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Author: Subject: Building a Locost bike engined car
matt b

posted on 15/4/03 at 10:07 AM Reply With Quote
Building a Locost bike engined car

Hello all,

Im new to all this and I need all the help i can get. My dad owns a V8 westfield and he has really got me into this kit car game!

I would really like to build a bike engined car for as little money as possible so i have a few questions for you,

Basically whats the cheapest way(and I mean cheap lol) of doing this and whats the best bike engine to use?
+ How much more difficult & expensive would it be to add 2 bike engines?

Thank for all you help
MAtt

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ChrisGamlin

posted on 15/4/03 at 10:33 AM Reply With Quote
Hi Matt

OK, the cheapest way to do it is to build/refurbush everything yourself as done in the book, chassis, side panels, suspension, etc etc. With a cheap BEC engine you could have a car on the road for maybe £4k (including all the little odds and sods you will need to buy). If you want a slightly easier life and want to buy the chassis, suspension parts etc, then I'd say that a realistic budget is about £6-7k, although some may disagree and say its lower .
Engine wise, the cheapest real option is the CBR1000, you can pick one of these up for about £5-600. Next up the pecking order is the blade, ZX9 and R1, all of which will set you back about £1000 including all the electrics and carbs etc. Above this, you are looking at GSXR1000 and Blackbird, then ZX12 and Hayabusa, but they are getting into the £2k+ arena and also may need dry sumping.
Putting in two engines is A LOT more expensive and difficult, the transfer box is about £2k I think, and also obviously the second engine, 2 sets of gauges, two exhausts, etc etc all add up. An absolute minimum build on this would be around £12k I reckon (I know someone spent about £10k just on converting an existing Westfield chassis). Also, the transfer boxes arent exactly reliable, I'm sure he wont mind me saying but Simon Ranson on the Yahoo BEC list has had his in bits more times than its been together over the last year!

HTH
Chris

[Edited on 15/4/03 by ChrisGamlin]

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Jasper

posted on 15/4/03 at 10:52 AM Reply With Quote
Can't add much to that, I built the chassis from scratch, but have added nice extras like good brakes/alloys/digital dash etc and it's cost me £5.5k. So £4k would be possible if done on the cheap.

Also check on the insurance first - if your very young you may find it's expensive.

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matt b

posted on 15/4/03 at 11:17 AM Reply With Quote
Thanks for all your help chaps, well its only an idea that im playing with

Im 20 at the moment but I would not expect the finnish product to be ready until next summer so I will be 21 by then. What sort of insurance could I expect to pay on a car like this then?

Cheers MAtt

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Jim

posted on 15/4/03 at 11:45 AM Reply With Quote
I am 25 and have a Mk Indy Blade to do 5000 miles a year. The car has estimated value of £8000 and the total insurance is £250
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ChrisGamlin

posted on 15/4/03 at 11:46 AM Reply With Quote
Insurance wise, if you have it as an occasional use with maybe 3000 miles a year, you'd be looking at possibly £500 at a guess, although a lot of companies might not insure you until you are over 25, so choice might be limited. I'm just 27, and my policy last year was about £280 fully comp, but some have got it cheaper than that.

Chris

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carnut

posted on 16/4/03 at 01:53 PM Reply With Quote
Im 20 and i wish i could get insured at that price. Best quote yet is 1300 fully comp or 800 3rd pary. With adrian flux.
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