mmmmdonuts Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 a friend of mine is planning on building a Locost. he has only just started thinking about it, and so far his budget consists of: Locost starter pack (£1200ish): One 'Indy' chassis with suspension brackets fitted. Front upper and lower wishbones. Rear upper and lower wishbones. Rear wheel hub uprights with adjustable camber and toe. One full set of suspension polybushes. Fibreglass nosecone. Fibreglass scuttle. Fibreglass front 'cycle' wings Fibreglass rear wings. Front hubs modified for joint fitment (on exchange basis). Steering rack modified (on exchange basis). One 'Rivnut' tool (for those forgotten extras). donor car (XR4 - I told him about the recent discussion on here about the xr4 engine - few hundred) wheels (few hundred) seats (£200) other (£1200) This comes to £3000. Sounds rather cheap. Seeing as I didn't build mine, I wasn't too much help trying to think of the other. All I could come up with were: Exhaust dash and instruments? tuning/refurbish engine Rental of hoist & other equipment Lights What else? Where is the money going to go? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 Where is the money going to go? Loom, reconditioning parts off the XR, lots of ancillaries like electrical connectors, cabling, fuel pump, fuel lines, brake lines, etc etc. There is always a temptation to fit new bits like brake discs/calipers, wheel bearings, driveshafts, oil seals............. and generally anything that doesn't look nice and shiny. Then there are the one off parts like exhaust manifolds and systems, prop shaft, choosing and matching the gearbox and clutch, instruments (which you've covered, but it still costs) I'll bet it'll cost nearer 6-7K when it's all done, unless he's an engineer, very good with a socket set, and can weld................ For that money, I'd buy a second hand Westfield. In fact, for a little over 7K, he could buy Gary O's Atmo Cossie wide body. For me, it'd be a no brainer. Get a bank loan, and make that purchase. It WILL be cheaper, and far more satisfying in the end. Final thought................with kit cars, you get what you pay for.................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterrosey Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 The other thing to consider - which made me buy a Westie - is resale value. Locosts fetch sod all secondhand - ditto all the other 'lesser' Lotus 7 replicas - whereas you're not going to lose all your cash if you invest in a Westie. Spend £6K building a Locost and you'll be lucky to get £3K back, spend £6K on a Westie and you'll get a good proportion back. Not that you'll want to sell it though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeR Posted October 6, 2002 Share Posted October 6, 2002 Hmmm, interesting comments. The cost of a locost is directly proportional to how much work you want to do yourself, how quickly you want it & the quality of the parts you want to use. I've been building my car for over a year now and I've hunted through the web for parts and picked things up cheeply - eg pair of front avo's for 40 quid. I've already spent around 1500 quid and have nearly everything to complete the car. I could bring it in for around 2000 pounds but am expecting to spend around 3000 to 3500 by the time i'm done (nice respray etc). The resale cost of locosts is very poor - although i think slightly improving. As a rough guide a good 1600 crossflowed car seems to fetch around 2 to 2.5k (i.e. i expect to loose about 50% but don't expect to sell) The whole locost market is changing at the moment. We have a real split between the build it from the book brigade (i'm one) and the buy it from Martin Keenan / Stuart Taylor gang. I don't know actual prices but i'd guess you could build a new Stuart Taylor car for around 4 to 5k. Now i agree you could get a second hand already built westfield for a little more and resell it for around the purchase price BUT you don't get to build your own car. I think really it comes down to do you want to drive someone elses car or drive your own car? One thing i would say to your mate is he's got to remember he's buying locost not Westfield - Westfield provide a great car, with quality components which is backed up by a factory that wants to maintain its position as the best. Locost is cheep and built down to a price, eg lights are £110 for a full set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmmmdonuts Posted October 14, 2002 Author Share Posted October 14, 2002 thanks for the responses. Anyone else want to add to this? He does really want to build his own, and can't afford to build a Westie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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