So you want to BUILD a kit car?

Having finished my build in 2017 and had some follow-on issues, below are the issues I think a new builder should consider before taking the plunge.

DISCLAIMER: These are my opinions and experiences which may not be shared by others.

Reality Check

I don't want to be negative but I also don't want to give a rose-tinted view of kit car building either, so:

Kit cars are expensive to build and are unreliable when finished.

Sounds bad, huh? Let me elaborate;

Cost - it cost me about £16k to build my car. For that, I could have bought a brand-new (small) car with a warranty, lots of luxuries and had it delivered in a month. Or I could have bought a 3 year-old MX5 which has a similar feel to my car (2-seater, convertible) although with less performance.

Reliability - in the year I have had my car, I have had several leaks, failed parts (alternator), bodywork dropping off (at 70mph) and it has currently been off the road for the last 2 months because of a weird rattle from somewhere. And I have been lucky - have a read of any kit car forum and you'll see the large number of incidents, breakdowns and repairs other owners have suffered.

So why the Hell do this?

The only real reason is because you want to build a car, from scratch, by yourself. In this age of nanny-state, bubble-wrapped security, building a car is one of the few, back-to-basics, manly projects an individual can undertake. It counts for 10 points on your bucket list, is much safer than climbing Everest and will give you a glow for the rest of your life. Men will envy you (true), women will want your body (false) and kids will stare and point (in a good way).

Do NOT build a kit car if you just want a cheap, fast car. If that is your only goal, buy one from someone else. You build for the satisfaction - that's it.

Money

This is the most important issue, by far.

You can have no idea about mechanics and live in a studio flat in central London and you can still build a kit car. However, the biggest single reason for those part-finished kit cars you will see on eBay is lack of money.

The absolute cheapest all-in cost for building a kit car will be about £12,000. If you want newer and/or better components, allow anything up to £20,000. Do NOT be fooled by those people who say you can do it for £6,000. If you already own all the required tools, have done this before and have numerous friends in the motor trade, maybe but otherwise, be honest and budget reasonably.

Also,  like any new car,  you will NOT make back all the money you spend on your build. I've seen 2 year old kit cars for sale for £7,000 with a spec that would have cost the builder over £15,000. Kit cars are NOT an investment.

I would also STRONGLY advise that you have all that cash ready to go. There are builders who manage to scrape together £3,000 to buy the starter kit and who then say they will save up and buy parts as they need them but that way lies failure. I have read several threads on forums of people who say they will do this, there are a few hectic months of posts and then, ominously, all goes quiet. You cannot easily buy and fit parts in isolation so having to save to buy all the parts needed to, say, build the rear suspension, will mean long periods of no actual building work while your bank balance builds. There are enough time delays in a build already without adding to it and this will eventually drain away all your enthusiasm.

Do your research, set your budget and don't be tempted by expensive components that break your budget eg. flashy wheels or throttle bodies instead of a simple plenum. There will always be time after you're finished to upgrade (unless you are 76 now, in which case, go nuts).

Research

We are very fortunate these days to have the internet - I have no idea how anyone built a kit car pre-internet.

First, read as many build blogs (like this one) as you can, from beginning to end. It doesn't matter if you don't understand half of them - read them over and over. Bookmark the useful ones and refer back regularly. These will give you an idea of what it's like to do a build and will either spur you on or put you off. If the latter, at least you found out before wasting any money, hey?

Register on a few forums (usually free), such as:

http://www.rhocar.org/
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/

These forums are very useful for asking stupid questions (of which there will be many).

Research the various kit car manufacturers (see my first ever post for my summary of the market as it was in 2015) and register on their respective owners forums. Ask questions - people (like me) love replying to new people - makes us feel important and knowledgeable.

Once you've got a vague shortlist, try visit the company you're interested in - do they seem approachable? Email and phone them - do they reply quickly? In a friendly tone? You will need to be calling them very often during your build so you want patient, helpful staff.

At present, there seems to be only one trade show worth visiting; Stoneleigh, near Coventry, which runs in May every year and is a great way of seeing and comparing all the manufacturers in one place - well worth a trip.

