Lightweight

[Guest Mike400]

Hi there, im new to the site

 

Im not sure if this is the correct place to post this, but im sure you will move it if its not!!

 

Anyway im currently thinking about getting a 'hood.

 

Whats the difference between a lightweight and a 2b? is it worth the extra cost to get the 2b? The robin hood site doesnt make it too clear as they dont have any pictures of the lightweight to compare with a 2b.

 

Im only after something basic, so obviously the lightweight seems appealing with its low price tag, but im worried that paying less might mean an inferior or harder to build kit :s

 

I would appreciate any advice on the subject

 

Oh and dont expect any build pics too soon, ive still to start building my garage!!! dont fancy building a car on the driveway!!

 

Mike

[Guest warwick7735]

Hi

 

Welcome to the site, as a LW owner I prefer it to the 2B as it's closer in dimension to the original 7, it's approx 150kgs lighter so you have better power to weight, the LW is easier to build mine took 4 months from start to finish.

 

Theres a few other LW builders on here, but 2B owners will have there own things to say.

 

send me your email address for pics of my build.

 

Warwick

[Guest ReadingTrev]

Hi there,

 

I have a Lightweight build site which may be of help to you. (Lots of detailed pictures - click link below)

 

Any questions don't hesitate to get in touch,

 

Lightweight Trev.

[Guest zoomzoom]

Hi and welcome

I'm building a lightweight, and for me the main plus point was the fully independant suspension at front and rear.

The 2B uses the rear beam from the sierra.

You can see my progress on the link below!!

 

regards marcus

[Guest chris brown]

Mike

First of all welcome to the site

You say

or harder to build kit

. Well neither the 2B nor the Lightweight are easy to build. As a rough rule the more you pay for a kit the less the builder has to do. With the 2B there is more thinking time than there is "doing" time hence you will very rarely see 2 2B's the same and build time seems to be between 18 months and 2 years on average. As for the Lightweight it was designed as a track car that can and will be used on the road whereas the 2B is defiantly a road car (very strong and heavy). Build time for the Lightweight seems to be a little quicker than the 2B (may be because it’s easier to drill and bend ally than it is stainless steel ) but there are very few finished and only one through SVA that I know of.

[enforcer]

Love the website Marcus! You'll get on alright on here

[Guest Battery Bill]

Marcus

Will you be appearing at the shows in a Bear suit then or will you buy it off the "builder Bears" when its finished

Keep it up

[Guest zoomzoom]

Bill..

Think I'll have to rent it off them when its done.

The price is set at about 2 bottles of southern comfort and a box of jaffa cakes!!

 

 

They must get the munchies after a few.....

 

 

marcus

[Guest Mike400]

Hi there,

 

I have a Lightweight build site which may be of help to you. (Lots of detailed pictures - click link below)

Lightweight Trev.

 

Fantastic website! your pics have made me realise the difference between a lightweight and a 2b

 

Im quite competent mechanically but ive never built a whole car before! but I reckon im more than up for the challenge I just didnt want to get something that would be a real pain to build.

 

Crash protection would be a slight worry - my dad reckons a smack in a lightweight could be expensive or extremely difficult to put right due to the nature of the build :s

 

But all in all it would fit my budget, and its exactly the sort of build im looking for. I want to keep it simple - i.e use the sierra engine etc until it gets road legal cos i dont want to end up on a q plate :s

 

Ive read thru ReadingTrev's website, every word start to finish!!! and its got me SO excited, sad I know but im itching to get building, i think I will enjoy that aspect as much as running the thing!!!

 

Anyway I need to build a garage first, as I dont fancy building the 'hood on the driveway lol!! I was looking at a timber garage, they seem quite cheap for the sort of size im after so once i sort that ill see about buying the kit.

 

So essentially itll be next year by the time im actually buying, but im so overwhelmed by the response ive had to my initial enquiry I reckon ill be hanging around here!!!

[Guest warwick7735]

Hi

 

A garage, you don't need one of them, whats wrong with your front room .

 

Take care

 

Warwick

[Guest salty_monk]

You don't need to use the engine from your donor car... you can inform DVLA of an engine change in your donor & then it becomes the new donor engine.

 

Dan

[Guest chris brown]

you can inform DVLA of an engine change in your donor & then it becomes the new donor engine.

That’s true Dan, but you don’t see many Sierra's running around with Fire Blade's fitted! I suspect even VOSA might get suspicious at that one

[Guest salty_monk]

How did Rizla's car end up without a Q plate??

 

I don't know, just a question... was there enough other parts without the engine or did they just move the engine number over to the donor?

 

You must be able to convert a CVH over to a pinto or Vauxhall or Zetec easy enough on the paperwork....

 

Dan

[Guest elwe]

With the points system you can avoid a Q plate without using the doner engine.

 

Having said that I will still be telling the DVLA my sierra now has a Rover V8. If its questioned at the build up inspection I will try and confuse them by talking about the Sierra XR8. I doubt they will know the XR8 used a Ford 302 rather than a Rover V8!

[Guest Mike400]

Quite like that idea....

 

I really wanted to use an 1800 zetec as ive had a couple of mondeos and know the engine pretty well, I think it offers a nice balance between weight and power, a mondeo lump running standard will throw out around 115bhp, while an xr2i lump will give around 130bhp... plus I like the character of a 16v

 

Although when you add the hood exhaust system to the equation, thats bound to add a couple of horses as its less restrictive than the stock mondeo / fiesta one? Couple that with a better induction system (most of you seem to stick a cone style filter inside the nosecone routed to the intake?) and power should jump a wee bit.

 

As for engine management I would ditch the ford job and look at a megasquirt to get more out of the above.

 

I reckon on a budget you could hope to end up with a reliable 130bhp which would be enough in a lightweight I would have thought.

 

But again this is all speculation, I havent even built my garage yet!!!!

 

As for building it in the front room, I think the wife would have 2 words to say, with the second being "off"......

 

Thanks again guys