Sanity check required…

[Largactil]

Okay; without doubt the wrong place to look to be dissuaded , but perhaps not a bad place to think aloud...?

 

I’m a long term lurker, but non-shite owner (Current wheels are a Honda S2000 – OMG; GR2.5 4 drifting!!!! LOLZ).

 

I’m a fan of the eBay tat thread, and have had many a pipe dream regarding returning some unloved old chod to the road. Lack of time / storage / any sort of mechanical or bodywork resto skills put paid to actually doing anything about it.

 

Anyway, I made the mistake of browsing the other week, and spotted the mega choddy FE Victor Estate with the VX4/90 wheels.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VAUXHALL-VICTOR-FE-ESTATE-VX-2300-PROJECT-IDEAL-STOCKCAR-/160736812504?_trksid=p5197.m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D4%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D6542156365542666175#ht_505wt_1398

 

This chod struck a chord with me – I was born in 1976, was a petrolhead from toddling age, and have fond memories of exactly this sort of thing running around in the mid to late 80’s.

 

I’m seriously fighting the urge to pitch a bid on it tomorrow – There’s no rational reason as to why. I'd just want to get it to an MOT-able standard, resolve any galloping structural rot, and leave looking cosmetically as is.

 

My brother in law’s a mechanic, working for a salvage / accident recovery firm. He may be willing to help with the oily bits, and have contacts to fetch it for beer money. (And there’s always Shiply).

 

My S2000 is currently stored FOC in a friend’s barn for the winter. I may be able to convince him to stick the Victor in there instead, till I can get it roadworthy. (Debatable, but you never know – Worst case, I pay £80 pcm for it to sit in a container somewhere…)

 

So….Experienced shitest’s opinions welcome; it’s quite difficult to justify it, given that there’s a 2300 FE Saloon on C&C in seemingly mint condition for £1650 (and given it’s been for sale for 4-5 months, I’d imagine it’d go for somewhat less…)

 

If I had to Shiply it, it’d be £300+, £80 pcm for 6 months till I get around to it (£480), and whatever the thing costs on Fleabay, plus all bits / labour to get it going = Sensible side of me going “No – You’re mentalâ€Â.

 

To be honest, I think I just need someone here to tell me the above…(!)

 

[Pete-M]

It's near my work. Could possibly have a look at it on Saturday for ya, but I'm not gonna arse about getting it running.

 

Also, whereabout are you? Pete's towing services could be available if it's not mentally far and you pay for juice and my lunch.

[vulgalour]

Clearly, you've thought this through and really are just thinking aloud. I expect you to be placing a bid on it as I type this, be rude not to.

[Alexg]

Pity the advert lacks any detail. It does look fabulous though

[Cavcraft]

Indeed it does look fab, though I reckon you'd need to go and see it before bidding and spend a bit of time looking over it.

 

' HAVE NOT HAD TIME TO GET IN RUNING ' Would put me off a bit as it's been on eBay a reasonable amount of time now and he appears to run a breaker's yard so surely he could have put a bit more effort into it? It's worth a bash if the price stays low enough though.

[eddyramrod]

You must! This deserves to be in the hands of an Autoshiter; Autoshite needs one of these among us. QED. You can always flog off the boring modern to cover costs...

[Largactil]

I'm quite practical, so worked out the 'how could I do it?' first, and am currently at the 'why would I want to?' phase...

 

I did e-mail the vendor, but despite his ability to use regtransfers.co.uk and eBay, he's not quite worked out how to reply to queries such as 'when was it last on the road / MOT'd?', 'does it start?', 'does it move or at least roll?', 'while you were photographing it, did you notice any major rust to the sills / inner wings?' etc.

 

I would try and get up to have a look, but work's kept me away and it ends tonight - There seems a bit of bidding interest; I have an idea what I'd consider paying for it, especially given it's a complete unknown and could be rotten as a pear...

 

 

It's near my work. Could possibly have a look at it on Saturday for ya, but I'm not gonna arse about getting it running.

 

Also, whereabout are you? Pete's towing services could be available if it's not mentally far and you pay for juice and my lunch.

 

 

Thanks Pete, but it ends later tonight - I split my time between Central Scotland and NW London, but I'd look to keep any chod up north, as the storage / labour costs to fix are so much cheaper. (And that's also where my mechanic BiL lives, with his welding set... )

 

I'll keep an eye over the day - I seem to flit between a massive desire to own it...and a fear of throwing money down the drain on something fit only for going over the bridge!

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

You could also get some of your costs back by plate-raping it (cue mob of angry numberplate nazis attacking me).

[flat4alfa]

It was bought out the back of Classics Monthly last month, off someone's driveway, for less than £200 notes.

 

 

I bet he did try and get it running.

[John F]

Right, I'll be the one to piss against the wind & advise caution.

 

I'm just not sure about this car. I don't like the lack of information provided by the ebay mong seller, the fact it has had its airbox removed or the suggestion that "it'd make a good stock car". The engine bay looks tidy enough, but the rest of the pictures show nothing useful or up close. The mong hasn't even given the mileage, not that it'd necessarily be worth knowing seeing as there's a second set of clocks in with the spares...

