Do I continue or move on?

[little_daz]

OK, so after a winter of deliberation, I'm at a crossroads with the project 5.
The shell needs inner and outer sills, but is generally sound, so that's not too bad, but as I bought it as a sort of non-runner with bits missing every where I'm not sure whether to just buy a runner and strip this one, or whether to try to fix it up.
The main thing I'm worried about is what I'm missing, but don't know about. Because it had already started to be stripped this is why I'm not sure what is not there. Also the door hinge has been cut off the shell, so I don't know whether I can weld a new hinge on to the shell, or if it may cause me trouble in the future.

I need some inspiration, or do I just spend like £1000-1500 on a runner and tidy it up.

Any thoughts?

[little_daz]

Also thought about getting a campus as a donor car for silly bits like trim and clips etc, then just trying to make a good runner out of the 2.

[Tony Walker]

Depends on your final plan really. Do you want a tatty track sl*g niceish daily commuter or show winning minter?

[little_daz]

I'm planning on factory standard show car, so I'm thinking just spend longer on the one that I have otherwise I might just end up in the same boat as now. I think it's just a case of when the weather picks up assess what needs to be done to this one and weigh it up then.

[chris]

you aint to far away from me if you wanted to you could come take some photos of mine i have stripped my interior and body kit off and i am doing my sills at the moment but otherwise its complete so shoul give you an idea wat ur missing if thats any help

[J$£5GTT]

I'm planning on factory standard show car, so I'm thinking just spend longer on the one that I have otherwise I might just end up in the same boat as now. I think it's just a case of when the weather picks up assess what needs to be done to this one and weigh it up then.

well be prepared to have lots of £££££'s then.
go for it or think hmmmmm maybe i will go an do some travelling instead.
:D

[Haz]

My opinion is that you can either spend the money and buy the car you want, or buy one cheaper and spend the same amount as you slowly do it up, if your happy to class your time as free, but will spend more if you need to pay someone to do the work you can't do, but if you don't know your way round the car well enough then how can you know what the cheaper one would cost to get it the same as the more expensive minters, but in most cases, more. So with that in mind go and see a good few cars and buy the best one you can afford ;)

[TNT Tricky Nicky]

if it's just the sills that need doing carry on, any 5 you buy now will probably need some attention to the sills so you might as well replace the whole inner and outers and not have to worry about them for a long time.

door hinge is a tricky one but shouldn't be hard to get a replacement as at least 3 people on here are scrapping 5s and they normal go with the shell, it could also be a good place to get nut's bolts and brackets that might be missing

even if you just get the shell solid it'll be worth while as most people are in the same boat so if you decide to sell up it will be easier to sell helping towards the cost of a more complete car

[little_daz]

you aint to far away from me if you wanted to you could come take some photos of mine i have stripped my interior and body kit off and i am doing my sills at the moment but otherwise its complete so shoul give you an idea wat ur missing if thats any help

Thanks for the offer Chris. I might get in touch when the weather picks up.


well be prepared to have lots of £££££'s then.
go for it or think hmmmmm maybe i will go an do some travelling instead.
:D

I don't mind spending the money, it's just a case of what's the best method of doing it.


My opinion is that you can either spend the money and buy the car you want, or buy one cheaper and spend the same amount as you slowly do it up, if your happy to class your time as free, but will spend more if you need to pay someone to do the work you can't do, but if you don't know your way round the car well enough then how can you know what the cheaper one would cost to get it the same as the more expensive minters, but in most cases, more. So with that in mind go and see a good few cars and buy the best one you can afford ;)

I see what you're saying, but I wouldn't spend £3-4k on a minter (yes this project will probably cost this, but it's spread out). I can think of lots of other cars I could buy with that. The 5 is my toy to re-live my mis spent youth :D The only thing I will need doing is having the car painted. I could do this myself, but don't have the equipment or room, but I'll do the prep myself. I used to work on 5's when I was a mechanic so it's not too unfamiliar but never had to rebuild one like this.
My first car was an RS Turbo that I stripped to a shell and had painted, then rebuilt as a show car. But I was younger then and didn't have time consuming things like a business and family :wasntme:


if it's just the sills that need doing carry on, any 5 you buy now will probably need some attention to the sills so you might as well replace the whole inner and outers and not have to worry about them for a long time.

door hinge is a tricky one but shouldn't be hard to get a replacement as at least 3 people on here are scrapping 5s and they normal go with the shell, it could also be a good place to get nut's bolts and brackets that might be missing

even if you just get the shell solid it'll be worth while as most people are in the same boat so if you decide to sell up it will be easier to sell helping towards the cost of a more complete car

You know what I'm going to carry on. I think I was just moaning out loud. I don't think it helps not being able to do anything because of the weather! I'll probably do like you say and do the inner and outer sills. That way it's done.

The hinges scare the living daylights out of me. I know why it was done, but I don't know how exactly to fix it. I recon getting a campus may be the best option, or like you say ask someone who's scrapping one to cut them out.

The shell is a lot better than some I've seen on here. Yeah the sills are rotten and the windscreen is hanging out, but it's pretty solid on the inner wings, boot floor, front panel etc. etc.
The quarter is full of filler, but that's fixable. It just needs grinding out, beating out and sorting.

The engine has all sorts of bits missing, but I'm guessing once I get that far I'll just ask for some reference photos to work from.

I feel a bit happier now, just need to do one job at a time rather than trying to do everything at once.

Cheers for the replies

[Tony Walker]

i think the first step is to focus on getting it solid/rust free, this is probably where most of your time will be spent, the rest is just tarting it up :D lol
And keep a good record on what uve done. my pictures were all too bad to see lol stupid old camera phones.

[Brigsy]

If your handy with a welder go for it mate :)

[Ashy]

Shameless plug but if you need inner sills ;)

CLICK HERE (http://www.rtoc.org/boards/showthread.php?t=23599)

[little_daz]

i think the first step is to focus on getting it solid/rust free, this is probably where most of your time will be spent, the rest is just tarting it up :D lol
And keep a good record on what uve done. my pictures were all too bad to see lol stupid old camera phones.

I like your thinking Tony. I agree, once I have a solid base then getting an engine in and running is pretty much a case of which but goes where and then tarting it up :D I like that!


If your handy with a welder go for it mate :)

I'm sure I will be by the end of it!


Shameless plug but if you need inner sills ;)

CLICK HERE (http://www.rtoc.org/boards/showthread.php?t=23599)

No need to worry Ashy, I'll be using your inner sills as they seem to be designed for morons like me who can't weld.

I had an angle grinder for xmas (I know strange but useful present from my old man) so I'll be cutting out the sill to see what's what, but I'll probably just do all of it, that way I'll never have to patch it up in future!

[dangerous dave]

Mines been welded and should be in paint after the quotes are in.. It's effort and money but while these cars get fewer and fewer ill still have mine representing the east stains massive.