Kit Novice

[Knock-on]

Hi

 

I've had a good look through and may have missed it but can anyone help me with advice on getting into Kit cars?

 

I am probably going to get a pre-owned car to start with as my mechanical skills are mainly concerned with messing about with 2 stroke Motorbikes. Diffs, 4 strokes, balance bars and having too many wheels are all alien concepts to me.

 

What I would like to know is where is the best place to start learning about Kit cars. Are there regular meets etc? I also would like to know what I should be looking for in a car. I'm not looking for anything radical in my first effort so what type of engine, suspension and what should I avoid!! I haven't got any firm ideas on what war either as long as the top comes off and it goes OK. Quite like the shape of the 7 and as my friend just bought an old RH, I ended up here.

 

Sorry for being a bit of a Noddy but if anyone can point me in the right direction I would be grateful.

[andyparry]

Hi there, welcome to the club.

 

Fill out all the info in your profile, especially your location. You'll probably find that someone lives just round the corner from you and that there is a regular area meet

[Knock-on]

Thanks mate, will do it now.

[chris n]

Hi.

I'm in Camberley not all that far from you.

I'm a member of the Thames Valley area. Have a look at are website

 

Thames Valley Hoods

 

We have most of the different type of Hoods that Robin Hood have produced over the year in the area,

from an S7 through to the latest 2B.

 

We have area meeting on the second Wednesday of the month, which have just been moved to a new location.

 

The lambert Arms

 

If you would like any more info just send me a PM.

 

All the best with your search for a kit car.

 

Chris

[Guest Dredd]

Hi

 

I'm in Horley and currently work in Guildford. I'd be happy to provide any advice I can.

[Knock-on]

Thanks Dredd and Chris. I look forward to meeting you soon. I'm just outside Guildford so if either of you fancy a beer (before the weather turns sub-zero again) then give me a bell.

 

I'm trying to get my head around it all now and figure out what I should be looking for so any advice would be appreciated.

 

KO

[Knock-on]

BTW, does anyone have any knowledge or advice on this car?

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...A%3AIT&rd=1

 

I appreciate that the Triumph engine may be a bit low on power and the gearbox is shot but I may try and get a Sierra unit in there over the Winter.

 

Is this a good vehicle to start on or should I take my friends advice and spend a little more on a newer SS model?

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Longboarder]

I don't know that car but the ad makes the seller sound pretty genuine.Good ebay feedback. Currently a bargain but there is a lot of interest so the price will rise. Worth bidding up to about £2500 would be my guess.

Made pre SVA and correctly registered so legaly on the road.

Would make a good rolling project to sort all the little things while still having the fun of driving it.

Rebuilt gearbox available easily from Rimmers at £300 exchange and could easily be fitted in a weekend, a day with a mate.

Minilite type wheels are nice.

Lots of work to do as you go along but a good buy I rekon.

 

Nigel

[Grim]

"robin hood on v5", always a must for a pre sva car, never buy without that!

[Guest micky bigthumbs]

welcome you will get everything you need on this site...and the car on ebay if regeterd ok is a bargain

 

Mick

[Guest salty_monk]

Hi,

 

Car looks ok, £2500 as Nigel says... a little high in my opinion, some of the 1.6 Sierra S7's go for that sort of money but up to you. I have also seen 1.6 or 2.0 Sierra's with a lot more equipment that this (such as Gas Dampers, side screens, hood, electric fan etc) go for about 3 grand.

 

If I was bidding personally on the Ebay car I would set myself a limit of £1800. You might be lucky, looks cheap at the mo.

 

Join Rhocar & keep your eye on the "For sale" section, there are some bargains on there every now & again & most if not all are good cars.

 

I guess you could find a sprint engine but a 2l pinto & type 9 box would be the way forward in my opinion & cheaper too...

 

The crunchy gearbox may be nothing more than an overheated clutch cable.... we've all had that problem at one time or another unless sufficient heat protection is added or a longer cable used....

 

Dan

[Guest stu205]

Hi an welcome along

 

I also cheated and bought a built kit but these guys will always make you welcome!

 

Like Dan says, if you can get that one on ebay for less than 2K its a good price but I wouldnt get bidders fever!

 

Theres plenty of RH's that come up on ebay and in the for sale section (where I got mine) and an S7 will turn up sooner or later

[Knock-on]

I'm not going for that one off eBay. It's up to 1750 already with a few hours to go and as you boys have said, there will be other cars out there that may be more of a bargain.

 

Had some good advice to go up to Donny next month with some readies in my pocket so will keep looking but if not, might pop up there.

 

Anyway, give me a shout if anyone comes across anything.

 

Cheers

[RedTrev]

I should bide your time if I were you. I jumped head-first into buying a part-built ebay bargain. The car looked quite reasonable initially and was “only 8 hours from being SVA ready”. Yeah, right.. In all fairness it’s great mechanically but as far as electrics and trim…. well I bought it in March and I’ll be surprised if it’s on the road this time next year!!

Still you live and learn.. and you can learn a lot from the fellas on this site. Wish I’d known this was here back in March. Good luck with your search for the right car.

 

Trev

[Knock-on]

I should bide your time if I were you. I jumped head-first into buying a part-built ebay bargain. The car looked quite reasonable initially and was “only 8 hours from being SVA ready”. Yeah, right.. In all fairness it’s great mechanically but as far as electrics and trim…. well I bought it in March and I’ll be surprised if it’s on the road this time next year!!

Still you live and learn.. and you can learn a lot from the fellas on this site. Wish I’d known this was here back in March. Good luck with your search for the right car.

 

Trev

 

Great advice!

 

For a first project, I would want something that was road legal and together as I've never worked on a car before. It's going to be a bit of a sharp learning curve as it is but one I'm looking forward to. However, saying that, I'm not a complete duffer in the mechanical department. I have rebuilt quite a few bikes from a GP100 to a GPZ750 Turbo. I'm pretty clued up on the theory but have no practical experience of working with cars whatsoever.

 

Wiring and body work I shouldn't have too much trouble with or changing mechanical parts such as wheels, brakes, bleeding, bearings, bushes etc. I'm probably going to struggle with working on a 4 stroke engine and setting up the car for different conditions but that's just a case of getting on with it and seeing how it works.

 

So, if I can get a relatively sound mechanical model that I can play about with, learn how it all works and to set it up, then in a year or two I might take the plunge of starting from scratch.

 

What I like about Donny is that there will probably be some friendly faces along to give me some advice and ensure I'm not buying a pup. I'll go out looking for a Robin Hood and end up with a Robin Reliant