the right project ??

[andypandy]

Hi all!!! im andy 28 from lincolnshire. i have been buying practical classica magazines for nearly 8 years now and evey issue gets me more and more exited about doing my own build. sometimes go to bed dreaming of doing my own build. i can turn my hand to alot of things and spend a lot of my time stripping down and re-working my 8x5 trailer now as great as this is to keep me busy its getting a bit boring. as i now no it inside out and upside down. so now my question is what sort of car would suit me. silly question i no but i have a lot more time on my hands due to having to give up my belovied job (due to health problems) so dont have a great deal of money i dont really care how long the build would take just need something to keep me busy. so i want a cheap classic thats cheap for parts and cheap to run and insure. a big ask i no but im desprate for something i just dont no what it is... can you please help me???

[tractorman]

Perhaps the question you need to ask yourself is "what older cars to I like?" rather than wonder what is cheap! If you work on a car that you like, then you will almost enjoy stripping underseal and rust!

I suppose the obvious answer for something that's not too expensive and has good parts availability are things like Minors and Series Land Rovers. However, it may be wise to consider location too - getting something from two or three hundred miles away could cost £500 or more!

Without being patronising, someone of your age may be more interested in Fiestas/Escorts etc than pre 1973/4 stuff. The snag there is that the more modern vehicles will cost to tax them (pre 73 - or 74 - are nil duty). It's a consideration if it's an running restoration and you use the car while you are restoring it. OK, if it's off the road and takes five years to restore, the car should be SORNed during the time, so taxing it may not be important!

I have to confess, in spite of having enough work on my two tractors to see me out, I have a hankering (and a use) for an estate car of some sort and have been trawling the web to find something suitable! Annoyingly, the only ones are way down country (300 miles + away), which really makes them unsuitable for me: I haven't time to travel to see them and won't buy blind and, the thought of paying £600+ for something that actually has a lot of rust (that the seller painted over or ignored) almost makes me want to p/x the modern Golf for a newer estate version (not an option as it would be far too expensive)!

Perhaps it serves as a warning, but Mitsuru is in a similar position to you - not able to work and has little income. However, what started as a simple job (sorry Mitsuru!) has blown up into an epic saga! His story is in the "Members cars and projects" section!

[JPB]

Perhaps the question you need to ask yourself is "what older cars do I like?"

Seconded. Identify something that takes your fancy then investigate the dull stuff such as parts availability, fuel consumption, club support and whether other owners are a nice bunch of helpful folk or a shower of complete tossers who'll hassle you because the flats on the wheelnuts don't line up with geometric precision and the air in the tyres isn't authentic for the model on the chosen year.

For ease of ownership, cheapness to buy and parts availability you couldn't look far past a Minor, Beetle or Herald and if you want the least troublesome ownership experience ever just buy one, fill the fuel tank, use it and be charmed by it but if - like many of us - you relish the fun of the hunt and the challenge of maintaining something that's not so well served; then choose a car based on how much you like looking at it and dig in for years of joy, pain and tears in roughly equal measure.

If I had my time over, I'd be looking at 1970s Japanese cars.

[Grease Monkey]

Andy, there's a Ford Escort XR3i Cabriolet advertised in the Boston Classic Car Club's magazine, tested till March 2014, taxed till September, needs a bit of work to make really nice, but could be enjoyed while you sort it out, £795 ono, I know he's desperate to be rid of it! It's located near Bourne, Lincs.




John.

[andypandy]

thanks for your input guys i do really like Minors and heralds and my fav car to look at is the spifire i would be wanting a full restro as i feel you have a much better understanding of your car when you no every part of it. i had a beatle a few years ago and as funny as it sound sold it due to work comitments and very little time to do anything to it and there getting pricey now. i dont really feel for a escort or fiesta iv been there and done that in my late teens. but again thanks for your help on the matter guys i will defo look round untill something catches my eye and il look more in my local erea for clubs / parts supplyers and advice on what i find and il report back as soon as i find what ever it is im looking for lol

p.s il stear clear of clubs that talk about parts in part numbers and authentics of cars and parts lol

[rich.]

if you are skint a full blown resto is off the menu.... ive done a few & spent a small fortune..then sold them at a huge loss... i bought my mr 2 in mint condition for less than £1000... ive spent quite a bit on alternators & paperwork but thats another story
why not buy a tidy modernish sports car & keep it in good condition?

