SKCC - Southern Kit Car Club. A Club for kit car owners across Southern England. Kent, Sussex, East Hants, Surrey, Berks, Middlesex, London

Morning chaps.

Please can I nip the ‘time’ argument in the bum. I cycle - mountain bike and road bike. I often disappear at 7-8am and reappear, usually caked in mud, about 14:00. If was to turn up at 11am, and clean too, my wife would be deleighted/shocked.

Mike.

Rexholme wrote:Morning chaps.

Please can I nip the ‘time’ argument in the bum. I cycle - mountain bike and road bike. I often disappear at 7-8am and reappear, usually caked in mud, about 14:00. If was to turn up at 11am, and clean too, my wife would be deleighted/shocked.

Mike.

Excellent - you're on a win - win then

Ah yes but are you going to be happy NOT cycling, or doing it less often?

Personally, I'd rather chew my own toe-nails rather than cycle but I have cycling friends who have, in my opinion, an unhealthy addiction to it

(Actually, if I cycled, I might fit in my car better)

Ha! I’m selling a bike or two, want one?

I’m still going to cycle and just as frequently as I currently do. You’re jumping to quite a few conclusions

I’m not expecting to join every runout. I would like to think I could make 6-8 a year... maybe. But I can still do shorter regular solo blats or go for drive with other family-friends, both of which I do now.

A sports/kit car makes those experiences more exciting than the current car. I may even take my son out in the next couple of years on a ‘blat-lite’ - who knows?! I can’t do that on my bikes!

I will not be doing weeks away on Euro Blats or Welsh tours for quite some years. However, it’s very plausible to do a long weekend (Friday- Monday) away once a year. Duration and frequency wise, that’s not dissimilar to a stag weekend, and those are coming along less often these days.

You seem more concerned than my wife. Just saying!

welcome. Interesting thread.

Welcome..

seems like you've got it all figured out! be careful you don't get bitten by the bug

Figured out?! I doubt it! Hopefully it will be fun finding out. Thanks Phil

[/quote]

Well - kinda-sortof, BUT, in 9 years, mine has broken three times, once the clutch cable came away from the clutch fork (my own fault, I'd not fitted it properly) - I drove it home clutchless, once the throttle return spring broke - I re-bent it & carried on & the other time the rear upper wishbone broke & it came home on a truck. The cars are as simple as you want them to be, a X-flow / Pinto car is basically Victorian era engineering & will go on forever with an hour's tinkering every now & then. Something with a turbo-nutter-barstead bike engine is quite likely to break things in the drive train reasonably often. There's always ready advice & support on here & folk will usually offer help in return for bacon rolls. Yes, your wife will need to be understanding, but it'll occupy a lot less time than if you were an ardent football fan, or played golf regularly - probably cost less too.

I keep a record of the Furys I see for sale (in case the worst happens & I need to argue with the insurance Co.) & four years ago (ish) cars like mine were going for £6k, they're now going for closer to £8k.

Just my two-pennarth.[/quote]

100% agree, if youre not a footie mad man or a golfer you should fit it in nicely. Also agree at starting with something around £3-6k and see how it works out for you. Loads of other very valid points have already been made.

Welcome aboard!

Welcome, I joined about a year ago with a very similar spec to you. Time poor due work unfortunately, not sure if this was all it was cracked up to be, didn't want to commit too much. wanted the opportunity for a quick blat and the odd track day.
I picked up a pre-built Tiger Supercat, 2.0 Zetec, weber throttle bodies last year for £4.5K. needed a new clutch and some tidying up but was essentially all there, so a good road car for £5k in my opinion. Massive grin factor every time you press the loud pedal!
From my research there are a lot of variables to consider which also affect cost.
Top end is Caterham style, you can see some nicely engineered vehicles but that's why they are more expensive, design/building their own suspension arms makes for a lighter/faster car but will add cost. A retired Caterham mechanic at a recent car meet also mentioned they can be more fragile on the road when you hit pot holes etc. You pretty much pick up a box of Meccano and bolt it all together (i know, not quite that simple!). Other end is like mine where many parts are sourced from donor vehicles. I have a Sierra rear suspension which then adds more weight, but keeps the cost down. You will also be cutting/adjusting more panels etc. to fit. Someone else also mentioned, be really careful about build quality. there are lots of good builders out there but as i was looking at the lower budget end, i saw some shocking examples . Not sure I wanted to commit myself into a corner not knowing if it would hold together! I found out mine was initially build by Chester Sports Cars which seem to have a good rep, but there were still some post build bodges! Again as mentioned, these do need TLC, some more than others. How handy are you with a spanner? That may also make a difference on cost vs enjoyment. You can tinker/upgrade to your hearts content if you are that way inclined, a kit car is never finished!

last piece of advice - get a good toothbrush - you'll need it to get all the flies off your teeth!

enjoy!