**The World of Kit Cars: A Guide for First-Timers**

If you're considering building a kit car as your first project, you're in for a treat. Cam's road-legal LS3 powered spaceship is the perfect example of what can be achieved with dedication and hard work. But, even with that impressive build, Cam admits that his SLC isn't the fastest, cleanest, or most cost-effective option. However, he dodged the fatal flaw of all kit car projects: the while I'm in there effect.

For those who want to upgrade something on their regular project car, let's say a new clutch, it can be easy to get carried away with the process. "You drop the transmission and get to work," Cam says. "But while you're in there, might as well do a new rear main seal, right? And that trans mount could be upgraded." Before long, this one job snowballs into six. The same applies to kit cars, where upgrading a part is a two-step process: taking off the old part and putting on the new one.

But with a kit car, you're going to have to put on all the parts anyway, so why not put on the best ones possible? Money is the main reason why many kit cars end up sitting waiting for parts that will never come. The builder doesn't want to put on the cheaper part because it's not any easier.

Another problem with kit car projects is that they can be lonely. Even if your kit car isn't running, it's still just a pile of parts until the engine fires. For Joe, who got a Miata from Money Pit, the moment the engine starts, he can at least drive his car around the block. But when the engine fires on your kit car, you're only halfway done.

That's not to say that building a kit car is all doom and gloom. Our buddy Colin is working on a Caterham and hopes to get it on the road in time for summer. He's been working on it every weekend, and when it's finished, he'll have one of the most unique cars on the block.

Kit cars may not be the cheapest option or the easiest first project, but if you're willing to put in the time and effort, they can be a solid choice. You get to work with nice clean parts, straightforward instructions, and you end up with a car that you know inside and out.

As for the future of kit cars, it's exciting to think about what electric motors and 3D printing will bring to the table. Will we see more of these things on the road? Only time will tell.

**Shoutouts and Credits**

We'd like to thank our boy Justin Reed for letting us use his Goblin footage. Check out all the builds and blogs of the guys who let us show off their projects in the description below.

If you want to know more about the Fiero or the Bug, check out these videos and be kind, take care of each other. I'll see you next time.