[tractorman]

Annoyingly (for me) there were some nice Spits, Heralds and Minors in the Lincs area on eBay that weren't too out of the way on price - and some may still be there! It was the time to go and look as well as transportation costs that killed them for me (even though I really fancy an early Minx/Vogue estate!). Parts for all three "BL" cars are plentiful and not expensive - you could probably build a Minor from the parts available on eBay (let alone the MMOC) and I was talking to a friend this afternoon, his boss has bought a Spit recently and found spares plentiful and reasonably priced.

I'm just annoyed that I dithered too much earlier in the month and missed a Minor Traveller (in Smoke Grey - like our last one!) because I was unsure about the seller and transportation from his place. The annoying bit - a different friend said (after the car had gone) that the car usually lived about two miles away and, in spite of the downbeat listing, had been on the show circuit until two or three years ago the moral - see it and don't think too much!

[andypandy]

well iv got my eyes on a few on ebay a moggy not that fare away and a vauxhall chavette thats looks very very clean just needs minor bits and bobs doing oh and a rover 3500 sd1 in hull but my mrs would kill me if i came home with that size lol oh and also found a place in lincoln called rimmer bros they do bl car parts almost anything your after but told to be carefull as they can be pricey

[tractorman]

Rimmers have a certain reputation. I can't say more as I haven't dealt with them myself! Moggys are well catered for - the MMOC seems to be on the ball and there are plenty of new panels etc available on the bay. I'm not sure about Chevette spares availability - though a friend has two newer Vauxhalls and seems to get most of the stuff from the scrapyards, not the dealers!

I liked the SD1s, but they can be a money pit: a friend had a 2200 that ate all his money - even money that wasn't spare!! There were one or two P5/P6 Rovers I fancied too - but they were too far away as well!!

[TerryG]

Rimmers have a certain reputation.

They are variable. 9/10 times the parts you ordered arrive quickly and there is no problem, occasionally they send you completely the wrong thing (eg ordering an exhaust and getting a head gasket set or ordering nothing and someone else's items arriving). Their stainless steel exhausts are rubbish, I have one on at the moment and if it wasn't for the lifetime warranty I would have had to replace it twice in 4 years. Starter motor burning out a week after the warranty expired, the one that I purchased to replace it lasted about 2 months past the end of the warranty. I am largely happy with their service but they do have some quality and warehouse issues at times. If you are getting a mog then ESM are brilliant. I have never had an issue with them, their prices are reasonable and they are very knowledgeable if you give them a ring. They have a huge stock of used parts as well as new ones. They even arranged for a set of their minilite replica alloy wheels to be drilled to a marina stud pattern for me at no extra cost. In my experience Charles Wares are best avoided as their workmanship is not of the greatest quality, a lot of their upgrade parts are copies of the ones produced by others and they are not to be trusted.
If you are going for something with a green oval (land rover) then my favourite supplier is Famous Four for largely the same reasons as I use ESM for the mog. They are always helpful, not the cheapest on everything but when I wanted rear doors for my RR they called round suppliers for me to find some. They could only help with one which arrived dented (was perfect when they sent me pictures), they refunded me in full and let me keep the door which was nice (as I repaired it at a cost of about £20 and fitted it). Anything you want they don't have listed, give them a ring and if they don't have it on the shelf they can usually get it for you.

This is all just my opinion / experience and I'm sure others could give horror stories / praise to most of the classic suppliers in the market.
Once you have picked your toy don't forget to start a blog in the members cars section showing us what you have got and what you are doing to it