anyone had one of these things? Starcraft

"Jules" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Looks easily repairable to me.

Oh, Gawd, one of those hideous kitcar things?

IIRC the 2.3 diesel in Sierras (and Mk3 Granadas?) was a Pug lump. Can't remember what Pug it was in, but in a way it doesn't matter - the Sierra is bound to be the most common UK user.

Since it's a kit, though, surely you could lob whatever's nearby in it?

Since "Even uglier than your Great-Aunt Doris" is unlikely to be accepted, I'd suggest "It's a Cortina-based kitcar"...

yeah, the VW guy took a look, it was written off due to labour costs mainly, doors still work fine, just a case of new panels..

They did argue at the start (it said in small print they wont pay out more than i paid) that as i paid 1eu for it (i swopped my 525 touring to a German but Germans dont really understand swopping cars) but i guess, as it wasnt my fault, other side pays out Flux wernt too botherd about that

yeah thats it, but this one is even uglier with a bull bar and crazy old timer gfx stickers

The guy said it was FWD, which confused me, i knew RWD old Cortinas, but i guess its a FWD pug lump/box now

I was going to call the old guy and ask him, but i think by now hes had is coco and gone to bed :-)

Its factory converted it seems, so not classed as a Q kit car he wrote.

"Jules" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

So buy it back for the salvage cost and rebuild it.

Since it's being paid for by somebody else's insurance, clear-cut, don't even get your insurer involved. Just take it straight to them, and make 'em pay. You can refuse a write-off from their insurer, not from yours.

Mind, it's too late for that now.

Do NOT post photos. Please.

I'd hazard a guess that it's not you that's confused.

If it's FWD _and_ Peugeot powered, I can't imagine there being a lot of Cortina left. Can't think of any FWD Pugs with diesels that big, either.

Yup, the 2.3 in the Sierra was the Indenor lump from the 504 diesel.

Now, d'you really think he's massively re-engineered it to fit an engine from something FWD, or do you think he's used a lump dragged from something that's almost mechanically identical to the original donor car?

Bollocks. More likely they either didn't bother to tell DVLA it was a kit or there was enough Cortina used to qualify to retain the original plate.

I wrote to them last week with the words 'retain the salvage' i intend to work on it over the summer. Im back in Germany in a couple of months, so it would be easier to pick up LHD van parts and cheaper too, hence why i asked about the over front storage area...as were gone for a month, will be packed with clothes and beer and vodka on the way back!

Wasnt sure, Flux put a company in touch with me to sort things out..

Quite funny actually, after the accident, the drunk driver's yobbo family turned up and wanted a punch up...thought i was a German (being a German camper)..so the cops wouldnt leave the camper as they expected it to be firebombed by the chavs....I had been using the German TUEV and tax but with UK ins for a few months...day before at the local DVLA i didnt have to hand over any cash (my VW clubbers who had brought over a German camper said there should have been a 50quid fee)

MOT thur, fri DVLA, hit Sat and Mon new tax disc and UK reg...

i know, i didnt.

Well thats a a fair few more BHP than the VW...

When i know what lump it is, will find out if its chain or belt..

I cant have seen the expense or hassle of fitting transverse etc. keep it simple....

JUST had a reply from him, he states v5 says FORD STARCRAFT MOTOR CARAVAN

He almost 80 and had to give up driving but the fotos i have, even on the inside look very good (but obviously laid out for a couple of pensioners, so no cd and boombox, woofers etc)

thanks for the info...will get a few fotos on my homepage tomorrow...

Never had one, but I've seen them. It's a Cortina with a plastic box on the back. So, it's as good as the Cortina bits which were used, and the interior is as good as the conversion - they seem to have been one-off, they're all different. Might be all right.

Is it as good as a VW? Not a chance!

I could be wrong, of course...

You're right. I think the peugot pickups of the era used it too. It's supposedly tough, but it's a rather rough old agricultural engine.

Yeah, it was replaced in late Sierra's by the 1.8 endura lump which was a considerable improvement but gives you some idea how bad the 2.3 pug unit was.

I've taxed worse....

I'd just pull the panels out the best I could with a plunger, T-cut it and take it on holiday - then fix it properly when I got back.

It was very well regarded by the banger racing fraternity. The 2.8/2.9 engines of the time had too much grunt and made it difficult to control on the tight and greasy short oval tracks.

The 2.3 had the right balance of grunt, availability and bombproofness.

Oops. I was talking about the petrol, didn't notice the diseasel bit.

Well the 6 wheeler is a lot differant from the VW..but until i actually get it, use and drive it for a while i wont really know...i know people are fond of VW's (im not)

Spoke to the owner of the Starcraft earlier, he got intouch with the owners club and it seems this one was built by the factory and used as 1 of 3 demonstators..to show what the kit builds could look like.

My ins co had to get back to me, gave me a quite of much higher than the VW (which was insured for 5k) VW i paid 200 a year, they want 5xx for the Starcraft..

like

Had thought of that, but i have lost 5 weeks of time to complete the inside, like leccy, fridge etc as all was taken out...i HAVE to leave in a few weeks for Europe and wouldnt have time to complete everything...

At least this way, i can do all the work properly, maybe find the bits in Germany and take my time..

I seem to recall the Starcraft appearing in a very old edition of Diesel Car. But anyway, the 2.3 is the ye olde diesel as used in the Sierra and Peugeot 504. It's old, rattly and sluggish; 65 bhp and ~100 lbsft of torque. In the Sierra it would top 100 mph but took ~17 seconds to reach 62 mph. It was moderately economical for its time, helped by good aerodynamics - the book figure is 41.5. Our old family car saw around and about this figure over 40,000 miles.

"DervMan" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Not something that's exactly applicable to the BarnDoorCraft

Please tell me you made this up?

There can't really be a whole magazine devoted to diesels?

Who the f*ck (other than you, obviously) reads that s*it?

It went out of print about 8-10 years ago. It only ran for a couple of years IIRC.

Bollocks. More likely they either didn't bother to tell DVLA it

Back in the there wasn't an SVA, you just built your kit, called Plod who came round & made sure that there were no stolen parts in it. Went down to DVLA (sure they weren't called that then) & they registered it you. No tests not hassle.

:) That was kinda my point, but you're right, it was implied...

It merged to become something like What Diesel & 4x4 Car. I've not read it for a while, 2003 or so.