build cost

[martinl]

i know this can be a bit personal to some people but i'm just curious about everyones build costs. i know its going to vary quite alot as everyones making it there own using different donors and various modifications but keeping it standard ish

[michael92]

If you check out the build diaries youll see mine, as it stands ive got it on wheels and tyres with engine seats gearbox and running gear all in and im just touching a 900 pounds :) so if you keep your eyes peeled you can get some good bargains :P

[twinturbo]

£4100 spent, project anothe 650 inc IVA to finish..

TT

[brainbug007]

I'm probly up to around 4k as well but i spent a bit more on my donor than most as i needed something I could drive home. I've still got most of the interior finishing off to go + iva. I'm not even gonna mention what i've spent on tools as I had nothing...

[ayjay]

Round about £2400 --The big bits left are coilovers and IVA--probably about £650.
Built my own chassis but thought better of making sus bits -Talon did a far better job. Voucht stainless brake hose ,Kevs ally tank ,one of Ash's group buy roll bar from the year dot ,modified and widened locost body bits and an aerospace fitter living down the road{Arf) :D :D

[alga]

If you're good at hunting for bargains in eBay, have most of the tools, have useful friends who can help, you can hope for around 3000 quid (including IVA).
If you're buying everything at list prices it works out at around £4000+IVA, and if you go for shiny high-spec items you could hit 5000.

The costliest items are bodywork (£500-ish for a 6-piece set, 900-ish for a full 10-piece), dampers (£300-400), IVA (£450), nice wheels (naught to £1000).

[SeriesLandy]

I would agree with alga, shiny (or nice black) bits cost money.
I'm on target for about £4.5-5K but that is all new apart from the donor, also with things I'm only gonna buy once like alloys.

[twinturbo]

It's all the nuts,bolts,trim,fasteners and things that add up secretly.

My wheels were almost free, as was most of the donor parts.

Must do some work on her this weekend.

TT

[martinl]

thaks guys its just given me a rough idea thats all. i'm hoping with my old man working for a agricultural machinery fabrication company and the little bro working for freightliner in the workshop i can get the steel and nuts and bolts and fastners for either free or next to nothing. Ive had a quote for 36 metres of 25mm x 25mm box at £120 - brand new steel, delivered. the old man reckons he could get it cheaper than that so see what happens eh

cheers

martin

[alga]

Raw materials don't account for much. My steel was under £100 all in, ally £150. Think about things like lighting, harnesses, bushings, seats, exhaust can, driveshaft, instruments, air filter, clutch, balljoints, tyres, battery, fuel tank, fluids.

[ozzy1]

Pretty sure its 42m of 25x25 you will need.

[baz-r]

im not counting it might upset the wife (and me)

build costs boil down to skills and bargin hunting i think

[shh120m]

what i found on both my builds ( not on the one i did for dad though hes a real tight arse bast@rd) is that it doesnt get expensive until the end. It depends on the quality of finish you want, a nice set of dials can cost 500 quid and then theres things like fuel caps, lights, switches, nice seats etc. IVA and registration/tax/insurance is about a grand. It also depends on what time of timescale you set yourself. Its always going to cost you more if you build your car within say a year than if you build it over say, three years as you can pick your bargains at the right time. K4Kevs build is a prime example, hes been hording parts for years:eek: (sorry kev!)


Best way of doing in my opinion it is to get it on the road as a basic car with basic fittings, and then upgrade it as you own it, at least that way you can have some fun driving it

[martinl]

thats the way i was thinking about doing it nathan. going to start with a basic, using as much as possible from a sierra donor, then going to upgrade the engine to a more modern zetec running bike carbs, fitting fancy angel eye headlights, comfy racing seats, fancy dials, alloys, all the bits the add my own personal touch really. i just wish i bought everything in march when i had £2000 in the bank. instead i chose to waste it all partying for a few weeks and now i'm gutted that i didn't. anyhoo i'm still young and learning.

so sorry to here your packing up too. wish i had a bit off cash now. i'd have probably bought a van full of kit off you.

good luck to whatever the future brings you and hopefully one day i'll be able to go for a run out with you and a few of the other guys

martin

[Deanno]

My build so far has been made up of mostly parts bought from this site.

Box section I worked out I could get all the 25mm box sections out of 5 lengths with minimal waste and 2 lengths of 20mm box which cost me £85.08 inc delivery. one thing to try is asking a local engineeing firm when they order metal get them to get yours delivered at the same time and go half's on the delivery, it's just a thought.

The engine, loom etc is out of my old Ford Escort Mk5.

Brand new wheel s never had tyres fitted £80 from a mate.

Seats that were out of my mates old rally car inc runners £20.

The gearbox, steering rack was from ebay.

lower ball joints, hubs, wishbones etc were from here.

Body pannels and bushes are all seconds from Saturn and NTS.

Internal pannels are made from 2mm steel from our works "skip bound" rack (I know its 2mm steel but it was free).

so its up to you, I know a bloke who build a locost type car and got all his metal for the chassis for £10 by asking local engineering firms for off cuts, most of them just said "take it", on the other hand I have heard of people spending thousands buy buying all new / re-conditioned parts.

At the end of the day the way I see it is, its only as expensive as you make it but thats me.

Dean

[robo]

Dont know or care but the crack of building one is

£ priceless

Bob

[HandyAndy]

My expenditure so far ( finished car )

£2469 for the car
£450 IVA test fee
£109 insurance

yet to spend

£55 registration
£118 for 6 months road tax

total = £3201 on the road cost ( the on the road costs account for almost 25% of the total costs )

Its the little odds n sods that seem to rack up the costs...eg £30 for a center view mirror:eek: ....when you compare that to £115ish for the steel to build the chassis it makes the intial outlay for the steel seem like a bargain , it hurt my wallet when buying the little so called "incidental little things" , but then again I,m a tight git :D

Bargains can be had if you have time/inclination to search & wait for them to come along , my exhaust silencer was £7.50, my RS turbo exhaust manifold was 99p ..... albeit not the latest all singing all dancing blingy bits , but bargains that still do the job :)

cheers
andy

[shh120m]

just got my stick on e marked rear view centre mirror from halfords bargain bin today for 99p. Il fix it to the front rollbar then it will probably "fall" off after iva;)

[robo]

just got my stick on e marked rear view centre mirror from halfords bargain bin today for 99p. Il fix it to the front rollbar then it will probably "fall" off after iva;)

With stuff like that at 99p and given a lifetime to build a car it would probably come in at the £250 authors budget for a complete car. Probably help to be a womble:D

Bob

[CTWV50]

In my mind if you raise the money for the build by selling stuff you already own, then it doesn't count. Using this mind set my car has probably cost me £500 to date. I'm naming my car "The Womble" as most of it is made out of donor, previously thought of junk or all sorts I've had lying around for years, or cheap stuff.

I'm also not adding anything up, in fact I throw away or hide receipts. Ignorance is bliss!:D

[alga]

Heh, I consider the money I've put into the car the money I've saved up! It would have gone anyway, but now it has been invested into making an object of tangible value!

[tazzy5918]

Good point Alga....
the satisfaction we have now is priceless