build cost

[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.

[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 (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