rmacnair Posted April 24, 2012 Author Share Posted April 24, 2012 hah, my girlfriend isn't your typical blonde. She loves the zed as much as me and won't have a car with an engine smaller than a 2.5 litre because they're all too slow I also want a drive I won't be ashamed to be seen in when I do get it running. So now I know what to look at the question is where can I pick up a cheap motor? about £500 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sasha@lazytrips Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Sounds like a very cool idea for a hobby. If it was down to me, I would pick one of the three below: £500: Porsche 944 - saw a very nice example as I drove from Germany into Belgium recently and these really do look awesome on the road. £1-2k: Unloved Datsun 260z or a 300zx- need I say more? £2k: Jag XJS - epic car and with some good TLC, a proper full refurb and work, they can look, go and feel fantastic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmacnair Posted April 24, 2012 Author Share Posted April 24, 2012 £1-2k: Unloved Datsun 260z or a 300zx- need I say more? I was just about to ask about the 300zx. What are they like for getting parts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sasha@lazytrips Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 £1-2k: Unloved Datsun 260z or a 300zx- need I say more? I was just about to ask about the 300zx. What are they like for getting parts? No idea, but if I were in your shoes, I'd get the jag Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldcrest Four Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Its a bit over your preferred engine capacity; but have thought of a Land-Rover? Very easy to work on, an excellent way to learn skills and basic technologies, parts are readily available and unbelievably cheap. Plus, make a decent job of your work/mods and you are bound to make a profit as Land-Rovers are bought/sold on condition not age. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marzman Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Its a bit over your preferred engine capacity; but have thought of a Land-Rover? Very easy to work on, an excellent way to learn skills and basic technologies, parts are readily available and unbelievably cheap. Plus, make a decent job of your work/mods and you are bound to make a profit as Land-Rovers are bought/sold on condition not age. Good luck. My bro did up an old 60's land rover about 4 years ago. Spent £1500 on the car plus £4k doing it up and then sold it for £6k 2 years later, so got some enjoyment and didn't lose any money in the long run. He's currently 3/4 of the way through rebuilding a triumph stag now - he says they're very easy to work on and he's really enjoyed it. Not my cup of tea though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techinstaller Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 just a thought but if the op has little mech knowledge and experiance it is also likey he has no tools ,strange no one mentions the cost of building up a basic tool kit ,half decent tool kit will cost the price of a shed, i do apprieciate that once you have the tools they yours for life but worth mentioning you are going to need a fair amount of tools to do the work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmacnair Posted April 24, 2012 Author Share Posted April 24, 2012 just a thought but if the op has little mech knowledge and experiance it is also likey he has no tools ,strange no one mentions the cost of building up a basic tool kit ,half decent tool kit will cost the price of a shed, i do apprieciate that once you have the tools they yours for life but worth mentioning you are going to need a fair amount of tools to do the work I think a starter kit is about £80 and then i have friends who have bits and pieces i can borrow or build up over time I will only have about £600 so i don't know if can get a landrover for that and if i did i wouldn't know where to start. Anyone know how hard golf mk3s are to fix up? Cheap to buy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leonk Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Ref Golf Mk3 ,Have a look at Item number: 330722456672 on E bay at the moment. 1995 Golf 2.0 GTI buy it now £700 or bids. In Wakefield so not too far away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LRF4N Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Celica? Or mr2? Sure u could pick a decent one up for the £500 mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1993-TOYOTA-MR2-MK2-GT-T-BAR-YELLOW-MOT-FAILURE-/170828124257?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item27c6265061 could be interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmacnair Posted April 25, 2012 Author Share Posted April 25, 2012 Right, I think I'm going to be looking at one of the following: - Land Rover Defender 1985-1995 - Land Rover Discovery 1990-1995 - VW Golf GTi mk3 1991-1995 - Toyota Celica circa 1995 Looking at £200 to £400 for a non-runner and £400 to £600 for something I can drive away. Does that sound sensible? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sasha@lazytrips Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Porker 944 on classic car insurance = winner? Certainly has a lot more presence about it than the list above Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Defender every time for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmacnair Posted April 25, 2012 Author Share Posted April 25, 2012 Porker 944 on classic car insurance = winner? Certainly has a lot more presence about it than the list above I assume you mean Porsche by that, won't parts be expensive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sasha@lazytrips Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Porker 944 on classic car insurance = winner? Certainly has a lot more presence about it than the list above I assume you mean Porsche by that, won't parts be expensive? Depends on where you source them. This was a reasonably popular car and while there are still a few thousand of them knocking about in the UK, a lot have been scrapped in recent years, so getting stuff from breakers should be pretty easy + a lot of owners clubs in the UK & Europe - I know it's not an obvious choice like a Defender, but if it were my choice, I'd pick heart over head Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Defender or the Golf for me out of that list. Parts will be plentiful and cheap for both, and there's a vast amount of knowledge out there if you get stuck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DannyBoy Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Porker 944 on classic car insurance = winner? Certainly has a lot more presence about it than the list above I assume you mean Porsche by