What was the "lightbulb" moment that made you build a roadster.

[twinturbo]

As per title what was it!!


I had always loved the 7 from looking at which kit when I was 16 and seeing Hoods for what seemd like easy money.. that was ~1990.. Scroll forward to ~2004 and I had the Ron Champion book, and then bought a second hand locost chassis. Life problems, time, etc... saw that sold off ~2005... ( the guy who bought it emailed be lst year to say it was finsihed!!! )

I bought the roadster book when it was new and thought that would be good one day..

Then, the BBC started showing Waybaloooo on the bedtime hour for kids, it was BAD!! so we flicked and discovered "Quest" and "a Chopper is born" after wathcing that we then saw Mark Evans's " A racing car is born" where he builds a Westie... Me and my 6yr old watched it and I dug out the book..

3 Months later I had bought my S/H chassis..

TT

[trick-kit]

Turning 48 and deciding I needed a mid life crisis and being handy with metal.

Adrian

Why do they call it a mid life crisis? There's nothing wrong with wanting to make stuff, for me, it's just got bigger over the years, Tamiya, motorbikes, cars, when I hit 48 :p it'll probably be an aeroplane.

TK

[robo]

Having piles of bits left over from building to many cars for years and wondering what best to do with them.

Bob

[vmax1974]

i have kinda always been interested first at 16 i went to the motorshow and saw (i think it was) a caterham and loved the look so had a close look and spent the next few years wishing a had the funds as a student then bought the ron champion book and bought the steel cut the chassis and found the donor but my brother being a classis car nut said "your not pulling that apart" and quickly bought the lot off me (at a profit may i add :) ) so having trouble finding another donor a few years later i gave up.

then came accross the Chris Gibbs book and bought it when it first came out but had nowhere to build the car so gave up for a few years then i moved house had a garage and all my tools ammassed during my racing days so started thinking about the book again but could not find it so off to the shop i went to buy a new one then the old one turned up in as is usually the way the most unlikely place (bread bin) then having a search of ebay led me first to the locost builders forum and then on to here so just collecting parts and trying to raise (between bills and more bills) enough cash to get the car started and built

long winded but there you have it

[brainbug007]

For me I always wanted to learn to work on cars and started looking at ultima's... I quickly realised it would cost way too much and was digging around when I came across the book and the rest is history so to speak :)

[twinturbo]

Ultima to a roadster, a nice logical leap there :rolleyes:

TT

[brainbug007]

Well forgive the pun but the roadster was the ultimate diy kitcar in my opinion ;) Not having been in an ultima I can't say for sure but I wouldn't have thought they'd be that different in terms of performance as aren't they alot heavier which is why you have to put such a big engine in them?

[Johno]

Well I had a choice...
Summer house or car....errrrrrr....:rolleyes: told missus I got a book to build a sports car on a budget (your fault Tony) wife said go for it...Lol
The problem I have now is I didn't tell her how "BIG" the budget needs to be......:p
Now when I ask her to order a part all I keep getting is "HOW MUCH":eek:

What should I do and is this common? (not told her about shocks/seats/bodywork....etc)
I did think about trading her in but milage is too high and body work was too rough... If she reads this I'm in dep s**t.
So guys how did you overcome this major problem, can't find it in the Haynes book anywhere.....:D

Thanks Johno

[baz-r]

no light bulb for me realy. mine started meny years ago when i must have been somewhere between 15-17 years old i thort it was a great idea to build a kit car from a old rusty relic.
all i had to do is wait 15 years until i had a house with a garage to be able to build my own one but buy that time a kit would not have scratched my itch. i seen haynes had redone the old locost book and about 3 months before i was moving to our new home i treated myself to a copy and also at that point all the main parts where availble from 3ge that where only 10 miles away so i thort it would be a great option to suit me

[Cyberbeej]

Id have to say mine was when i was about 14 when i my dad didnt allow me to use power tools.
I build GoKarts from prams etc.
Came across the problem of drilling a hole throught the 2 bits of wood to fit the steering bolt. Problem solved by using a drill bit in a pair of Vicegrips and a hammer, It consisted of tap turn tap turn. Eventually got through.
Since then i've never looked back, currently building my 3rd kitcar and i've certainly got the can do attitude. Nothing that can't be achieved with a little research.

