Who has the cheapest Roadster??

[ih8hardtops]

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

[fabbyglass]

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:D

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

[ih8hardtops]

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:D
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]

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]

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.

[David_17]

Mines on target for £4040 + IVA. That's all finished with a zetec on throttle bodies and megasquirt.

[ih8hardtops]

Sound like maybe I shouldn't plan on having a budget. It'll cost what it costs. I plan on doing everything myself with the exception of machining(no lathe). Compliments of my sons leftover XR4Ti bits and my big pile of crap (as wife calls it) stored in the garage ,I have the turbo engine (hope its good, was a spare), t9 trans, irs rear or a 10 bolt GM, all wiring and computer, aluminum Merkur "spatula" :o wheels, steering column with aftermarket wheel, steering rack (already converted to manual) etc, 8 feet of 3" 304 stainless for exhaust and a couple of "pretty" stainless mufflers, one 5 point harness and welded aluminum seat, all brakes are practically new (including braided lines) and bearings were done recently. I have some aluminum and steel in the garage, but not much tubing. I should also have a roll of new brake and fuel line out there. Have a new Autometer mechanical speedo and new sunpro gauges somewhere. Sunpro tach is still on the column in my old work truck. Even have flat black and "Ford Blue" paint, leftover hardener, thinner etc. Have MG Midget seats but were told they wouldn't fit. Also have lots of other bits around.
Maybe my wife is right...... I do have a lot of "crap" out there:eek:....good, it should keep costs down.
Jeff

[alga]

Not really... In my project the raw materials account for about 1/15 of the cost, and the donor parts for about the same. The bulk of the cost comes from the kit car specific items, such as suspension polybushes, shocks, seats, harnesses, steering rack, bodykit, propshaft, lighting, and lots of small things such as brake hoses, brake lines, new brake pads, bolts, rivets, balljoints, paint, etc. Unless you can find these items for next to nothing, you'll be looking at the cost of 5000 USD/3000 GBP give or take, however frugal you are.

I'm torn by doubts on whether new brake pads and disks, new clutch, etc. are a worthwile investment.

[fabbyglass]

Beats me it really does......harp on about 100's of hp but skimp on fitting new brakes.:rolleyes:

[HandyAndy]

I'm torn by doubts on whether new brake pads and disks, new clutch, etc. are a worthwile investment.

I fitted new disks, pads, shoes & wheel cylinders........I,m building on a very tight budget but thought that the brakes were the one area I wasn,t going to be tight on, the whole lot only cost £76, well worth the peace of mind IMO.....plus the new disks look nice :D

also fitted a new 3 piece clutch kit, bought off fleabay for £39, my thoughts there were
might as well fit a new clutch whilst the engine / gearbox were sat on the garage floor as it,ll save me the hassle to take it all apart again once its all fitted into the Roadster.

cheers
andy

[Bonzo]

I'm torn by doubts on whether new brake pads and disks, new clutch, etc. are a worthwile investment.



I kinda share the same thoughts as you Albert :)

The first donor I stripped had new shoes, drums, disks & pads fitted about 3 months before the car came off the road ( I personally fitted them to the car for a customer ) ;)

I too kind of feel that I have wasted a fair bit of cash by buying new stuff :o

Guess if the braking system is within the manufactures specifications, why chage it !!??

Do know that Dogwood was unfortunate enough to have a warped disk which resuted in a SVA fail .... At the end of the day, If in doubt, swap it out :)

[Enoch]

I'm with other posters on this. I spent way under 2 grand on my build (not counting IVA costs) but would never dream of skimping on brakes. I used the original calipers, a refurbed master cylinder, all new pipes, new discs and new pads. I am going to put new rear calipers on as on one side the handbrake does not release as well as it should. I would prefer to have 50 bhp less than brakes that I am less than 100 per cent confident with.
I got my clutch off ebay for less than £30, well worth doing as it took 20 minutes with the engine and box out of the car.
You only get one life, spend it driving rather than recovering in hospital or spending half a day out with the undertaker.
Best and all that,
Enoch

[AshG]

included in my 3k i managed to get a set of willwoods for the front and new cylinders and shoes for the rear.

but as said i fabricated everything, although i did splash out on laser cut plates and a pre cut chassis pack.