Getting Started With a Kit Car
If you have never built your own car before or you are thinking about building a kit car for the very first time, this article will hopefully prove to be helpful to you.
Those who have prior experience of building a car will already be familiar with the basics which have been covered here, but it isn’t a bad idea to revisit your car building fundamentals.
Why Building A Kit Car Is a Great Idea?
The sense of accomplishment that you will experience will be something that you’ve never felt before and this particular automobile will be your most prized possession from the very minute you begin to work on the project. When it is complete, you will be constantly searching for a reason to drive it around and show it off.
What’s great about kit cars is that they resemble legendary cars which often out of our financial reach, which makes building a kit car the best and most effective way to build a car. These kits make use of parts from vehicles which are easy to find. Thus with a kit car it is possible to own the car that you can only dream of having without spending your life savings.
A good way to increase the odds of building a kit car successfully would be to research as much as possible before you commence work on a project. There are three important topics on which you must read extensively. The first is the information you need to know about the kit and the vehicle its parts are based on. The second topic involves knowledge of which parts you need and where to get them. Thirdly, you must know how physically and mentally demanding the task of building your own car can be.
Kit Car Information
FInding information on the internet has become an extremely task, but you must know where to look if you want to move in the right direction. There are many automotive websites where you will find information relating to Porsche kit cars and other such speedsters. These websites have many helpful articles which will help you to develop a good understanding of what it takes to assemble a kit car.
Car Parts to Support Your Build
Getting parts is not the difficult part. Being able to buy parts which do not exceed your budget is what you can call a challenge. Thus it is important to know where to look in order to get the right parts. Most kits come with a complete set of instructions which help you to successfully complete the assembling of the car.
Most instruction manuals will also contain a list of the specific parts which are needed. Buying a donor car is the cheapest and also the best way to acquire the parts that you need. Usually, donor cars are in good running condition which means that parts such as brakes, steering, controls, suspension etc. are functioning properly.
One must not judge the condition of a donor car on the basis of how it appears. The appearance of the car doesn’t really matter as you will not be using its interior and paint. Before purchasing a donor car, you may need to look at the running gear closely. Most kit cars are based on VW Beetle as the separation of running gear from the body is easy.
Parts – Junkyards
Shopping at junkyards is another excellent way to find the parts that you need. The more the number of junkyards, the easier it becomes to find what you are looking for. It makes part hunting not only a fun exercise, but also a great way to reduce the overall cost of building your own kit car. Sometimes, junkyards also have sale days on which you can shop to further reduce the building costs.
An important thing to remember is that you shouldn’t pick the first part that you see in a junkyard. It would be wise to look around for a little while and try to find newer parts. You may have to look for clean and dry parts which do not have leakages. Once you have found the parts that you need, you can sandblast and paint them to give them the appearance of being new. This approach may be time consuming, but it will certainly help you to save a lot of money.
Parts – Suppliers
If you are facing difficulty in finding a cheap donor or you do not have any junkyards around to do your shopping from, you may have to get in touch with a supplier to get your parts. The first place where you must look is on the internet. There are many online parts suppliers which will be able to provide you with parts at relatively lower prices compared to a retail store.
Begin by making a list of all the parts that you need and then commence your search on the internet. You will also be able to find a lot of helpful information on this topic in kit car forums. Many online forums allow you to post questions and in this way you can get free of cost consultation from subject matter experts.
How Demanding Is This Task?
Now that you know how to get started with building your kit car, you must understand how physically and mentally exhausting this project can turn out to be. Firstly, you must ask yourself if you have sufficient space to start a kit car project. Think of the amount of space that the finished car would occupy and then leave ample space around it for you to work on it.
Additionally, you will also need shelves to place the different parts that you may need during the construction. A garage is an ideal space for taking on such projects, but a good covered area is all that you actually need.
Besides persistence and patience, you will also need the right set of tools to complete the job. Before making big purchases it will certainly help to ask your friends and see if you can borrow the tools instead of purchasing them.