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[RolandL]

A friend and myself built two Locosts total spent was less than 3K.  We built from the ground up, not quite £250, but still cheap.

 Visit our build diary at www.lumby.freeserve.co.uk to see how we did it.

MK sportscars in Maltby (Rotherham)  can supply chassis etc. I believe they were involved with the 3rd edition of "The Book"  The Haynes Roadster.  Visit some clubs, also log onto www.locostbuilders.co.uk  you'll pick up loads of ideas.

It is possible to build one without spending a fortune  

[theolodian]

get it vigorously checked for safety when it's built too, a friend of mine paid £23,000 for his westfield, had it on the road just over 30 minutes and it slid off in the wet at under 25mph, and this is how it looked afterwards from making contact with a tree, and this HAD been inspected by vosa prior to having a registration issued

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1067181_lucky_kit_car_crash_escape

the story isnt completely accurate in relation to his injuries, and nor was the car just "broken in 2"

The car was broken in two by the impact

.. or cut in two by the fire brigade?

Oh, dear.   I do feel for your mate, and hope he has made a full recovery.  

He isn't the first person to have come a cropper relatively early in his kit car driving career, unfortunately. TBH, though, and without having any knowledge of this particular case, I would say it's unlikely to have been a problem with the car.  

There is a world of difference between driving a car like that in the dry, where they are difficult to unstick without behaving like a hooligan, and in the wet, where the amount of power versus the weight and traction available can make them very easy to lose indeed.

We all learn that lesson pretty early on. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't done the same. I suspect the only difference relates to the position of the tree relative to the car.

Kevin

the car broke into 3 on initial impact and finished in 5, he had a severely smashed leg with skin and muscle missing from a lot of his left foot, he had breaks all over his right foot and also bruising to his face and a fractured skull with nerve damage resulting in temporary loss of use of the left side of his face, he may be out of hospital this time next week if one leg is healthy enough to bear weight, he's recovering fantastically, probably thanks to the 4 point harness (some stories said he was hanging out of the car, but he wasnt)

the car had been through the full SVA inspections, which is what's worrying!

Geez, that sucks!  Hope he gets well.  

I am willing to bet that the car was well-built, they just aren't that strong and even a high-end german car will come apart like that if it hits a tree in just the wrong way (at slightly higher speeds admittedly).

[HerefordElite]

get it vigorously checked for safety when it's built too, a friend of mine paid £23,000 for his westfield, had it on the road just over 30 minutes and it slid off in the wet at under 25mph, and this is how it looked afterwards from making contact with a tree, and this HAD been inspected by vosa prior to having a registration issued

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1067181_lucky_kit_car_crash_escape

the story isnt completely accurate in relation to his injuries, and nor was the car just "broken in 2"

The car was broken in two by the impact

.. or cut in two by the fire brigade?

Oh, dear.   I do feel for your mate, and hope he has made a full recovery.  

He isn't the first person to have come a cropper relatively early in his kit car driving career, unfortunately. TBH, though, and without having any knowledge of this particular case, I would say it's unlikely to have been a problem with the car.  

There is a world of difference between driving a car like that in the dry, where they are difficult to unstick without behaving like a hooligan, and in the wet, where the amount of power versus the weight and traction available can make them very easy to lose indeed.

We all learn that lesson pretty early on. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't done the same. I suspect the only difference relates to the position of the tree relative to the car.

Kevin

the car broke into 3 on initial impact and finished in 5, he had a severely smashed leg with skin and muscle missing from a lot of his left foot, he had breaks all over his right foot and also bruising to his face and a fractured skull with nerve damage resulting in temporary loss of use of the left side of his face, he may be out of hospital this time next week if one leg is healthy enough to bear weight, he's recovering fantastically, probably thanks to the 4 point harness (some stories said he was hanging out of the car, but he wasnt)

the car had been through the full SVA inspections, which is what's worrying!

Geez, that sucks!  Hope he gets well.  

I am willing to bet that the car was well-built, they just aren't that strong and even a high-end german car will come apart like that if it hits a tree in just the wrong way (at slightly higher speeds admittedly).

bit like this one:

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.egmcartech.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/audi_rs36_crash_2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.egmcartech.com/2007/03/02/man-crashes-audi-rs6-walks-away-without-a-scratch/&h=600&w=800&sz=167&hl=en&start=43&um=1&usg=__yt5lU-vQKZ1KQBanBaT8ubzTqF4=&tbnid=u3v8R2k2HcQyzM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Daudi%2Bbroke%2Bin%2B2%26start%3D36%26ndsp%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN
 

[Kevin Wood]

the car broke into 3 on initial impact and finished in 5, he had a severely smashed leg with skin and muscle missing from a lot of his left foot, he had breaks all over his right foot and also bruising to his face and a fractured skull with nerve damage resulting in temporary loss of use of the left side of his face, he may be out of hospital this time next week if one leg is healthy enough to bear weight, he's recovering fantastically, probably thanks to the 4 point harness (some stories said he was hanging out of the car, but he wasnt)

the car had been through the full SVA inspections, which is what's worrying!

