i am stacking up a list of parts and things to do to the car to make the car mint.
in my eyes it needs a respary, rear end rebuild, interior update and over haul and new oil cooler andmore bits and bobs.
just done nearly every big job on it. clutch, cambelt,wishbones,tca,handbrake cables,disc and pads all round,cat back exhaust and the list goes on and on!
the thing is i have spent alot on it near 3k but to get it perfect and im the sort of person who needs perfect then i recon another 5-8k to get the power and level of car i would want.
is this worth doing on a 11 year old base model 20vt or should i join the deperication cycle and buy a newer car but i also can' find much i like and what i do like is very expensive or not nearly as fast or flashy.

the other point is it would be worth it if the coop ever gets to a classic car or if it ever gets some old skool cool in later years.

Only worth spending big money on Plus or LE models.

Its always the superior and rarest models that are collectable.

kinda what i was thinking but maybe just for the fact i would have a completly mint old skool fast car that i like it might be worth it.
if im honest i have had mk1 escorts that i restored and stuff and what i really hanker restoring and making a monster is my first fast car a rover 220 gsi n/a and making it in to a mint n/a monster :-)

imo you'll end up with a mint car worth next to nothing compared to what you're sinking in to it. i doubt the std models will make true classic status, as carlt says possibly the top enders might.

either settle for the fact you're refurbing an old car for your own purposes and for which there is NO finacial reward, or get a new one....imo i stress

no, its not worth it from a purely mathematical POV. you will not get back out what you put in, money or time wise. end off

I was thinking about going down the mint restoration route with mine. as it is, looking at it the coupe is fast becoming my every day driver.
this means that its going to be the subject of other peoples crap driving, and even crappier parking

Im going to get to a point were its tidy, no more no less. Ill have dent man de-dent it, sort out the alloys and put a replacement inky bonnet on it.
When the turbo dies, which it will. Its going to get a uprated, but standerd turbo thats it.

with a car that im going to be using every day i see no point at all lumping 2k out for a top spray job and de dented only to get some prat open his door (or her) on it.

besides which, the final nail in the coffin is if you were (god forbid) to have a bump, even the insurance company will not give you the money that its worth

Looking at my priorities at the moment. having a mint coupe is low, having some fun and learning new stuff is higher.
so im looking out for a mr2 mk1 now!

If you're thinking of sinking your money into a Rover 220 N/A, then you may as well sink it into the Coupe instead. Surely it'd be easier to get the power you want out of the Coupe than the Rover?

As said there is going to be no reward for restoring these cars, you do it because you want to.

refurb only if you truly LOVE the car. IF so then accept that it may be worth next to nothing in market value over the next 5 or so years, but to you it would be your little treasure sitting in the garage at home for an occasional drive.

Think of all the people spending thousands on restoring old Alfa's, fiat X19's and integrales. To the right buyer a perfect coupe will be worth some money, a rich man might want to buy a car from his youth or such andbe prepared to pay for a truly concourse car.

If you were to completely strip and restore then the standard model 20VT's will still be desirable to some poeple in many years, just as 40 year old alfa's are. There are several car collectors about, just read autoitalia magazine to see what i mean.

I think parts will be the problem though, eventually supply will be limited, Fiat will stop producing certain bits for the coupe, and 2nd hand spares may be not existent or un-useable.

I recently mapped an old school BMW E30 M3. You wouldn't believe what these go for now i.e. 15-30k for the really good ones. Of course the tuning game has come on a long way and owners are still keen to not only keep them in pristine condition but also make them more driveable and faster. A simple remap takes the 2.3 195bhp model to 216bhp, remove the AFM and carbon airbox and 230-240bhp5 is on tap... fantastic from a four pot

The Coupe will start to pick up no doubt, that said you either do it for yourself or not at all.

a friend of mine has a MINT E30 M3. Every nut and bolt has been replaced for new genuine BMW, all completely standard, and he has replaced every wear and tear item on it.

