Ok a few of you may have seen my thread a while back wondering aboout whether my car had been in a crash or not. Carl T had a look over it (Thanks Carl) and said the front end was original, and the floor pan was fine, however it had 2 door skins, and rear passenger side had been repaired at some point. He also mentioned all the glass had been out at some point I think. (Incidentally, this is HPI clear, hahah)

I was washing it the other day and found the rust on the bottom of the passenger door was getting worse, and the more I look at it, the more I can see the different shades of blue it is. (The doors are different colours) Cosmetically its not too good, multiple dings on each of the doors, keyed down the passenger door, now looks to have been keyed on the rear quarter panel also.

Mechanicaly though it seems OK, had a full cambelt/service at motormech in April, new thermostat, coming up to 100K miles. Had a little breakdown the other week but all seems ok.

Anyway the point of this is, is that it's really grating on me the differnt colour bodywork and I'm in two minds as to whether I:

a)Spend more money on it. The wishbones are in desperate need of being replaced, and the clutch is on its last legs I think.

b) Or just trade it in for a tidier one and start again?

I reckon its worth about £2K now (seeing the one on here for £2.5K last week) probably not even that, less at trade in.

Anyway I'd be interested to hear peoples opinions on this. Its a R Reg sprint blue by the way.

Ben

Better the devil you know in my opinion. I would book it into Motormech then get it resprayed and it will be lovely.

Mechanical is the main issue here

keep it, a 'better one' will probably still need working doing to it. Oh and think of all the hassle selling and buying is.

I would definately keep that.

Knowing where you are mechanically with a 20VT is worth a lot imo, the next one will need just as much doing, but you won't know what!

Bodywork is one of those things, if you sort it some [nastything] will come along and key it again... Fix the bones and clutch and enjoy

Did carl say the back wing had been done to a good standard? If so, keep it. It might have just had vandal damage if all the glass has been changed. Any coop will need money spending, they just do.

Ive got a perfect n/s door in sprinty will help the rust issue.

I'd keep it, there all bashed somewhere you wouldnt find much any better just that age now.

Cheers everyone.

I do keep forgetting its 10 years old now. How much are resprays? I thought there was such a thing as a blow over where they only kind of touch the paintwork up?

And Carl, how much is a door?

Cheers

Ben

Hi ill do the door for 80 notes fitted.

Yes you could have a "blow over" but within 12 months will look the same as now.

You need 1500+ for anything remotely decent and even that wont pay for windows out to do it properly.

id say keep,bet most coops are in the same condition to be honest.Mine has a loverly dent at the rear that i need to sort and other dinks over the car.But mechanically i now know my car all over.Thats what makes me hold on to it.Eventually next year will have complete spray and be de dinked when i have a drive to put it on.
I could by another coop which looks great but mechanically a dog.Its a waste

Carl,

Very tempted by that, how old was the coupe that it was off? Just wondering as my paint work must have faded at some point along the line. I fully appreciate I'll never get a full match until I get a respray!

Cheers

Ben

No idea, probably a 98, there's no chance of a proper match whatsoever you have most shades of sprint blue now so im sure it will match something.

Be alot cheaper than trying to get the rust out of a badly skinned door.

Keep it

my new ones been bumped its had a back panel and a floor repair of a poor standard which im going to do again! and a dodgy 1/4 repair!

no 10 year old car is perfect unless its wrapped in cotton wool! then again i only paid £small for mine so i dont care

Now you know why i didnt get it.

Hahaha thats like a dagger to the heart.

Thanks for the all the advice people, think the clutch is almost on its way now, after a small road rage incident involving a Saab!

I think I just need to keep reminding myself its nearly 10 years old! The weird thing is, I can see where its been painted on the rear quarter and near the passenger door (as the paint is raised on these edges) I just cant see where it joins the rest of the paintwork, whether its ont he roofline or somewhere else, weird really, its as if they did a decent job of blending that bit in with the orignal paint. I'm sure Carl will spot it instantly!

Anyway Carl, I'll take this to pm as I need some other bits also!

Keep it !

I had the same dilema with mine, bought it blind without realising it needed a heap doing to it

Paid £2900 for the car and it has now cost me over £7000 ............. but hey it is sound( ish ) now.

Needed wishbones and a clutch too , plus enigine out belts change and ended up getting a full respray too .
I had the exact same issue , the more I looked the more different shades I could see, the guy who sprayed it said the bonnet and one side had been done at least twice before too, but as he said just because it has been sprayed doesn't make it a bad car.Never found any signs of accident damage either , just some filler in rear bumper .

Stick with what you have

My experience is that you go through a stage of repairing stuff, and then there's 'just one more thing' and you think 'sod it, sell the bledger' and then you regret selling it

I've managed to resist the temptation on the coupe so far

Unfortuantly these cars dont really have major value and people usually other than enthusiasts repair cars dependant on the value of the motor.If your coupe was worth £2000 a normal person usually wouldnt spend half of the value getting it repaired to its highest standard.Just a cheap repair half decent to get it back on the road

Keep it rolling, sort the rust and do the mechanicals as they pop up. The price of owning a future classic is classic car style maintenance!