I May Have To Admit Defeat

[Rich_p 23]

I've not posted for a while as I've been occupied with the Elise.

 

After another year of not touching the 309 (but sometimes buying bits) I may need to admit it's never going to get finished :-(

 

I've got a pile of nice bits and a sorn'd car with nice bits attached.

 

I'm assuming I'm better off breaking it as opposed to bunging it on ebay as is?

 

Such a shame. If I do need to strip it I'm really not looking forward to it.

 

I'm not even sure I can manage to get the engine and box out but I'll need to if I want to retrieve the BBM mounts for example.

[Ozymandis 97]

I think breaking is a pita, but if ebay bits prices are owt to go by, you would get more money.

 

Try a for sale ad on here maybe?

[welshpug 1,657]

just build it! get a few mates round, make a list and crack on.

[Rich_p 23]

sadly my friends aren't really the building/fixing car type

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

sadly my friends aren't really the building/fixing car type

Are you?

 

If you are just chip away at it, as long as it's garaged it really doesn't matter how long it takes.

 

Apart from that, if it isn't rotten there isn't much to them, an engine, gearbox, suspension, and brakes.

[Ozymandis 97]

If you cant be arsed anymore then fair enough just get shut of it and use the money space and time to do something you can be arsed with.

No use flogging a dead horse.

[Weser 30]

Build it! You've gone to the trouble of sourcing parts etc for it, it would be a shame not to see it finished. Could have Essex meets at yours to chip in and get it done.

[Rich_p 23]

One of the main issues is it's not at mine, it's in my parents garage and is a right faff getting it out and then it has to be in one piece and wheeled back in when I leave.

 

Another is having the Lotus as a daily, it has needed a few bits doing so it takes priority.

 

I'd love to see it done but just being realistic at the moment. It's taken me this long to admit it!

[Clapton_Is_God 21 1 Cars]

I know where you're coming from, my car is 8 years and counting. There have been countless times where I've been close to admitting defeat, for various reasons.

 

When you do finish it, however long it takes, it'll be all the more worthwhile :-)

[Ozymandis 97]

Thats the ticket realism.

 

Its making you unhappy, a woman, a car, a bike, a job ,a customer.

 

Get rid get happier

[james_pug 26 1 Cars]

Have you got room for it at yours? It's so much easier finding time to work on projects if you don't have to travel to them even if it is outside, I've built my dimma from a bare shell on my driveway.

[Rich_p 23]

I live in a ground floor flat unfortunately so having it at home isn't really an option. It used to live in the car park but it seemed daft paying tax and insurance on it while it wasn't complete.

[Ozymandis 97]

Have you got room for it at yours? It's so much easier finding time to work on projects if you don't have to travel to them even if it is outside, I've built my dimma from a bare shell on my driveway.

He`s right, get it out of your folks way.

 

They will be delighted, come on they made you, fed you, wiped you, put up with you,and loved you.

 

Time to be a man, get your banger out of their lives.

 

Get rid!

[welshpug 1,657]

you need new friends!

 

my closest friends these days are guys i met from here and Peugeot sport.

[Ozymandis 97]

Get shut lad, having your whole life dominated with such toys is intrinsically unhealthy.

I am glad your friends include broader interests its good for you and them.

Many shut in types only have "friends" on forums and suchlike tosh.

Good for you!

[mrfirepro 127 1 Cars]

work out what you might get for the parts, take off an amount for your time (as you value your time) stripping, listing, posting and general faf with these thing, then list it for sale as on onging project, listing all the nice parts you have and all the effort you've put in with good quality pictures and if no reasonable offers near the above figure are forthcoming it's time to get your tool box out.

 

I'm also of the camp that if you've got to the stage where you've admitted enough is enough then prolonging it will only make you unhappy.

 

Get decision made and get on with it...

Edited April 13, 2016 by mrfirepro

[Ozymandis 97]

ha ha ha.

 

Good luck with it David.

 

If you sell it to an enthusiast it might "live again" or it might help other cars be preserved.

[Rich_p 23]

I forgot I had an alternative option! Brother lives on the same cul de sac as my parents and has a garage they don't use.

 

They offered it to me so I may stick the 309 in there for a few months and see if I work on it once it's more accessible -

Eg it wont be full of stuff and have things on top of it and around it.

