) hobby if you have a good scrapyard nearby. I have an awesome one, even saw 2 sierras come in there last year.

One peeve I have is when someone with a taxed/MOT'd/insured and sorted car moans about something utterly trivial like it's the end of the world. "can't find the same trim as used on my transmission tunnel so I can match the trim round my handbrake surround, FML!" Meanwhile my car is in 1000 pieces as usual

I think it's a case of each to their own.

When I decided to build a car, my main goal was to end up with something that was as close as a new car as I could get but I didn't want to owe any money on it once it's finished.

I had a budget of £5000 in mind, pretty cheap for a 'new' car in my view, I reckon I will just hit budget & I've ended up going for megasquirt & throttle bodies which I wasn't planning originally.

I bought my chassis & body as I knew I wouldn't be happy if I tried to make those bits but the rest has been bought 2nd hand, cleaned & refurbished by me so it pretty much all looks like new.
In some instances ive gone for bits that will get me on the road until I can afford to upgrade if I ever decide to.

I've made lots of bits myself, i was given permission to use the old lathe & mill at work, im no machinist but i did do a little bit at college 20 years ago, im slow but the results seem to be good, lunchtime projects are quite often scattered around the workshop with people asking what part I'm making now !

I have also got car parts for most birthday & Christmas presents for the last few years too.

I'm about 8 years in, went through a divorce & almost lost it all, funds have been non existent at times trying to get back on my feet but I can see a light at the end of the tunnel & hey, im in no rush, I will get there in the end.

Good luck to all builders rich or poor :-)

[Edited on 8/6/15 by Andybarbet]

I fall into the bought a completed car category.

I did buy a chassis and started putting it all together..but realized that I had neither the skill or the patience to develop the skills required to complete the project.

I got my car for a little less than i had budgeted for my build and it is of a far superior build quality than i could have done myself..

I fall into the area, of I wanted a project, but also driven by cost, building a kit car was not really an option, as they CAN be built in a few weekends/days off despite the fact that we have hundreds of guys on this site who for what ever reason , take 5+ years to build a kit car, unbelievable

I have NEVER built a car before, worked on a lot, rebuilt a couple, ive never worked with aluminium never used a sewing machine, etc etc

My 7 <<< is a total home build, from book one of "Build a sports car for £250" book one is fraught with errors, so have to overcome these
It took 2 years to complete, and get on the road, however it is pre SVA/IVA but built with the rules in mind, as it was easier than not doing so

It stands me right now at £5160 as I have kept every receipt, and totalled up, and this is from May1997 to now
been on the road 16 years, done over 24k mileage

This site originaly was for us self builders and over the years expanded to cover all variants of cars, I don't have a problem with that, as it has brought in some very talented and knowledge guys, it has also brought in some absolute wankers,

Every single part of my car was sourced, made, remade and added by myself, apart from when the chassis was made, a professional welder came in and went over all my chassis welds, just for my peace of mind

Building cars is not about costs, as cost cutting will bite your bum at some point, and ive had mine bitten to prove it
its a balance of what you can afford, to what you want at the end of the day, so if already costs are prohibitive then this hobby is not for you

Another way is to look on ebay in the winter, as 7's etc are worth nothing when its dark cold wet and snow, you could buy a ready built car for peanuts, and get it to were you want it by spring, quite cheaply

when im browsing the tinternt, after the BBC news channel this site is the second site I go to every single time, and I probably spend more time on this site than any other, so its a winner from me

I was always extremely limited by budget for my V8 Viento. But I knew what I wanted and set out to do it as cheaply as possible. Where I can I have made parts myself or bought secondhand.

Clocks - used from Scootz
Wheels and tires - Used from a forum member
Seats - £90 for both - eBay
Intake manifold and carb - used from forum member
Megajolt - used from forum member
Bell housing and clutch - used from forum member
Engine - Built myself with a short block from a failed project of eBay
Cylinder heads - eBay and referred myself
chassis and panels - abandoned project from eBay

The only major part I bought new was the custom exhaust which I absolutely couldn't find used. Oh and I splashed out on some projector headlamps from Russbost.

I have built my car to a good quality (in my opinion) and tried to keep costs down, yet over the 5 years it has taken me I have spent over £10K. I actually believe on here is a sort of opposite of the fishermans tale. Everyone seems to say things like 'I built this whole setup for Thruppence'. There is definitely a 'I did it cheaper than you' one upmanship attitude.

Well you know what they say about cheap, quick and good quality...

Doesn't really mean a lot questioning the build costs, how much time have you spent on your cars and have you costed your time?!

In all cases, some people will spend more than others (time/money) but who cares, so long as you're all enjoying yourselves. Hopefully those who have spent a bit more cash will have saved some time and vice versa but unless you're building cars for other people this is always going to be a hobby.

Hobbies cost time and money and we can't all afford the same amount of time or money for our hobbies but I don't think that's any reason to begrudge others for having either of those things.

I've built 2 cars so far and am on my third, and am gathering parts for the 4th...

When I started back in 1994 I didn't have a clue about building but set a 4k budget.

Then spent about another 6k on engine swaps.

Started with a 5k budget for the MNR but bust the 10k very easily..

Trying to install a V8 and 4wd into my Jago has been costly. Still quite low though compared to the others.

Lessons learnt I reckon, for the Midlana first thing is building the motor to what I want so there's no modifying later on.. Second is thinking of a new name for it and third is not setting a budget or timescale to it. I actually like the building more than the driving. You need to think and develop new skills building where as driving just gets more mired and complicated.

ive only been member for a month but its all been positive i havnt built my car but i will be totally improving it over time with me doing all the work and buying what ever parts i feel my car warrants at what ever cost as this is my hobby as also building a impreza to race