What year was the car, out of interest?

The reason I ask is that I've just read this: http://boardroom.wscc.co.uk/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=1;t=67697.

Those chassis should be able to end up banana shaped without coming apart. A mate of mine got T-boned by a Transit at 40MPH and walked away because the side impact protection afforded by the chassis.

I just put 2 and 2 together when I saw the damage in that pic and the above thread and wonder if a quality issue around 2004 might have been to blame, and of course that might have implications your mate might want to follow up once he's got over the more pressing need to get better.

Kevin

[MartinP]

Your budget puts you outside the realms of the full kit.

You could consider the likes of a Robin Hood with a Sierra as a donor.

When I was loooking into this, the best 7 chassis I found was the Robin hood....or for a bigger engine the Dax Rush. Sadly Westfiled and Caterham had not developed thier setups nearly as well and were falling behind fast (and appear to still be in this state!).

Have often wondered how possible a Robin Hood using a 3.0 Manual Omega as a donor would work out (plus some Sierra parts)

I have been looking around for a Kit Car for over a year, I wanted to build it, so a lapsed build project was the most cost effective way into the scene for me.

My Robin Hood rolling chassis & donor arrive bright and early tomorrow. First builder used  a 1.6 Sierra and put all the running gear on. The second owner, only sourced a second donor with a 2.0 DOHC and then stopped the project and finally sold it to ME  


It will be stripped right down and started from scratch. I have stripped 1 donor and de-rusted & painted all the running gear from a 1.8CVH Sierra, so I have 3 sets of running gear  

I gave the CVH engine away   (now I have to put somthing else in and thought really hard about an Omega engine (I know a bit about them now )

The whole project is a few months early as I am away all over Christmas & New Year, but the "buy it now" price was a steal.

[Kevin Wood]

Your budget puts you outside the realms of the full kit.

You could consider the likes of a Robin Hood with a Sierra as a donor.

When I was loooking into this, the best 7 chassis I found was the Robin hood....or for a bigger engine the Dax Rush. Sadly Westfiled and Caterham had not developed thier setups nearly as well and were falling behind fast (and appear to still be in this state!).

Have often wondered how possible a Robin Hood using a 3.0 Manual Omega as a donor would work out (plus some Sierra parts)

I have been looking around for a Kit Car for over a year, I wanted to build it, so a lapsed build project was the most cost effective way into the scene for me.

My Robin Hood rolling chassis & donor arrive bright and early tomorrow. First builder used  a 1.6 Sierra and put all the running gear on. The second owner, only sourced a second donor with a 2.0 DOHC and then stopped the project and finally sold it to ME  


It will be stripped right down and started from scratch. I have stripped 1 donor and de-rusted & painted all the running gear from a 1.8CVH Sierra, so I have 3 sets of running gear  

I gave the CVH engine away   (now I have to put somthing else in and thought really hard about an Omega engine (I know a bit about them now )

The whole project is a few months early as I am away all over Christmas & New Year, but the "buy it now" price was a steal.

Unfinished projects are good value. Mate of mine bought a Dax Rush at rolling chassis stage with a totally unmolested cossie turbo (6k miles), halibrand alloys, tyres, etc. everything done. Just needed finishing off and painting. Think he paid about 3k for it. Ran it around for a couple of years then sold it for 13k IIRC.

You're well to get shot of both of those engines. What are you thinking of going for?

Carbs or injection?

Kevin

[Vamps]

Why would you put an Omega V6 in, given the complications, rather that just go with the Ford V6.

[MartinP]

Your budget puts you outside the realms of the full kit.

You could consider the likes of a Robin Hood with a Sierra as a donor.

When I was loooking into this, the best 7 chassis I found was the Robin hood....or for a bigger engine the Dax Rush. Sadly Westfiled and Caterham had not developed thier setups nearly as well and were falling behind fast (and appear to still be in this state!).

