Every Locost website needs an
FAQ. If you're thinking about building a Locost, you should try to read as many of them as
possible. There's a lot of stuff you need to know and need to consider before you start. It'll
affect a lot of your decisions. Our FAQ is shorter than most, but we think it's more to the
point. You be the judge.
How much does a Locost
cost?
$7,280.51. That's how much
we spent on materials, including the donor and all the other parts we needed, like the nose
cone and fuel tank. We spent another $1,610.43 on consumables, like sanding disks and
welding wire, and $1,114.62 on tools. We still have a lot of those tools, so we're not really
considering that part of the cost.
You may spend a few dollars more or less. You can spend a lot more, but unfortunately not a lot
less, unless you're extremely good at scrounging and you get lucky. You might think you can save money
by building parts like the nose cone and fuel tank, instead of buying them. Don't kid yourself.
Building a one-time part usually costs more than what a manufacturer who mass-produces them can
sell them for.
How long does it take to
build one?
Two years, two months, and
four days. That's how long it took us, working just under 20 hours a week. The total
number of hours was 2228, so you can divide that by the number of hours a
week you think you'll be able to work on it, and calculate your own build time.
You may take a few hours more or less. You can take a lot more, but unfortunately not a lot
less, unless you start with a partially-built car. If you look at a hundred build logs, you'll find
that 2-3 years is the mean build time. We've seen Locosts built by one person in 12 months, but it was
a full-time job, about 40 hours per week. We've also seen many Locosts take five years or more.
It's important to completely ignore any vendor claims of short build times. They may have videos,
and testimonials, and even sworn affidavits confirming the build was completed in 500 hours. Or 100
hours. Or three days. But it's a scam. Regardless of what their marketing department claims, it will
take you 2000 hours or more to build your Locost, at least if you want one that won't fall apart when
you drive it out of your garage.
Besides welding, what
other skills do I need?
Patience. During the first
year, you'll be pleased with how the project is going and you won't give much thought to how much
longer it's going to take. During the second year, it'll start to bother you that the thing isn't done
yet. Day after day, week after week, month after month you go out into the garage to work
on the car, and no matter what you do it's never done. That's not normal, and it gets to you. You need
to achieve something akin to a Zen-like state to keep working on the thing.
If you know which way to turn a wrench to tighten a bolt, you have enough basic automotive skill to
build a car. Like everything else, experience makes you faster, and when you're done with your Locost
you'll have as much experience as a lot of journeyman mechanics. In the meantime, if something doesn't
work out right the first time, just do it again.
There are little skills that are useful to have, like soldering and painting. Most people already
know how to do these things, but if not you can learn them well enough to get by.
What if I'm not a great
welder?
You will be. Or if not great then at least adequate. You'll make
more than 2000 welds on your Locost, so you'll get lots of practice. Early on, don't worry so much about how your welds look as how
much of the base metal is melted. Don't be afraid to grind away a bad weld or two and start over. In
fact, plan on doing that at least 50 times, that way you won't have to second-guess the strength of a
weld. If it looks suspect, do it again, at least until you've met your quota of 50.
If you're new to welding, obviously watch all the videos you can, but pay particular attention to
learning how to control the puddle, how to make it bigger and smaller, and most importantly how to
make sure it involves both pieces of the base metal. A joint can look fully welded even though one of
the pieces hardly melted at all. This is way more common than you might think.
Any special
tools?
Yes. Get as many of them as
you can afford. If you can't afford an angle grinder, add another 1000 hours to your build time. If
you can't afford a drill press, add another 100 hours. Similar for things like a bench vise, a bench
grinder, a tap-and-die set, and a few dozen clamps. On the other hand, if you have a lathe, take 50
hours off your build time. And another 50 for a metal brake.
Having the right tool will always save you time, and will usually save you a lot of aggravation. But
that's not really the Locost way. You can get a lot of satisfaction out of building parts for a Locost
with something less than the perfect tool for the job.
What are the odds I'll
finish it?
Not good. Sorry, but that's
just how it is. Of the 409 build logs started on LocostUSA.com over the past eight years, 45 Locosts
were completed.
You may want to know the reasons for that low completion rate, so that you can dismiss those reasons
as inapplicable to you, thereby dramatically increasing your odds. The problem is, there were 364
reasons for those 364 builds that weren't completed. Yours will be different.
We can categorize most of those 364 reasons into a couple of groups. The first group is your
lack-of-interest reasons. This includes the not insignificant subcategory of people who totally
underestimated the amount of work it takes to build a car from scratch. And actually, we all
underestimated it, because it's beyond the estimation capabilities of anyone who's never done it
before.
The second category is the life-changing event. This includes things like marriages, divorces,
children, graduation, and moving. Locost projects tend to be heavy and immobile. Easier to sell off
the project at pennies on the dollar rather than haul the thing into your next life.
The third category is the change in financial status. This usually afflicts the
I-can-build-it-for-$2000 crowd. It always costs more, and if you don't have more, you have to stop
building. The flip side is the lottery winners, who can now go out and buy that factory-assembled Caterham
and a four-car garage to go with it. Who needs a Locost?
Is it worth
it?
Ask the lottery winner with
his $60,000 Caterham. Of course $60,000 may be chump change to a lottery winner, but $60,000 is still
$60,000, and that should give you some idea how much fun these cars are.
