1st August 2007  - The time has come for us to review our prices, with the steady increase in raw materials and goods that we buy in, we have no option but to make increases.  We hope that we still manage to offer good value to allow you to build your car on a budget. New prices are applicable from the 1st August 2007. 

POSTAGE COSTS

Due to difficulties with deliveries, we have decided to stop using the Post Office for despatching small packets, therefore everything except envelope size components are now being delivered by a recognised carrier at slightly increased cost.  Ultimately we and you can be certain that you will get the parts that you order and that they are not lying in a Post Office 'Abyss'.  

For years we have reckoned somebody at the Post Office is building a Locost, and we bet they have done it for under £250!

The new Zero that Robin Hood Sports Cars have been developing over the last few months is now available, we have already sold , a significant number since its launch at Stoneleigh early indications show that this will be another successful Robin Hood venture so if you haven't yet started on your 'Locost' project, we recommend that you hold on and send an e-mail to info@greatbritishsportscars.co.uk to register your interest, they will send you full  details ......Don't forget you heard it hear first!

Now available......manifold kits for almost all popular applications - Pinto, CVH, Rover V8, etc. etc. 

VICKI GREEN'S WIRING LOOM 

Log on to the VICKI GREEN'S  dedicated web site for more information and to see if the loom is compatible for your Locost car! 

www.greatbritishsportscars.com

www.kitpartsdirect.com

MOTOR BIKE ENGINES IN LOCOSTS 
Almost hand in hand motorbike engines and Locost building have complimented each other, both achieving popularity about the same time. Any credit must go to the pioneering grass track enthusiasts who many years ago discovered the potential of these very efficient, high revving engines that were, at one, time relatively inexpensive and readily available. With their rise in popularity you may have to pay a little more now for the exact engine you require. Even as we write it is not entirely clear in the “bike engine versus the conventional engine” who is the winner, especially when everything is taken into consideration: Clearly in the 0-60 stakes the bike engines win hands down, on the other end of the scale reasonable overall, reliable, inexpensive propulsion comes from the trusty 2 litre Over Head Cam engine ex Cortina / Sierra/ Capri giving you 100bhp and a top speed of around 100 mph which for most kit car builders is sufficient as you always feel you are going faster that you actually are in this type of open car. Back to the motorbike engine cars, it cannot be denied that to get your car to leave the lights as those shiny new Japanese motorbikes do is very tempting indeed and probably worth the extra money. If you are fitting a bike engine there appears to be many people advertising in the kit car magazines with services to help you, there are reverse gearboxes (instead of “ excuse me love, jump out and give us a push”), sequential gearboxes, special ratio gearbox, dry sump conversions, carburettor and fuel injection, recalibration kits, rubber sleeved prop shafts, catalytic converters, lamda sensors, air boxes, special manifolds, aluminium radiators, step up gearboxes, etc. etc.  
You will of course have to be careful about everything else you buy as it is important to keep the weight down, many items supplied by Lolocost have this criteria in mind. The weight of aluminium instead of GRP will help you considerably. It is also worth remembering that the terrific performance is for you only, when demonstrating the 0-60 figures it does not happen with a passenger in. With the book chassis (as bike engines go in sideways) the diagonal engine bay tubes will get in the way, our Lolocost chassis omits these tubes with the upgraded 38mm round tubes of the outer chassis perimeter doing the work. When buying a bonnet it will have to be a plain one as the bike engine will protrude a long way through the bonnet that you will have to cut.  
To sum up, in the “bike engine versus car engine” debate, if you want to use your car for competition then you will find the slightly unconventional driving techniques of the bike engine invigorating and you may just have that special flair needed to win in the bike engine class. Also if the car you are building is a true toy and traffic light grand prix’s turn you on, driving round all day looking for someone to dice is often a problem as nobody wants to take you on but when you do, you are going to win! On the other hand to move up one or two steps from the before mentioned Pinto engine, there are several twin OHC engines from Vauxhall, Ford, Rover, and Toyota that will easily mate up to the Ford type 9 or MT75 gear box that produce around 150bhp in standard form and even though they are second hand will give you several years of everyday conventional trouble free motoring.  
If you are undecided which way to go, it is not difficult to draw up a simple spread sheet showing all the options and costs, your priorities and the various advantages and disadvantages at one end of the scale you have almost free 100mph reliable motoring with the Pinto and at the other you have moderately expensive, (although cheap by super car standards) slightly temperamental, mind blowing acceleration with the bike engines. The choice is yours!