Now I'm pi##ed off.

I've just been reading a thread on a Caterham R300 discussion forum and one of the builders took delivery of his kit on Aug 20th ish and a month later after a couple of problems is at the stage where he can attempt starting the engine and lo and behold it starts first time.

I started my kit in May, and am still building, having tried to start the admittedly ropey donor engine last weekend to no avail, and have a trip planned to the factory to give it a refresh.

These big money kits just seem to take all of the fun away by having every hole pre drilled and basically a mecano kit where you're told which screw to put into which panel and turn it 12.5 times and move on to the next. I've learnt so much more by not having a build manual and learning through planning my next move, thinking about it time and time again, realising that there's a better way and then doing it. Even on the engine start day, I wasn't planning on enjoying it if the damn thing didn't start, and it didn't, but really enjoyed the next couple of hours, undoing months of work to get to the stage that the engine can be removed for its rebuild/refresh.

I would seriously doubt whether I would enjoy half as much building one of the prestige manufacturers kits as it looks like a lot of the fun is taken away by removing the thought process. That said if I did build one I would probably be on the road a lot quicker and driving it, but then I'd probably be spending a lot more time in shops, booo-hoo.

Thank you MAC#1 for persisting with me. See you on Saturday.

Agree 100%, I learnt loads which I wouldn't have if I was just following a manual and everything fitted.

Having said that still doesn't help the frustration when something doesn't fit!!!

Rich.

I would have liked a mechano build. I don't want to weld or fabricate anything. I want my car to drive. I can see that people may prefer one thing over the other.

Soooo!!

Would it be correct to extrapolate the argument and say that if you had built a car from scratch you would have enjoyed it even more??

Mick

Don't just assume that because he's building a Caterham that it has all the right holes and everything in the right place and just bolts together.

Do you know how much time he's actually spent building it, compared to you? Do you know what machinery and tools he has at his disposal? Do you know if he is experienced at building Caterhams? Do you know how much time he spent in preparation?

I'm not for one minute suggesting that a MAC#1, MK, MNR etc, goes together quite as easily as a Caterham (afterall, Caterham have spent the last 32 years developing it) All I'm saying is don't slate it just because it's more expensive.

I reckon you could build a MAC#1 in a few weeks if you had the time and resources available.

The only advantage you'll have over the guy building his Caterham, is that you'll know how to make more complex brackets and how to 'make' things fit.

I'm sure he will have enjoyed building his Caterham, just as much as you will have enjoyed building your MAC#1

Absoloutely, the two hours taking apart 4 months of work showed me that next time I build it will go together ALOT quicker. I just got frustrated when I saw what hes got done in 4 weeks that has taken me 4 months.

I do also realise that there are still bits missing and that arent right on Caterhams kits. Case in point is this guy. He's had problems with his stack dash which was stopping him from being confident about pumping for oil pressure, which effectively postpones the build.

There's a couple of MK builders on this site who put there cars together in 5 and 7 weeks,just depends if you have all the parts to hand plus tools and other equipment plus ofcourse the time.

I think matt claydon built his inbetween uni terms,but i found the prep work and reconditioning of 2nd hand parts is really the time consuming part.

Hi all, took us about five months to do our Mac #1 but the next one we do we reckon will only take about 5 weeks. Easy stuff! No welding required!!!!!!!

i reckon i can beat that ,took me over four years doing my mk.

martin had only been making chassis for around a year,the indy wasnt around then ,mine use the serria back end
si

Yup, I'm with you mac1ZR, next one will fly together if Saturday afternoons exploits were anything to go buy.

Easy peazy

i have to agree with you i also think next build will take weeks not months may just have to choose a different colour sceem as orange is the new black (looks blo--y good though) maybe i could start a trend hows about brown or beige anyway the cars looking good Jos hope the rest of the build goes ok and may see you at Mac#1 at some point all the best Rich

You can build a Locost kit in about 120 hours if you have the mechanical skills, the right tools, and know what you are doing...

Thats 3 weeks from kit to on road... if you plan it properly, and work enough hours per day... (10 hours per day at weekends, and 4 hours per evening) hehe you gotta be dedicated to put those hours in mind...

I would expect a caterham kit to take a bit less, so he is obviously putting less time in...



[Edited on 14/10/05 by G.Man]