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WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- This is Collin, he's 17,and he's building a projectcar from scratch in his garage.To any of you who have puttime into a project car,this might sound like a tall order.It's tough for a first-timercause no matter how common a chassis isor how straightforward a build might be,no matter how many forms you go onor how many YouTube tutorials you find,you always get stuck because there's neveran instruction manualfor your exact build.But what if there was?What if you had a step-by-step guideto get from a pile of partsto a running project car?(car engine roaring)That's what Colin hascause he got a kit car.If you're thinking that I'mtalking about some Fiero-basedfiberglass, Ferrari knockoffthen you're missing out onwhat kit cars are today.We talked to all kindsof builders and ownersto get the low down on what it takesto build a modern kit car.So whether you're anexperienced builder or a newbie,a classic car-lover or a track ratlooking for the bestpower-to-weight ratio,I guarantee by the end of this video,you'll be looking for a kit carof your own.(upbeat music)Big thanks to Raycon forsponsoring this episode.When I'm riding, I lovelistening to music to focusbut sometimes those Money Pit guys,they can get a littleloud and distracting.(banging)That's why I use my Raycons.They're doing things differentlythan other brands out therefrom the way they're designedto the way they're priced.Personally, I love myeveryday E25 earbuds.They give me six hours of playtime,seamless Bluetooth pairing, more bass,and a compact design for acomfortable noise-isolating fit.The best part is Rayconhas the same audio qualityas other premium brands, butonly costs you half the price.They come in a range offun colors and patternsand if you don't end up loving themthey even offer a free45-day return policy.45 days.If you're trying to takea break from screensbut don't want to feel totally unplugged,Raycon wireless earbuds are the best wayto bring your favorite contentwith you everywhere you go.So click the link in the description boxor go to buyraycon.com/donutto get 15% off your Raycon purchase today.Now let's get back to Wheelhouse.(beep)Before researching thisvideo the term kit car,for me at least, was a four-letter word.(beep)Kit cars have a stigma of being machinesbuilt to look like a supercar or another rare carbut was actually a slower,cheaper car underneath.And for a long time, that was the case.These are the pretender cars,designed and built withaspirational views.I've since learned that there'sa few other types of kit cars,but let me build to that.The idea of a kit car actuallyblossomed in the 1950s.With rust-proofing in its infancymany older vehicles were getting scrappedbecause their body work was beyond repair.So people figured why not geta new, lighter fiberglass bodyand slap it on as a replacement.It wasn't just a way to makethe car look faster or cooler.It gave a chassis a second life.By the 70's however, small manufacturerswanting to get into the auto businesshad found that selling a car as a kitwas a great way to getyour foot in the door.In the UK, kits were seen ascomponents, not new vehiclesso they could be sold withoutimposing the purchase taxwhich was an extra 33% tax on luxury goodsin the UK until 1973.Since kit cars weren'tconsidered luxury goods,all you needed was a donor vehicleand there was no carthat was better suitedto being a card-carryingdonor than the Beetle.The Beetle was cheap, mechanically simple,and had an unusually sporty layoutwith the engine sitting on the rear axle,driving the back wheels.Also by that time, VWhad sold over 15 millionof these suckers.So donor chassis and anyrepair parts were plentiful.Cars like the Bradley GT, Aquila GT,and the original Dunebuggy, the Meyers Manxwere all the result ofbuilders catching the Bug bug.Also, rest in peace to Bruce Myers,passed away very recently.The Beetle wasn't the onlysolid base for a kit car.The Fiero was a two-seater, mid-engine,rear-wheel drive coupe,and one of the only timesthe US has ever madea midship car that wasthis cheap and popular.The V6 Fiero GT was beingcalled the poor man's Ferrariand if it's already being called a Ferrarifor what's on the inside,why not make the outside match as well?Since the Fiero was builton a space frame chassiscovered with plastic body panels,it was easy to pull off the original onesand slap on new fiberglass ones.Because of this, itwas super easy to builda Faux-rarria sham-borghini or,a poor-sche.Guys, if you love myhilarious car-based jokes,check me out at Chortle Festin Montreal this summer.I'll be doing a tight fiveevery night of the festival.Many Fiero-based kits landed somewhere inthe uncanny valley of aesthetics.Think of that car drawingyou did when you're 12and your mom was nice enoughto put it on the fridge.It's got all the detailsbut the proportions are just a little off.This is what most people imaginewhen they think of kit cars.Even though the Fiero madethis type of build accessible,it actually backfired because so manypoorly-constructed kitsand unfinished buildsgave the words kit cars a bad reputation.(beep)Instead of being a serious buildit was viewed as a car cosplay.But surprisingly some kitswere actually designed pretty damn well.The Pontiac Mera was a Fiero GT kitdesigned to replicate the Ferrari 308,and it was so accurate and so popularthat Ferrari actually suedMera over the styling.Regardless, the Fierowas a great blank canvas,and even though the Fieros were proneto catching on fire some of the time,that's still about the samereliability you could expectfrom a real 80s Ferrariin the first place.So, fair play.So kit cars were all about building a carthat looked like a caryou actually wanted,but couldn't afford.And this is where kit carsstarted to change a little bit.If you could make a carthat looked like it was expensive to buy,why not make something that lookedlike it was impossible to buy?