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Author: Subject: How good was your donor?
craigdiver

posted on 12/11/17 at 02:37 PM Reply With Quote
How good was your donor?

After reading J666AYP’s post about his Merc donor car thought I would start a thread on perfectly good cars we have sacrificed for the building of our own creations. Ill kick off with my 2000 BMW 523i. This car was bought for £400. MOTd so drove it home 60 miles and was reluctant to break it up!







If it ain't broken, fix it anyway (just because).

Building - BMW powered Haynes Roadster/442E hybrid.

Volvo C30 T5 Polestar

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SJ

posted on 12/11/17 at 03:07 PM Reply With Quote
Mine was just a 1.8 Sierra but it was in perfect condition, motd and taxed and drove spot on. After cashing in the tax it cost me £45.
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LBMEFM

posted on 12/11/17 at 04:10 PM Reply With Quote
I bought my Sierra from a family who told me it was their late fathers pride and joy. I felt terrible and did not have the heart to tell them what I was going to do with it.
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J666AYP

posted on 12/11/17 at 04:47 PM Reply With Quote
2001 CLK230 with genuine halfords AMG badges

She was a bag of rust but the engine was only on 70k with a massive service history.

I parted with under £300 for her, the private plate that came with it has been valued at £600. So in theory I'm making money (atleast thats what the wife thinks wink wink).

Jay

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Simon

posted on 12/11/17 at 05:48 PM Reply With Quote
My Sierra donor was absolute rubbish but then it was free . The immaculate RX8 I got for my now abandoned Scimitar project which apart from duff engine was £300

Wife asked why I didn't keep that instead - £500 rfl was why




[Edited on 12/11/17 by Simon]

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geoff shep

posted on 12/11/17 at 07:20 PM Reply With Quote
I found a 2L, 5-speed Sierra at a back street garage. The body work was shot and there was steel bracing sticking out of the tyres. He said he could get it MOTd or drive it to my place but I said it was going to be for a kit and that I would collect it on a trailer. He tried to fob us off about not being available until the end of the day, but we went back there straight away with the trailer he had it up on the ramp and was replacing crappy old bushes and things, with even crappier ones from another car he presumably had up for sale. So we got him to stop and took it away as it was. It ran out of fuel driving it off the trailer. When I took the front suspension apart the bolt holding the lower arm was sheared and just holding together by good fortune.

Most of it was exactly what I wanted - mechanically sound and I was going to replace the bushes etc anyway. When I took the dashboard out to get to the loom, I found that the from right quarter was a different colour and was presumably from a different car.

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mark chandler

posted on 12/11/17 at 08:28 PM Reply With Quote
Pretty good in my case, a decent Sierra 4x4 in faded red, no rust or dents drove well. all I wanted was the axle and steering column the rest went down the breakers.

His mother sold it to me, her son kept saying he was going to use it, after a year on her drive she got rid on his behalf

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craigdiver

posted on 12/11/17 at 08:31 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Simon
My Sierra donor was absolute rubbish but then it was free . The immaculate RX8 I got for my now abandoned Scimitar project which apart from duff engine was £300

Wife asked why I didn't keep that instead - £500 rfl was why


Bloody hell, fancied one of them as a toy but never realised £500 road tax :-0





If it ain't broken, fix it anyway (just because).

Building - BMW powered Haynes Roadster/442E hybrid.

Volvo C30 T5 Polestar

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Nickp

posted on 12/11/17 at 09:02 PM Reply With Quote
328i cabrio, £460 off ebay. Drove all summer and did a couple of trackdays, before I pulled the engine and box

Description
Description

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bi22le

posted on 12/11/17 at 09:40 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Simon
My Sierra donor was absolute rubbish but then it was free . The immaculate RX8 I got for my now abandoned Scimitar project which apart from duff engine was £300

Wife asked why I didn't keep that instead - £500 rfl was why




[Edited on 12/11/17 by Simon]


Who the hell stuck that wonky Mazda badge on. That is helariously wonky!!





Track days ARE the best thing since sliced bread, until I get a supercharger that is!

