LocostUSA.com

Hello all,
I am new to the 'Locost' scene and am interested in starting a first time project and am looking for some advice on which kit and donor to chose. I have done a decent bit of wrenching on a 69 Camaro, but want to keep any welding and sheetmetal fabrication to a minimum, and avoid entirely if possible, at least for this time through.

So basically I'm looking for a reasonably priced kit, which can be put together for say- under 10 grand. I'd also like to break the 200hp mark if possible on this budget, maybe not right away, but with tweaking and mods down the road. And I don't mind spending a bit of time at salvage auctions and scrapyards looking for a deal, since time is what I've got plenty of. So, what do you folks think would be the best choices based on price/performance, availability, and ease of install? I have done some reading around, and the options seem almost limitless, so any advice to narrow the search would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Jeff

Hmmm ... maybe a Coveland Miata kit with a Miata spindles and rear end. Add a Nissan SRDET motor with 5spd from Japan.

The choices are many.... troll around read the forums

What are you expectations?
What quality finish do you want?
Partial to any manufacturors? Ford? Chevy? Toyota? Dodge?
Read the drive train section.....
Scan the builders log......
Read the Car and Driver article and see the build quality is dependant on your expectations.

Probably Coveland for the kit....book chasiss or Miata chasiss....you have a choice to make depending on your location...also some Canadian builders/suppliers.

Don't own the book? That is a good place to start....Ron Chapion's book and then Keith Tanners book.....If you can only afford one buy the first. It will give you a good starting place.

Also check out ....
Keith Tanners site... http://www.cheapsportscar.net/ (lots of good pictures) he wrote the second book.....the guy that started it all was Ron Chapion....Amazon his name and you will see his book..

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/185960 ... 0?n=283155

Once you have read the forums and have an idea what drive train you like or feel most comfortable with you may have to decide wether you want a +442, +4, Book Chasiss. or Miata Chasiss.

http://mcsorley.net/locost/
Good luck and welcom aboard!!!

{edited name to "champion"...TY for catching that}

I think he means Ron Champion.

Thanks for the starters. I was up almost all night researching on the internet and in this forum. I read the C&D article too- great spread. I do have one concern from reading the C&D article, and that is the steering problems found in 2 of the 5 cars, and the broken or loose rear end in the third. That meant 3 of the 5 cars had real problems at 'showtime' and makes me even more solidified in building from a kit.

So from what I've seen so far, there are basically 2 options for the beginner builder: the Coveland Miata kit, which (correct me if I'm wrong) must use a Miata drivetrain to avoid welding, and the Stalker V6, which can use a 3.4L or a 3.8L motor.

The power of the supercharged 3800 seems compelling, but there is one catch: price of the Stalker kit, which is a real limiting factor for me. And I'm not sure if I'm reading their site correctly but they do say that the kit only accounts for less than half the total cost of the build and then on the pricing page the 'kit' is $8500. Then their price list goes on to a bottom line of about 16 grand, though it looks like most of the estimates are for new parts(?) Anyway, I don't think I can go much over 10-12 grand so this one might be out. What do you guys think?

The second option looks like the Coveland Miata kit. It's really hard to compare the two kits on a price basis since the Coveland kit is much cheaper, but includes far fewer parts. Maybe it will cost even more in the end, again hard for me to estimate at this point. Maybe you guys could give some insight into what these kits will end up costing bottom line when all's said and done. Also, are there any other options out there that won't involve welding and can basically be just put together?

So far I've learned that here are my preferences in order of importance:
1. Beginner friendly, therefore a Kit.
2. Price under 12 grand, lower the better.
3. Performance (I spent about half the night reading on that 3800 SC and would really like to go this route, esp since 300hp is so cheaply attainable and parts/crates easy to find)
4. I love the look of the Stalker, esp the hood, but still have to say fit and finish come in last for me at this point and will be gladly sacrificed in the interest of cost.

Thanks again for the feedback,

Jeff

yeah but 3 of the 5 cars had just been completed with no tweaking time. Even a kit needs good setup and tweaking time - if you read Keith's book or site he doesn't get it perfect first time either but spends time testing and tuning on the track.

The Stalker folks are being honest when they say the cost of the project will run about double the price of the kit. OTOH, where can you get that kind of performance for anything approaching the price of a Stalker? Or any Locost, for that matter? Even 150 hp in a 1200 lb. car will be pretty amazing.