(upbeat music)If you've ever seenFord GT 40 at a car showor a cars and coffee,I can almost guaranteethat it wasn't an actual GT 40,I'm sorry.That picture you sent to your grandma?It was a lie.Since the legendaryLamar wins of the 1960s,the tiny Ferrari killerhas been a dream carfor many people in the USbut getting an actualGT 40 is a tall order,since less than 100 of them were builtand they regularly sell at auctionfor as much as $10 million.So plenty of companiesstarted making kits.Almost 20 companies haveoffered some version of a GT 40.All of a sudden, this carwent from way out of reachto a legitimate possibility.And because of the kitsfor such a rare, expensive,and storied cars were available,you actually see the GT 40randomly pop up in movies.You got Velvet Buzzsaw, TheMan From Uncle, John Wick,The Punisher, CrazyRich Asians, Fast Five,just to name a few.All those GT 40s, and Ford vs Ferrari,those were kit cars that youcould build yourself as well.Factory Five Racing, who became famousfor their AC Cobra replicas,started producing a ShelbyDaytona coupe replicathat can be built with the5.0 liter coyote engineor a 351 Windsor.Unlike the Fieros and Bugs of old,these kits were notabout being economical.While it is definitelycheaper to get a kit Daytonathan an actual Daytona,these builds are aboutexperiencing a classic carwith all the heritage andpedigree that comes with itwithout the risk of breakinga priceless classic.Cause honestly, I'd hate toget into a legendary race carand have to baby it for insurance reasonsor something like that.But with these kit carsyou can actually drive themand drive them hard.And with modern engines and modern parts,you can get a faster, morereliable, more comfortableand more economical car than the original.But as much as I love older American cars,these kits all feela bit boomer-y, right?They feed off the nostalgiafor an era I wasn't around for.They aren't exactly cheap either.But there's a another type of kit car.The kind that is designed to bethe best lap time per dollar investmentand if you are a semi-skilled builder,you could have a carthat is lighter, faster,and easier to work onthan the Money Pit Miata,while still being cheaper.Let's look at some track-ready kit cars.Have they become a viableoption for car guys like methat are limited on budget and skill?In my case, definitely skill.You might've seen somestripped-down, tube chassis'd,minimalist carts likeHoonigan's Shark Cartor Leroy the Savage.The idea is that you takeoff as much of the caras you possibly can, giveit a stiff tubular cageand make the car as light as possible.Even though the idea of track cartshas gotten bigger in recentyears, it's an old concept.Lotus offered a strippeddown, track-minded kit caras early as 1957.The Lotus seven was anopen-wheel two seaterthat could be bought from the factoryas a completed car or asa slightly cheaper kit.It's light weight made it achuckable little track wagon.Try saying that five times fast.And the formula has barely changed.In 1974 the production of the Lotus sevenwas taken over by Caterham.And today Caterham is afully fledged manufacturerthat still sells kits basedon the Lotus seven design.If you're looking forsomething a little moreof this century, kit carshave still got you covered,and these might be some of the bestbang for your buck options out there.Seriously, check this out.To keep costs down andparts easy to sourcethe donor car idea hasn't gone away.Take a look at the DF Goblin.James talked about this a few weeks ago.It uses a Chevy Cobalt as a donorand it turns it into a mid engine,open-wheel, lightweight monster.The average build ends upbeing under 1600 poundswhich is almost half theweight as the original car.The kit is also designed to beas straightforward a build as possible.There's no welding and nometal cutting required.If you're being particularly thriftyyou could build this thingand get it on the road for under $10,000and that includes all the tools you need,but like you'd reallyhave to like plan it out.I would not expect thatto be the norm, okay?If you built this withthe supercharged Cobalt SSas your donor, you'd have a Chevy witha better power-to-weightratio than the Z51 Corvette,and it would also be mid-engine.That's right, you heard me.These things relocate the enginefor the most fun possible.It does actually sound pretty sick.I want to drive Justin's car now.The Factory Five 818 usesa 2000 Subaru Imprezaas the donor, theengine, trans, suspensionand brakes from the Subaruget dropped into the 818for a mid engine to rear wheel drive car.You basically got a PorscheCayman that can be finished forunder 15K or at least that'swhat the brochure says.Can these cars really be builtfor as cheap as they say?How good of a builder doyou actually need to be?What about the hiddencosts like tools, paintand other specialty processes?We've been building the hype pretty hardbut now it's time for reality check.(upbeat music)Thing about reality.It always gets checked.Really check.Life's not fair.(upbeat music)Look kids while thesekits are better in qualitythan the fiberglass lookalikeswe used to think of,they're still kits.Even if you are themost meticulous builderyou don't have the budgetand the R and D of an OEM manufacturer.So your car is going to be alittle rattly in some places.Some of the panel gapsmight not be the bestand it's not going to be ascomfortable as an OEM car.We spoke to a Factory Five818 owner who said thateven though the car had body panelsand looked like a road car,it didn't even feel likeanything other than a hardcore track car.But that's where I thinkwe got it wrong in the 80s.Okay? Trying to build aFerrari lookalike is alwaysgoing to fall a littleshort of the real thingbut building a track car ora classic replica is perfect.Cause those are two types of carsthat don't need to beluxurious or refined.And the best part isyou built it yourself.And that's the reality, man.You've just been checked.