Please read my ring story:
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/forum/13/viewthread.php?tid=139152&page=1

Me doing a sub 56sec lap around Brands Indy. I need a geo set up! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHksfvIGB3I

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sdh2903

posted on 12/11/17 at 10:17 PM Reply With Quote
What a pile of crap this was. Drove it home 150 miles and when I saw the state of the underneath I wish i hadn't as it was rotten to the core. Everytime I braked it lurched left. On strip down only 2 calipers worked and 2 broken springs. Couldn't jack it up as the underneath was so rotten. Engine and box was sweet tho.

mx5
mx5


Cutmx5
Cutmx5

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miskit

posted on 12/11/17 at 10:48 PM Reply With Quote
MX5 Mk 2.5 140K odd miles
Paid £1,000, got back over twice in parts, plus still have the engine, brakes etc. Drove it for a month, but when I started the strip down I became convinced that someone had messed with the mileage - it was more like 50k! It was immaculate, from the carpets to the hood, everything was pristine. I think if I had driven it for another month I'd still have it!

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nick205

posted on 13/11/17 at 08:56 AM Reply With Quote
My donor was a 2.0 Pinto Sierra MoT failure bought from a colleague. Colleague had already bought another car and had no attachment to the Sierra. If anything colleague was more interested in what I had planned for it. Sadly he'd left work by the time the MK Indy was finished and roadworthy - suspect he'd have loved a quick blast in it

I had no emotions at all stripping the Sierra - best thing to happen to it IMHO.

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Andy D

posted on 13/11/17 at 09:16 AM Reply With Quote
I bought a Sierra 2L MOT failure. Was a tidy car, and the interior was immaculate. I removed the engine and box, plus a load of other bits and bobs, and towed it to the local breakers. I explained I wanted the wheels off it, so it was positioned next to a crane with a large claw grab. Crane driver grabbed the car by the roof, lifted it a foot or so, I removed the wheels, and the car went straight into the crusher!
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RoadkillUK

posted on 13/11/17 at 12:20 PM Reply With Quote


This was our MK2 escort we drove from Kent up to Bradford, no MOT and 3 of the 4 brakes locked up on the way back, Speedo was well out as the rear wheels were sierra and a little big. Part way up the motorway the vents cleared themselves of the dead leaves that it had acquired too . I think the car cost us £60.





Roadkill - Lee
www.bradford7.co.uk
Latest Picture (14 Sept 2014)

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craigdiver

posted on 13/11/17 at 12:30 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by RoadkillUK


This was our MK2 escort we drove from Kent up to Bradford, no MOT and 3 of the 4 brakes locked up on the way back, Speedo was well out as the rear wheels were sierra and a little big. Part way up the motorway the vents cleared themselves of the dead leaves that it had acquired too . I think the car cost us £60.


The escort looks fantastic, I’m sure it would have needed a ton of welding to keep it alive (in its original form)!





If it ain't broken, fix it anyway (just because).

Building - BMW powered Haynes Roadster/442E hybrid.

Volvo C30 T5 Polestar

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Simon

posted on 13/11/17 at 06:23 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by craigdiver

Bloody hell, fancied one of them as a toy but never realised £500 road tax :-0


Only 2006 on

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Nickp

posted on 13/11/17 at 06:48 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by RoadkillUK


This was our MK2 escort we drove from Kent up to Bradford, no MOT and 3 of the 4 brakes locked up on the way back, Speedo was well out as the rear wheels were sierra and a little big. Part way up the motorway the vents cleared themselves of the dead leaves that it had acquired too . I think the car cost us £60.


And it'd be worth a gazzillion quid now!!

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bi22le

posted on 13/11/17 at 08:31 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Nickp
quote:
Originally posted by RoadkillUK


This was our MK2 escort we drove from Kent up to Bradford, no MOT and 3 of the 4 brakes locked up on the way back, Speedo was well out as the rear wheels were sierra and a little big. Part way up the motorway the vents cleared themselves of the dead leaves that it had acquired too . I think the car cost us £60.


And it'd be worth a gazzillion quid now!!


I was thinking that!!

The shocking state of that MK3 would fetch about 5k these days!!!





Track days ARE the best thing since sliced bread, until I get a supercharger that is!

Please read my ring story:
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/forum/13/viewthread.php?tid=139152&page=1

Me doing a sub 56sec lap around Brands Indy. I need a geo set up! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHksfvIGB3I

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