To restore or not to restore?

[djguru]

Everyone,

Not sure if this is the right forum to post this, but here goes:

I love my 1984 Mk 3, about as much fun as you can get in a car that is fast-approaching 20 years old.  Standard 12a but recently new rear discs/calipers, Tokico blues and Tokico springs . Same colour as MikeLMR\'s.
MOT was passed with flying colours last year, it required a bit of plating to the floorpan prior to that and a bit of filler here and there but no major dramas.
BUT, it will need work now if it\'s to last much longer. Usual rust spots; outer wheel arches, sills, bit of the bulkhead etc etc.  My preferred route is to do a sympathetic bare-metal job on what I consider a future classic - for those that have done this, had it done for them or avoided it like the plague, what could I be letting myself in for?  I\'m afraid of what I would find once itss stripped, I worry about the cost of all the bodywork I would have to pay someone to do and the ease of finding parts.  It would be easier to get a shell and start that way, but I\'m sure there aren\'t that many straight ones about.
What do you all think?  Am I mad to consider this at all?

Rgds

dave

[MikeLMR]

it all depends if you want to spend probably what is double or triple the top market value of the car on restoring it

I know I\'ve spent more than the cost of purchasing the car on mine and I think my car was in very good condition when I bought it (+ some additional light accident damage. woops)

Its down to personal preference really, the other option is to sell it off while it still has an MOT and buy another thats in better condition

Mike

[djguru]

I know that I could (probably would) be spending more than the original purchase cost, but would it be realistic to expect that it could be double or triple the top market value (considering that most of the work is going into the body only)?
What are the chances these days of finding a better one that is not going to need money thrown at it shortly, that\'s had the work done well/professionally and is more of an \'unknown quantity\' than the one I\'ve got now?  
Aagh, the dilemmas!
(anyone got a mint condition shell to sell?)

rgds

dave

ps. Mike, do you regret at all spending the money on yours to get it where it is?

[MikeLMR]

considering that less the amount I spent fixing accident damage I am still below the top book price (£2500)  for the car including the purchase price .... No I don\'t regret spending the money.

and I will be spending a bit more if finances permit but that will be on modifying the car above standard so I know that is money down the pan but the improvements/enjoyment will be worth it.

Don\'t forget paying someone else to do the work on the bodywork is very expensive, I would reckon a bare metal respray including strip down (bear in mind EVERYTHING has to come off for a bare metal job) and rebuild you\'d be looking at a small fortunes worth of work

I got a good deal on the bodywork I had done and it wasn\'t a huge amount of work that was done to the car but the quotes i got from decent reputable bodyshops were coming out at around £1600 - £2000 ! ( i paid around half the 1st figure in the end)

I\'m not sure about Northern Ireland but I reckon if you stick at it and look at a lot of cars you will find a 1st gen in very good condition ... I did and it wasn\'t expensive

Its a buyers market at the moment as 1st gens are very undervalued in the UK

Mike

[djguru]

Mike, thanks for the guidance. Did you get work done to the extent of sills, outer arches etc. or was it restricted to the inner wheel arches (saw pictures in other section) and paintwork only?
The only 2 rexs I\'ve seen over here in NI are a blue mk 3 reasonably locally and a very tired looking mk1 lying outside a nearby repairers for a few months now.  Defintely not a buyers market here!!!!

dave

[MikeLMR]

The extent of the body work that needed doing on my car was

surface rust around the rear hatch opening (no holes or rot)

a ding on the drivers rear 1/4 panel

a scrape on the passenger rear arch + light corrossion on the arch (again no holes or rot)

two small patches on the inner arch (as pictured in the other thread)

surface rust on the drivers door top near the mirror  (again no holes or rot)

surface rust around the drivers side wiper arm  (again no holes or rot)

That was about it ! just minor scrapes and stuff from 19 years of use ... that lot cost £500 to sort out but I had been quoted £1200 just for the cosmetic stuff (not touching the inner arches!)

this is what the car looked like before all the paintwork

[MikeLMR]

exterior before

[MikeLMR]

Sounds like 1st gens are a bit scarce in NI ... they aren\'t exactly ten a penny overhere but when they do sell they are usually a lot lower than the book prices

you only need look at the classified ads and see how hard it is to give a car away free !

Mike

[djguru]

thanks for the photos Mike! Now I\'m confused as ever as to whether to spend money on the existing one, sell it or drive it into the ground whilst searching high and low for the next one! I\'ve just gotta pray that the rain stays off like the last few days so the existing rust doesn\'t get worse and the leak into the footwell doesn\'t start up again, oh, and that some kind soul will donate/deliver a mint condition 1983/4/5 to my doorstep

Dave

[djguru]

btw Mike, that looks like a really small oil filter you\'ve got on there?

Dave

[MikeLMR]

Its the latest incarnation of the Mazda oil filter , the clever bods at Mazda use the same oil filter on most of there cars and have improved the design somewhat over the years