(upbeat music)(beep)One of the biggest benefits toa kit car over a modified caris that apart from any use donor bits,you are working with clean fresh partsthat are designed to gotogether with common hand toolsand are therefore designedto come apart justas easily for maintenance,replacement and repairs.It's like if you've ever installedbrand new parts on your car.The old road worn grimyones are a pain to get outbut the new ones slide in super easily.Imagine if your whole car was like that.One of the builders we spoke to said thatthe best part about working on kit carsover his classic cars is thathe could work on his kit carfor a bit between dinnerand bed without gettingso greasy he needed to shower.A good portion of thekit assembly is more likebuilding IKEA furniturethan it is being a mechanic.You just got to follow the steps.Not all kits to the same though.Kits like the Goblinand the Exomotive Exocetare designed to be entry-leveland can be completed withabout 250 hours of work.But then there are kitslike the one Cam Thai built.His car is an SLC from super light carsand it took about 2,500 hours to complete.Clearly this particularkit is not for first-timersbut Cam's road legal LS3 powered spaceshipwas worth the labor.But even with that, Camwill admit that his SLCisn't the fastest, the cleanestor the most cost effective.But the fact that he gotit built it all meansthat he dodged the fatalflaw of all kit cars.The biggest killer of eventhe easiest kit car projectsis the while I'm in their effect.Let me explain.If you want to upgrade somethingon your regular projectcar, let's say a new clutch.You drop the transmission and get to work.But while you're in thereyou might as well do anew rear main seal, right?And that trans mount could be upgraded.And since you had todisconnect the exhaust anywayyou might as well put a cat back on therewhile you're in there.And pretty soon, this onejob snowballs into six.Now, imagine if that could happenwith almost every single part.You could install the OEMcalipers from the donor caror you could get theWilwood big brake kit.I think a lot of timesthe thing that keeps usin check when working on analready running project car,especially a first project car,is that upgrading a partis a two-step process.You've gotta take off the oldpart and put on the new one.But with a kit car you'regoing to have to put onall the parts anyway.So why not put on the best ones possible?Well, money. Money is why not.And because of this, manykit cars end up sittingwaiting for parts that will never comebecause the builder doesn'twant to put on the cheaper partbecause it's not any easier.Which kind of brings meto the second problemwith kit car projects.Until it runs, it's not a car,it's just a pile of parts.When Joe got the Miata from Money Pit,he was able to drive itevery day if you want it to.It wasn't the best littlecar but at least it ranand to get you from pointA to point B in a pinchor do a little canyoncruising with buddies.Kit cars can be lonely projects though.Even with non runningprojects with my ImperialI'm still closer to it running than a kit.The moment the enginefires, I can at leastdrive my Imperial around the blockbut when the engine fires on your kit car,you're only halfway done.So with that said, whatabout our buddy Colin?Well, he's about a quarter ofthe way done with his Caterhamand hopes to get it on the road in timefor summer of this year.He's working on it every weekendand while the finishedcar won't have a stereoor ABS or windows thatroll down, when it's donehe'll have one of the mostunique cars on the block.And not just unique because it's rarebut because even thefirst day he drives it,it's already full of memories.I'd really want Colin to succeedin building that Caterham.I think it's super cool that a 17 year oldhas taken on a project like that.If you want to cheer them on,I'll put the link to his blogin the comments, along with Cam's.They're both a big helpin making this episode.As for kid cars overall,I don't think they're the cheapest optionand they certainly aren'tan easy first project.But if you're the kind ofperson that was already lookingat spending over 10 grandon a builder projectand you want something unique that getsthe most bang for your buck.And if you've got thespace and time to build oneI'd say that kit cars havebecome a solid option.You get to work with nice clean parts,straightforward instructionsand you end up with a carthat you know inside and out.That's actually extremely important.You can easily diagnose issues cause youknow how it goes together.And if you're not totally convinced yetjust think about where kitcars will be in 15 years.What about electricmotors and 3D printing?What will that bring to kit car building?I think it's safe to saythat we all want to seemore of these things on the roadand hopefully after watching this video,some of you might actually do it.Let me know what you wouldbuild down in the comments.Did I convince you?I think kit cars have reallyobviously come a long wayand it's pretty exciting actually.Shout out to our boy Justin Reedfor letting us use his Goblin footage.Check out all the builds and blogsof the guys that let usshow off their projects.I'll link them all in thedescription down below.If you want to know moreabout the Fiero or the Bugcheck out these videos and bekind, take care of each other.I'll see you next time.