Good, cheap car to learn spannering on

[funkyrobot]

As per the title, I'm after a cheap and easy car to develop my mechanic skills with. I've got to a point where I'm really cheesed off with myself because I'm too scared to touch anything mechanical on my current car (Mazda 3).

I currently have zero skills and zero confidence about doing anything remotely mechanical. It's quite frankly embarrassing and means I have to pay people to fix things. I really want to change this.

So, PH, what is the best way to get stuck in and learn some new skills? I have drive space for a vehicle and a garage to fit plenty of tools in. I have a shed budget too.

Thanks all.

[funkyrobot]

Thanks all.

Budget will be decided in a few weeks, but it'll be under a thousand. Will look into the relevant vehicle's owner clubs etc.

Will an MX5 accommodate someone who is 6 ft 4in tall?

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Vaud said:

Varies. Depends on leg length, etc. Go sit in one....

Will do. Leg length is around 35 inches. Gut width is the main concern.

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MagnaJeep said:

Buy an old Alfa, a proper one with rwd, you'll become a master mechanic in no time.
To increase the speed of acquiring skills simply increase the amount of old italian cars. Alfasud or Alfa 75 cheap enough in the UK?

I thought the whole unreliable Alfa thing was a hoax, but I was proven very wrong
when my father decided to buy two at the same time. In the very rare occasion we drove them, we tried to guess what kind of hilarious fault would appear next.

There is currently a 155 2.0 twin spark near me. It's on eBay at just over 500 notes at the moment.

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KM666 said:

Anything late 80s or 90s with a feul injected sohc 8v, a joy to work on. You can almost stand inside a 90s 1.4 seat ibiza's engine bay.

Sounds good. Thanks.

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MG CHRIS said:

Im 6ft 4 and fit in fine a flat bottom steering wheel helps though oh and mk2 onwards will struggle mk1 are fine for me. But it depends on where you height is in your body.

Mx5 cheap to buy and repair parts are easy to get hold of and plenty of people around to help if you get stuck. Also can try out welding as they do like to rust.

I'll take a look. I already have a Mazda, so would be interesting to get something from the same stable.

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MarshPhantom said:

Merc 124

Wow. That would be great. Always like the look of them on the barge and bargain basement threads.

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rallycross said:

Vauxhall Omega
sub £1k you will get a really nice example
fairly easy to work on, load of advice on maintenance off the owners forum, and a big tough old thing to learn how to fix it your self.

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?board=1...

And they are surprisingly good to drive, much like a 5 series for a third of the price.

Thanks. They do seem to get good write-ups on the barge threads

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MarshPhantom said:

There are loads around for next to no money. I have a coupe, they are fairly easy to work on and all bits available.

ETA = have a drive of one, they are different class

Edited by MarshPhantom on Friday 14th March 22:49

I do love the look of them. Must see of there is anything local.

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mike-r said:

Had a little MK4 Fiesta not long since and bits for that were cheap as anything, which if you're learning spannering is a good thing.

I remember I timed myself changing front discs, 22 minutes from wheels up to down and £15 lighter for the pair. They were like someone cut a beer mat into a circle. Serviced it for about £30 too IIRC.

Nice. 22 minutes isn't long. What level of mechanical skill do you have though?

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Axionknight said:

Get a Volvo 850 T5, a big, practical car and easy to work on, plenty of forums and sources of information out there to help you when you get stuck too.

Plus it's reasonably quick for such a big barge, surprises a few folk off of the lights!

Another barge that I like the look of. I wonder where this is going.

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carmadgaz said:

Go take a look at this weeks SOTW

200/300 TDi Defender or Discovery?

A work colleague of mine built a defender from the ground up. He said to me the other day that I should maybe start with a Landy as they are quite modular vehicles and good to work on.

[funkyrobot]

mike-r said:

funkyrobot said:

mike-r said:

Had a little MK4 Fiesta not long since and bits for that were cheap as anything, which if you're learning spannering is a good thing.

