Seriously?

[foggyjames]

Well...I meant swapping the early GLT bits (flat bonnet, eggcrate grille, B23E, etc) onto a later car, rather than a brand new shell (if such a thing even existed, as you say). Probably a bit niche, but people do rebuild 200s and even 7/900s to a particular spec. It's getting to be quite common in 300-land, where the prime objective is to find a clean shell, then swap in the oily bits (and sometimes even generational cosmetic changes) they want. The "ULEZ-factor" is a good point, too - worth doing a (legitimate) identity swap if you're in one of those zones.

cheers

James

[360beast]

If you have the space, time, money and patience virtually all cars are restorable. Look at the pair of 760 turbos that I'm doing up and the 50 shades of grey 940 rot box that had over 40 hours of welding put in to it and a complete engine and gearbox swap from a B200F and M47 to a B230FK and M90.

People seem to give up on old cars too easily these days, all well and good to break them for parts but eventually people will be wondering where they've all gone and the answer will be to the scrapyard because they needed a bit of welding and maybe worst case an engine rebuild.

I've broke about ten 7/900s for parts and maybe 6 of them could have been fixed up, at the time it was the right decision but I do regret breaking some of them, especially a 1988 760 turbo saloon that had one patch of rot and that was it.

Now if I manage to get one cheap I will endeavour to repair it before condemning it.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by 360beast

If you have the space, time, money and patience virtually all cars are restorable. Look at the pair of 760 turbos that I'm doing up and the 50 shades of grey 940 rot box that had over 40 hours of welding put in to it and a complete engine and gearbox swap from a B200F and M47 to a B230FK and M90.

People seem to give up on old cars too easily these days, all well and good to break them for parts but eventually people will be wondering where they've all gone and the answer will be to the scrapyard because they needed a bit of welding and maybe worst case an engine rebuild.

I've broke about ten 7/900s for parts and maybe 6 of them could have been fixed up, at the time it was the right decision but I do regret breaking some of them, especially a 1988 760 turbo saloon that had one patch of rot and that was it.

Now if I manage to get one cheap I will endeavour to repair it before condemning it.

I’m not sure about that Luke. It is really easy to get carried away with the cost of restoring motor cars that will never be worth anything like that much. 240s are nice motor cars of course (we all like them here), but they aren’t all that rare and some aren’t even 30 years old yet. 7/900 motor cars are generally a bit younger and less rare; sometimes it is best just to let them go.

:-)

Alan

[360beast]

Originally Posted by Othen

I’m not sure about that Luke. It is really easy to get carried away with the cost of restoring motor cars that will never be worth anything like that much. 240s are nice motor cars of course (we all like them here), but they aren’t all that rare and some aren’t even 30 years old yet. 7/900 motor cars are generally a bit younger and less rare; sometimes it is best just to let them go.

:-)

Alan

I'm not talking about their value Alan, I'm saying that people are giving up on older cars too easily or are only seeing the quick buck to be had so loads of perfectly good or salveagable cars are disappearing and soon there won't be many left. I mean how often do you see a 740/760 turbo for sale let alone actually driving around? The 240 is more common and if you take the model range in its entirety when was the last time you saw one that wasn't yours driving around? I used to see 200's weekly a few years ago and now I think I've seen one on the road this year!

I do what I do because I enjoy it and want to see these cars on the roads in years to come

If you can do the work yourself then costs can be kept to a minimum, I restored my 360 (except for the paint) for less than £1000.

I've got my blue 760 turbo virtually ready for the MOT and it has only cost me a few hundred to do so. It was rotten so has been fully welded, painted underneath and even given a nice coat of rubberised stonechip to give it a factory finish underneath. It has had a full service, polybush spaceship bushes, new brakes all round, manifold gaskets replaced, turbo return seal replaced, cambelt and front oil seals along with V belts and a thorough clean. If you saw the rot on it you would have expected it to go for scrap but that would have been a complete waste of a perfectly good car.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by 360beast

I'm not talking about their value Alan, I'm saying that people are giving up on older cars too easily or are only seeing the quick buck to be had so loads of perfectly good or salveagable cars are disappearing and soon there won't be many left. I mean how often do you see a 740/760 turbo for sale let alone actually driving around? The 240 is more common and if you take the model range in its entirety when was the last time you saw one that wasn't yours driving around? I used to see 200's weekly a few years ago and now I think I've seen one on the road this year!

