Who has the cheapest Roadster??

[ih8hardtops]

The more I research, the more I notice that some people go WAY over budget. Anybody actually come in below, or on budget? What surprises can I expect that I am probably not anticipating?
Very curious,
Jeff

I would say we start out with all good intentions of keeping things sensible but the more you get into it the more likely you are to get carried away with things.
Certain items shouldn't be skimped on like replacing brakes and bearings but there is no reason to go nuts and fit a daft horsepower motor as these cars are quick enough for our crap roads even with a 16 wheezy pinto.......big bhp is all pub talk anyway

Good luck with it and keep it real, less bhp is easier to play with than so much you can't use it....

[ih8hardtops]

Originally Posted by fabbyglass

keep it real, less bhp is easier to play with than so much you can't use it....

You are absolutely correct.... but big horsepower is sooooooooo tempting
Jeff

[Talonmotorsport]

The things that catch you out are the parts that you forget about untill you need them, then you go on ebay and pay the postage on top. The other side of it is you start looking for standard parts such brake calipers, then find for an extra ££ you could save your self some time and have shiney new recons which leads you to looking at willwoods, brembo's, green stuff and grooved disks. Me I'm hoping not to spend much more than £1500.
Spent so far with no doner to get a rolling chassis

gearbox t9 £50
diff shafts hubs £50
steering column £40
rack £23
steering joint £12
ball joints £45
mushrooms £4.50
front hubs free
steel £140
polybushes £110
rear uprights £23.60
16" rims £108
copper brake line and fittings £21
master cylinder £43
total so far £670

Hopefully it will come in near £1500 but might have more spent on it post IVA if I can get away with it.

[Tilly819]

hmm, not sure about my budget .... dont till the missis, but i was always skint

that said i do have a few nice finishing touches

Its all the little bits that add up for instance
(these are aprox by the way)

fuel filler cap £40
dashboard switches £20 each (if you want the nice savange ones)
guages for your dashborad £££££ (unless you use doner ones)
Harnesses £70-£80 If you are lucky
Seats anywere from £50 each to £150 each


yes i now you can do it for less this is just an example but having spent all that time building a car i think its worth spending that extra few quid on that quality aero fuel filler cap etc it just adds those final touches that make the differance. and show attention to detail..

tilly

[SeriesLandy]

Budget, what's that??

What you spend all depends on what you feel you are capable of making and getting materials cheap as possible. For me I didn't feel upto making the wishbones so bought them.

Also when I started there was only 3ge about so payed top dollar for bits, no group buys ect.

The other thing is shinny bits are expensive. A new set of team dynamics with ok tyres is around £500.

So it all depends on what you want from the car.

[Tilly819]

Originally Posted by SeriesLandy

Budget, what's that??

The other thing is shinny bits are expensive. A new set of team dynamics with ok tyres is around £500.

So it all depends on what you want from the car.

Id best not tell you how much i payed for a new set of Team dynamics pro race 1.2 a few weeks ago custom machines internal profiles to my own drawings for my next car. and they were alot bigger than 15 X 7 too
admitadley the came without tyres but worked out less than £100 a corner


damm we dont have a blushing smiley

but i agree entirley its the shiny bits that cost

tilly

[SeriesLandy]

Originally Posted by Tilly819

Id best not tell you how much i payed for a new set of Team dynamics pro race 1.2 a few weeks ago custom machines internal profiles to my own drawings for my next car. and they were alot bigger than 15 X 7 too
admitadley the came without tyres but worked out less than £100 a corner


damm we dont have a blushing smiley

but i agree entirley its the shiny bits that cost

tilly

I didn't pay full price, 2nd hand on eBay. All perfect except a Kerb on 1. With budget tyres for about £260.

[HandyAndy]

When I started my build I set myself what I thought was a realistic build budget of £3k, & I,m pleased to say that my car is almost finished & will be IVA tested, taxed & insured on the road for just over the original build budget ( I think I,ll be approx £100 over ), but I,m sure once its on the road I,ll be updating it on an ongoing basis, my thoughts were to get it finished & enjoy driving it then upgrade it over a period of time as finances allow.

cheers
Andy

[AshG]

did mine for 3k with a 1600 pinto but i made every thing other than the rear uprights. The only reason i didn't make those was because Tony & Keith at 3ge felt like welding them up for me before exeter a few years back lol.