Potential Project Cars

[OllyChanot]

Hi

Not sure if right forum but I am looking to get involved in the project car world and my skills are more on the beginner side I have started to do some mods on other peoples cars and would love to give it a go.

The ideal would be a MX5 MK1 (only because of amount of videos online) but wanted to see if anyone can recommend good project Cars to start with. Very new in this world so sorry if very vague!

[MDUBZ]

Sorry I’m having a slow day.


What experience do you have, have you got garage space, tools etc. do you want to be playing around with carbs, as something older with plenty of room to work in under the bonnet etc might be good to start with. Something like an mx5 or an mg as parts can be sourced easily and they have big communities to offer support.

Edit: what sort of project? A runner with a few suspension/engine bits to do or a non runner rebuild / engine swap project?

Edited by MDUBZ on Monday 4th January 15:58

[ARHarh]

Real Mini, anything classic ford would be my choices as there are loads of stuff available and loads of people on YouTube and the internet ready to help.

Or a kit car if you don't like welding.

Even then i would probably go the MX5 route

[TREMAiNE]

An MX-5 is one of the best project cars for a beginner, though a MK2 is probably a better option - they're typically cheaper and very similar underneath.

I can't really see a better project car for that price point really.

[donkmeister]

OllyChanot said:

The ideal would be a MX5 MK1 (only because of amount of videos online)

You've hit the nail on the head here; to be more general about it, for a project car you ideally want something with a large knowledgebase that you can tap into. MX-5s are good for this. Another good shout is MG TF; there's a very good workshop manual available, there's a good amount of knowledge in the members of online forums, there's various videos on YouTube including a guy currently doing a nuts and bolts rebuild on one.

I'd say the MX-5 has the benefit of being easier to work on though; anything mid-engined is a faff. Plus there's specialist breakers for MX-5s (there used to be one in Graveley, Herts that was well regarded).

If you go to an online enthusiasts forum for the car and find it's people asking about how to do questionable mods and very little information on "how to solve this problem" or "how to service that part" then it's not going to be a good shout.

[aaron_2000]

I've had a few fun project cars through 2020 as a beginner with no mechanical experience:

A couple of Imprezas
205 GTI
W220 S320
Ford Sierra 2.3d
E46 320d
Alhambra camper
And a freshly bought Peugeot 405


The first Impreza had an STI engine in it, I paid £800 for it and did a few jobs. It was an absolute pleasure to work on, I then killed the rear diff on a hard drive followed by the centre diff, then the bottom end went a day later. I got £1100 scrap for it and bought another.

The second Impreza was absolutely awful to work on, it had a constant misfire that I couldn't diagnose so I let a trader take it for peanuts. If you get an Impreza, get one that's running right would be my advice. They're wonderful to work on but can be very tricky to diagnose

205 GTI was a great project to work on, but if you plan on using it then I'd go more for an 80's Ford Escort as they're cheaper.

The W220's are great cars, rock solid reliability and great to work on. It was a learning curve working on the air suspension but there's a tonne of guides, it's very simple to do when you get into it.

Ford Sierra was probably my favourite, still a solid daily and still sat happily at 80/90 despite being a 60bhp diesel. I recommend one and they make great cheap RWD projects

Any E46 would make a good cheap project, just avoid the 4 pot petrols as they're underpowered and unreliable. 320d/330d and 325i/330i are the ones to go for. Avoid the auto box unless it's on the 330d

I set about converting an Alhambra into a camper, it was a 1.9TDI which I lost £700 working on after the bottom end blew 15 miles into a new turbo. I don't rate 1.9 TDI's that highly as projects, they're not that fun to work on

My current project is a 405, needs a few bits but should be another fun one.

[Pig benis]

I hate to be a kill joy here, but do you really want a project car?

Most project cars always start with good intentions, maybe too good?? And always end up costing way more than originally thought, that money always ends up being spent elsewhere (on a house / kids etc) and said project car finds its way onto eBay, or worse, FB market place.

I've seen this time and time again, and am guilty of it myself.

Are you sure you don't want a car which someone else has spent the money on?

Sorry to be a negative newt

[aaron_2000]

All of them were worked on on the street with a wide range of tools at hand. A good spanner kit and screwdriver kit, a breaker bar/torque wrench, a few hammers and some releasing fluid is really all you need on a light project though.

[Challo]

Pig benis said:

I hate to be a kill joy here, but do you really want a project car?

Most project cars always start with good intentions, maybe too good?? And always end up costing way more than originally thought, that money always ends up being spent elsewhere (on a house / kids etc) and said project car finds its way onto eBay, or worse, FB market place.

I've seen this time and time again, and am guilty of it myself.

Are you sure you don't want a car which someone else has spent the money on?

Sorry to be a negative newt

I echo you comments. I have a project Mini R55 that I have been doing up, but keep spending money on it.

I would look for a car your interested in to keep long term, and use that as a project. Perhaps one that can be modded, or customised.

[PrinceRupert]

I just did the same thing and bought a project car, amateur mechanic with a driveway and some tools but no skills. See my reader's ride thread for the trials and tribulations of dismantling an old car and struggling to get it back together. My tip would be to carefully bag up parts with tools so you can work out which bolt goes where, and get ready to battle with rusted bolts (that then snap)...

I bought a Peugeot 205. Parts are dirt cheap (30 quid for front discs, 50 quid for a radiator, etc)., insurance is dirt cheap, the engine bay is cavernous and everything appears simple mechanically. Big bonus is they do not appear to rust significantly (disadvantage is it seems few are watertight, mine certainly isn't, perhaps avoid sunroof models...). You will struggle to find a cheap MX-5 that is not rotten. Avoiding rotboxes was my number one goal of a project car as I wasn't intending to learn to weld.

[ZX10R NIN]

When you say project car what do you actually want to do with your project?

[Haltamer]

ZX10R NIN said:

When you say project car what do you actually want to do with your project?

This would be the big question to me. It's the sort of thing that would come to you, rather than be picked from a list - No point buying a project Mx5 if you want to take up off roading (Unless you're feeling ambitious )