Here's my theory on building a Locost. Shoot for a budget that's about 75% as much as you can afford. You can't plan for everything. No matter how much fun building one of these things might be, it can't compare to the fun of driving one. Don't run out of money halfway through.

The car and driver article admitted that only two of the cars were complete....there was a time issue/deadline with the cars being completed. Also read this thread...
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=910

The Coveland also offers a "book chassis" another option....
which they call the universal for $2,250 they are occasionally offered in ebay for less....minus shipping.
http://www.coveland7.com/index.php?opti ... &Itemid=49

COLD offers a +4 chassis...
http://www.canadianlocost.com/OurProducts.htm
and with aussi upgrades....


Haler Concepts
http://www.halerconcepts.com/Locost%20Canada.htm

http://www.locostusa.com/vendors.html
More suppliers ever six months.....and more products every month

As I make mistakes or omissions the Forum often corrects me.

I encourage you to buy/rent/burrow the book and check it out. First Ron Champion's book and then Keith Tanner's book.

Either way everyone pays.....DIY or buying it. The metal should cost you about $150 a welder $200 on up and time.

The C & D article said the first builder built his for about 2K or 2.5k and then their are guys hear that spent more than that on a single part (or a frame). I encourage you to read everything you can before you start your build and be forewarned otherwise you will get half way through your build and be discouraged or out of funds.

Great question from the OP.

I, too, want to build one after driving a FireBlade powered car. Awesome.

I *thought* I had the project car in the classifieds bought, but the seller sold it for more money to someone else. Oh well, the timing wasn't right anyway, as I am getting married in September.

Anyone have a started project car they want to sell?

Andy

Keep money in your pocket and be ready occassionally a builder will sell one or one will appear on ebay.

Either way they often get posted here...in classifieds
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=6

OK, another near all-nighter of reading forum threads and vendor sites. Dang I haven't been this fired up on a project since I first got my '69. And I have to say that after some pretty extensive research on the L67, I'm sold.

The biggest problem (at least to me) of the stock L67 is the shape of the torque curve. Peak is at very low RPM (which is good!) but it drops off pretty rapidly to redline, making the HP curve almost flat. Great for trucks I'm sure, and very 'streetable' power, but maybe not so great for the track. Luckily this is easily remedied with a few basic mods including: a new cam, smaller pulley, CAI, headers and exhaust. The cam being on the more mild side, this config will easily put the L67 over 300HP to the wheels, that's about 350 crank HP, which I believe will be pleanty to get me started A 450 HP monster may be in the works not so far down the road, but that will require a full rebuild, while 350 is safe on stock internals...

And all of this of course begs the question: now that I'm all set on the L67, which kits besides the Stalker will accept this engine? Remember I do not want to do any welding of critical parts like engine/drivetrain mounts. I don't mind welding the odd piece here and there but having a piece of my drivetrain rip off at 130 mph does not sound like fun and I much prefer to have my kit pre bracketed to bolt on these bits.

Thanks again for all the info,

Jeff

BTW, books on order

The "Stalker" kit is what i plan on doing as well. Except i will build everything.

One thing to keep in mind when modding the L67, you will fastly out torque the tranny. As they are only rated at best to 305ft-lbs And out of the box the L67 makes 280ft lbs. So becareful with the output.

Now now MANY Mustsang guys put more than 300ft lbs thru it for years but that is all that it is rated for.

Good luck

To me it sounds like a Brunton Superstalker is your only option if you don't want to do any real fabrication. They are a bit on the expensive side but if you don't want to do it yourself then you will have to pay someone else to do it. You may call the guys at Coveland and ask them if they have anything in the works that you might be able to use. They may even be willing to make you one cheaper than the Superstalker kit as a research and development exercise. Couldn't hurt to ask.

It would appear that there is a significant gap in the market. With only two manufacturers providing such kits: the Coveland Miata and the Stalker V6, it looks like these guys need some competition. Personally, the only appeal I see in the Coveland is the price of the Kit iteself, though from what I can see, you aren't saving any money getting a Miata instead of a Chevy S10, and from what I can tell the latter is actually cheaper to source, not to mention the cheap power option of the L67, which leads me toward the Stalker. Shame their kit alone is 8500 bucks. Also, I found a thread (I'll see if I can dig it up) where a guy a few years ago bought the Stalker kit, donor S10 with engine, transmission, and quite a few bits including guages, a nice pedal set, etc all for 6500 bucks. So what gives? Looks like somebody has been substantially raising their prices...

Edit: BTW, I emailed Coveland to see if they could provide a kit to fit the L67. We'll see.