Right, so I’d been hankering for a proper project for ages, something to really get my teeth into in the garage. Always had a soft spot for those classic Lotus Seven type cars – you know, raw, no-nonsense fun. So, I bit the bullet and decided, why not build one? A kit car seemed like the way to go. Like a giant Meccano set for us bigger kids, or so I thought at the time.
The Big Day: Boxes, Boxes Everywhere!
The day the kit arrived was something else. A massive lorry turned up, and there it was, a pallet stacked high with boxes and bits. Pure excitement, of course, but also a bit of a “blimey, what have I let myself in for?” moment. Spent that first weekend just unpacking everything, trying to make sense of it all. The sheer number of parts was staggering. My garage suddenly felt about half the size it needed to be.
Inventory felt like a mission in itself.
- Bags and bags of nuts, bolts, washers – seemed like millions of ’em.
- Chassis tubes and plates, all looking a bit daunting.
- Body panels, all carefully wrapped, thankfully.
And the manual! Looked thick enough to stop a door, and some diagrams just made you scratch your head more.
Kicking Off the Build: Chassis and Getting it Rolling
So, I started with the chassis. Bolting all those bits of metal together. It’s like a big 3D puzzle. Lots of checking, double-checking, making sure everything was square. Then came the suspension. Wishbones, uprights, shocks. This bit was pretty satisfying, seeing it start to take shape. You get a few bits that don’t quite line up perfectly, a bit of filing here, a gentle tap there. You learn to ‘fettle’ things, as they say. Getting the bushes into the wishbones, that was a proper fight, I tell you. Thumbs were sore for days.
Steering rack went in next, then the column. Connecting all that up. Then the brakes – running all the lines, mounting the calipers, master cylinder. Bleeding the brakes later on, that’s always a messy job, isn’t it? But crucial, obviously.
The Heart of the Beast: Engine and Gearbox Time
I’d sourced a good old Ford engine and a gearbox. Spent a fair bit of time cleaning them up, replacing gaskets, making sure they were ready. The big day was getting that lump into the chassis. Needed an engine crane, a couple of mates, and a lot of patience. Wiggle it in, line it up, bolt it down. When the engine and gearbox were finally sitting in the frame, that felt like a huge milestone. Proper progress! Then connecting the propshaft, exhaust. Starting to look like a real car, kinda.
The Infamous Wiring Loom
Ah, the wiring. I’m not gonna lie, this was the bit I was dreading. A massive bundle of coloured wires. Looked like a spaghetti factory exploded. The manual had diagrams, sure, but tracing each wire, figuring out where it went, connecting it to switches, lights, gauges… it was slow, painstaking work. My multimeter became my best friend. There were definitely a few times I just had to walk away, make a cuppa, and come back with a clear head. Getting the indicators to flash correctly felt like I’d cracked the enigma code.
Bodywork and Making it Pretty (ish)
With the mechanicals mostly sorted, it was time for the body panels. Fibreglass, mostly. Light, which is good, but also a bit floppy until it’s all bolted down. Lots of trial fitting, drilling holes, using those little plastic rivet things. Getting the nose cone on, lining up the cycle wings, fitting the scuttle. It’s amazing how a few bits of shaped plastic transform it from a rolling chassis into something that actually resembles the car you had in your head. I didn’t do the paint myself, mind. Some jobs are best left to the pros if you want a decent finish.
The First Fire-Up and Hitting the Road
Plumbed in the fuel tank, connected the battery, triple-checked everything. The moment of truth. Turned the key… churn, churn… then a cough, a splutter, and then VAROOOM! Well, maybe not a massive varoom, but it fired up! It was alive! The grin on my face, I must have looked daft, standing there in a cloud of fumes. Best feeling in the world, that.
Getting it through the IVA test, or whatever your local equivalent is for road legality, that was another hurdle. Paperwork, inspections, more paperwork. But eventually, the day came. Took it for its first proper drive. It’s raw, it’s noisy, you feel every bump. But the connection to the road, the directness of it all – it’s brilliant. Totally impractical for a weekly shop, but for a Sunday blast? Unbeatable.
It’s never really “finished,” is it? Always something to tinker with, adjust, maybe upgrade. But that’s half the fun of it. Built, not bought. And I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. Headache-inducing at times, sure, but massively rewarding in the end.