[HandyAndy]

My "lightbulb" moment was being given the green light from er indoors :o :D

In reality, when I retired from bike racing I missed the adrenalin rush of the racing & so set about finding someway of getting something to give me a bit of a buzz, had always liked the 7 style of cars but always thought they would be out of reach cost wise,

Then 1 day whilst me & mrs were in Halfords buying a kids bike , I left the mrs to decide on the bike & had a wander around the shop & found the book stand, & a book caught my eye ( yes the bible ) , stood there reading thru it the whole time we were in the shop, the mrs found me after buying the bike , I showed her the book & said "I,m gonna do this 1 day", yeah yeah was her reply, off we go & left the shop.

Two weeks later was my birthday, & the mrs had bought me the book & said " Go on then get it done " :cool:

So, I got the wifes "green light" .

cheers
andy

[Twin]

I joined HMS Sultan & was bored! so I went to "The Range" (big shop) for a walk. Thats where I came across the bible (as Handy puts it).

Now i'm letting the fact that it's a "SELF BUILD" and not a kitcar get to me! anyone else notice themselves saying "it's not a kitcar"?

[Oscar]

I've allways loved the shape of the old 7's, seeing them round the lanes in the summer and at the local car show, even the caretaker at my secondary school had one!

Never considered building a car of my own until christmas '09 when my Dad gave me the holiest of all books. Spent all christmas day reading it and declared boldly (after a few drinks) that I would build it! It will be easy, the book says so!!!

Disbelieving laughs ensued.

Half a year later a mate down the pub said he knew of a decent donor, and it's gone on from there.

[Davey]

Well I've been around cars and engines since the ripe old age of three according to my father (the best engineer I've ever known) and always been mad about all things car like. Started my own business in 2005 and there's a small breakers yard 200 yds away. Anyway one day I spotted a sevenesque car in there and after pestering the owner for a fortnight he eventually sold it to me for £150. Got it back to my workshop to discover what a piece of poo it really was, a LOCUST!!:mad: :(

Then my son bought me the bible so I resolved to rebuild the Locust (spit) and turn it into a better car using the Haynes book for guidance.

D.

[rdodger]

A ride in my Uncles Moss Monaco when I was around 10.

30 years on having owned a GTM Libra for 4 years and rebuilding it every one of those years it sold a year or so ago. Now it's time to build it my way from the start!

Maybe not the "right way" but my way :eek:

[shh120m]

I started my build because id always been into thrills and adrenaline.

At first i started with rollerblades. The sence of speed and the rush of wind in my hair was exhilerating. As time wore on i got used to the sence of speed and i just wasnt getting the "hit" anymore. Then my dad bought me a bmx which was awesome, but i soon got bored with that too. Then came the skateboard. Thats when i thought id found the holy grale of the adrenaline world, but the grazes and gravel rash were too much. Thats when i found the roadster book......:D

[flyerncle]

Christmass present a couple of years ago,the rest is history.

Interested in all things mechanical from being 6 years old and mech for the last 39 years.

[alga]

When I was a student, in the late nineties, I read an article in FT about this "Caterham" car, based on the venerable Lotus 7, which you can buy ready made, or as a crate of bits you have to put together yourself. The idea appealed to me very much, but was way out of reach.

Then in about 2008 I found the Locost book/car/movement on the Internet. I immediately knew I'd build one. But Ron Champion's books were all sold out on Amazon, and this new book based on a Sierra donor came about. I bought it during the 2008 Christmas hols, and got to it.