Have often wondered how possible a Robin Hood using a 3.0 Manual Omega as a donor would work out (plus some Sierra parts)

I have been looking around for a Kit Car for over a year, I wanted to build it, so a lapsed build project was the most cost effective way into the scene for me.

My Robin Hood rolling chassis & donor arrive bright and early tomorrow. First builder used  a 1.6 Sierra and put all the running gear on. The second owner, only sourced a second donor with a 2.0 DOHC and then stopped the project and finally sold it to ME  


It will be stripped right down and started from scratch. I have stripped 1 donor and de-rusted & painted all the running gear from a 1.8CVH Sierra, so I have 3 sets of running gear  

I gave the CVH engine away   (now I have to put somthing else in and thought really hard about an Omega engine (I know a bit about them now )

The whole project is a few months early as I am away all over Christmas & New Year, but the "buy it now" price was a steal.

Unfinished projects are good value. Mate of mine bought a Dax Rush at rolling chassis stage with a totally unmolested cossie turbo (6k miles), halibrand alloys, tyres, etc. everything done. Just needed finishing off and painting. Think he paid about 3k for it. Ran it around for a couple of years then sold it for 13k IIRC.

You're well to get shot of both of those engines. What are you thinking of going for?

Carbs or injection?

Kevin

I fancy injection, may well LPG after the SVA (new version!)

But would like to try a V6, which is the main reason for getting a part build instead of a running motor.

Stelvio is the target, just don't know which year  :-?

[HerefordElite]

Why would you put an Omega V6 in, given the complications, rather that just go with the Ford V6.

because vauxhall make much better engines than ford

[Ian_D]

Why would you put an Omega V6 in, given the complications, rather that just go with the Ford V6.

because vauxhall make much better engines than ford

I agree there compairing the V6's

However, I know the 2L Zetecs are pritty good engines, and if I was fitting a 4pot,  I would prob stick one of them in with a custom ECU.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Why would you put an Omega V6 in, given the complications, rather that just go with the Ford V6.

Because its an underpowered lump of pig iron!

The benefits I see of an X30XE

Easy to wire (only 5 or 6 connections to make to the main engine loom).
Reasonably light
Can be sat back in the engine bay
Cheap and plentiful
Easy to get 220bhp from (just add a chip) or more with better exhaust etc
Suspect you might be able to bodge on the existing front pipes etc
Its mega compact (being a 54deg V setup designed for front and rear wheel drive) so can be sat back in the engine bay to help weight distribution.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Why would you put an Omega V6 in, given the complications, rather that just go with the Ford V6.

because vauxhall make much better engines than ford

I agree there compairing the V6's

However, I know the 2L Zetecs are pritty good engines, and if I was fitting a 4pot,  I would prob stick one of them in with a custom ECU.

To expensive and not that easy to obtain.

If I was going for a 4 pot it would probably be a Toyota 4AGE or a Z20LET

Unless you went throttle bodies etc, a custom ecu wont do much for you.

[Ian_D]

Why would you put an Omega V6 in, given the complications, rather that just go with the Ford V6.

because vauxhall make much better engines than ford

I agree there compairing the V6's

However, I know the 2L Zetecs are pritty good engines, and if I was fitting a 4pot,  I would prob stick one of them in with a custom ECU.

To expensive and not that easy to obtain.

If I was going for a 4 pot it would probably be a Toyota 4AGE or a Z20LET

Unless you went throttle bodies etc, a custom ecu wont do much for you.

Thought you would pick a Zetec up for £100?  :-/

Dont know anything about the 4AGE, but a Z20LET would be very nice  , however thats WAY to expensive!  

[Martin_1962]

You already have an X20XEV and they are 10 a penny!

[Marks DTM Calib]

Why would you put an Omega V6 in, given the complications, rather that just go with the Ford V6.

because vauxhall make much better engines than ford

I agree there compairing the V6's

However, I know the 2L Zetecs are pritty good engines, and if I was fitting a 4pot,  I would prob stick one of them in with a custom ECU.

To expensive and not that easy to obtain.

If I was going for a 4 pot it would probably be a Toyota 4AGE or a Z20LET

Unless you went throttle bodies etc, a custom ecu wont do much for you.

Thought you would pick a Zetec up for £100?  :-/

Dont know anything about the 4AGE, but a Z20LET would be very nice  , however thats WAY to expensive!  

Hence X30XE again....you could get a 3.0 V6 Manual for a few hundred quid which would give you gearbox, engine, engine loom, immobiliser, clutch, flywheel prop.......and probably enough other bits to flog second hand to cover the purchase cost!