Ian_Brandon Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 This might be a 'how long is a piece of string' question, but given say an average SLR race car with no lights, drivers moulded seat, gravel rash, full cage etc, does anyone have any experience of the costs of turning such a thing into a habitable road car? It will still do hillclimbs, sprints and trackdays, but it has to be acceptable to the missus, so it needs FIA Bar, 2 seats, lights, windscreen, weather and of course to be road registerable. I have a feel for the cost of a respray which will probably be needed, but what other things will have to be taken into account? I would welcome any thoughts/experiences Inbetween 7's - anyone flogging a Superlight 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheds Moderator Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 I have done just this. Mine came to me ex race with a few missing bits and a dead head gasket (it was cheap!). I have sorted it out though it still has full cage (no problem for me) gravel rash, dents and a chunk out of the OSR wing. Like I care. The lights were expensive, I only needed one, fortunately. The rest was cheap and just time consuming. Then again mine came with a screen and *most* of the road bits. It still lacks a horn, but my MoT tester is of the view that if you can't hear it coming 100 yards away then a horn will not help. My biggest cost was weather gear. I don't think an FIA bar is too bad, and you could sell the cage to offset it. As for trim, it just adds weight. Carpets are for saloon cars and sports cars driven by hairdressers . All I would say is that if it has been raced in anger then expect a good deal more wear and mechanical trauma, and price it accordingly, as I did. After that the pain of the refit is bearable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver 21 Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 I bought my car as an ex grads racer and I spent quite a bit making it habitable for sprints, hillclimbs and general use, if you leave out the bodywork I suggest you budget the following: S/H Seats- leather S-TYPE -£450 S/H Screen & Surround - £200 S/H Weather Gear (hood & sticks) - £100 S/H Doors - £90ish New Lights (presume front & Rear) -£150ish S/H FIA Bar - either straight swap with the cage or you get money back These are based on prices seen recently on Blatchat and this lot adds up to £990, hope this is of some use, Graham Competition Secretary Lydden, Curborough, MIRA, Llandow, Loton Park, Curborough, Aintree...What more can you ask for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westy Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 Wiring loom speedo handbrake 😬 scuttle new dash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_Brandon Posted March 10, 2003 Author Share Posted March 10, 2003 Thanks for the responses. I now have this vision of a batteredoldsupersport with just one light on top, Safari Rally style Does 'mechanical trauma' come from personal experience? My guess would be that the transmission takes the biggest hiding. Wiring loom is a good point Westy, as is handbrake (although I was never able to reach mine). Interested to hear any other experiences. Inbetween 7's - anyone flogging a Superlight 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Brother Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 Just a thought (probably a stupid one but...) If its purely a race car...will it need to pass an SVA to get it registered for the road? If so, will it need a cat? Steve Se7en-Up! Less is more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Walker Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 If its an ex SLR race car then you will need, Lights, handbrake which means replacing the rear brakes,Speedo, SVA kit, Cat exhaust system. number plates, you may also want to replace the foam bag fuel tank as this cannot be used with a fuel gauge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F355GTS Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 Ian Nick Oak (Pinky) has/ is doing just this worth giving him a shout I also bought an ex-race SLR but havn't done the work yet however although I bought it cheap it's all relative So far I have paid £5k for a new engine, the old one was completely shot (lasted long enough for the bloke ot sell it to me!!) £500 gearbox rebuild £275 diff rebuild £300 odd for a passenger seat and belts If I want to convert it to road it would benifit from a reskin to remove the cage holes and the odd dents, a new bonnet, respray winscreen and weather gear if I'm feeling soft It also needs a handbrake, odometer for SVA Add up what it costs and it comes very close to an average road car, I know I was probably unlucky with the engine however I believe it's still marginal Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheds Moderator Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 From now on you can call me Cyclops. Maybe I should have just mounted one central light. WRT mechanical trauma, it hasn't been bad other than the head gasket. I know the previous owner had already had one go, replaced the engine with a s/h unit, having been frightened by Minister as to the cost of having the existing one done, only to have that one give up shortly afterwards. Needless to say he didn't tell me it was going... I only remark on mech. trauma because I know that he thrashed it beyond all reasonable belief, as he does all his cars. This man has blown up 2 Subaru Impreza turbo engines, and regards the rev limiter as only an indicator of the need to shift up. It also echoes advice from bikers - if you even think that a bike has been raced for real, don't buy it. Your previous correspondent appears to have had a particularly horrific time of it: engine, box, AND diff? Jeez. By comparison I've been lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_Brandon Posted March 10, 2003 Author Share Posted March 10, 2003 Mark, Hmmm that does it for me. Suddenly an SLR for £15k doesn't sound such a bargain, I'm rapidly going off this idea and will return to plan A I think. My problem is I'm seduced by the thought of using an ex race car to close the gap to JPE's, ex race Vx's and the BDG that litter my hillclimb class, but in reality if you add up all the runs