Anyone ever gone into modifying cars ?

[Rogerborg]

[Holdawayt]

[grr666]

Sounds like you're bored outside of work Sammy. Maybe a mechanics course evening classes at the local college?
It will all come in handy and you'll start to develop a social circle away from work. Alternatively, go on the pull.
Once theres a woman involved you'll be saying goodbye to any hobbies you might have, in my experience they
don't like competing for your attention against things you actually enjoy doing. I was in a band when I met Mrs grr.
Was being the operative word. It's been 17 years now since I was in a band, pretty much long enough to have
forgotten how to play.
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Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
Ste wrote: Avatars are fine, it's signatures that need turning off.

[B5234FT]

To be fair to all the non car people on here, I totally get the attraction and Im currently busy shoving a four litre v8 into a 1985 BMW E30.

Dont be put off completely, just do your research in advance.

[stevo as b4]

Agree with pretty much all that's been said here.
Smiler, if you have a written off K100 then consider building a Grinnal scorpion with it, at least you'll have a starting point parts wise. Kit cars are less and more of a pain in the arse at the same time.

On one hand it's all new panels, and it should be thought out already for things like engine mounts, wiring loom routing, holes in the tub for pipes and cables etc.
Its more of a pain trying to build something to pass the SVA/IVA though, and you'll end up doing it differently to how you wanted, or else building to suit the regs, and having the expense of more parts and accessories after to make it how you want it to look.

Forget cars for other people and profit. And forget an old car resto as a learning project or just something to take up your free time. It'll never get finished if it's a (just summat to do for a laugh) project.

It's only worth having and fixing up an old car if your daft and sentimental like me, and won't ever need to rely on it as a daily hack, or need the space or money it's taking up, for more useful stuff in life. Like wise it's OK building a deliberate track day or competition rally car etc, if it's not even your second vehicle and won't need to be driven to events on the road, with all the compromises that entails. ( You look much more serious anyway if you turn up with it on a trailer)

I'm into 1980's-90's Coupes, as a general rule of interest. My 94 Rover was an ex track day car that was put back onto the road, and im still finding out things that arnt great about it for road use. Its always going to end up as a sunny day summer car, and to take to a few owners club meets or car shows. Its got no more use than that, and can't ever really be a good daily hack, unless it was put back to standard.

If you want an old car to work on/maintain or modify then as people say start with something that's got a solid rot free body. I know thats a contradiction in terms in a 70's-90's car, but buy something that someone else has spent the ££££'s saving and repairing the body and painting etc.

Also as said average Joe in the street can't do a car resto realistically even if they wanted to. You need the tools, equipment and car lifts, trade rates and access to machine shops, trimmers, auto electricians, panel beaters and spray booths etc.

A guy with a garage business, or in the trade has access to some of the above easily compared to you or I, and has contacts, mates rates and bartering of trades to help him out.

I can't weld except pigeon poo Arc, can't do bodywork or make panels, or paint a car well. I have no access to machine shops or specialised equipment like engine cranes, wheel alignment jigs, body shell rotisseries etc etc.

All I can do for myself is unbolt stuff, refurbish smaller parts and bolt them back on. I don't have the space or facilities to build an engine, and I wouldn't attempt it now unless I lived next door to a machine shop/engine services place. You need to be able to shim things up, or shave a few thou off here or there or skim mating faces as you go along. I've known too many people send engines away for machining work, and expect a nice simple bolt everything back together job after, which fails straight away as something doesn't fit, or has the wrong tolerances etc. You want to be able to solve those problems on site, not wait weeks for stuff to come back from a shop and still might not be right.

I've come to the conclusion that working a full time job and having other demands on my free time means I won't be able to learn all the skills to restore an old rotten car, let alone ever find the space or cash to get all the equipment to do everything myself, even if I knew what I was doing. You can't use your pride and joy project as a learning curve or to gain years of experience enough to confidently tackle a restoration yourself.

I accept this and will always if I want stuff done like bodywork, re-sprays, re-wiring or re-trimming upholstery pay out for a specialist to do the job for me. If you can find the cash to spend on getting stuff done, it'll be way quicker and more likely to get completed and finished than you trying to do everything yourself, not to mention cheaper. If you have to buy welders, sheet metal forming tools, presses etc and learn how to use them properly and get the results you want, that's years of time gone that most middle age working people will never have.

I've got plans for my car but stuff like fitting, wiring and mapping a new ECU is obviously going to be for a specialist. Those that think a job like this is a quick learn DIY process that'll have a perfect running car at the end of it are normally kidding themselves. I do know a few people that have had old cars and projects for say 20years or more unfinished, because they wanted to do everything themselves, and didn't have the time or skill or even the cash to do it once they had bought all the gear.