 

If no further progress is made it'll have to go.

 

It's odd, just looking at it and sitting in it can cheer me up sometimes! I'd have more fun if I could use it though!

[Anthony 1,003]

It's odd, just looking at it and sitting in it can cheer me up sometimes! I'd have more fun if I could use it though!

What's the minimum that it needs to get it MOT'd and usable?

 

Getting the car back on the road so that it can be enjoyed is far better for mojo, enthusiasm etc than a never ending project, even if that means that some of the shiny gucci bits you've bought don't get fitted.

 

If nothing else, should you decide that you don't want it then it would be a much easier to sell and worth more if it was a running, MOT'd car.

[Rich_p 23]

Minimum would be to level the ride height out, either with springs or adjust the beam (A job I don't fancy but it's the proper way to do it, it looks good low but wishbones are at the wrong angles)

 

Re do the unions on the bias valve, they were weeping and I think I then over tightened them as the brakes seem non existent since.

All lines and master cylinder were replaced prior so they are all ok.

 

It needs a mount welded for the passenger seat as it only has the drivers one done currently.

 

That's about it really. The rest are fancy bits and cosmetics.

[Rich_p 23]

The other jobs include

 

Fit Fibreglass bonnet

Fit rear side poly windows

Fit rear poly window and make a phase 1 tailgate fit a phase 2!

Change front bumper and brackets

Fit neg camber front hubs (I know one of the hub nuts will be a pita to remove)

Refit sunroof blanking panel

Make some towing straps fit

Attempt to make the car look pretty as it is a few shades of white.

Sort out any odd little rust patches

Tidy engine bay & make it look presentable

Buy and fit larger rear ARB

 

So lots of faff jobs rather than just bolt on and bolt off. Some aren’t immediately necessary but if done would probably encourage me to do more.

[Anthony 1,003]

So the only thing that really needs doing to get it MOT'd and back on the road is the brake unions for the bias valve - a few hours work tops?

 

Get that done, get it on the road / track and just enjoy it. The rest of the things are niceties that can be done at some point in the future when you've more time / motivation / mojo.

 

I'm very much of the opinion that too many people set themselves a project that's beyond their means - be that time, money or ability - and what inevitably happens is that it then spends years off the road and interest wanes. These cars are to be driven and enjoyed - it's their raison d'etre - and it's always better to have the car on the road and available to be enjoyed then it is for it to gather dust in the garage never to reach a dim and distant ideal.

[Henry Yorke 269 3 Cars]

Exactly as Anthony says. People come on here, read build threads of others making 300bhp monsters and want one. Then they buy loads of bits off other people who have given up and they find they get themselves into the same position. At least you have not stripped it as that is usually the kiss of death.

Get it on the road, drive it, attend local Essex PSC meets and your enthusiasm will all come flooding back

[allanallen 528 2 Cars]

And sell me that plastic rear window god damn it!

Edited April 14, 2016 by allanallen

[mowflow 67]

I can identify with this.

 

When I bought my current 205 I intended it to be a sort of rolling restoration. Something I could enjoy driving and also pick up some spattering skills on. Within the first few weeks I found a bit of rust I wasn't happy about so started digging a bit deeper and found a whole load of things I wasn't happy with. Before I knew it i had a car laid up in my garage with bits stored all over the place, a massive shopping list of replacement parts and with almost no practical mechanical experience I was in way over my head.

 

I've just realised this morning that that was almost 3 years ago. I've often thought about just giving up, selling it as a project or breaking for parts as life has got in the way (I moved job which lead to more travelling, my father in law was unwell then passed away and my son was diagnosed with Leukaemia leading to the last 2 years being in and out of hospital) so I've questioned if i will ever finish it many times. I'm also in the position where none of my friends are capable. At one point I even thought about trying to appeal to the 205 community to help me get it done (had all the parts but little ability and no time).

 

I keep going because i keep telling myself i've put too much in to back out now plus i'm stubborn and don't like to admit defeat on anything. If i can get motivated and find the time I think i'm maybe a year away from having this car rolling and at a point where it's just cosmetics and trim that need doing. that's provided it does actually work when i get round to finally turning that key and firing it up. It gets to a point where the car stands for more than it's worth. One day i'll be out enjoying this car on a drive down the coast with my son.