Good cars to learn about mechanics under £1000
Discussion
Hello everyone
I know this question may have been asked a few times but the only ones I can find are from about 10 years ago so wanted to see if there have been any better solutions.
What cars are best to buy to start learning about mechanics? I know a Haynes manual is a must but also what tools or books are needed from the get go?
The car doesn't have to be lightning quick but a bit of speed would be nice.
I'll be picking up as I go so any advice would be much appreciated
I know this question may have been asked a few times but the only ones I can find are from about 10 years ago so wanted to see if there have been any better solutions.
What cars are best to buy to start learning about mechanics? I know a Haynes manual is a must but also what tools or books are needed from the get go?
The car doesn't have to be lightning quick but a bit of speed would be nice.
I'll be picking up as I go so any advice would be much appreciated
Mk1 MX5.
Although, in that price range it might be quite rusty.
Quite simple mechanics and because it's an enthusiasts car, there's loads of information out there on the internet for just about every job. YouTube vids and online guides a plenty!
Also, great craic to drive.
I bought a Halfords socket & spanner kit when first starting out. It has just about everything a beginner needs.
You'll also need some axle stands & a decent trolley jack.
Although, in that price range it might be quite rusty.
Quite simple mechanics and because it's an enthusiasts car, there's loads of information out there on the internet for just about every job. YouTube vids and online guides a plenty!
Also, great craic to drive.
I bought a Halfords socket & spanner kit when first starting out. It has just about everything a beginner needs.
You'll also need some axle stands & a decent trolley jack.
I'd agree with MX-5, very simple cars to work on. More widely though I'd say go for a car which has plenty of room in the engine bay, makes things much easier when you have a clear view of what your doing and easy access to parts to work on.
Older Fords tend to be fairly easy to work on too,
Older Fords tend to be fairly easy to work on too,
Anything that isn't rusty unless you want to learn welding on a way that may hurt you or those around you.
There's an 05 MK1 Focus ST170 on autotrader at the moment for £990 that looks very clean for the money.
As for tools, if you can get yourself a Halfords trade card (not very hard) and one of their mid size or large socket sets. Then find a decent trolley jack and axle stands/bricks/blocks of wood, and probably some penetrating fluid and a wire brush if you want to actually get bolts out the bottom of an old cheap car.
Then as and when you need extra tools things buy them bit by bit.
There's an 05 MK1 Focus ST170 on autotrader at the moment for £990 that looks very clean for the money.
As for tools, if you can get yourself a Halfords trade card (not very hard) and one of their mid size or large socket sets. Then find a decent trolley jack and axle stands/bricks/blocks of wood, and probably some penetrating fluid and a wire brush if you want to actually get bolts out the bottom of an old cheap car.
Then as and when you need extra tools things buy them bit by bit.
Edited by thel33ter on Tuesday 26th November 14:47
Anything that isn't rusty unless you want to learn welding on a way that may hurt you or those around you.
There's an 05 MK1 Focus ST170 on autotrader at the moment for £990 that looks very clean for the money.
Or swing the other way and look for an old Jag/Merc/924, mid 80s car. Cheap on a classic policy and arguably easier to work on in terms of mechanical Vs electrical fault finding, but far more likely to have weird bodged fixes and expensive parts.
As for tools, if you can get yourself a Halfords trade card (not very hard) and one of their mid size or large socket sets. Then find a decent trolley jack and axle stands/bricks/blocks of wood, and probably some penetrating fluid and a wire brush if you want to actually get bolts out the bottom of an old cheap car.
Then as and when you need extra tools things buy them bit by bit.
There's an 05 MK1 Focus ST170 on autotrader at the moment for £990 that looks very clean for the money.
Or swing the other way and look for an old Jag/Merc/924, mid 80s car. Cheap on a classic policy and arguably easier to work on in terms of mechanical Vs electrical fault finding, but far more likely to have weird bodged fixes and expensive parts.
As for tools, if you can get yourself a Halfords trade card (not very hard) and one of their mid size or large socket sets. Then find a decent trolley jack and axle stands/bricks/blocks of wood, and probably some penetrating fluid and a wire brush if you want to actually get bolts out the bottom of an old cheap car.
Then as and when you need extra tools things buy them bit by bit.
Edited by thel33ter on Tuesday 26th November 14:51
Flinders124 said:
Also with mx-5s generally rusting what's the best way to check for that?
Mk1'sThe most prone bits are the rear sills and arches. Drain holes get blocked and water collects and rusts the sills from the inside out. Most have been repaired, or will need repaired. Completely original/ non rusty ones are rare now. A few good vids on YouTube on what to look for.
Mk2's
The Chassis rails are the worst bits and expensive and difficult to repair. These are much harder to check without getting it up in the air on a ramp.
The problem as i see it is to learn you will need a car that breaks a lot. You probably wont learn a lot on a car built in the last 20 years as they don't really break often. Might be better off building a kit car as you will learn about stuff then. Or buy a car and take it apart for fun, then see if you can get it back together. Always have more than one car as working on a car you need for work tomorrow is a pain in the a**e.
ARHarh said:
The problem as i see it is to learn you will need a car that breaks a lot. You probably wont learn a lot on a car built in the last 20 years as they don't really break often. Might be better off building a kit car as you will learn about stuff then. Or buy a car and take it apart for fun, then see if you can get it back together. Always have more than one car as working on a car you need for work tomorrow is a pain in the a**e.
You can always replace old but serviceable parts on a lot of these suggested cars. Shocks are likely to be past their best on these cars (but will pass an MOT), so you could go about replacing them. While you're at it, replace springs which look a bit crusty too. Though I'd suggest OP starts on smaller jobs that they feel comfortable with (changing oil/general service, then look at brakes etc etc) and build up from there 
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