Project Cars?

stiv121

stiv121

stiv121

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Somthing I've wanting to be do since a young age is restore an 1970's or before American classic car like a Camero, mustang ect... I've got a few quid saved up so in 6 months to a year time I will hopefully be able to get somthing as I've got a place to keep it ( Off the road of course) but wondering where I could find these cars becuase ebay doesn't have many... can be in any condition... any ideas?
 
Well ive got about £2500 to start with the now but I've just gotton myself a part time job so I'll be making a bit off dosh, not planning to rush it just somthing to work on for the next year or two and put the money into it bit by bit...
 
for even the most ropy shed of a mustang you need a lot more than that.

Assuming you want a 'proper' mustang ie one from the 60's or at a push early 70's

I'd love to do that as i've been obsessed with mustangs since forever but for me doing it in the UK doesn't make financial sense as you can't exactly pop down to the local breakers yard for bits...
 
I paid about £1700 for my 86 Camaro, to be honest 80's stuff would be your best bet I would say at that budget. Pistonheads is usually a good place to look I think. I'd be tempted by a fox body mustang if I was buying again. Light for a yank and I like the boxy looks.
 
sovietspybob said:
I'd love to do that as i've been obsessed with mustangs since forever but for me doing it in the UK doesn't make financial sense as you can't exactly pop down to the local breakers yard for bits...
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You can't exactly pop down the breakers for anything else either, though. I've been running 60's Brit classics for 15 years now and I've never been able to get anything for them from breakers yards.

It used to be classified ads, owners clubs and specialists. Now the internet and a network of forums and online groups and specialists have made it much much easier to get anything. I'd also say that Mustang stuff, since it's used so heavily by the hotrodders is cheaper than most Yank stuff.

£2500 puts you right in the middle of '70s pimpin' Yanks in my opinion. Think 70's cop shows and the big-block Caddies the bad guys would be driving. Watch Dirty Harry if you need inspiration :D
 
Personally I think due to your age, you should put the money towards driving any car you can first, getting some experience and start earning some no claims bonus, as that's going to cost a fortune to start with. And leave restoring an older car to when you're older, and in full time work, restoring an old car properly, i.e. not ending up with a total and utter snotter/nail after you've poured months and years of your time in to it, and probably a high percentage of your part time job wages into it, will be diffucult. I can only imagine it would be made worse due to the price of american muscle car spare/scrap parts.
 
Also, given your age, and therefore all the other things you're likely to want to do with your time and money, dont bank on doing a major resto, like a ground-up rebuild, in 'a year or two'. Not unless you're deadly serious and prepared to give all your free time to it, or take on a project that doesn't need a great deal doing.
 
Get a British classic and restore that instead.

Cheaper to buy, easier to source parts, better support and best of all, cheap insurance for when you want to get it on the road :).
 
Joshy said:
Get a British classic and restore that instead.

Cheaper to buy, easier to source parts, better support and best of all, cheap insurance for when you want to get it on the road :).
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Yeah a Capri or TVR S2 would be a good project car
 
Not interested on driving a car at the moment as I have a bike and I would be willing to put the time and effort into it as Im not planning to rush it, it will take as long as it has to too be perfect plus my dad has always been interested in doing this kind of work so he is willing to help me out money and handywork wise :) . This wont be untill next spring/summer so I have a long time to think about this and save :D I only have £2500 in the bank at the moment and hopfully it will double to £5000 by the time I'll be on the hunt for somthing if I get some more full time work at the hoildays, just trying to get a general Idea at the moment.

I don't really like any british motors at all I like the american motors from 50's- late 70's and some 80's.


EDIT: looking on ebay maybe somthing like this or is a worse condition, im not even looking for anything thats running and I'll proberly not drive it when its finished unless im atleast 21-25 .

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ford-mustang-...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item2c5dd6f538
 
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Phate said:
Magazines is always a good place to look mate :)

Classic American my Dad used to buy :)
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Will check out my local HMV to see what they have to offer :)


Been looking at the bay US and I've seen a good few cars with a lot of potential :D

Like this... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Pont...0495QQ_trksidZp5197Q2em263QQitemZ190555236083


The only thing is shipping ect... how much would shipping cost if I valued it at £1000 and didn't mind about scraches + dents, just want to see if im looking at as even if i get the car next year it will be Sorned and off the road for the next 2-5 years.
 
There won't be much of your five grand left by the time you get it transferred from the seller to a cargo ship, get the cargo ship to the UK, paid the import clearance fees and get the car lifted from the dock to your door.

The cheapest way of shipping a car is usually RORO. Most of the cars you are looking at will not be capable of ROing or ROing! You'd need a container, which will bump the cost up tremendously.
 
As Lopez says, buy something already in this country and save yourself the considerable hassle and expense involved with importing.

As mentioned above go for something relatively unknown and unloved from the 70s or 80s. Something like this: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2599016.htm, just in a rougher state (I've seen rough but road legal ones for as little as £1,500). As soon as you start going with the obvious Mustangs and Camaros the amount of car you get for your money drops considerably
 
stiv121 said:
This...

and this...

have also caught my eye
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Unfortunately, as mentioned, by the time you've paid all the required charges (25% of your purchase price and shipping cost on top), the reality is that it's usually cheaper and easier to buy something here unless you're looking at something very rare, or special.

Let's put some perspective on it. That Mach 1 is $4,550, and lets say it's going to cost $1,500 to ship it. That's $6,050 - £3,752. So once it's landed here and cleared customs, it'll stand you £4,690 for a completely unknown car that's got 140,000 miles and has had a cheap blowover - so God knows what's underneath. You'll easily sink a grand or two into it in parts, then it's on to the metalwork......So you're up to about £7,000 already and it's still not ready to roll by any stretch.

In the UK you can buy an utterly utterly mint '71 Mach 1 (admittedly slightly different styling), with about 64,000 miles, for £10k. That's a car you could physically see, test drive, and not have to do anything with to be able to enjoy it.

Many a time have I looked at buying another Corvette from the States but because of the import charges (plus the grief of getting it registered correctly and buying something unseen) it actually works out more expensive to buy it and import it, instead of just buying one here.

Plenty of decent projects in the UK if you dig around - for example I watched a complete rolling early 70s Ford Mustang Mach 1 go for £2,000. Do be careful though - the trim, weather seals and detail bits (which are what's usually missing) can add a small fortune to the price of any project. These things rust too, as most of them haven't been cared for, so dig around carefully.

Get a copy of Custom Car, American Car World and Classic Car Weekly from Smiths, look on Rods and Sods, the NSRA forum, Mustang Owners Club, Pontiac Owners Club, Mopar Muscle Association UK, and so on, to get a grip with what's available at certain price ranges.

For my money I'd be poking around (as much as I dislike them) 80s Camaros - because at that money you'd stand to get a running and driving one that can be improved with great ease, as opposed to a rotten nail that simply becomes a moneypit that you never get to enjoy. Either that or a Fox-body Mustang, but those are quite thin on the ground.

The more period and less well-known models from the likes of AMC, Buick, Oldsmobile, Chrysler and so forth can sometimes be found quite cheaply, however, but you've got to have your head in the game to spot them and dig 'em out.
 
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