It turns out the work to get My Sprinty through the MOT is more involved than first imagined

John @ MCS has done an excellent full inspection & honest breakdown of the work needed into three parts: MOT/bodywork, essential maintenence items & non-essential etc, this is a basic conclusion:

Essential bodywork restoration (new sills) & essential mechanical work for MOT: £500 - £700

non essential bodywork: £300

other £500

So basically I have got to spend around £1200 - £1500 to get it 'sorted' as such, & this does not include general maintenence for the year, anything else going wrong + belts due last quarter of 2011! it will also need taxing again end of May

I will be mortified to see it broken esp with the condition of the rest of the car & the way it's running.

I simply cannot afford to pour money into it, now I have brought & doing up new house.

I would be willing to get the essential work done for the MOT, enjoy it for another year then break - as i'ts not my main use car & will only be doing very low mileage...??

I know I will get pittence for the car 'as is' & will never see any of the money back on the work done, then sold.

I'm also interested in choppers & trikes & could take up another proect - IF I could get enough from breaking - I have a large garage & a near enough unlimited supply of free boxes & bubble wrap! lol, so can I ask some advice on what I mign't get with the current demand for parts? this would be the main fancy tickle list.

40K from brand new engine
latest Barnacle Widget (with software upgrade)
MOMO steering wheel
Polished rocker cover, oil cap & inlet Plenum
re-furbed near mint wheels with 2x nearly new T1R's
Near mint leather interior
LE front calipers
Near mint de-dented doors
Silver center console
Decent bonnet & boot
Zender bumper
Clock rings

plus the 100's of other mechanical/electrical bits & trim from a coop

Please this is NOT an invite for offers etc - I'm merely asking advice

So what should I do

Thanks in advance

Jamie

I spent over £2000 in the last few months getting my car in top mechanical condition. I havent even touched the bodywork!

The car is once again a pleasure to drive and its nice not to have to think "what's that noise?!"

£700 to keep the car on the road is ok i'd say. Forget the rest of the bodywork (unless it's rust related). Then do the 'other' £500 of maintenance when the funds come through.

I'm sure you can delay re-doing your belts for 6months if the mileage is as low as you say.

Yes thats what I was thinking, as it would just mean the initial outlay for the new sills/MOT work, then do the rest bit by bit, taking into account the low usage & will do alot myself.

But I'll also have to get replacement skirts & get them sprayed up as part of the initial outlay + tax.

trouble is do I put my Coupe ahead of my house!, my head says a resounding no!

I have got £700, but if anything else was to go wrong I'd be stuffed - then it would have to be broken.

it's a big gamble

If you want to keep it but don't want to spend all the cash, sell some of the easily removable goodies on your car. The widget will easily sell for £120, and the rings etc will all sell and take minimal effort to remove. That way you'll recoup some of the costs spent on keeping it alive.

I'm not going to bother part-selling bits to get probably less than £200, the whole lot gets broken or put back on the road. I love my widget lol

Fair enough, worth a mention. Get it fixed and stop moaning then

Get it fixed Jamie otherwise I will be round to buy various bits shortly!

It don't look good I simply do not have the money to sink into it - my house must come first

Looks like Im buying things then! Gimme a text when you decide what your doing...

Mmm another thought is DIY for the sills & get John to do any essential mechanical work, I mean there are loads of welders at my workplace & I have access to tools & materials, only thing is I wouldn't be able to replace the whole outer sills, just grind out & patch up to satisfy MOT?

Has anyone done it?

Just need to keep the initial outlay down as much as poss to get it back on the road, then I can do everything else on an on-going basis over next 12 months, as like I said the car's usage can be kept down accordingly

This sounds like a tough one, I was kind of in the same situation this timd last year, I didn't have enough money to keep the car going and keep it tip top so I decided to take it of the road.

If you could keep your car and all the bits you love in the knowledge that you can come back to it when funds are better that would be the ideal, that's what I've done. But do you have the space to keep a car you're not using?

It's actually been a nice break for me, I've been tinkering doing little jobs myself although if you're doing up a house too you probably won't have a great deal of time spare!

Anyway, I say if you love the car and you think it's worth saving, do it, anyway you can.

Just think what that first drive will be like after a break of a year or two that's what's keepi g me going.

Yes I think that's what I'm going to do - as I have got a double open plan garage

What I will probably do though, as I won't be financially pushed if I'm not sinking money into the Sprinty is take off the aftermarket stuff & keep it, break the whole car & stick money away, save up for 6 months then buy another sorted one, that's my provisional plan

I'm going to hang onto it ;), store it in garage till I've done this working stint away with a good bit of overtime. hoping to have it back on road for August.

I'm financially comfortable, so it's not like I need the money from the parts

Sounds like a good compromise. I'm sure that you would regret breaking her for a LONG time.....

There are 2 ways to see this:

- Sports cars esp. these coops are readily cheap to buy but mega-expensive to maintain; to compound the situation further these cars are knocking over 10years now.

- Considering how cheap they are to buy, you could simply buy another one for a £1k and swap over the bits. Its just an idea..

... a good idea . Many of the cheap Coupes suffer from mechanical defects (engines, turbos, etc.,). You should be able to find a Coupe suffering faults that yours does NOT have, and make a cracker out of the two ....

I've already contemplated this - but the cost of buying a good one with a knackered engine + the cost of having my engine & everything else swapped & set up is probably near enough double the cost of what mine needs spending on it