Have a think about what you want and go from there. If a 70's VW bug is your denied dream car that's a keeper for life come richer or poorer, then that's one thing, but it'll always be better to buy one that's nearer the dream car state than a rusty project.

Wanting to learn new skills or trades? Well don't start with your own car and tools, better to spend a few £££ or more on college or courses or get a job in the trade and learn on other peoples training vehicles stuff instead.

[bikenut]

(*Beetle car price £3.5k insurance 1.5k everything else 3.5k on insurance. That's with 3 points and two none fault claims.)

Unless he is a complete idiot, it aint gunna be a rust bucket........but you never know, unless you know where to look !

VW beetle, horrible things, even the new ones, but they have a cult following for some reason.

At least you can get these dam things going again by the side of the road, unlike a modern computer on wheels.

No, he's gunna pimp it up with shiny stuff and ponce about saying all sorts of stuff that he's done to it.

All the gear etc..


but


I could be wrong.
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nuts about bikes

[-]

Not a car as such and no engine modification so far, other than doing the cambelt and a quick service, but I built this campervan from a VW Shuttle.
All interior was homemade on the drive with basic power tools and sprayed in 2Pac in the garden. I stripped it back to a bare shell inside, soundproofed, insulated, wired the 12V, added ply boarding and carpeted the lot.
I then fitted the usual side bars and roof bars before lowering it on Bilstein B14 coilovers and fitting AC Wheels alloys.
Still got plenty to do such as a lower front spoiler and a sliding and revolving double seat base, which will probably be done towards the end of the summer as cash allows. I also have plans for the Webasto Top C coolant heater to divert it to run a heat exchanger in the back to provide heat and hot water. It has a rear heating/AC unit, but this currently only works from the engine coolant and vehicle battery, through the normal heater fans.

It's good fun as a rolling project though and probably worth more than I've spent on it, even 3 years in.

https://i64.tinypic.com/2ldu1at.jpg

https://i64.tinypic.com/2ce1ceg.jpg
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TZR250 2MA road, TZR250 1KT road, TZR250 2MA race, TDR250, YZF-750R Boost colours.
Jaguar S Type 3.0 V6 Sport R, VW Transporter T5 GP LWB Shuttle 140ps DSG.

[Ste]

Buy this, stick a Beetle shell on it, ???, profit.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/323104619093

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[M.C]

[Shaft]

[Polarbear]

[Shaft]

[TheSmiler]

[Ste]

[Shaft]

Jeez, when you said a bit more modern, I didn't think I'd be looking at a car that went out of production 65 years ago!

Thing is, if you like the look of the MO Oxford, why would you not go for a Minor, a car that has a huge parts industry around it, a raft of web resources and a long history of being modified, all the things the Oxford hasn't?

As a car modifying novice, one way or another you will need lots of help, something the Oxford will struggle with - the best bit is, a well modified Minor has a value at the end of it, the MO has no value, unless it's a sympathetic and standard restoration.
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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

[Polarbear]

When you said Morris Oxford I thought you meant this one.....

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQtez4siwarp5aNFt9M-h2jD8-OyEKGY9ZlbB2BdMIB6a0IlDyc

But if you are going for that era....

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRMDrFNiFyy0tvW_bmCOr4fGv9aiqsk60BlxO056UM7rMwx0kPzDg
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[Shaft]

[Polarbear]

Just looking for the Marina Shaft mentioned and saw this......

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1968-Morris-Minor-1000-ex-police-panda-car-BARN-FIND-drives-needs-re-commision/323145506705?hash=item4b3cf91f91:g:DkAAAOSwxdtaqtaC

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/DkAAAOSwxdtaqtaC/s-l1600.jpg

Do so want
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[M.C]

[TheSmiler]

[The Shaggy D.A.]

I'd love to have the facilities to build something like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rmcKqUQyDI
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Chances are quite high you are not in my Monkeysphere, and I don't care about you. Don't take it personally.
Currently : Royal Enfield 350 Meteor
Previously : CB100N > CB250RS > XJ900F > GT550 > GPZ750R/1000RX > AJS M16 > R100RT > Bullet 500 > CB500 > LS650P > Bullet Electra X & YBR125 > Bullet 350 "Superstar" & YBR125 Custom > Royal Enfield Classic 500 Despatch Limited Edition (28 of 200) & CB Two-Fifty Nighthawk > ER5

[Ste]

[WD Forte]

I once had one of these and would love to have it again
I painted it black and red around the front lights and grille and the kids loved it and called it the batmobile
Course, you could pick em up cheap in them days...

https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fd%2Fdf%2FSinger_Vogue_1.jpg&f=1

I also had an Oxford like this but scruffier
simple 1500 B series engine with column change and leopard skin seat covers too!
Lotsa head room and huge boot
https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbestcarmag.com%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2F1954-morris-oxford-1320608-5483738.jpg&f=1
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bikers smell of wee