what to do??? 110 or hybrid

On or around Sat, 6 Sep 2003 22:21:17 +0000 (UTC), "Jinx" enlightened us thusly:

it needs to be in good nick. The 2.5 petrol, if it's been reasonably looked after, is pretty bomb-proof. Unless it's very good chassis- and body-wise, I'd have said 1200 was on the high side for one with no MOT and tax. It's about as old a 2.5 as you'll find. check the bulkhead and the back end of the chassis.

you'll likely find the dampers and springs aren't up to original spec, but replacements for these from Paddock are pretty cheap.

If it has an oil pressure gauge, it should show 60-odd at revs. if an oil light, it shouldn't come on at idle. A good trick is to get the engine well warmed up, and then leave it to idle for a few seconds, then stall it in high gear and watch how long it takes for the oil light to come on. if the light comes on before the engine stops, it doesn't have all that much pressure. If the engine oil is very old (thin and black) then this is to be expected, if the oil looks OK then you might be a little suspicious. If you do the same test on a cold engine, it should take several seconds for the light to come on.

110s are big. You can improve the lock by getting some 8-spoke wheels or similar with more offset, so that you can adjust the lock stops in further. But they're still big, in terms of small lanes.

Why not have both Hybrid as a longer term project (so you can add ALL the good bits ) and the 110 in the mean time.

S

1200 sounds like more than twice it's true value - it's coming up for twenty years old, the chassis and bulkhead are likely to be in pieces not to mention the doors - if you want a checklist of things in order to get the price down, do a google search on this group. 2.5s aren't desirable, petrol even less than diesel, hardtops aren't that desirable either so the seller may well have a hard time shifting it unless it's only failed it's MOT on little things.

Oh, buy the 110 for sure :) It goes, so you can use it to gradually pick up all the bits for your other project and have fun in it at the same time. You can also see what you'd like to have in your hybrid - build it to address the 110s shortcomings. Then once the hybrid is built, you can take the 110 of the road for a proper rebuild :)

Regards

William MacLeod