 

I certainly wouldn't bid on the car until I'd had a good look at its chassis rails & floor, sills, A pillars, scuttle, etc. and seen its V5. And ideally driven it a few laps of the seller's yard. As you say, these don't fetch much money in top condition and it could rapidly become a serious money pit if it needs a lot of welding and/or work on the engine or transmission. Plus if you live a busy life, and the car is stored away from home & you're reliant on help from others, it could take you bloody ages to get anywhere with the restoration.

 

In your position I wouldn't go anywhere near this car. There, I've said it.

 

My recommendation is to look for something with an MoT that you can do a rolling restoration on... there'll be plenty of chance in the future to tackle more heroic projects like this one

 

(EDIT: just seen flat4alfa's comment - I bet he tried to get it running too, hence the disconnected airbox.)

[Rocket88]

It was bought out the back of Classics Monthly last month, off someone's driveway, for less than £200 notes.

 

In that case, why not give the previous owner a ring, he would no longer have a vested interest, and would probably tell you exactly what state it's in.

[Largactil]

Right, I'll be the one to piss against the wind & advise caution.

 

I'm just not sure about this car. I don't like the lack of information provided by the ebay mong seller, the fact it has had its airbox removed or the suggestion that "it'd make a good stock car". The engine bay looks tidy enough, but the rest of the pictures show nothing useful or up close. The mong hasn't even given the mileage, not that it'd necessarily be worth knowing seeing as there's a second set of clocks in with the spares...

 

I certainly wouldn't bid on the car until I'd had a good look at its chassis rails & floor, sills, A pillars, scuttle, etc. and seen its V5. And ideally driven it a few laps of the seller's yard. As you say, these don't fetch much money in top condition and it could rapidly become a serious money pit if it needs a lot of welding and/or work on the engine or transmission. Plus if you live a busy life, and the car is stored away from home & you're reliant on help from others, it could take you bloody ages to get anywhere with the restoration.

 

In your position I wouldn't go anywhere near this car. There, I've said it.

 

My recommendation is to look for something with an MoT that you can do a rolling restoration on... there'll be plenty of chance in the future to tackle more heroic projects like this one

 

(EDIT: just seen flat4alfa's comment - I bet he tried to get it running too, hence the disconnected airbox.)

 

 

I think I owe you a virtual pint, John -

 

You've just verbalised the multitude of concerns whizzing around my head...If it goes for £400-500, needs £300 of Shiply moving, and £500 of storage it's already at £1300 before a welding torch is struck / spanner is turned.

 

I appreciate you buy chod with your heart and not your head, but this car's probably just too much work for me with my current lifestyle.

 

It's a shame - I've been strangely drawn to eBay to look at it a dozen times a day, for the past week. I even invested in a 1p Amazon Haynes manual for an FE...( )

 

If you had the skills, and local storage it would be rather epic.

 

A better basis is a much better plan.

 

Thanks AS - I'll slip back to lurking, but I'm growing ever closer to a chod purchase!

[John F]

Right, I'll be the one to piss against the wind & advise caution.

 

I'm just not sure about this car. I don't like the lack of information provided by the ebay mong seller, the fact it has had its airbox removed or the suggestion that "it'd make a good stock car". The engine bay looks tidy enough, but the rest of the pictures show nothing useful or up close. The mong hasn't even given the mileage, not that it'd necessarily be worth knowing seeing as there's a second set of clocks in with the spares...

 

I certainly wouldn't bid on the car until I'd had a good look at its chassis rails & floor, sills, A pillars, scuttle, etc. and seen its V5. And ideally driven it a few laps of the seller's yard. As you say, these don't fetch much money in top condition and it could rapidly become a serious money pit if it needs a lot of welding and/or work on the engine or transmission. Plus if you live a busy life, and the car is stored away from home & you're reliant on help from others, it could take you bloody ages to get anywhere with the restoration.

 

In your position I wouldn't go anywhere near this car. There, I've said it.

 

My recommendation is to look for something with an MoT that you can do a rolling restoration on... there'll be plenty of chance in the future to tackle more heroic projects like this one

 

(EDIT: just seen flat4alfa's comment - I bet he tried to get it running too, hence the disconnected airbox.)

 

 

I think I owe you a virtual pint, John -

 

You've just verbalised the multitude of concerns whizzing around my head...If it goes for £400-500, needs £300 of Shiply moving, and £500 of storage it's already at £1300 before a welding torch is struck / spanner is turned.

 

I appreciate you buy chod with your heart and not your head, but this car's probably just too much work for me with my current lifestyle.

 

It's a shame - I've been strangely drawn to eBay to look at it a dozen times a day, for the past week. I even invested in a 1p Amazon Haynes manual for an FE...( )

 

If you had the skills, and local storage it would be rather epic.

 

A better basis is a much better plan.

 

Thanks AS - I'll slip back to lurking, but I'm growing ever closer to a chod purchase!