I remember I timed myself changing front discs, 22 minutes from wheels up to down and £15 lighter for the pair. They were like someone cut a beer mat into a circle. Serviced it for about £30 too IIRC.

Nice. 22 minutes isn't long. What level of mechanical skill do you have though?

None! Discs is wheels off and two bolts to whip off the caliper really. If you have a bit of common sense, some tools, and the motivation then most small jobs can be done fairly easily. I don't know anyone that can change oil or even would if they knew how, a sad state of affairs.

That's where I am at the moment and I don't like it. I'm simply too scared to touch anything on my current car as I need it for work. I thought taking the time and effort to learn on something will be well worth it.

[funkyrobot]

Thanks for the advice all. I've been away from PH for the weekend and am really pleased with all of the info above.

I'm going to sit down at some point today and take it all in. Thanks again.

Oh yes, I know this may sound really sad to some on here, but I bought my first Haynes manual the other day. I think my fiancee has a problem with a coolant temperature sensor on her Polo, so I'm going to see if I can replace it.

Also, does anyone know which tools to buy? I have a local Halfords and have noticed that they do Halfords Advanced Professional sets of spanners, ratchets etc. Are these worth a punt?

I'm also going to scour ebay to see what I can pick up second hand. No need to go mad just yet.

Car search has begun too.

Edited to add - what about things like Axle stands too? Are they suitable to be placed on a gravel yard (I guess I could source some strong bases for them)? Also, where is the ideal place to prop them under a vehicle? I'm guessing something like a chassis rail or some other suitably safe place.

I've seen that it's a good idea to also place the jack that comes with the car under it too and any wheels that have been removed. Safety first.

Edited by funkyrobot on Monday 17th March 08:45

[funkyrobot]

mwstewart said:

Why not get a scrap car/MOT failure?

Good idea.

I was fortunate enough to move to a house in September with a driveway/yard at the front and a garage. This now means I can leave a project on the front.

My fiancee is a bit wary though. Understandably, she has said she doesn't want rusty old heaps clogging the driveway up. As if I would buy anything that rusty!

[funkyrobot]

DJP said:

Axionknight said:

Get a Volvo 850 T5, a big, practical car and easy to work on, plenty of forums and sources of information out there to help you when you get stuck too.

Plus it's reasonably quick for such a big barge, surprises a few folk off of the lights!

This^^. Or a classic model V70.

Piece of piss to work on and the quality of the components means that you get relatively few of the seized/rusted fasteners that are commonplace on most other cars.

I would love a Volvo. As mentioned above; big and practical cars. Would have room for the baby seat and associated gubbins too. Could sell that idea to my fiancee.

I think that if a big old barge turned up on the drive she would be ok as she likes big cars too.

[funkyrobot]

rb5er said:

Japanese and German car parts can be expensive.

If you literally just want to learn I would consider something cheap with cheap parts like a fiesta.

If you want something that you can turn into a project though and have fun with the resulting car then I think perhaps a Japanese car or a classic car is the way to go.

Edited by rb5er on Saturday 15th March 15:10

There is an old Mitsubishi of some kind parked up on my route into work. Noticed it this morning. I think it's a Carisma or something like that and it has a price of £650 in the window. Could be worth a look and a haggle if the parts aren't too bad.

Not the most desirable vehicle, but could be something cheap to get started on.

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DubZeus said:

Micra k11, bought mine £170 & it has a timing chain so less to stress about

Plenty of when whizzing around with takeaways on the passenger seats. Cheap fixing of these cars could be a lucrative business for the fast food industry.

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Riley Blue said:

funkyrobot said:

So, PH, what is the best way to get stuck in and learn some new skills? I have drive space for a vehicle and a garage to fit plenty of tools in. I have a shed budget too.

Does your local college run evening courses on car maintenance? If so, that's a good place to start. When I went to evening classes I could even take my own car in to work on.

Noticed yesterday that a local college have their car workshop around the corner from where I live. I'll take a look.

[funkyrobot]

FatSumo said:

Wish you had posted this two weeks ago, I'd have given you my FTO rather than scrapped it

Wow. Thanks. Missed it though.