On a similar theme of the "Heaviest thing" thread. What have you discovered during your build.
1. A GTM Dash is the same length as a standard bath, means you can sand it with wet & dry using the shower as a warm water source.
2. A GTM Bonnet fits in the average size living room, meaning you can glassfibre up the hole left by a scoop in the warmth of your house.
3. The smell of resin takes 3 days to be un-noticeable in an average house 
I found out that i was no good at building cars cos i had no patience!!
1. Car electrics are the work of the devil!!
2. The wife doesn't take kindly to you walking oil into the house
I found a load of new friends.
I also found my sudden inability to keep or add up receipts 
I found out that they always end up bigger than the pictures and always have bits left over....
Dirty finger nails take an age to get clean again.
PU adhesive does not wash off your hands.
Steel under broken powdercoat rusts well before the powder coat looks damaged.
Black bolts are not plated or coated black and will rust very quickly.
The only bits that brake are the ones that are hard to get to.
Building a car is much easier than rebuilding it. The bodywork and seats get in the way.
PU adhesive sticks to powder coat more than powder coat sticks to steel.
Cycle wing brackets are not strong enough.
The most powerful engine will not seem powerfull enough after a few weeks of enthusiastic use.
It will rain whilst you're out in the car.
Fibreglass warps under its own weight. Always store it supported in its intended shape.
That you can't build a car for 250 quid!
1, People will look at your car and ask the stupidest questions (Is it a car? Are you building it? Are you going to drive it? and after looking around
a bright orange car for ten minutes...What colour is it going to be?)
2, Put a large poster up with all the stupid questions and thier answers on it.
3, The bits you spend the most time debating whether ('cos they're expensive) to buy will turn out to be the best bits.
4, Buying the SVA book is the best thing you can do at the begining despite it seeming to be expensive.
5, SVA and DVLA aren't as bad as some people will lead you to believe.
6, When its done it'll all be worth every penny, late night, grazed knuckle, hammered thumb, etc.
adrian
There is never enough time
Kit cars are not for procrastinaters (sp?)
You will spend more time rubbing your chin and thinking of reasons why you can;t do that job you;ve not been looking forward to, than you will ever
spend actually doing it.
Things never quite turn out to plan
The garage has a funny temporal effect increasing any job time by a factor of 10. And you thought you only had 80 hours worth of work in the garage
till you finish....
Getting someone to build your kit car for you is great, and rubbish at the same time, cos you feel like a failure.
Engines are heavy
- One consumable not often mentioned when building cars which probably should be: Blood; probably a good pint of it over course of a longish build.
1. women will always think your mad to build a car when there are plenty to buy already built and they tend to have roofs
2. the house is apparently not to be used to store car parts
3. women are always more important than working on a car (apparenty), unless it's fixing theirs where 4 in the morning is perfectly acceptable
If it does not look right - it's not right!
[Which reminds me - where is my angry grinder, I need to hack off a part of the car which certainly does not look right]
[Edited on 25/9/08 by minitici]
quote:
Originally posted by jabbahutt
1. Car electrics are the work of the devil!!
2. The wife doesn't take kindly to you walking oil into the house
- you may not see a flying bug for days yet one will always end up on a newly painted panel. 
- matching an unknown paint colour is next to impossible.
the now very ex was sh***ng her riding instructor.
who was a women as well 
the now very ex was sh***ng her riding instructor.
who was a women as well
quote:
Originally posted by smart51
PU adhesive sticks to powder coat more than powder coat sticks to steel.
quote:
Originally posted by bob tatt
the now very ex was sh***ng her riding instructor.
who was a women as well
Cars are heavy, even Locosts, particularly when they're on top of you. 
Cheers
Chris
That the frustrating times far outweigh the fun times, although you learn a lot. Of course you learn that you probably shouldn't have started... the guitars I built play and look like crap too. But as with the car, they SOUND good!!
Never buy the first thing you see that you like the look of.
Just around the corner is one you will like even more.
Paul G
Everything costs twice what you think it should.
Making parts yourself often ends up costing as much as buying one in the first place
I am a rubbish metalworker
1) You never have enough shop space
2) If you clean dirty car parts in the dishwasher, you'll have to do housecleaning for a month to make up for it
3) The oven is NOT, apparently, to be used for baking painted parts, no matter how well it works
4) Anything long that is drilled in a drillpress turns into a flail
5) Anything small, put near a bench grinder, turns into a projectile
6) Transmission fluid stains on living room carpet don't come out
7) There is no substitute for cubic dollars...
