Full car respray..

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Discussion

Futuramic

1,763 posts

204 months

Tuesday 14th April 2009
quotequote all
Utterly Clueless said:
M3CD said:
Utterly Clueless said:
Jonny671 said:
Theres nothing wrong with RWD cars.. Aslong as you remember their basically pushing the car along, rather than dragging it along.

MX5s are fun thats for sure.. Definately biggrin
MX5's may be great fun but i need practicality frown

Still im sure a straight 6 will help restore some of the fun factor.
If you're talking e46 then the straight six started at 325i from memory. Others were the four pots.
Im looking at E30's and E36's and the 320's were 6 cylinder 12 valve M50 engines
To bo honest I wouldn't consider either in your situation. I have run 80s cars as daily drivers since I started driving, I love them and currently own two, but they break. Quite regularly.

My Volvo is supremely well engineered, and I wouldn't have another car in its place. However it is very, very old and like anything else mechanical it is beginning to wear out. Cars are only built to survive a certain number of years, running them beyond that is possible, but it is uneconomical. I have spent more than the car is worth keeping it alive; whether through eccenticity or a desire to preserve the past I don't know. What I do know is that even the best old car will let you down, simply because of the fact that it is old.

When it does prepare to enter a world of pain. That of parts availability and prices. BMW are quite good at this, as are Volvo, but be prepared to visit your main dealer for servicing bits as few third parties make the bits any more. These bits are expensive.

TO put it into perspective, I have needed to spend: £200 on a new fuel pump and injector service, £90 on a new crank pulley and balancing procedure, £40 (ish) on a cambelt tensioner roller, £8 on a Volvo cambelt, £25 replacing headlamp wipers, £10 on getting the windscreen washers working, £30 (ish) on gas struts for the boot. And a few other odds and sods. I carried out all work myself, excluding the injection service and crank pulley balancing. It was easy, but the cambelt change was scary as it is an interference engine.

That's a lot of money on a £250 car. Mine is immaculate and has had one previous owner. My experience of cheap cars, and I've had a few, is to steer well clear of what appears to be a bargain. As yourself "Why is it so cheap?". If it is an undesirable car, then fair enough, but if it is a higher end model that is mysteriously cheaper than other; comparable ones then stay clear. There is going to be something wrong.

I'd say stay away from premium machinery. You describe your financial situation as perilous, and running an old car presents numerous, hidden expenses, adding expensive parts to the recipe will create a disaster. Get some driving experience, and learn to walk before you can run.

You state that you are interested in learning about mechanics. Good. So get yourself a Nissan Sunny 1.6. They go fairly well, autograssers love the things, and you can learn the basics of keeping an old car going; tuning carbs, bleeding brakes, fiddling with dizzy caps and leads etc. without the difficulties of complexity and expensive spares.