So, my first kit on a budget - Seven or a Dutton ?

[earlybay]

OK - Im completely new to kits, looking for a fun summer car on a tight budget (£1500) - pref. built, registered and ready to go .. Im no engineer, more a mechanical 'tinkerer' so probably cant take on a major rebuild ..

Dutton Phaeton seems an obvious choice at this stage, prefer the looks of a 'seven' copy but dont think ill get one on the road for that price ?

Have seen a few Seven's that need finishing, but the thought of IVA at £500 minimum puts me off them ?

Any thoughts guys ?

[daxmatt]

I'd go for the 7 type myself,just a more pleasing car to look at.Think is worth that bit extra !.Plenty out there.Just gotta keep looking.

[greenwood03]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that.....I like Phaetons, not sure which MK i prefer though - as am not well up on them. Thing is as you point out that is a very tight budget, so i guess it depends a bit on how much stuff you can do yourself.

[daxmatt]

i was thinking about the early phaetons,put me right off kit cars at the time,half triumph,half ford,if my memory serves me right

[Nash]

Dave,
£1500 is tight for a 7 but remember even buying a Phaeton or something else for that money is going to require work, even if it is registered.

I bought mine (MK Indy) part built from a mate of mine I went to school with and I waited 3 years for him to sell it to me after he put it to bed when his son lost interest during the build. I waited for it because I know the guy really well as we'd built stock cars together 20 years ago and he is a talented guy.

To illustrate what you get (I got) for more then your budget, in fairness it came with all the panels and a lot of stuff that we bolted on with very little difficulty in a long weekend before I transported it home. This is what I bought



I've spent another £1000 to get it to this state now:



and it is going to 7-Indulgence next week to be finished off for IVA

In total I suspect by the time the car is on the road it will stand me between £4k and £5k ish. I also have started to accumulate a whole load of mod bits for post IVA and in readiness for next winter. Full Roll cage, Toyota 4AGE engine (to be rebuilt) etc.

My point is keep looking and don't just buy the first thing you see at your budget if you buy wisely you could save in the long run. Also prepare yourself to the fact that you will spend money on it.

Hope that helps?

........Neil

[earlybay]

A Robin Hood I was considering ... but will need work for IVA I think ..

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

[plug]

I wouldn't have touched that with a barge pole, would have been a waste of £1500 in my opinion

[earlybay]

I wouldn't have touched that with a barge pole, would have been a waste of £1500 in my opinion

oh well just aswell it was sold then !

There is a Dutton Phaeton S2 - Cortina/crosflow-based, all reg. on the road for about £1600 which seems OK ..

Spotted this one which looks much better, but its already gone over my budget and will need IVA ..

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... :MEBIDX:IT

[greenwood03]

Mike, i dont think you commented in the thread about how much work you're capable of doing yourself? If you're handy + patient then many bits n pieces can be sourced to tidy up a car for reasonable cost - if you are in no rush to get a particular part! Hence the trading boards over at locostbuilders are highly active.Another thing to factor in is what your realistic expectations are for the quality, appearance etc of whatever you buy. It's very easy to spend loads on peripheral bits and pieces that you may find either necessary to update or want to update - and so a £xxx budget on day 1 can very easily change should you need to replace things like seats, brakes, wheels - whatever. And thats assuming that you don't buy something that you realise needs some mechanical attention once you start delving into it.
My own opinion is that in some cases the car thats £500 more than another may actually prove to be LESS than the other by the time you've tweaked the cheaper one to a point that you are happy with.
I've read umpteen posts on the Tiger site for example where someone buys a car and then wants to upgrade the brakes, the seats - and then reaslies that to do so is another £400-700. Ultimately if you don't quite see what you want it may be worth holding off and seeing if you can add to the budget - unl;ess as i mentioned at the top - you are patient and handy!
Might be worth popping a post on the Dutton boards and asking if anyone has something that they'd sell - perhaps an active memmebr may know of a car thats sitting unused. Why not have a word with Dave (?) who popped up here to ask some advice on that score?

[earlybay]

yes very true Mark.. just to say, Id probably class myself as an impatient amateur tinkerer with not that much spare time (3 young kids), but I do have a single garage to keep the car, and it will be a third 'fun' vehicle so no timescales to meet really .. happy to spend time looking for parts over time to gradually piece things together ...