Help me decide on a hobby car

Ultra_Extreme

Ultra_Extreme

Ultra_Extreme

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22 Aug 2004
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Ok im drivin a 306. but i want a hobby car to do up whilst i earn some no claims. it needs to be fast, sleek, attainable and very desirable. i want it for under £500 and am not overly fussed on anything except bodywork. Im looking at 3 years to fix it up and about 8k in total cost. i like the look of old skool chargers. gimmie your best.
 
Unfortunatley, you won't get a charger for £500... thats if where on abot the same cars...

An old school english car is the way forward..

Best thing is to get some classic car mags (if you wan't classic) and look though the ads for what you can afford..
 
You could easily pick up a project 1500/1850/Sprint for that kind of money.

Hell, you'll even get one that's tax'd and test'd for that money, although the bodywork or mechanicals might be a bit ropey!...but you'd be surpised how many solid cars you can find for less than that - I spotted a nice, sound 1850 in BRG being sold by a gentleman owner for 50 quid in a local rag...

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Enough from me

Look very agressive de-bumpred. Standard Sprint engine is 127BHP (under-read from the factory), potential to ~220 reliably. Standard 1850 engine is 91BHP, with up to 150BHP availiable. IF you go for the 1500 or 1300, they can tune up to 120BHP and are hillariously revvy engines.

Bear in mind that the 1300, 1500, 1850's and Sprints are all rear-wheel drive with a 4 speed / 4 speed manual overdrive (6 gears in effect, with potential for 7). Only the FWD's are ...FWD...

They're not as "common" as the fords, are more interesting, with nicer interiors, better handling as default and more power. There is a host of aftermarket tuning parts, body addons, alloy wheels, interior alterations, and reliable, next day parts suppliers.
 
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You might want to learn some bodywork skills, otherwise you will be paying over the top prices for solid cars that may not be what they seem.

Another good idea is to have a clear goal of what you want from the car and the project in general.

Plan everything and set regular goals to keep yourself on track and working on the right parts of the car.
Its far to easy to spend a day installing new bucket seats when your headgasket is gone.
 
Ultra_Extreme said:
it needs to be fast, sleek, attainable and very desirable. i want it for under £500
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What is it about expectations and this forum?

'I want everything and I want to pay nothing'

If something is 'very desirable' it isn't going to cost 500 quid, especially if you are fussed about bodywork becuase there cannot be many mechanical wrecks with perfect bodywork out there.
 
[TW]Fox said:
If something is 'very desirable' it isn't going to cost 500 quid, especially if you are fussed about bodywork becuase there cannot be many mechanical wrecks with perfect bodywork out there.
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even worse than that, lots of people can fix engines. sterring ect (mechanics) but rpaiting body work is very hard (as I've found out). complicated shapes are danm hard to weld..
 
mk1/2 Escort, Capri, XR2 Fiesta any old Ford as already said makes a nice project.

Id stick an Escort RST engine in an XR2 myself, its been done a million times but its because its easy and give you a lot of power for it weight, all you need is all the running gear from an RST. you can get an MOT failure/stolen, recovered/rust bucket for next to nothing and a conversion kit from the fiesta centre, im pretty sure its under £100 and it will just slide right in. They also do a rear brake disc conversion for £200 and fully adjustable suspension for around the same price, done over time and doing it yourself you will learn so much it makes the money worth it imo.
 
He wants something Fast, Sleek and Very Desireable. This does not describe an old Ford Fiesta. It describes something majestic like an old Aston, an old Charger like Acid Hells, classic Jag, something like that.

Something which, as Acid will tell you, is not going to happen for 500 quid.
 
An idea on charger prices..
69 charger rolling shell no id £3,500
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That is the most desirable year but gives you an idea...

Mine cost £2500K but needs a hell of a lot of weilding and some electrical work..

(I'm have a look though a few websites, see if theres anything sub a grand)

Well unfortunatley you won't get any sort of mopar or mopar era car for 500.
You can get some in america for around £500 but they'll need a lot of work, but that'll cost a smidgen over 1k in shipping then tax ad duty..
 
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Wht not build a ratrod hotrod? You can pick up many many different barnfind 1930s and 1940s British motors for £500. Then you can apply traditional hotrod methods: juice the brakes, chop the roof, channel the body, box and Z the frame. It would be damn cool and come in way under £8K in total.

Engine wise you can either look for period speed equipment for the original (cheap and fun) put in a more modern but still classic engine (like say a B series) or go the whole hog with a dressed up flathead V8 from a Pilot.

Keep it simple and it'll stay fun, people often make the mistake of getting too serious with their projects and the fun side drops out of it.
 
What about an MGB? You could probably pick something up with half decent bodwork for £500, and there's loads of info on the web about restoring them.

Not that fast, but I'm sure I've read somewhere you can shoehorn a Rover V8 in them?
 
Jonny69 said:
Keep it simple and it'll stay fun, people often make the mistake of getting too serious with their projects and the fun side drops out of it.
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:D Hell Yeah - nearly cost me my marriage..... definatley do something thats within a reasonable budget and dont start upping the spec after your original choice.... going fast = MUCH money!!!
 
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