CIH is bored of his bluey

[CIH]

It's nice in an inoffensive way, runs despite zilch maintenance and cost me near enough nothing to buy (relatively speaking) and literally £30 at MOT but it's just so dull. It's also surprisingly harsh on the suspension thought that's probably knackered dampners or something.

I fancy something small and FWDy, pre1990 and no sporting agenda though revy and chuckable would be nice. Like a Datto FII or something.

Probably won't be buying for a while but nowt wrong with some what-iffery.

Prefer Jap but I'm not anal about it.

And if anyone wants to derail the thread into tribal bickering about who's chosen marque is best go right ahead.

 

Ta.

[Richard]

I think this should tick most of your boxes.

 

[CIH]

yeah that's exactly what I had pictured

[Milford Cubicle]

Small car eh? I'm fond of the original pre-96 Subaru Justys, they are getting difficult to find though.

Although they were built up until 1995, the design is rooted in the early 1980s.

They are a lot of fun to rag about in spite of the slow steering and helped by a willing 3 pot soundtrack which sounds like a tinny thrashy bastard cross between a Porsche flat six and Audi in line five. Selectable 4WD means they're good for mild-moderate off roading. They are fairly nippy too because the gearing is so low, but economy suffers on longer runs.

Justys are very reliable, but parts can be fairly pricey and a few are no longer available new.

 

Should have kept that one, but my mechanical ineptitude and laziness got the better of me. It just needed a new clutch and the exhaust welded up.

[shite_meister]

How about a Honda CRX V-tec? beautiful engine and lovely little car, I worked with a lad who swore his non V-tec wasn't that much slower than the V-tec one but whether that was low-spec syndrome I'm not sure. How about the Honda Civic that looks similar to the CRX?

 

Couldn't find a pic of a standard un-messed with CRX

[Mr Lobster]

Couldn't find a pic of a standard un-messed with CRX

I think finding a standard CRX would be just as difficult I'd love one, remember lusting over one in 1990 when Fatha_Lobsta bought a new Accord. Always liked them since. It's just that good, unmodified ones seem to be seriously rare now.

[Milford Cubicle]

CRXs are very appealing, but aren't nice ones £££££?

[Minimad5]

non of this talk of crazy japanese cars !!You want a Fiesta mk1 :)Has anyone actually seen one of these around in the past year or two ?they seem to have vanished in my area.Dont have a big clue on prices but i'm sure you could get a minter for atleast £600

[pogweasel]

I wouldn't kick one of them CRX's outta bed, modified or otherwise. In fact I would brave it's stinky morning breath and go back in for seconds.

[Mr Lobster]

If they are modified tastefully then that'd be ok, that one up there ^ looks nice although it could lose the Laguna front bumper trim for me. Good ones do seem to be getting pricey though.

[outlaw118]

CRX is full of win, unless you are full of lard. Or height. I couldn't fit in one when I was 17 stone....better ring the fire brigade if I was to try one now...

[Guest]

non of this talk of crazy japanese cars !!You want a Fiesta mk1 :)Has anyone actually seen one of these around in the past year or two ?they seem to have vanished in my area.Dont have a big clue on prices but i'm sure you could get a minter for atleast £600

I like Mk 1 Fiestas, but for £600 I'd need to follow the fucker around with a dustpan and brush.

[Minimad5]

non of this talk of crazy japanese cars !!You want a Fiesta mk1 :)Has anyone actually seen one of these around in the past year or two ?they seem to have vanished in my area.Dont have a big clue on prices but i'm sure you could get a minter for atleast £600

I like Mk 1 Fiestas, but for £600 I'd need to follow the fucker around with a dustpan and brush.

haha !What kind of money are they reaching these days ?I don't think they are into the stupidly high prices like the mk1 and 2 escorts are they ?

[brammy777]

MK1 Fiestas are a bit weird on prices at the moment, it does seem to depend on the owner. Some buy it now bargains do appear, although this is in decline. But alot of them are now (or almost) 30 years old, so any in show condition will obviously be worth a fair bit more. MK2 Fiestas are still dirt cheap for now though.

[Station]

Plus, there's one in Queensferry Dismantlers sitting there doing nothing if you need parts.

[Minimad5]

MK1 Fiestas are a bit weird on prices at the moment, it does seem to depend on the owner. Some buy it now bargains do appear, although this is in decline. But alot of them are now (or almost) 30 years old, so any in show condition will obviously be worth a fair bit more. MK2 Fiestas are still dirt cheap for now though.

Thanks mr triple 7Thats why i asked to be honest as an average point the price was kind of £800 for a mk1 fiesta (About a month ago maximum)and now looking the prices seem to change nearly daily

[wilko]

It's nice in an inoffensive way, runs despite zilch maintenance and cost me near enough nothing to buy (relatively speaking) and literally £30 at MOT but it's just so dull

In standard spec, blueys are definitely dull to drive. However, they are a really easy car to modify to be lots of fun!

 

The carbed engines (especially the boggo 1.6) can be made into a proper screamer with a few simple modifications to the electronics & a good exhaust & the handling can be sorted with stiffer rear springs and lower profile tyres.

 

If you are dead set on changing it for something smaller to be chucked about, but not dead set on japanese, how about a late Renault 5? I picked up a 1.1 campus with full MOT and a dodgy wheel bearing for £300 about a decade ago and it was a proper hoot to thrash about... Not a fan of the turbos really (chav chariot) but the 1.4's go well, I'd imagine the 1.7 GTX is a belter!