I found out also that no matter how serious the question on Locostbuilders, someone will post a daft remark!
i would NEVER do that sort of thing!! honest
Adding up 20 items at about £8 each is always more than you expect.
Then you see VAT needs to be added
Then the website tells you the postage
POR-15 takes 3 days to remove from skin
The only tool you will need on a Sunday afternoon is the only tool you dont have .
Do as much of your build out on the front drive as possible - it's a great way top get chatting to the neighbours .
There are about a thousand more parts in a car than everybody tells you - and Halfords dont sell any of them .
And.....no matter how much you shout and swear at it - it still wont fit
quote:
Originally posted by bob tatt
the now very ex was sh***ng her riding instructor.
who was a women as well
It won't build itself, no matter how long you leave it.
There is always brake/clutch fluid left in the pipe/master cylinder/slave cylinder even if you thought it was empty.
I can no longer cut in a straight line.
There is always at least one part that would've been easier to fit before the part you have just fitted. (or, there must be a logical order to do
this one but no matter how much I sit and think about it I will still get it wrong).
I am no longer a perfectionist - Life's too short!
quote:quote:
the now very ex was sh***ng her riding instructor.
who was a women as well
Can't say I've come across this one though I'm afraid, I'll keep it in mind though...
Luego Velocity panels did not fit a book chassis.
You friends will get friendlier as you complete the car.
Pot holes hurt
I need a louder stereo for motorways
I'm really should back up my computer
Do not seam weld the chassis until you have all the bits fitted and tack welded.
It really is NEVER finished
It's far better to not start building a car, rather than start it and confirm the reason why you din't start it ages ago....
i found out that the wife was pregnant the day i started my build
also the little bits of metal that fly off the tool can go right through tracksuits and embed themselves in your leg
some parts/metal suppliers look at you as though youve escaped from the nut house when you try and explain the reason that you need a certain part is
that your building a car but then again some are really interested and cant do anymore to help
Davie
quote:
Originally posted by davie h
the little bits of metal that fly off the tool can go right through tracksuits and embed themselves in your leg
Davie
I have realised that by thinking of my future build and rubbing my chin, I don't need to shave any more.
even at this early stage, i have learned that no matter how perfectly you line tubes up, they go where they please when you start to weld them!
quote:
Originally posted by bob tatt
the now very ex was sh***ng her riding instructor.
who was a women as well
Useless without pics...
One out of every 10 objects that you drop right at your feet will never be seen again no matter how hard you search. One in every 5 will only make itself known after you have spent a long time finding a replacement for it.
quote:
Originally posted by oldtimer
One out of every 10 objects that you drop right at your feet will never be seen again no matter how hard you search.
After thirty odd years of fixing cars I've learn't that...
When you drop something and you saw the direction it bounced, always look in the opposite direction to find it. Also all cars have a big secret magnet
under then that attracts all dropped tools towards the centre of the car where you can't reach them.
adrian
quote:
Originally posted by smart51
quote:
Originally posted by oldtimer
One out of every 10 objects that you drop right at your feet will never be seen again no matter how hard you search.
How true is that!
Additional consumable never mentioned in build manual SKIN
And this is not an accronysm i mean the real thing
quote:
Originally posted by andylancaster3000
- One consumable not often mentioned when building cars which probably should be: Blood; probably a good pint of it over course of a longish build.
quote:
Originally posted by ken555
quote:
Originally posted by smart51
quote:
Originally posted by oldtimer
One out of every 10 objects that you drop right at your feet will never be seen again no matter how hard you search.
How true is that!
I was trying to free a sticky Clutch Slave Cylinder, and applied about 5 Bar from the compressor to it.
Never did find the piston
quote:
Originally posted by Vindi_andy
Wasnt the hole in the wall a clue?
a) you need to a separate earth for the right hand side light on a Sierra wiring setup (i.e don't share the main/dip one)
b) once you have sussed that, electrics are easy
c) its the rest of the sodding car thats the problem.
1) reciepts are really dificult to hide especially with the amount you'll have once you;ve finished your build
2) locostbuilders is the best place to find out anything to do with your build !!