Knowledge

This is the one area that everyone first thinks will be the main stumbling block but it absolutely is not.

Obviously, if you have some vague understanding of cars and how they work, that will be helpful but I'm assuming you do have that already otherwise why else would you even be contemplating a build?

You honestly do NOT need previous experience or knowledge to build a kit car. The joy of a kit car is that, compared to any modern car, they are VERY basic; no ABS, air-conditioning, electric windows (hardly any windows), heating, sound systems, immobilisers, sat-navs etc, etc. None of the complex electrical and even mechanical systems (no servo brakes or power steering) - they are really SIMPLE.

The most complex bits are the electrical systems (compared to modern cars, these are also minimal) and you can buy plug-and-play looms and ECUs to make that a doddle.

Facilities

You really need a garage. Single is fine but a double is builder heaven, if you can. I've seen some people who planned to use the spare space next to their shed but I don't think this is a good idea. A garage allows you to work all year, in all weathers and provides protection for your expensive parts, many of which will just be sitting around for possibly months.

If you do live in a studio flat, factor in the cost of renting a garage. I would also advise against using any garage more than, say, 5 miles from your house - on a cold, dreary night in February, you're not going to be bothered to drag yourself out there and you need to keep the enthusiasm going.

You also really need power and decent lighting in your garage - you'll see from my blog that I added 2 fluorescent strips in mine and they are essential.

Tools

Obviously, you will need these - and lots of them. If you're starting from scratch, you're probably looking at several hundreds of pounds of kit, maybe thousands (I've never costed mine up).

I had some basic stuff to start with and bought items as I needed them, which I think is better than just going out and buying up Halfords (unless money isn't a problem).

I would suggest not buying large items you're only likely to use once; an engine crane is an obvious example. They are huge, taking up much-needed space in any garage and you'll probably only need it for a week or 2. Register with a forum (Rhocar is good) and borrow one from another builder - they're more than happy to free up some space in their garage for a few weeks.

You'll hear everyone say, 'buy quality rather than cheap tat' - well, I don't agree. I've got a socket set which was cheap when I bought it 15 years ago and it is still going strong. My rivnut gun cost me £13 and has been brilliant and my Homebase-special jigsaw cost about £20 and does the job. I've had a couple of things that have been utter rubbish (100-piece tap and die set for £10) but, by definition, it was cheap and not a huge waste of money. If you can afford it, sure, buy the best but for most of us mortals, a £300 drill is overkill (mine cost me £65).

Time

As a beginner,  you'll need between 200 - 300 hours of actual garage time to finish your build,  maybe even more. Depending on your attitude,  it doesn't really matter how long it takes BUT I think it is a good idea to work regularly - at least once a week (ignoring holidays). This is just to keep your enthusiasm going - again,  I've seen people who have weeks or months between blog updates and you can feel that the build has become a chore for them,  which is,  to me,  the worst thing that can happen. This is supposed to be fun....

Following on from this,  I would not recommend starting a build if you have:

a.  Young kids
b.  A job requiring lots of travel and/or time away from home.
c.  Any other time-consuming hobby eg.  golf.


Summary

1. Work out your budget and try get all the cash in one go before starting.
2. Lots of research (which is fun anyway).
3. Get a garage.
4. Make sure you have a reasonable amount of free time.

Good luck!

1 comment:

  1. Excellent advice ! As for money I had a budget of 12K, but went over by 2K, I did however have a reserve fund (Holiday ???) That extra was for better seats, throttle bodies, and a handful of extra bling. But I didn't factor in the cost of IVA, registration, number plates, insurance and road tax. IVA was done via GBS and they checked over the car before it went for the test. They made a few minor fixes so I would pass 1st time, this totalled 4 hours of extra work at their workshop rate, however if I had taken the Zero to the test station myself and failed, then the extra time and retest fee would have been about the same. 3.5 yrs on, a few little fixes and "tweeks" plus an MOT still loving every minute of the Zero. All the best with finishing your build.

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