that, won't parts be expensive? Depends on where you source them. This was a reasonably popular car and while there are still a few thousand of them knocking about in the UK, a lot have been scrapped in recent years, so getting stuff from breakers should be pretty easy + a lot of owners clubs in the UK & Europe - I know it's not an obvious choice like a Defender, but if it were my choice, I'd pick heart over head 944: Easy/relatively cheap to fix Front engine/rear gearbox/RWD Weigh nothing when stripped All that adds up to one epic DIY track toy in my opinion. Fixing up a defender would be good fun I'm sure, but do you actually want the defender at the end of it? I'd say better to have something you'll want to keep and enjoy as the result of your efforts. DB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Do a Defender up correctly and you'll make a nice profit on it, especially if you've the cash to upgrade it into a nice mud-plugger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricey Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 just a thought but if the op has little mech knowledge and experiance it is also likey he has no tools ,strange no one mentions the cost of building up a basic tool kit ,half decent tool kit will cost the price of a shed, i do apprieciate that once you have the tools they yours for life but worth mentioning you are going to need a fair amount of tools to do the work 28 posts in and the most sensible thing anyone has said. It's amazing how all thoughs 10 quid here and 10 quid there tools rack up when you realise you've not got the right socket or spanner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH 370z Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Agreed on the above, BTW But, I recently had to get into this a bit, as I just binned my Company car. I bought a 20 year old MB 190e (see thread) I chose this as they a beautifully mechanical very little in the way of tricky electric or specialist knowledge, ideal for me! Its needed a good clean up and there a few bit to tinker on with but generally its also a user & most of the bits are cheap from eBay and what not! Whilst I understand this car wont be for everyone, as a little tip. When I was looking I found that the classified section in Carandclassic.com, realised the bargains. PH & Autotrader was much more expensive. Any way some great fun to be had, enjoy My Thread http://www.350z-uk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=60844 Some cars that made my list Saab 99 (way cool this!) http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C278498 Porsche 924 Lux http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C294665 AlfaSud Sleepless nights here I think http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C293747 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmacnair Posted April 25, 2012 Author Share Posted April 25, 2012 just a thought but if the op has little mech knowledge and experiance it is also likey he has no tools ,strange no one mentions the cost of building up a basic tool kit ,half decent tool kit will cost the price of a shed, i do apprieciate that once you have the tools they yours for life but worth mentioning you are going to need a fair amount of tools to do the work 28 posts in and the most sensible thing anyone has said. It's amazing how all thoughs 10 quid here and 10 quid there tools rack up when you realise you've not got the right socket or spanner. Thing is, you've gotta start somewhere right? it was advised somewhere to get a starter kit and then get the tools I need when I need them. I've found a few golf mk3s now that are about £200-£400, like this one: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... ?logcode=p http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... ?logcode=p opinions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Anything that cheap is worth a punt, you could always split and sell if you got bored of it. Regarding tools, if you're going to buy them then only buy decent ones. There is nothing more frustrating than getting halfway through a job and having the tool break on you because it was a cheapy cheapy special. No need to buy all SnapOn ones of course, but just something with a decent brand name on will do: Halfords Pro range are excellent and they're often doing deals on one bit of kit or the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Mk1 MX-5 Anything from £500 upwards, get a good one for around a grand, parts are cheap and there's loads of guides out there to help you if you get stuck. A great car to drive as well. You've got is wrong about insuring SORN vehicles though, you either tax + insure or you SORN and don't insure. I did this with a Mini that I bought for £50 and stripped down every part and re-built it but I spent a totally disproportionate amount of time dealing with rust related issues rather than the mechanical bits. I would be +1 re Ekona's MX-5 idea. Mini`s are both easy and a pain to work on. Ive totally rebuilt 2 of them in the past and scraped 3 or 4 of them. As Neil says, rust is the biggest problem on them. Back when I was a lad, you could buy a mini very cheap. My first mini when I was 19 cost me £20. Any scrap yard would be full of mini bits so it would cost you hardly anything to keep it on the road. Now adays, even an old crappy shed of a mini could cost you upwards of £600. And forget about finding bits in scrap yards.... you have to pay top money for any bits these days. The MX5 is a good fun idea. You used to be able to pick up 1989 /1990 MX5`s for around £1000 when I looked many years back, so they must be really cheap now. Loads of bits around to tune them up and play around with them. Regarding tools, if you're going to buy them then only buy decent ones. There is nothing more frustrating than getting halfway through a job and having the tool break on you because it was a cheapy cheapy special. No need to buy all SnapOn ones of course, but just something with a decent brand name on will do: Halfords Pro range are excellent and they're often doing deals on one bit of kit or the other. +1 Halfords Pro range are excellent. And also MachineMart often have deals on there & VAT days on their products. I must be one of their best customers with the amount ive spent on tools there over the years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmacnair Posted April 25, 2012 Author Share Posted April 25, 2012 Is this the sort of set I would need? I do have other tools at home for general DIY http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_255215 I've got my eye on a mini on ebay now. Also looking at a 300zx but I reckon that will be a fair bit out of my price range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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