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Anyone ever gone into modifying cars ?

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TheSmiler
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PostPosted: 09:10 - 15 Mar 2018    Post subject: Anyone ever gone into modifying cars ? Reply with quote

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
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grr666
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PostPosted: 09:12 - 15 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.
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Holdawayt
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PostPosted: 09:14 - 15 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

I started with cars and moved on to bikes.

I'm 26 and have had around 19 cars so far, most of them are stupid drift cars but I've had a few nice older cars.

What I would say is that there's fuck all profit in it. You can be tight and cut costs here and there but you'll still end up out of pocket. People don't want to buy modified cars. I got into bikes because there's less to modify, things are cheaper and you tend to get some money back after a project.

If you're not fussed about the money side of it, get stuck in and you'll love it.
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Rogerborg
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PostPosted: 11:03 - 15 Mar 2018    Post subject: Re: Anyone ever gone into modifying cars ? Reply with quote

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.
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B5234FT
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PostPosted: 11:19 - 15 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Likewise I started out in cars and then moved to bikes. There is more 'need' to modify cars IMHO as they tend to be a poorer spec and more compromised to start with, so whether for a fast daily, or a trackday car theres lots of scope.

Dont do it under any illusions that its more productive than watching football at the pub though, it will take longer, cost as much or more, it's just colder.
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MarJay
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PostPosted: 11:45 - 15 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mr Smiler, may I introduce you to Mr Dunning and Mr Krueger?

Please please please don't be 'that guy' who has a load of old shitheaps littering his front garden.
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grr666
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PostPosted: 11:52 - 15 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Some 'New' shape beetles are 22+ years young now. Just saying.
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G
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PostPosted: 12:26 - 15 Mar 2018    Post subject: Re: Anyone ever gone into modifying cars ? Reply with quote

What is the end result you want?

For performance in a not very practical car - I'd be thinking a kit car.

If you're going for looks alone - then why bother messing with the engine etc?

This is something that sounds like you'll spends many thousands of pounds and a lot of hours, often doing pretty tedious stuff and achieving something most-only useful for gaining praise from other people with similar vehicles..

I have no problem with 'projects' - I'm currently undergoing an expensive and time consuming one myself - but not project's for a project's sake. If there's nothing that can get near the seem end result - so you're actually being innovative in creating; quite fair enough.

All too often however, it seems to be people making themselves feel better about themselves by spending large amounts of money.


Last edited by G on 13:46 - 15 Mar 2018; edited 1 time in total
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rpsmith79
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PostPosted: 12:27 - 15 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

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 Rolling Eyes
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Rogerborg
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PostPosted: 13:36 - 15 Mar 2018    Post subject: Re: Anyone ever gone into modifying cars ? Reply with quote

G wrote:
All too often however, it seems to be people making themselves feel better about themselves by spending large amounts of money.

Which is fine, but don't be under the illusion that a 40 year old beetle will be anything other than an expensive garage queen.
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Pjay
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PostPosted: 14:40 - 15 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.
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TheSmiler
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PostPosted: 16:54 - 15 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.)
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G
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PostPosted: 17:00 - 15 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

TheSmiler wrote:
But the idea was to put a modern engine in to make it more reliable, upgrade the electrics and brakes.

Making major changes like that is a good way to get the opposite result.
Further - are you going to be using your 'rat rod' that much that it's worth spending significant amounts of 'reliability'?

Maybe better and a lot less hassle altogether - get some 'rat rod' body work to go on an mx5 or something?
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TheSmiler
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PostPosted: 17:39 - 15 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

G wrote:

Making major changes like that is a good way to get the opposite result.
Further - are you going to be using your 'rat rod' that much that it's worth spending significant amounts of 'reliability'?

Maybe better and a lot less hassle altogether - get some 'rat rod' body work to go on an mx5 or something?


The car would be used mainly in the summer putting it where the lawn is at the front. Then getting a normal car for the rest of the year. Possibly a few trips to scotland or the beach for a ride out.
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P.
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PostPosted: 17:48 - 15 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

It'll be a serious burden on your life.... if it ever runs.

I'd suggest just getting something fun like a kit car and tinkering that way.
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MarJay
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PostPosted: 18:35 - 15 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Car work needs more help than bike work. You're more likely to end up trapped underneath it, or injure yourself lifting engines on your own.

Just think about the amount of work required to make a modern wiring loom work in an ancient 1960's body on frame car. It's shed loads, in case you didn't guess.

You want a car with modern reliability? Buy a modern car.
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Hong Kong Phooey
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PostPosted: 22:51 - 15 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

I watch project binky, then realise I'm not that creative or mechanically capable, don't have the time or money, sufficient storage, nor tools to even restore a boggo mini to the desired standards, never mind transplant a 4X4 full running gear under it.

Why don't you kick off with a bare beetle shell, then contract cat aids and get a family member to ring car SOS to finish it up for you?
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cresad
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PostPosted: 23:13 - 15 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've spent a lot of years modifying 1970's Toyota Cressida's and crown's. Fitted later engine and running gear plus parts from different models , and did restorations and conversions ( converted a crown estate into a pick-up )
You can sink a lot of time and money into them which you wont get back.

Adam
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Shaft
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PostPosted: 23:45 - 15 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.
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Hong Kong Phooey
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PostPosted: 23:49 - 15 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Start off with an easier project, then take on something bigger with the experience gained.

https://sh-s7-live-s.legocdn.com/is/image/LEGO/10252?$PDPDefault$
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WD Forte
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PostPosted: 00:12 - 16 Mar 2018    Post subject: Re: Anyone ever gone into modifying cars ? Reply with quote

Rogerborg wrote:
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


I've done various car/van mods and projects over the years and can tell you from bitter experience, however long you think it will take and however much you think it will cost,
Double it at least.
Nostalgic cars can be fun though
If you must, never mind the looks,just get one that ISN'T a rot box and do the maintenance and servicing (which is quite easy on older motors) so you can to the fun part which is jollying about in it.
Even then, you'll probably still need the KY jelly when you go looking for parts
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TheSmiler
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PostPosted: 05:28 - 16 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Shaft wrote:
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.


On my phone so it's hard to multi quote. The reason I'm asking was to see if anyone had any suggestion at what to look into before hand. Going to do my background on everything I do. But for example the haynes wiring book was very interesting to learn about electrics.

Getting the k100 from stolen crashed and defeated to running great with passing an mot twice in a row with no advisories. Has got me into the way of thinking im going to do it.

Ive decided to look into a bit more modern and that is the morris saloon. Most probably still rust buckets. But possibly with adaptation.

I'll reply better when I finish this shift.
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P.
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PostPosted: 08:01 - 16 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

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. Laughing
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Polarbear
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PostPosted: 08:54 - 16 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

I know you have just bought a house but has it a decent sized garage that you can put your project in and work on year round. With electric, heating, lifting arrangements and all mod cons.

If you don't, it's going to rot faster than you overhaul it. Go watch a few episodes of 'Shed & Buried' to see how quickly some things can deteriorate.

Not cars but in the same vein, I have bought and sold boats that people have bought with the intention of doing up and years on it still hasn't happened because they don't realise how long it takes to do things properly and how quickly it can turn into a soul destroying burden.

If you want to do it as a hobby with no major expectations though, great, fill your boots.

Oh, and most neighbours don't like houses looking like car scrapyards which is another reason for a garage.
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