basketcase or let someone else do all the hard work?

[AntB]

i'd like to buy another traveller. i owned one between the ages of 17 and 19 and thanks to the fact that i lived fairly close to CS AutoClassics it ended up being rather tasty

my last car was written off as it was on the way to being sold (not driven by me at the time i might add) and so ended up being scrapped as it was beyond restoration

therefore part of me says i owe it to the cars to buy a complete basketcase and restore it, but my head says that i should do the more sensible thing and buy one that someone else has sunk the money into and just enjoy it.

as much as anything i'm wondering how much it costs to restore a basketcase traveller nowadays (determining the length of a piece of string comes to mind) but any help would be most appreciated

Ant

[charlie_morris_minor]

you have hit the nail on the head with the "piece of string" comment.

If like you i was starting from the point of having no car I would go down the route of buying one that someone else has sunk and lost all their money in.. there have been some very nice modified cars for sales recently. The only problem with this route is that you might not be able to find the exact car you want, so you need to factor in the additional money you would need to spend doing this to your taste.

Me.. I have had my traveller for 20 + years and am in the process of modifying it.. yes it will cost an arm and a leg more than buying one "off the shelf" so to speak but i have an emotional attachment to the car (that even my wife understands) so cold hard finanace goes out of the window.

[AntB]

my sentiments entirely really. the trouble with 'modified' is what standard it's been modified to!

plus i want a bermuda blue traveller.

i'm thinking i'll buy one that's already modded, more or less as i'd want, then have someone strip it back, do any necessary welding etc and then refit all the parts, plus any others i'd want. plus respray it in the 'right' colour if needs be

[jonathon]

My advice would be to buy a standard Minor, but maybe with uprated seats, heated screens etc. This way you will not be buying mods which you might well remove, and some mods do not have adequate strengthening to the areas to which they are mounted, hence weakening the core structure.
Buying restored or original will always be cheaper than a full rebuild, which could run and run in costs. With us a stripped acid dipped ecoated,fully rebuilt chassis ,new panels and wood, interior std mechanicals refurb'd, etc etc would be in the order of £18-30K but this will be built correctly and not need touching again for a minimum of 15 years is regular maintenance is carried out as we perscribe.

[charlie_morris_minor]

wanting a modified bermuda blue traveller means you could be in for a very long search..at which point there will be one for sale next week..

Buying a modified traveller and respraying in the desired colour could add a few grand to the cost unless you can do it yourself? so you are probably better off getting as jonathon suggested get a good standard traveller a large selection in your desired colour and modify it to your spec.

Do not assume that a modified car will have been done well.. I purchased a 4 door saloon with a twin cam ( i was wanting the engine box etc ) and the standard of work was truely rubbish and the car was a danger on the road!

[AntB]

hmmmm, i had looked at some cars which were restored to a good standard, with all the tricky/ rot prone areas seemingly taken care of, these did seem to be a better starting point than a complete nail, or a car which had already been 'improved'. i'll hunt down one of these, in bermuda blue!

wanting a modified bermuda blue traveller means you could be in for a very long search..at which point there will be one for sale next week..

not sure what was meant by this, is one coming up for sale....? not that i think i'd want it now, unless it was returned to original before i bought it and i was just handed the modified bits for me to have fitted....

Ant

[AntB]

and yet still i can't help but give dogs like this one a second glance.....

http://carandclassic.co.uk/car/C141338/

[LouiseM]

Bermuda blue was used towards the end of production so there aren't many travellers around in this colour so I guess the chances of finding one for sale, that's been modified, are pretty slim. You might get lucky though. Good luck

[charlie_morris_minor]

wanting a modified bermuda blue traveller means you could be in for a very long search..at which point there will be one for sale next week..

not sure what was meant by this, is one coming up for sale....? not that i think i'd want it now, unless it was returned to original before i bought it and i was just handed the modified bits for me to have fitted....

Ant

what i was trying to say is that if I say something will never happen means that it will happen the very next day. and vice versa

[AntB]

typical

can't someone put it on the market in a year.....?

http://carandclassic.co.uk/car/C141534/

perfect car from the looks of things, but TOTALLY the wrong time for me to buy