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TheSmiler |
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TheSmiler World Chat Champion
Joined: 14 Apr 2011 Karma :
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Posted: 09:10 - 15 Mar 2018 Post subject: Anyone ever gone into modifying cars ? |
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I'm pulling in as many hours as possible at the moment to get a 1970s vw beetle (pay in cash); save getting a loan. However I was looking at a few ebay items today and wondered about doing a car as a project. Getting an old styled car, putting a newer motor into it upgrading the lighting system.
If anyone has gone into it before is it worth it, fancy it myself just for the experience and learning the skills. Is there anything you would suggest looking into or reading up on.
Note I wont be actually buying these; however these were the two ebay links:
Rat rod
Car number 2 ____________________ CB125>CG125>GN125>ER5>K100RS>R1100RS>K100RS
A2 completed 23/07/15 Ready for the Golden Crisp Packet |
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grr666 |
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grr666 Super Spammer
Joined: 16 Jun 2014 Karma :
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Posted: 09:12 - 15 Mar 2018 Post subject: |
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Ah, that kind of modifying. In that case, nope. I know a bloke back home that enjoys littering his front garden with several
partially functional cars. To my knowledge, he's yet to finish a project to MOT standard. ____________________ Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
Ste wrote: Avatars are fine, it's signatures that need turning off. |
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Holdawayt |
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Holdawayt Trackday Trickster
Joined: 27 Jul 2015 Karma :
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- Super Spammer
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Rogerborg |
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Rogerborg nimbA
Joined: 26 Oct 2010 Karma :
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Posted: 11:03 - 15 Mar 2018 Post subject: Re: Anyone ever gone into modifying cars ? |
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TheSmiler wrote: | a 1970s vw beetle |
Is there any point in telling you that they're rotten, unreliable, slow, horrible to drive and expensive to maintain pieces of crap that flux out faster than a CBF125?
And that was 20 years ago, when Brother Borg had one and I made the mistake of helping him keep it on the road.
In $CURRENT_YEAR, I shudder to think what you'd have to pay for an actual runner, or to get a "90% restored" one through an MOT and keep it going.
The heart wants what the heart wants though. ____________________ Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike |
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B5234FT |
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B5234FT Brolly Dolly
Joined: 28 Sep 2009 Karma :
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MarJay |
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MarJay But it's British!
Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Karma :
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grr666 |
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grr666 Super Spammer
Joined: 16 Jun 2014 Karma :
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Posted: 11:52 - 15 Mar 2018 Post subject: |
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Some 'New' shape beetles are 22+ years young now. Just saying. ____________________ Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
Ste wrote: Avatars are fine, it's signatures that need turning off. |
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G The Voice of Reason
Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :
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rpsmith79 |
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rpsmith79 World Chat Champion
Joined: 31 Jan 2017 Karma :
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Posted: 12:27 - 15 Mar 2018 Post subject: |
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I've not done the kind of modifying you mention in the OP, but my brother has, and still is doing this sort of stuff
His latest project is a classic Beetle with a heavily tuned Subaru Impreza engine in the back (350 odd bhp i seem to recall), full roll cage and fibre glass front end
It's a bit lairy to say the least
He also has 2 other classic beetles as run arounds, and an Audi 80 Coupe Quattro as his daily
But like Rog pointed out, most of them aren't running most of the time, by the time he has one running correctly, one of the others needs work................... but his justification is they don't need tax and won't need MOT's soon, so he's saving a fortune on running a modern day reliable car ____________________ Current Bike: Honda CG125 ES4 // Honda CB600FS Hornet // Triumph Street Triple R |
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Rogerborg |
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Rogerborg nimbA
Joined: 26 Oct 2010 Karma :
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Pjay |
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Pjay World Chat Champion
Joined: 18 Jan 2016 Karma :
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Posted: 14:40 - 15 Mar 2018 Post subject: |
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I rebuilt a 1972 VW Beetle in 1990. I virtually replaced the complete electrical system. I even added an electric pump to the water washer, as that was powered from the spare originally.
Mechanically it was pretty sound and the engine only needed cleaning up and new oil and plugs.
It was an expensive thing to do, even with my own labour being free, but I made a decent profit when I sold it. I'm not sure you can make a living from it though. You'd really need to make £4-5k a month profit, so that means turning cars around pretty fast, or less cars for bigger money. My guess is that you're not looking to buy/sell in the 50-100k range, so the turn around is the key. Work out how much you can afford to put into a car and how long it will take you to draw a profit. Lots of projects stall because they have become money pits. You want to ensure you can earn money. The moment the car starts costing you money, is the moment you need to break it for parts.
Do your costings, they wont even be close to being right, but they will show you that profits are low on car restorations, unless you specialise in something that people are willing to part £££ for. ____________________ struan80 - I'll go first - satisfied tick 1 |
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TheSmiler |
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TheSmiler World Chat Champion
Joined: 14 Apr 2011 Karma :
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Posted: 16:54 - 15 Mar 2018 Post subject: |
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Cheers for the replies it's not about making money; its about the experience doing it yourself and having fun along the way. Wouldn't mind it lasting 10 years to finish. I've started over payments on the mortgage from next month which means that will finish in 16 years (all going well). Then I'll be dropping down to part time hours.
Personally I've been looking into older cars especially that 4.5k rat rod because I like the styling. But the idea was to put a modern engine in to make it more reliable, upgrade the electrics and brakes. That's basically it. To be honest I've not looked into kit cars; don't really fancy one as a project. Bit like my bike I like to know every nut and bolt of the vehicle.
The reason behind the beetle is it's the cheapest car to insure for me. Even if it's left at the side of the road the maximum I would lose is just a tad more than the insurance cost when selling it after one year. *
(*Beetle car price £3.5k insurance 1.5k everything else 3.5k on insurance. That's with 3 points and two none fault claims.) ____________________ CB125>CG125>GN125>ER5>K100RS>R1100RS>K100RS
A2 completed 23/07/15 Ready for the Golden Crisp Packet |
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G The Voice of Reason
Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :
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TheSmiler |
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TheSmiler World Chat Champion
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P. |
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P. Red Rocket
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MarJay |
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MarJay But it's British!
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Hong Kong Phooey |
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Hong Kong Phooey World Chat Champion
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cresad |
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cresad Nova Slayer
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Shaft |
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Shaft World Chat Champion
Joined: 27 Dec 2010 Karma :
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Posted: 23:45 - 15 Mar 2018 Post subject: |
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One aphorism springs to mind - the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
The kind of people who are successful at completing projects, don't ask web forums if it's a good idea, they have the innate confidence to get on with it and realise their vision. ____________________ Things get better with age; I'm close to being magnificent........
20 RE Interceptor, 83 Z1100A3, 83 GS650 Katana
WooHoo, I'm a Man Point Millionaire! https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=234035 |
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Hong Kong Phooey |
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Hong Kong Phooey World Chat Champion
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WD Forte |
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WD Forte World Chat Champion
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TheSmiler |
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TheSmiler World Chat Champion
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P. |
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P. Red Rocket
Joined: 14 Feb 2008 Karma :
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Posted: 08:01 - 16 Mar 2018 Post subject: |
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A K100 that's been taken from a non rideable state to rideable is great, but not anywhere close to building a car.
I built a bandit 600 from a box, I'd Not consider myself anywhere near ready to even swap a car engine. |
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Polarbear |
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Polarbear Super Spammer
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Old Thread Alert!
The last post was made 6 years, 83 days ago. Instead of replying here, would creating a new thread be more useful? |
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