[pogweasel]

other 'usual' mods to carb'd blueys include weight reduction (no windows), increased structural stiffness (scaffold roll cage) and custom paint (dulux)

[retrogeezer]

other 'usual' mods to carb'd blueys include weight reduction (no windows), increased structural stiffness (scaffold roll cage) and custom paint (dulux)

[wilko]

other 'usual' mods to carb'd blueys include weight reduction (no windows), increased structural stiffness (scaffold roll cage) and custom paint (dulux)

Get with the programme weasel, scaffold cages have been banned for over a decade!

[pogweasel]

What do you have now then? If I am going to make whimsical comments I would like them to be at least nearly factually accurate.

[wilko]

The same sort of thing but made out of properly welded box section - it's generally called an "H frame"!I do love a bluebird for racing but they have long since been overtaken by mk1/2 mondeos as the car to have - so you should probably target your whimsical comments at Ford owners!A mate of mine is running a fairly low mileage Bluebird 1.6LX hatch in an unpleasant shade of blue on the road at the moment that was picked up for £50 as scrap with nothing wrong with it. He seems to have a jammy knack of scoring them - he picked up an absolutley mint ZX Turbo saloon for peanuts & ran that for a bit before it was flogged to one of the retro rides CA18ET massiv!

[retrogeezer]

I do love a bluebird for racing but they have long since been overtaken by mk1/2 mondeos as the car to have - so you should probably target your whimsical comments at Ford owners!

So why would that be?? What dictates what is a good banger racer?

[wilko]

Mondeos are good primarily because they are outrageously strong - they will destroy a Volvo 240 in a head on collision & a 30-40mph square rear impact will still leave the back wheels pretty much straight. They have a substantial front subframe to which the engine/box/bottom arms are all bolted, which means they very rarely lose driveshafts as well. Vectras are similar construction but not as strong, and the ecowreck won't stand up to the same levels of abuse as the zetec - although zetecs are pretty flaky as well compared with Nissan lumps.I much preferred racing bluebirds because they handle better than a mondeo and much quicker to strip & build, and the engines are tough as old boots and pull like a train throughout the rev range. The shells are nowhere near as strong, particularly the back end - the bonus of that is that they bend safely, so you don't hurt as much next day. P10 primeras are OK, the back suspension is the weak point on them, lower arms bend very easily.Mondeos just don't bend really, and leave you aching. We've had some success this year with P11 Primeras - not as tough as a mondeo but a lot tougher than the P10 & they handle and go very well, like for like (i.e. 1.6 VS 1.6, 2.0 VS 2.0) they leave Mondeos with standard engines for dead.

[retrogeezer]

Cheers for that info.....good news for me as I have a 96 Mondeo Ghia and an 87 bluebird! I can feel quite happy taking my 6 year old out in them.

[warren t claim]

I thought you could not banger a car with fuel injection?

[wilko]

Some independent tracks allow injections & as of 2010 the main governing body have permitted it for "unlimited" bangers (mondeos don't race in this class as no FWD cars are allowed).So... Mondeos still can't race "as standard" at most places & we convert them to carb using a homemade manifold & a weber off an older ford, or an adaptor plate to fit a X/flow/Pinto/Nissan CA carb & manifold, part of the original throttle linkage, and a handful of the 96 wires on the non-encoded key ecu to get them out of limp mode & do the sparks. Takes an hour or two per car to convert when you know what you are doing - standard "8.8" M8 bolts fit the threads in the head to mount the inlet manifold & use the standard manifold gasket.The non-encoded key ECU (K,L,M reg) only needs a couple of earths, a live, crank position sensor wiring, and a few of the wires to the coil pack plugging in to run the standard curve - I'm going to try hi-jacking the knock sensor circuit to be able to adjust the timing as well.In a world where kit car boys & retro riders are throwing a lot of money at doing Zetec's "properly", it amuses me we can get smooth and reliable performance in hours with an old ECU, a £70 lazer cut adaptor plate and all the bits they are throwing away off their older engines I've also had a hand in converting 24v BOB, SR20DE's etc... to run on a standard carb for racing - some of us banger lads are not as daft as some of the txt spk on "ovalchat" would have you believe

[Pete-M]

some of us banger lads are not as daft as some of the txt spk on "ovalchat" would have you believe

You banger race BOB engines. Dammit, you may not be daft, but that's out of order. Great engines, those.

[Polystratus]

MK1 Fiestas are a bit weird on prices at the moment, it does seem to depend on the owner. Some buy it now bargains do appear, although this is in decline. But alot of them are now (or almost) 30 years old, so any in show condition will obviously be worth a fair bit more. MK2 Fiestas are still dirt cheap for now though.

Mk Ones have gone through the cheap banger stageAs a guide for show condition ones: Sportsports and XR2's £3k-£4k Limited edition versions about £2KStandard ones around £1k-£1500The more rusty ones you can still pick up for couple of hundred oddMk2s still cheap but someone in Scotland was asking £3k for a low milage 1985 one doubt he got that for it.

[CIH]

Colt

 

I find this little ebay Colt surprisingly appealing, despite looking a bit lob-sided and "money-pit" cheap.

Bet it would be a nice little daily retro with some coils lopped-off, a set of 13" Watanabes/Rota RBs and a juvenille exhaust....