 

No problem, Larga. It can be hard to see things rationally when your chod radar is locked on target.

 

Keep an eye on the 'eBay tat' thread though, I'm sure something much more appropriate will turn up in there before long

[Cavcraft]

So what you're saying is buying a badly described, badly photographed car with no mention of a V5 from a scouser is a bad idea?

[Guest]

The best decision, I think Larg. I wish I had your self control. Please can we have some pictures of your S2000? I fucking love them.

 

So what you're saying is buying a badly described, badly photographed car with no mention of a V5 from a scouser is a bad idea?

 

Well the Scouse bit is particularly objectionable.

 

Sincerely, Plastic Manc (Huddersfield).

[sporty-shite]

So what you're saying is buying a badly described, badly photographed car with no mention of a V5 from a scouser is a bad idea?

 

Think you've got it!

[Pete-M]

Oi, I resemble that remark.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Surely you mean 'resent'!!!

[Largactil]

So it went for £360 in the end - I was contemplating bidding somewhere around the £400-450 mark...(!)

 

I feel I may have had a lucky escape...!

[eddyramrod]

Well as I said about the 1981 Dodge pickup 11 years ago*: there'll be another one. (It hasn't shown itself yet, but I'm patient...) An FE estate with a nice plate deserves to be saved by someone, so let's hope that's what'll happen to it.

 

*And that's a whole other tale of woe.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I was semi-tempted by that, but I dont think I would have paid 360 for it, it doesnt seem super bargainous to me. I CERTAINLY wouldnt have paid 360 for it if I knew I then had to pay another £300 on shiply fees and several hundred more on storage before I could do anything with it! that sounds like a serious case of 'I MUST HAVE IT AT ALL COSTS' obsession which is never healthy, I bet you are feeling an all-over sense of relief/liberation/satisfaction at not now having to get all that lot underway.

[Largactil]

I was semi-tempted by that, but I dont think I would have paid 360 for it, it doesnt seem super bargainous to me. I CERTAINLY wouldnt have paid 360 for it if I knew I then had to pay another £300 on shiply fees and several hundred more on storage before I could do anything with it! that sounds like a serious case of 'I MUST HAVE IT AT ALL COSTS' obsession which is never healthy, I bet you are feeling an all-over sense of relief/liberation/satisfaction at not now having to get all that lot underway.

 

Most definitely.

 

I'm very guilty of the 'I MUST HAVE IT AT ALL COSTS' obsession - My modern (Honda S2000) was bought using this philosophy; it was £1k cheaper than similar advertised cars, had the later wheels fitted / was a nice colour yada yada.

 

I ignored all the warning bells, bought the thing, and almost immediately had to spend £700 on a full set of tyres (decent 245/40/17 aren't cheap), £1k replacing all the calipers, discs & pads, £70 to geo the thing, and around £200 to replace all the missing trim the chav owner had removed to turn it into a 'OMG IM A TRAK DAY HERO - MOVE OVR MANSEL!!' car.

 

I'm usually highly sensible; just not when it comes to cars...

[Cavcraft]

Oi, I resemble that remark.

 

To be fair every town/city has it's shitty areas, one or two round here spring to mind but obv. not everyone who lives there is a tw@t.

[Cavcraft]

Hey, Larg, have you checked this out? Looks a better prospect:

 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1975-VAUXHALL ... 4cfed620ba

 

Tested and looks quite genuine. £100 start, no res.

[Pete-M]

Oi, I resemble that remark.

 

To be fair every town/city has it's shitty areas, one or two round here spring to mind but obv. not everyone who lives there is a tw@t.

 

Aye, most of the others around here are ok....

[eddyramrod]

Oi, I resemble that remark.

 

To be fair every town/city has it's shitty areas, one or two round here spring to mind but obv. not everyone who lives there is a tw@t.

 

My sister lives in your city, Billy; make of that what you will!

[Cavcraft]

Oi, I resemble that remark.

 

To be fair every town/city has it's shitty areas, one or two round here spring to mind but obv. not everyone who lives there is a tw@t.

 

My sister lives in your city, Billy; make of that what you will!

 

PICTURES OR STFU

[eddyramrod]

Be careful what you wish for...

 

I don't have any pics of her in my computer. I don't have many at all really as we aren't in contact very much. I'm two-and-a-bit years older, so I've always tended to think of her as the three-year-old that used to follow me everywhere. Last year was her Silver Wedding...

 

I know, thread drift, sorry! I feel old...

[Largactil]

Hey, Larg, have you checked this out? Looks a better prospect:

 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1975-VAUXHALL ... 4cfed620ba

 

Tested and looks quite genuine. £100 start, no res.

 

That does look like a lovely old bus - Although seems to have attracted a fair bit of attention from the giffer brigade already...

 

I've got 4 or 5 in my current watch list - Went as far as to make a slightly cheeky offer on one, only to discover after making it, that I'd offered 60% of what he'd advertised it for on a forum last month...

 

There's no great rush, though...

[eddyramrod]

I like that a lot!