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Post by mawdo81 on Jan 18, 2014 13:47:29 GMT
Right then, here goes. I've always wanted a kit and a few years ago (before children!) managed to back my better half in to a corner and got her to agree, separately, to these 2 statements: 1. I could get a kit car once we had a house with a garage. 2. I could get a job back hoe loader once we'd paid off the mortgage. Now I knew it was only a matter of time...
2 children later and we needed a bigger house and settled on one with a double garage! 
I did float the idea of 2 kits but lets get the first one out of the way...
Originally thinking about a 7 style I came across the Sonic and have fallen for it. I'm going down the donor route to keep costs down and gain more mechanical experience.
So after lots of missing out on eBay I finally found a 1.8 with rear discs that wasn't going for silly money. It's been off the road for 18 months but the engine sounds as good as you'd expect for a 14 year old and the bits you'd use or sell seem fine. I saw it yesterday and we settled on £300 (should be a bargain as a conservative estimate is £100 for the vgc alloys...). I'm getting it delivered for £50 on Monday which is less than a months tax, a days insurance and travel for most of the road worthy ones.
I've ordered the Haynes manual for the year and am about to head out to clear the remaining bits out of the garage.
The plan is to strip the donor, refurb the engine and other parts I'll be using and sell the rest. Plan the build and get all the bits lined up, so RTR can't expect my order any time soon, unless a small deposit can be agreed just to get access to the technical section and a few key dimensions.
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Post by mawdo81 on Jan 18, 2014 14:02:16 GMT
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Post by mawdo81 on Jan 18, 2014 20:57:15 GMT
Garage clear out was delayed by a leak in the downstairs loo! All sorted now but carpet is currently drying in the space I want for the Sonic...
I want to spend as much of the time in the garage actually working on the car(s) rather than trying to figure out what to do so I've gone for a brand new (house & wife friendly) Haynes manual for indoors and a used, one for the garage...
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Post by mawdo81 on Jan 20, 2014 19:20:35 GMT
Before I go further, let me state that my good wife actively encouraged this with a socket set for Christmas :-)
Got the donor delivered today, been screwed over with a totally dud battery but borrowed one from another of our cars and started first time. First jobs to get the doors, bootlid, bonnet and bumpers off.
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Post by mawdo81 on Jan 27, 2014 12:15:33 GMT
Lessons learnt this weekend:
1.) Doors are heavier than you expect - not that surprising if you think about the glass & crash structure involved...
2.) Trust your measurements when assessing Torx bolts etc.
For future builders/strip down:
The seat rails require T50 bit.
The door hinge grub screws need an E8 socket.
How have others sold the bits that are not needed? I've put a breaking advert on Gumtree and looking out for an ebay free listing day. I just don't know how much to ask for re the individual bits to put them all on Gumtree. Not looking to max out the price but anything I get will be re-invested in the build so I don't want to give them away either...
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Post by airforceone on Jan 27, 2014 13:42:50 GMT
I made a couple of hundred quid back but it was painful. It took almost a year and involved
weighting packages, wrapping the stuff and putting up with people moaning about postage costs.
Honestly would never go that route again. Ended up chucking most of it in the skip in the end.
Things like doors(£30-40), bonnet(£20-30), boot lid(£20-30), front suspension(£60 per side), Alloys (£100-130),
Headlights(£20-40 both), rear lights(£30-40), bumpers(£20-30 each). Then it comes down to the smaller lecky bits
like switches. I still have the ECU and wiring.
All these prices depend on the condition, colour and model of your donor. I had a Ghia Saloon so some bits
went quite fast. I sold all mine over 2 years ago now and I've noticed a steep drop in the focus parts world.
As I said I got enough to cover the cost of the donor and some new tools and an engine hoist(£600).
Good Luck...
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Post by casesensitive on Feb 24, 2014 19:03:23 GMT
I too went the donor route, mostly so that I could learn my way around the car and ensure it was all properly labelled when I took it apart, and while it's painful, I'd definitely recommend it for anyone with a bit of space. I've been tracking the bits I sold and what I got for them ( deeplink to the post here). What I'm not including is the 'practice' donor (details in thread) I bought before I committed to the project, on which I've now (after selling gearbox and brake master cylinder/servo this weekend) made a small profit. All good practice, and discounting the hundreds of hours it all took, revenue positive :-) I sold a handful of high-value items that could be easily posted (ECU, loom, lights, heater and fan) as Buy It Nows on Ebay, but postage is a killer, and almost always more than the item. Reckon on Ebay and Paypal taking about 9% of the selling price using this method, and price your stuff accordingly. I have a long-running ad locally on Adverts.ie, people normally collect, but I'd say I get stood up more than 50% of the time, which is a pain. I've recently split each part into it's own ad, and got much better responses, more work sure, but better prices. I started breaking the Focus in August, and I've still nowhere near sold all the parts. That said, I refused to sell any of the doors or windows yet, so it's been doing a sterling job as a shed, keeping the bits I'm not ready for dry. |
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Post by mawdo81 on Feb 24, 2014 19:41:23 GMT
I've got rid of front crash/bumper structure (but not the number) front cross brace, grill, rear bumper & tailgate, rad & fan. Felt it a bit cheap at 100 but bird in the hand and the net donor cost is now 200... Wife floated the idea of getting the kit earlier if it means I don't need to buy an engine stand...no prizes for guessing my response ;-)
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Post by casesensitive on Feb 25, 2014 11:52:28 GMT
Yeah, I never bought an engine stand, but I did have to buy an engine crane, and the engine's been hanging off it for a bit too long  |
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Post by mawdo81 on Feb 25, 2014 12:14:41 GMT
I'm planning on doing as much pre-work as possible so that I only need a crane once (till any upgrades ;-)
I'll either hire one from HSS or see if the garage in the village has one they'd lend me at a better rate whilst they're closed for a weekend.
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Post by mawdo81 on Feb 27, 2014 20:00:44 GMT
Wow, I'm enjoying the strip down anyway but I wasn't prepared for the sheer excitement and sense of achievement that removing bits I will be using on the Sonic gave me yesterday. Got the steering column and instrument cluster out. Who has used the focus instruments? Ps turns out the mantle piece is not an appropriate place to keep the cluster according to the boss!  |
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Post by mawdo81 on Feb 28, 2014 12:36:03 GMT
Do I need the airflow meter or the back box from the Donor? I've had someone offer to buy them from me & I don't yet know if I need them.
Thanks
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Post by andybaird on Feb 28, 2014 17:25:05 GMT
Hi
Yes you do need the airflow meter. I have used it with the standard setup.
Cheers
Andy
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Post by mawdo81 on Feb 28, 2014 18:42:53 GMT
Thanks Andy, he's stood me up any how!
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Post by casesensitive on Mar 2, 2014 22:15:02 GMT
Do I need the airflow meter or the back box from the Donor? I've had someone offer to buy them from me & I don't yet know if I need them. Thanks Dunno if this helps, but my full ad is on adverts.ie, anything that's marked for sale or sold (bottom) is fair game. Some stuff I haven't thought of you sell, but it's mostly trim. You might want to hang on to the seat belts, I'll be using harnesses. |
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