Building a fromula vee?

[Harry.w.]

I thought I would post this here as the vee centre isn't working for me.

I was wondering how much effort it would be to make a formula vee, the 750mc website says they use mostly beetle parts, obviously the engine is modified but to what extent is the axles, suspension etc. modded.

I know most people say don't bother with building one just buy it race preped but me and my dad might attempt it as a project.

[ss_collins]

It would be a fun project, but I would not just buy standard beetle bits. You should buy a ready prepped front beam from someone like AHS (they have loads), the suspension used proper racing dampers but have a look at some of the pics dotted about the place to see the different layouts.

The engine you should also buy in otherwise it will not be competitive

You can find the technical regulations on 750mc website

[Harry.w.]

Ok so it would actually be a waste of money trying to buy a beetle and then 'converting' to a formula vee, as I have a mate who is selling one for 150, mechanically it is fine but it looks like a big pile of s*** which is why it is so cheap.

[Benny1664]

How do you mean the Vee Centre isnt working for me? Ive just been onto it and it looks to be working fine? If you're after Vee advice/info, the best place is the Vee Centre or the Facebook group which has details in it of a guy who has just finished building his own Vee ready to debut this season..

[Harry.w.]

I didn't know they had a Facebook, will look that up now and by not working I mean I can get on the site but can only view the home page and the for sale page, when I tried to go on the forums it said I needed to register, so I did and never received an e-mail, I tried on two different e-mails but no luck.

[ss_collins]

Ok so it would actually be a waste of money trying to buy a beetle and then 'converting' to a formula vee, as I have a mate who is selling one for 150, mechanically it is fine but it looks like a big pile of s*** which is why it is so cheap.

I's say yes thats a waste of time, you could prob salvage a few bits but most of it would be in the bin.

I don't think anyone has built a beetle into a Vee for a long time, its not impossible by any means but it would be a big job. You should definitely build a vee though - would be a great project, but as I say buy in the front beam and engine.

Vee is also an incredibly cheap way to do open wheel racing - a boy is it competitive, would teach a driver far more than one of these fashion series like F4 or winged FF

[Harry.w.]

Yeah I figured it would be pointless if your going to throw away the engine and the front axle, and yes I know its very close racing, have been watching videos of this and it looks great.

I was thinking about formula ford zetecs but after reading a bit it seems like a much bigger money pit than the vee's. Still a long way off buying anything for the vee yet but I suppose if I am building it myself I can buy it in stages and convince myself that it has cost less :P

[ss_collins]

Zetec - NOOOOO! Vee is the best small open wheel formula. Its so cheap, good people and great racing. If you want to build yourself find a basket case car as a starting point. They are around and very cheap (I got one for £50 once and was given another for free!)

[Harry.w.]

I am new to paddock talk, what is a basket car? Surely it cannot be more than a few bits of body work for £50 or for free

[veevet]

Hi Harry

Starting with a Beetle probably isnt the way to go. You could use the engine, beam,front suspension, gearbox and rear suspension if they are the right ones for the regs. The rest goes for scrap. The chances of you lucking on a cheap car with many usable bits of the right type is low. You can get the right bits new or second hand but I doubt there's a road car out their that would have many of the right bits on. The engine then would need a lot of work and as SS Colins says spending a bit with the experts is worthwhile here. It need not be prohibitively expensive but check out prices. If you want a project I'd say buy an old vee; there's plenty around at £3 grand. If you then want a better car, and you might think about doing a season in the old one to learn the ropes, you buy a new rolling chassis and bodywork and shift over the engine and runnig gear from your starter. To buy all the bits separately that you'd pick up in a £3k Vee would probalby cost you £12k or more. Unless building is you think buy a used car and get out there an dimprove it along the way. Building from scratch would take years and any new chassis has to go through MSA testing for safety so again you'd probaly need to buy one in.


Best piece of advice I can give you is to come to one of our races and talk to folks. We're a friendly bunch and you will get lots of info and help.

[Flavio Galtieri]

Unless you've got the necessary engineering skills and particularly want to go down the self build route as a project I'd take veevet's advice.

You can either use your skills making an existing chassis go faster, handle better, (see the Jordan/Jenvee based on a Sheane as a great example) or do what we did which was to buy a cheap car and run that for a year then source a more competitive chassis, second hand bodywork and move all the running gear over.

Vee is still the cheapest way to go extremely fast in a single seater with a full grid so you are on the right track!

[Harry.w.]

Cheers for the advice guys, I am defiantly set on Vee's I just need to sort out which route to take, the reason I wanted to build my own was to basically take my time with it, I still need to get my License so no need to rush into it.

I will defiantly be going to Brands Hatch in April as I live 20mins away

[Nick Brown]

Harry i will probably be going to Brands, i will have a chat to you and show you around the teams if you wish.


And instead of defiantly going perhaps you should definitely go !!

[SAMD]

Originally Posted by Nick Brown

Harry i will probably be going to Brands, i will have a chat to you and show you around the teams if you wish.


And instead of defiantly going perhaps you should definitely go !!

I dunno Nick, defiantly going has something in it tooo

[barnettracing]

Always enter a motorsport paddock defiantly. It is the only way to go...