Introduction
Wanted something that was a bit of fun but that I could work on myself and this ended up being the choice I made.
If you can keep the rust at bay, then a nice easy car to work on and I am sure a ready supply of spares available.
I had a 1964 MGB Roadster many years ago which was great fun and cheap to buy at the time, so I abused the hell out of it.
Thinking back it was fifty years ago (1975) and I paid £90 (three weeks wages) I think with insurance £80, not bad for a young hooligan, sold it for £50 with 12 months MOT.
Not sure if I would be able to get in and out easy these days though.
I had a 1964 MGB Roadster many years ago which was great fun and cheap to buy at the time, so I abused the hell out of it.
Thinking back it was fifty years ago (1975) and I paid £90 (three weeks wages) I think with insurance £80, not bad for a young hooligan, sold it for £50 with 12 months MOT.
Not sure if I would be able to get in and out easy these days though.
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OP
OP
Near side sill was replaced last year so hopefully that's the worst of the rust repairs for a while. Almost every part is available cheaply but I wish they cost a bit more and were made properly as it would save scouring the web for decent parts instead of cheap tat made to a priceIf you can keep the rust at bay, then a nice easy car to work on and I am sure a ready supply of spares available.
I had a 1964 MGB Roadster many years ago which was great fun and cheap to buy at the time, so I abused the hell out of it.
Thinking back it was fifty years ago (1975) and I paid £90 (three weeks wages) I think with insurance £80, not bad for a young hooligan, sold it for £50 with 12 months MOT.
Not sure if I would be able to get in and out easy these days though.
Paul Harrison
New member
Yes, you've made a good choice there especially with the sunroof and I presume it's got overdrive on the third and fourth.
I renovated one of these a couple of years ago at the same time as running a GT6 of a similar age.
You will enjoy it and they are very easy to work on.
I have nearly finished rebuilding my 1972 Fiat 500 which is basically had a completely new body, new 650 engine with synchro gearbox.
Just finishing off the electrics at the moment, ready to refit the fuel tank and fire the old girl up.
Can't wait it's been in the making for five years now. I'll post some photos when it's finished..
I renovated one of these a couple of years ago at the same time as running a GT6 of a similar age.
You will enjoy it and they are very easy to work on.
I have nearly finished rebuilding my 1972 Fiat 500 which is basically had a completely new body, new 650 engine with synchro gearbox.
Just finishing off the electrics at the moment, ready to refit the fuel tank and fire the old girl up.
Can't wait it's been in the making for five years now. I'll post some photos when it's finished..
I own a Classic Mini & the parts quality is the same issue with them as well, the final straw for me was with my first Mini when I had to get a new ignition switch & I got an aftermarket part which I put in, at the time the quality didn't seem all that & I pulled up at work where the key was jammed in the ignition so I put the original part back in & put a bungee strap between the key & door handle to hold the key in place
until I found a genuine nos part, so after that I got into the habit of purchasing genuine leyland new old stock parts whenever they came up on eBay which they come up quite often or at car shows etc, doing this though has filled my sister's loft with all Mini parts it's like a British Leyland main dealer for parts in there
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The good thing about buying plenty of spare is, it usually means you will never have to fit them.I own a Classic Mini & the parts quality is the same issue with them as well, the final straw for me was with my first Mini when I had to get a new ignition switch & I got an aftermarket part which I put in, at the time the quality didn't seem all that & I pulled up at work where the key was jammed in the ignition so I put the original part back in & put a bungee strap between the key & door handle to hold the key in place
Mind you today I needed a indicator switch with air bag squib and a ignition switch for my 2014 Vauxhall Combo, Ind switch at Euro carparts=£350 odd, ign switch on eBay around £25, luckily 2010 Doblo previously bought for spares at £280 proved a good source of parts, so happy days.
£350The good thing about buying plenty of spare is, it usually means you will never have to fit them.
Mind you today I needed a indicator switch with air bag squib and a ignition switch for my 2014 Vauxhall Combo, Ind switch at Euro carparts=£350 odd, ign switch on eBay around £25, luckily 2010 Doblo previously bought for spares at £280 proved a good source of parts, so happy days.
it makes you wonder sometimes how they can justify some of the parts prices, that definitely makes that £280 Doblo worth it, when I had my MK1 Bravo I used to drop my mum off at her partner's for the weekend & in his road was a complete Bravo identical to mine same colour, interior etc just sitting in the car park abandoned with a council notice on the screen (the abandoned car was in much better nick than mine ) so my mum knocked on the owners door as she knew which household owned it to ask if they wanted to get rid of it for I think I said to her to offer £100 as it would only be a parts car but from memory they were the type that thought it was worth a lot more than it actually was so instead of pocketing a little cash the local council picked it up on a recovery lorry & I presume they crushed it. When I eventually get my own place I'm thinking of getting a cheap rotten Seicento just for a parts car as some of the silly little bits that are 899 specific are a little hard to get hold off but parts for Seicento's overall aren't too difficult to get as I've been looking recently on a Seicento there are so many parts that are off other Fiat's which makes getting parts a lot easier for example at the moment on eBay there's a nos water pump for a 903cc 127 but it'll fit on the Seicento so I'll get it as a spare if no one bids for it as I'm looking into getting a head of a 903 Uno or possibly 127/Panda as I've heard they were high compression resulting in another 9-10 bhp which in this would be noticeable so if I do decide to do it after I've done the research into it I'll overhaul the cooling system at the same time as the parts are soo cheap & the whole system is still wearing the original 25 year old parts it came out of the factory with so if I do go down the high compression head route I think a good overhaul will be the icing on the cake 
It's surprising how quick something like that pays for it's self.£350
Many years ago the multi franchise I worked for took in a Wartburg Knight (the saloon version as opposed to the Tourist estate version) in part exchange for a brand new one.
It stood the boss in around £150 total in mid 70s.
The enterprising stores manager used to ask the workshop to take off parts from it when customers wanted new parts and were unavailable or too expensive and sell them those.
Soon there was very little left of the doner vehicle, but it had made over £2000, not bad when the price of a brand new identical model at the time was just around £1000. !!!!
Great choice of car. My mum was a very stylish lady who owned one of these in that sort of sandy yellow colour. She continued to drive it into old age. In fact she only gave up with it when she could only get out by dragging herself out onto the ground on her bottom and then standing up! My brother, who lived at home with her, convinced her that she should give up driving. Unbeknownst to me, after she died, my other brother took the car down to London - where he was then living - and sold it. Don't know what he got for it.
There are many cars I'd like to own but, over the years, one which I just can't get out of my mind, is the Citroen Acadiane. When quite newly married, back in the early 1970s, We bought a Dyane for not very much money. It was a wonderful vehicle with some quite "strange" engineering - brakes, suspension etc - but very practical and economical to run. I really can't explain it, but I just have this enduring desire to have an Acadiane. I'm afraid there's just no hope for me!
There are many cars I'd like to own but, over the years, one which I just can't get out of my mind, is the Citroen Acadiane. When quite newly married, back in the early 1970s, We bought a Dyane for not very much money. It was a wonderful vehicle with some quite "strange" engineering - brakes, suspension etc - but very practical and economical to run. I really can't explain it, but I just have this enduring desire to have an Acadiane. I'm afraid there's just no hope for me!
OP
OP
I think my other half is quite glad that we don't have much space at the house otherwise there would be a number of older vehicles stopping her getting her car close to the house
That's the point of having space to have more old carsI think my other half is quite glad that we don't have much space at the house otherwise there would be a number of older vehicles stopping her getting her car close to the house
