Where did that go !!??

[Bonzo]

Well, that’s another year of my build come & gone…………Where the heck did that year go !!??

For me, it all started out just after the book was published.
I came upon the book by chance while shopping in Halfrauds.

Hooked from the moment I saw the cover, even before I had the chance for a read.

Had the Ron Champion book sitting on the bookshelf for years……..Never made a start as the Mk2 Escort donor route was a bit of a no goer due to lack of availability. Besides I didn’t have the desire or the confidence to make the changes of design required in order to use different donor parts.

Spring 2007 saw the arrival of my donor, a 1991 1.8 CVH estate. This was given to me free by one of my customers ( Good low mileage car but rusted out )

With the help of my two son’s, the donor was stripped & boxed up in next to no time, shell went for scrap.

I had the majority of the steel for my chassis delivered in may 2007.
Build table was made & the chassis was fabricated in double quick time “ Great, well on target to complete the car by late summer / early autumn “ !!??

Ongoing health problems came to a head once more & after yet another hospital stay ……………That was it for the rest of the year & most of the following year .

Deeply depressed not being able to follow my dream, I almost came to the point that I was about to give up the build & sell the mountain of parts that I had been busy collecting during my lay up.

Just before Christmas last year, I had a huge reality check ?? . Why the hell was I putting pressure on myself with unrealistic targets.
Not a race is it …..It’ll get done when it’s done.

A valuable lesson to be learned here, “ Don’t be tempted to set an unrealistic build target “ Just go with the flow & take as much time as it needs.

Finally resumed my build in January 2009 ……… Quite upset at the surface rust on my chassis & was very tempted to re-start from scratch …..Only light surface rust & eventually decided to use the chassis & clean it up.

The real turning point for me during 2009 came from my visit to Stoneleigh show.
I met a great bunch of fellow forum members ……It gave me the kick up the backside that was much needed

During this summer I managed to get the chassis cleaned up & painted, Got it on all 4 wheels complete with test fitted engine, box, diff … in fact, the full running gear.

Towards the end of the summer I overdone things once more & that has put a hold on things again for the time being.

Having said that, with the help of my youngest lad & Grandson, I recently managed to get the flooor in & the alloy rear panel fitted……………Oh and have almost completed the fuel tank ( Ran out of Argon just as I was ready to fit the last end plate )

That brings me into year Three of my build ………..Now just about back to full fitness again ( Well for me anyway )

Very much looking forward to the new year ahead & some good progress on my build.
More or less, have everything I need to complete the build, Just need to get out into the workshop for some quality build time.

If you have read this far, you have done well

A very big thanks to all of the folks I met at Stoneleigh for giving me the motivation that was much needed.

Looking forward to meeting a lot more of you over this coming year.

Finally, thank you to each and every forum member for all of the help and support that I have received during the last few years.

Happy new year one & all

[Davey]

Nice one Ronnie, glad to see you came to your senses about the roadster . Targets? Well I'd like to have my car on the road for summer this year but I seriously doubt if that's achievable, more because of limited money than time but you never know. Also I'm aiming for a kerb weight of 650KGs but with 200KGS of engine and gearbox and a chassis that's now up to 116KGs and not finished that's looking doubtful, maybe 750KGs would be more realistic?

Last year my dearly beloved payed out for us to go to Goodwood Festival of Speed, WOW! what a weekend, went down in the camper and stayed for the full three days £500 very well spent . Would have liked to do the Stoneleigh show but my business is motorhome accessories and it clashed with one of the shows we exhibit at.

I have spent most of the last 18 months converting our camper from a disabled minibus and one day I might even finish it! Hopefully here's a picture of it on my lift at work.

[twinturbo]

I had the Ron Champion book.

Then saw the roadster book.


Bought the roadster book for £14 new

Sold the locost book for £17 S/H.

Result

TT

[Ryan]

Nice post Bonzo.

I agree, building a roadster is not a race. I like the fact that you can build in your own time as and when you can. Aslong as it gets done in the end is all that counts!

All the best for your build in 2010.

Ryan.

[HandyAndy]

hhmmmm where do i start....

my wife bought me the book for my birthday in november 08, did a 3 month welding course starting in january at night school, during that time registered on this forum & found that a Roadster had just passed sva & was less than 11 miles from me, during my welding course met up with Spud69 & his Roadster....wow that confirmed it.. i,m gonna build one of these

completed the course by march, bought the steel & made the first cut on april 2nd, having to build my car at mothers garage 7 miles away & had the chassis on wheels with suspension and steering fitted within 11 weeks,

During my chassis build went to the Stoneleigh show & met some great forum members, had a great time & spent more than planned
That show highlighted even more that i wanted to get my car done, as from the start when i got the book everyone i came into contact with made me so welcome to the "Roadster world".

Over the summer had a few moments of not building due to finances but thanks to a few folk kept the motivation, then the highlight of the year for me was being invited to a track day with Spud, wow what an experience that was, i still think of it with a huge childish grin, lol

Then a major turning point was being asked to join Spud in his Saturn Sports Cars venture, to be asked by someone to join their venture by someone that i held in such high respect as he had a "finished" Roadster was a very humbling event, since then i haven,t done much work on my own car but am determined to try & keep my promise of having my car at stoneleigh 2010 .

I,d like to say a huge thanks to the many forum members who have helped me along the way so far in my build & to Spud for the countless trips out in his car & to work alongside him at Saturn.

Who,d have thought 15 months ago i would go from receiving the book as a prezzie to where i am now.... working & building Roadster,s as my main occupation

Again, thanks to the members of this forum & a few special friends amongst you that are the inspiration of my build.

I,d like to thank Chris Gibbs for changing my life for the better, thanks Chris

Happy New Year to you all & wish you a Roadster productive 2010.

cheers
andy

[flyerncle]

Got to go with Ronnie on this,it's not a race but nice to proceed with rapidity and get the article finished and be driving it.
I was given the book a year ago for xmass and am at the stage now where I have most of the chassis done apart from front suspension brackets fitted and little odds and sods to get it rolling.

Life is never simple or easy unless you have been favoured by those who went before you and fed you with a silver spoon and lavished untold fortunes upon you,so you do what you have to do to achieve the goals you set yourself and get it done whenever.
Given the wealth of knowledge amongst the members of this forum nothing is unachievable and the end product will be of your own doing and to the spec you want and the pride in a finished car will be second to none.
And to end this sermon "Go for it".
Happy New Year one and all .

[AshG]

little picture for you Ronnie

[Tatey]

I bought the book around May/June last year with no knowledge of cars. I just wanted to see what it took to build one. After reading the book cover to cover, i thought 'this can't be too hard' so i decided to go for it. I did a few months of research finding out how much it will cost, problems people had and how long it would take me to build. I set a target of finishing it for my 21st birthday.

HandyAndy invited me down to have a look at his rolling chassis and that gave me a lot of inspiration to get my build started. I bought the steel not long after that, but it wasn't until Sept that I managed to get my build under way as i needed to get my hands on a MIG.

So far I've nearly finished the chassis, i just need to finish the rear section, put the suspension brackets on and fully weld it all. I've got the majority of my donor parts for the grand total of £125 (all thanks go to HandyAndy again for that one).

In the past 6 months I have gained a staggering amount of information on welding and manufacturing techniques that I never would have learned during my uni course, and of course I've met a few of the forum members, who would give you anything if you asked, which in this day and age is a really rare thing to find.

Happy New Year everyone!

[gingea1pom]

Originally Posted by AshG

little picture for you Ronnie

Ash,

Give us some names from left to right, I only recognise two people!

[flyerncle]

Would you buy a car from them....?