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Hi all, I'm new here.. Previous 2B owner thinking of a GBS Zero....


Guest Jay Waterhouse

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Guest Jay Waterhouse

Hi all,

I'm Jay, new to the RHOCar club. 

I am a previous owner of a Robin Hood 2B, I've included a picture below.

Here's my quick story... 16 years ago I bought a 2B kit from Robin Hood, sat down watching the 4 VHS tapes that came with the kit and embarked upon getting my donor Sierra, getting all my donor parts together and started to build my 2B. It looks quite good in the pic but alas, she never ran and after months of anguish and some surprise family additions I had to let her go. The car stayed local and I knew the guy I'd sold her onto, believe it or not but he was a mechanic and also couldn't get her to run, the problem was not mechanical but electrical and even though I complete bespoke wiring loom was made it still wouldn't start and run off the key. Eventually this guy also let her go and who knows, maybe she's a great car for someone now.

However, for me, this is unfinished business and I'm determined to build my own car to drive. I've followed Robin Hood Cars throughout their transformation into the now Great British Sportscar brand and I'd love to get my teeth into the GBS Zero, it kind of connects the 2B I never drove, to the modern re-incarnation of a great looking kit car. I've been in touch with Richard and Ruth regarding a complete kit with Ford zetec or duratec engine coming in around 27K. Obviously this is completely everything I'd need brand new from them.

So my main question is, what realistic costs am I looking at to build a 2nd Gen Zero if I'm sourcing parts myself i.e. engine/gearbox. Does anyone know roughly the costs of the rest of the kit from GBS, I'm looking to get this figure around 15k ??? is this reasonable ??

 

Cheers everyone

 

Jay

20200828_114309 (1).jpg

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I built my Zero in 2017 and the all-in cost was around £17k. However, I could have made it cheaper - for example, I bought a new, crate engine which, with the lowered sump and re-conditioned MT75 gearbox came in at around £2k. You can buy all that lot second-hand off eBay for probably half that or less.

I got most of my stuff from GBS, some from eBay but almost all was new or near to it (reconditioned). Because of that, I also got a new reg plate but if you're happy to go with some older bits, £15k sounds reasonable.

Full details, including a cost breakdown, is in my blog (link below in my sig).

BTW, I thought I saw a full Mazda kit for £14k on the GBS site - does that not include everything?

Edited by nelmo
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Guest Jay Waterhouse
2 minutes ago, nelmo said:

I built my Zero in 2017 and the all-in cost was around £17k. However, I could have made it cheaper - for example, I bought a new, crate engine which, with the lowered sump and re-conditioned MT75 gearbox came in at around £2k. You can buy all that lot second-hand off eBay for probably half that or less.

I got most of my stuff from GBS, some from eBay but almost all was new or near to it (reconditioned). Because of that, I also got a new reg plate but if you're happy to go with some older bits, £15k sounds reasonable.

Full details, including a cost breakdown, is in my blog (link below in my sig).

Thanks nelmo.... this sounds just about how I want things to go, I was thinking of sourcing a crate engine and gearbox too and my figure of 15k was a rough estimate I was thinking of for everything else I'd need from GBS... Thanks for the reply and I'll give your blog a good look at.

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I built mine in 2012 and I think I was around £15K all in but I did get GBS to do some work for me.  I think it should be do-able for that kind of money for the Gen 2 version with some sensible purchases.

They have made a lot of changes since I built mine and I am tempted to build another.  Problem would be having to sell my current car and I am not sure I could part with it! 😀

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You could put a Zero on the road for £15k, no problem at all. Obviously it massively depends on how much you're willing to concede with 2nd hand/recon, if you want everything brand new then it will be more of a squeeze, but it massively depends on spec of components and so forth.

I could spout numbers from my Zero build from 2 years ago but it's of dubious value, since I'm so far off what is considered 'standard'. Rover K-Series, lots of tuning, non-standard suspension/gauges/wiring/seats, caterham gearbox, etc. it wouldn't really help you :)

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