2 late model 8v Mk2's - what to do????? Qualified adivce please

[stomper]

Seeing as yours is a 5 door, 8v, 170k on the clock, max is going to be £1800-2000 i'd have thought if it's spotless.

Thats my opinion.

Oli

Thanks Oli, that makes sense.

So if I take the view that the 5 door in it's current state owes me zero, and that if I can get away with spending £1500 to £1800 to get a close to spotless car then it will stand me correctly and worth doing. If it's going to cost me over this then ..... sniff..... maybe the end is near..... sniff..... 

Oh the memories......     

You could probably sell as is and get £750-1000 depending on condition.

Is it worth spending £1500-1800 to only get the same back when you sell it at the end of the restoration?

If you sold it now it's next lucky owner could restore it and enjoy using the car.

Do you see what i'm saying, not very clear I know!

[Skid]

Yup I understand what your saying.

I'm trying to  apply the first rule of car ownership, never invest more in a car than you will get back..... but then we all break that don't we?

Yes she must owe me a few quid but being pragmatic I don't want to end up getting carried away to spend £3 or £4k on a 'standard' car if it's never going to be worth more than half that.

Ideally I take the view she's worth zero, then invest up to what she could be worth then that's given me a budget. Theory is if I have to liquidate, (worst case) then I get my money back. I want to keep her for potentially decades, but wanting to keep realistic.

By the way I have 4 (or is it 5???) cars plus a bike so trying to keep a grip on things! 

[stomper]

Blimey   

Well if you plan to keep the car it's probably worth doing.

Trouble is as said earlier you can easily spend more money on the car than it's worth, resprays, panels, steering/suspension/brake components, wheel refurb etc etc.

Getting back to the point of swapping engines you'd be better off in the eyes of future owners rebuilding the standard engine, i.e head or complete rebuild if necessary.

[Skid]

I've got an identical engine I might swap in for a while, while I take time on rebuilding the original. Don't know, some time the engine number originality might pay off.....