I dont think he realises its value though, so id better tell him.

hmm depends how much money you are willing to spend. Im in the same situation. But i find with restoring, you sort one problem, then you only face another.

If this wasn't a Le it would have been in pieces by now

the fact its not a l.e or a plus kinda helps me as without aircon i can do alot of the work alot easier and make it cheaper to do!
the main probelm is i can't find any newish car i either like or can really afford and also the depprication it terrible.
put it this way if i had bought a bmw 330 sport with some ac gear on 5 years ago i was really looking at and went to buy it untill i was sat down by someone and i decieded maybe not a great idea and i would have lost 16k in 5 years!
this would have been far more expensive than sorting the coop out and keeping it for 5 years for example!

the other thing is the e30 m3 is a true collector item and always will be unlike the coop. the m3 was collectable the day it was sold!
other point is old skool ford and stuff really increase in value but i just doubt the coop will do this.

Peanuthead, the thing is, the Coupe isn't a car. its a lifestyle choice.

well i think i still need to get a ride in a very well sorted coop in the dry and see what its like.
im also worried i nearly rebuild the car and it still falls to pieces.
then saying that most new cars are unreliable now adays and you are unable to maintain them yourself.

Your so right!

It depends IMO what you mean by is it worth it.

Finacially it will never be worth it. So it depends if worth it is finacial or emotional worth.

I hate to overly argue with Carlt, but with well sorted Triumph spitfires fetching £5k plus now (according to wheeler dealers or is it deals on wheels or whatever), I'd say there's no reason why a standard 20VT wont out perform a spitfire pricewise when its time comes around.

It may make more finacial sense to restore a plus (and a LE if you must (god I hate that interior)) but it still wouldn't be finacially worth it.

Theres probably not a classic car out there were restoration makes finacial sense unless you buy cheap, work to a strict budget to do the bare necessities and hopefully sell on at a profit...but even that wont insure profit.

So it all boils down to will it be worth it for you.

What he said.

at the end of a day i relise you will never make money on a car but not so keen to hemraging money and it not be worth it.
i look at sort of 5 year old cars like rx8's and 350z's and some bmw's but not really really apeal or have a major flaw like 2 seats or terible fuel consumption or weak engines or horffic service prices!

10 points to JKD for coming up with the quote of the day

i should have bought a rs500 3 dr cossie i got offered 3 years ago for 7k it is now worth 31 grand!
or kept my mk1 escort that i sold for 3k 2 years ago and now the engine is worth more than that!

Hindsight eh

I think that's the problem with the coop... There's so many reasons why it leaves us wondering, what on earth am I going to be able to replace it with.

I'm pretty sure my manifold has developed a crack, I need to do cam belt etc pretty shortly. Drivers side wishbone has gone again. And there's a few other bits and pieces I suspect probably need sorted. In short more money than I would normally spend buying a car, never mind maintaining one, the head really battles with the heart, but theres nothing else on 4 wheels that I could afford that would make me feel like the coop makes me feel. Just what do you replace it with?

I was having this dilemma a couple of months ago with so much to do on the car. Seeing that there was only about 500 left made up my mind, plus with the car being worth little more that £600-700, what else could I get that looks so good and is so much fun. Gonna tidy the engine and fix everything that's broke. Will probably stop short of a respray and spend the money on track days instead.

The rebuild continues....... http://worsleysturbocoupe.blogspot.com/

Phil

Maintaining > yes

Restoring > No!

That will be the 16VT then

the problem is im not very good at looking crap paintwork or anything and all the creaks and nocks annoy me but its not that bad yet.

the problem is im not very good at looking crap paintwork or anything and all the creaks and nocks annoy me but its not that bad yet.

thing is i also keep looking at the coop and thinking how nice it looks and im happy with the power at the moment.
i get a sort of wobble rear and and it feels a little detached at the font endsometimes. i have done the whole front bushes and loads of stuff. would lov to have a mint coop with a good power out put and decent handdling or should i just buy a 4-5 year old car with it all and bite the huge mount i would loss when i sell it?

sounds like your rear trailing arms, (in my limited knowledge)