in a year I spend a total of less than hour competing, maybe a day on track and the rest of the time I don't need a race car, I need a hairdresser's car to quote batteredoldsupersport and maybe just chuck out the dryer and electric rollers on competition day. At least Mr Battered you knew the identity of rock ape that had yours before and he had some previous with the scoobies, I don't have a clue who's driven this one - nuff said. Thanks for clarifying things. Inbetween 7's - anyone flogging a Superlight 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Piper Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 Ian, I did the sums too and bought a road SLR. Onte thing though, If you're Jersey based, do you still have to get the car SVA'd to use it on the road out there?....if you don't, then the figures start to add up again - Mark's car for instance came with the full light pack and even the rear callipers were ready for the handbrake cables to be attached....which would be all it needed to make it MOT-able (assuming it could pass the emissions test...) it's the aggro associated with the SVA that is off-putting too - you wouldn't believe the stupid things one has to do to the car to prepare it for a successful SVA test...and they're stil arguing over the radius of the curve on dashboards as we speak.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Piper Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 Ian, I did the sums too and bought a road SLR. Onte thing though, If you're Jersey based, do you still have to get the car SVA'd to use it on the road out there?....if you don't, then the figures start to add up again - Mark's car for instance came with the full light pack and even the rear callipers were ready for the handbrake cables to be attached....which would be all it needed to make it MOT-able (assuming it could pass the emissions test...) it's the aggro associated with the SVA that is off-putting too - you wouldn't believe the stupid things one has to do to the car to prepare it for a successful SVA test...and they're stil arguing over the radius of the curve on dashboards as we speak.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Walker Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 You should also consider that the race SLR will have a very hard suspension set up that will be unsuitable for the road, sintered race clutch, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R500 CYA Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 Hmmmm, this is a fun topic!! I bought an x challenge SLR, already fitted with a light pack but nothing else. It is nearly ready for the SVA now and I reckon it will have cost me £6000 to get it exactly to the spec I want it. (I could have done it cheaper though if I'd have been less fussy) Would I do it again? Yes if I had the money because it is a great project, but not if I was trying to save money:- it is cheaper to buy a SLR off the shelf. If you want I can send you a list with the parts and prices I needed. Drop me a mail Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross_H Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 having tried both, and tried using a 7 as a half sensible road car (i.e. not a toy) i'd not bother with hood / screen and gear, it's a law of diminishing returns thing, the car's so uncomfortable on anything less than a 1 hour blat, the incremental comfort of all the other stuff isn't worth the hassle. appart from that a FIA bar is nicer thana full cag on the road, but i suspect massively less safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F355GTS Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 Battered A lot in common I think took my engine to Minister, lots of sharp intakes of breath and I walked away with a 'new' rebuilt race engine last August. Head gasket went on that 3 months later and again after two more months, it's back at Minister as we speak having another head fitted as there was not enough meat to skim the old one. Ian if you want to buy an SLR that has all the mechanicals sorted but needs the handbrake and a bike speedo fitting for SVA then drop me a mail! It's a seriously quick car able to hang on to all road and all but one race R500 I've come across on track! Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Piper Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 How unlucky can you get Mark?...I hope they've done the decent thing as regards the head. Strange, I saw Graham Fuller at Brands a couple of Mondays ago and nearly asked him how your car was running... Ian, Mark's car is nice and straight and he knows a lot about its history (as do I). I spoke at length to the guy that built it too, so no worries about its provenance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F355GTS Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 Minister...do the decent thing.....nope! ☹️ Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_Brandon Posted March 11, 2003 Author Share Posted March 11, 2003 Mark, I'd be interested to hear the full spec and what you think needs doing to get it through SVA. That is not actually what I have to pass to register a car in Jersey, but you can assume its pretty much the same. Also what are you asking? As this is not just a track/hill car, I do need the hairdresser bits. I can only sell this whole upgrade to the wife on the back of more weekends in France and weather gear and a non race cage are essential PR elements (although ultimately its the colour that really counts!). Inbetween 7's - anyone flogging a Superlight 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F355GTS Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 Ian you have mail Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k.russell Posted March 12, 2003 Share Posted March 12, 2003 Ian, if you search in last 6months low flying there is a guy called andy toone selling a 2L vx race car. last ad 10k. he still has this car for sale, it was a sebah race car, the sister car(asthey ran 2 cars in vx championship) was converted to a road car. andy races 750mc. sorry i dont have contact no.ps car has all the bits for vx racer ie full cage, gbox, big brakes, elec dash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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