I do what I do because I enjoy it and want to see these cars on the roads in years to come

If you can do the work yourself then costs can be kept to a minimum, I restored my 360 (except for the paint) for less than £1000.

I've got my blue 760 turbo virtually ready for the MOT and it has only cost me a few hundred to do so. It was rotten so has been fully welded, painted underneath and even given a nice coat of rubberised stonechip to give it a factory finish underneath. It has had a full service, polybush spaceship bushes, new brakes all round, manifold gaskets replaced, turbo return seal replaced, cambelt and front oil seals along with V belts and a thorough clean. If you saw the rot on it you would have expected it to go for scrap but that would have been a complete waste of a perfectly good car.

You and I are of a like mind Luke: we both enjoy doing up old cars (and bikes as well for me), but neither of us particularly account for our time (if I did I'd have to charge £15,000 for the RB!).

In the discussion above people were talking about re-bodying 240s that were too far gone to save. That is well beyond what is rational, indeed I'd say that spending 50 hours on welding a 240 would be pointless as well. 50 hours of skilled work is going to cost £2,500 plus the cost of the panels - it would always make sense to find a better 240 in the first place (in my humble opinion).

It is a good thing that people (like you and I) keep older motor cars going, but it hardly ever makes sense. I enjoy GAM and the RB - but I'd be the first to admit that neither makes much sense apart from the nostalgia (which is everything of course).

:-)

[BicycleBoy]

Originally Posted by 360beast

If you can do the work yourself

Welding and paintwork require enclosed workspace, which is another thing again, even if you have the tools and know-how. And bodywork/interior is what makes a restoration special: Any spanner monkey can swap out mechanicals by the side of the road, but anything more than a wash and detailing will require wind-free environment.

So I'd say there were plenty of salvageable cars sent to the scrappy due to lack of facilities, done it myself too often back in the days you could get a banger with a ticket for a hundred quid.

[BicycleBoy]

...and yes, we are still in a car price bubble:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115406763664
It's very pretty, but I'm sure they were half that new?

[Othen]

Originally Posted by BicycleBoy

...and yes, we are still in a car price bubble:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115406763664
It's very pretty, but I'm sure they were half that new?

... there is a huge difference between placing an ad for a motor car at an enormously inflated price and finding a buyer willing to pay it.

[Moomoo]

Originally Posted by 360beast

I'm not talking about their value Alan, I'm saying that people are giving up on older cars too easily or are only seeing the quick buck to be had so loads of perfectly good or salveagable cars are disappearing and soon there won't be many left. I mean how often do you see a 740/760 turbo for sale let alone actually driving around? The 240 is more common and if you take the model range in its entirety when was the last time you saw one that wasn't yours driving around? I used to see 200's weekly a few years ago and now I think I've seen one on the road this year!

I do what I do because I enjoy it and want to see these cars on the roads in years to come

If you can do the work yourself then costs can be kept to a minimum, I restored my 360 (except for the paint) for less than £1000.

I've got my blue 760 turbo virtually ready for the MOT and it has only cost me a few hundred to do so. It was rotten so has been fully welded, painted underneath and even given a nice coat of rubberised stonechip to give it a factory finish underneath. It has had a full service, polybush spaceship bushes, new brakes all round, manifold gaskets replaced, turbo return seal replaced, cambelt and front oil seals along with V belts and a thorough clean. If you saw the rot on it you would have expected it to go for scrap but that would have been a complete waste of a perfectly good car.

I think it’s important to divorce values and costs from the sheer love of restoring any item that one would find it hard to abandon as scrap.

My dad would spend hours repairing something he could have replaced for a couple of quid!
If you see it like that, then that’s fine surely.

Using time , unoccupied in anything else , to restore and USE a car has to be the best recycling. To perpetuate our buy, use , scrap ,buy , use ,scrap has a lot to do with the world’s ills.

Nobody’s saying we should all ride around in old bangers. Me doing a couple of thousand miles in my 240 , keeps a few miles off the Mini. Again, it’s hobby and need in tandem.

I’m probably wrong, I’ll ask the Missus!🧐

[BicycleBoy]

What a very nice saloon for £4k:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185452134809
A nice early one with ownership and use records. Yum.