Hi all,

being an owner of a 20vt for the last 6yrs I have slowly become familliar with the car and how it works, confident enough to do little jobs such as turbo and oil cooler pipe change. I lived down the road from Barbz before he left and didn't trust anybody else with the car so when he went I was forced to do all maintenance myself, only recently have I ventured out and made a new friend in the legend that is Roger at Power Italia after he changed my clutch, very friendly, helpful and enthusiastic about the car!

I am quite a lazy if i'm honest but really enjoy working on the coupe, I have never done any engine work before but would like to one day be able to say change the cams or even replace valves or pistons if required... high hopes I know!

I was thinking it might be a good idea to buy a small car to work on maybe one with a blown head gasket for a few hundred quid so I could work on it to gain confidence and then maybe sell it after to make back the cash I paid out for it.

What do you guys think about this idea, and can you suggest any cars that might be suitable i.e with cheap engine parts that are easy to get hold of and with manuals available.... perhaps an old fiat punto or ford fiesta?

Cheers
John

at the price there going for now needing work on them,buy a 20vt, parts are cheap on here from cc cant see how you will go wrong plus you will be working on the car that you want to get to no

I did consider that! It does make sense if I can find a very cheap one which needs engine work plus I could use it for spares

keep an eye out on ebay and on here.

I'v got a megane coupe, which needs a head gasket change if you want to play..........

I'd recommend not starting on a coupe; although the comment that it'll get you used to to the vehicle you'll eventually work on, the issues are first that access is terrible - there's a lot crammed in there; secondly that the parts are large enough in some cases to be difficult to manage; thirdly that the parts are expensive; and lastly that there is no engine manual, just a set of some of the internal specifications.

Get something with a Haynes' manual and a smaller engine. I'd look for a MK1 punto, with the fire engine but the injection system - either single or multipoint. That way you'll get a feel for the way Fiat do things, and there's enough in common for you to learn the techniques. And they're two for a penny...

Thanks barnacle, I'm already used to the lack of space with the coupe from doing the little bits and pieces over the years so can imagine taking engine parts of and putting them back together would be a bit of a nightmare!
Something with a haynes manual sounds like a sensible option to start with.

Cheers
John

Murph thanks for the offer but I will probably get the car next year and will be working on what ever I get at a snails pace! If I could get a mk1 Mazda mx5 in need of repair I think that would be rewarding but propbably a bit to expensive especially as i'd probably end up keeping it after! I think as barnacle suggested an old fiat might be best as they're cheaper and a bit more in line with the coupe also probably easier to work on if I get a 1.4 or below.

If i was you coupe_don id buy a dead coupe engine a set about repairing it (on a engine stand) that way you can get to know the engine with out it being in the car plus it would be cheaper than buying a car.

also when your done do an engine swap with the on that this in your coupe and then sell the old engine on, that way you make money, get a freshly rebuilt engine (forged if you have the cash) and you have learned how to strip, rebuild a coupe engine and swap it aswell for very little money.

I think thats a great idea john, i would love to have the ability and time to do somthing like that. Last week i bought a mark2 Toyota Mr2 in red for £500 to use over the next few saltridden winter months, it was off another squaddie and it has no service history, she seems in good working order and actually exept for a bit by the base has no rust, the engine sounds good exept for a clicking sound. She is travelling 60 miles a day taking me to work and back (and is alot of fun to drive actually) anyway, i will run her to maybe feb/march next year and then put the coupe back on the road. If you like and are still looking for a car around that time, then you may have the Mr2 mate i wouldnt really be looking for money for her, just to get rid really.

Nick

Thing with buying a dead coupe engine is that they're almost certainly low oil pressure = wrecked bottom end, or cambelt broken = wrecked top end and potential piston/crank/bottom end damage too. Both are expensive to fix.

Getting a running engine with cheap parts to strip and restore will be a much cheaper option overall.

Though the thought of rebuilding to put in 'as new' does have a certain appeal...

Thanks for the advice so far guys, I don't think I am confident enough to start on a 20vt engine, it's to big and as barnacle says if the engine is damaged who knows the extent of the damage and some parts are hard to get hold of new and expensive I don't want to get caught out with an expensive rebuild and I know if it's a coupe engine my heart rather than my head will take over meaning ££££ spent.

Nick, thanks for that mate tbh I lack confidence at the moment and doubt my ability which is why I think it's best to start on a small engine to build my confidence. I've only done regular maintenance on my coupe and replaced things like the turbo and oil cooler and pipes etc....... an MR2 does sound fun!:) At the moment i'm thinking along the lines of a Punto, if its cheap to rebuild I could experiment more with it and not worry to much if it blows up on it's first drive after i put it back together!

Hehe ok matey,well the offer stands as i said i will more than likely scrap her at the end of the 6 months tax and she is a 1990 car so shes very basic plus theres lots out there so parts would be cheap. The missus slapped my wrist for getting another coupe as i think she was going for a A4 or somthing similar as a commuter (lesson learnt by her)what ever you chose i think its a cracking idea and somthing i wouldnt mind doing in a few years when works calmed down a bit.

Nick

How about something for greenlane fun? Suzuki SJ or Lada Niva spring to mind as having easy to get at and cheap mechanicals.

Whatever you get, the difficult bit will be finding something cheap which isn't rotten: chassis/body restoration is much more time consuming and not nearly as much fun as mechanicals. The coupe's good in this respect of course.

That's why I'm not going to recommend something like a mini or Land Rover.

Just an idea...
What about a Rover K-Series engined car with the head gasket gone?

Theres normally lots of room in the engine bays, there cheap as chips to buy, parts are still plentiful, Haynes manuals are good for them. Uou could strip it all to parts...send the head for skimming then put it all back together. I think the K-series is a great engine to learn on. Its the first engine that i stripped and put back together. If i had the room now id do another one because afterwards there worth reasonable money.

Someone at my work not long did this...they bought a Rover 25 for 200 quid in really good condition apart from the head gasket. Sorted it all and sold it for 1000 after spending around 250 on bits including getting the head skimmed.

Just another option.

Don - my 17 year old son's girlfriend had a Mk1 Punto 1.2 that had blown its head gasket - she was going to scrap it, but I suggested it was salvagable if he did the gasket himself. He'd never even taken a spark plug out, never mind removing a cylinder head.

On the basis that he couldn't make maters any worse, he set about it with lots of enthusiasm, helped by my fairly comprehensive set of DIY tools

In the end, it took him a day and a bit, but only because he kept getting stuck on silly little bits (such as how to get a hose off when its attached with the infamous Fiat clips)

However, he now knows MUCH more about the basic workings of an engine, so when it came to doing the cambelt on his Mk1 Golf, he had no hesitation in doing it himself - it took less than an hour!

Barnacle's suggestion is a good one - a Mk1 Punto is great to work on, parts are cheap and access is good.

If you can find one with a blown headgasket (very common on 1.1 and 1.2) then you'll get the car for pennies and it won't matter if its totally dead

Have fun

A few months ago I asked a friend if he had any spare engines in his garage that I could rebuild.

The options were a very rattly Chevy v8 or a Porsche 944 engine. I opted for the Porsche engine.....

BUT....

He seems to have forgotten about me

Nick thank you, you got me looking at MR2's on the net now!
An old rover sounds like it might be worth looking into thanks for that........ Nigel you helped fill me with a bit more confidence thanks!

Cheers
John