Questions on buying a donor.
 

Sorry if these questions have all been asked before, but I went to my local breakers yesterday & got confused, so any pointers would be appreciated.

I'm pretty clear that I want a new-shape 200/25 with a 1600 engine and nothing fancy like ABS brakes to make the build more complicated. I read Iain Ayre's Haynes Kit Car Manual recently and agree with his sentiments that it's preferable to hear the engine running before stripping the donor, so I'll be looking for a car that's nearly a runner.

I know that for some kits it's desirable to get a car of a certain age in order to get age-related plates & not require a cat. How relevant is this to the 5exi build? Am I right in thinking that any "bubble" 200 will be too late for this exemption and that the best way to deal with this is to simply fit a cat for SVA & MOT? I wonder if this would be effective in meeting emissions requirements for a engine performance-tuned with a cat-free exhaust? Is it worth obtaining an engine from an earlier, old-shape 200 and the other parts needed from a newer one?

Sorry if these are dumb questions - I'm really not aware of the period over which the 200 was built or when the catalytic-convertor requirement came in (1992?)

The breaker I spoke to yesterday won't supply the logbook for any car he sells, and I'm not really sure the implications of this. Does it matter at all? I don't feel the need for an age-related plate for "cosmetic reasons" and wouldn't be bothered having a "Q".

The breaker I spoke to yesterday also stated that he's not allowed to sell complete most of the cars he gets - he's only allowed to sell them as parts, presumably because the insurance company has written them off. Has anyone else dealt with anything like that? I'd much prefer a complete car to be sure that I don't later find myself missing something which'll then take me days to find, and I really want to hear it running before I buy it, to be sure I don't buy a duff engine.

Any other tips on buying a donor? I thought I might try & find a big list of breakers & fax the lot of them with a standard enquiry, or use the forms at Breakerlink.com or find-a-part.com to achieve the same thing. Advertising locally is also an obvious move, but probably not the best likely to get results. I thought it might be possible to bid on write-offs directly from insurance companies - has anyone tried this?

Cheers for any advice,

Stroller.

Strolls

Nearly all older Rover 200 1600's were fitted with Honda engines.

The 'K'series is tunable with the cat fiited, but if you want more power look for an 1800.

Probably the reason he won't give you the log book is because of it's 'write off' category.

Ideally you want a car that they will sell as repairable salvage.
The 'Q' plate will mean that you will not be able to fit a private plate etc and it may reduce the desireability of the car.

There is another way of getting donor parts. You can buy them from somewhere like Viking (think that's the name). They advertise in Kit Car. You buy all the donor parts and they offer you a guarantee on 'em.

Advantage of stripping the donor though is:
1. You know how it goes together.
2. You get odd fittings etc that you might use.
3. You can sell good parts that you don't need.

Ex Biker talks a lot of.........
 

sense.

As my intention was to build the turbo there was no way that I was going to buy a lump on spec.

I did not fancy a full rebuild on the car to start with.

I had a gleaming chassis that I wanted to get on the road a.s.a.p. with as little work as possible.

So Strolls, keep your eyes open there are bargains out there and use the scrappy to supply all the annoying bits.

Regards Trev

I hadn't believed that the 1800 was only available except as VVT, but I'll look out for one in that case.

I understood that the cat decreased power & that it was common, if illegal, to remove them between MOTs. But surely if the engine is tuned with one exhaust, fitting the other will likely affect emissions?

I honestly don't give a toss about a private plate or the resale value - I'm certainly not planning to sell it on in a hurry.

But I would like the complete car for the reasons you mention. Is it common or difficult to find "repairable salvage" donors? I got the impression that the breaker I spoke to wasn't particularly sympathetic - if he did have a car that he could have legally sold me as complete & with logbook, he wouldn't be interested in doing so... perhaps simply because he didn't normally work that way. Are all breakers under the similar restrictions? Presumably the "repairable salvage" designation is up to the insurance company?

Stroller.

Make Pals
 

I know there is a local garage that the Police / Fire Service use in the event of a bad bang.

Now he would know a write off even before the insurance company.

Think your guy may be trying to make a few bob out of you, try someone else.

Trev

It might be worth looking at www.Silverlakeautoparts.co.uk or www.universalsalvage.co.uk

That'll at least give you an idea of what is around and what it costs.

The rules regarding written off cars:
Cat A - Total write off/scrap only = Dismantler must scrap all parts and the body. Nothing can be sold on.

Cat B -Total write off/scrapbody sell parts only = Body must be scrapped but parts can be sold on.

Cat C - Structural write off = Car can be repaired and put back onto the road but only after the car is certified OK by a relevant automotive engineer. Obviosly the body and parts can be sold. Log book will be provided.

Cat D - Economical write off = Financially not viable for insurance company to have repaired (using new parts). Car can be repaired and put back onto the road does not need to be certified OK by automotive engineer. Obviosly the body and parts can be sold. Log book will be provided.

The above may not be exact but I think a fair representation of the classes.

I went for the last option for my donor. Which I must say is not the most economical for building a kit car.

Regards

Mike

Thanks! Those links are exactly what I needed! Universal have a branch in Sandy which is really quite near me, so I think I'll go to some of their auctions - I'd like to get some idea of the closing prices on them. SilverLake have some 214s in my price range - £500 or £600 seems reasonable for a donor? What have the rest of you paid? - but their current 1600s are all newer & more expensive. I'll keep watching, but SilverLake are a bit for from me, too.

Mike: thanks for the list of write-off categories.

The impression I get is that I'm unlikely to find a low-milage pre-catalytic-convertor K-series donor... so if I have to accept the cat and I don't care if I have a Q-plate or not it doesn't matter to me what category I buy from. Category A will be unsuitable, anyway though, and category B will probably be.

There's some stuff about age related plates in another thread and also at TotalKitCar.com.

For anyone that's interested: To get an age-related plate you need "two major components from the donor" and the example 627/1 form indicates that transmission, engine & steering assembly are each a suitable major component. One must however prove the age of them, and the logbook is accepted as proof; it only actually lists the engine number, of course, so presumably the owner's statement that the transmission & steering assembly are from the same vehicle is acceptable. If there is some other way to prove that the engine is from a vehicle registered in a specific year then presumably that would also be acceptable.

Well, I think he's not much use for my purposes, but to be fair to him I don't think he was trying to rip me off - I just think that he doesn't need to help me, because he does plenty of business parting-out broken cars. There's no profit for him in trying to accommodate people with unusual needs. Since the places that Ex-Biker has listed will sell me the complete car, with the logbook in most circumstances, that's where I'll do my shopping.

Cheers for everyone's help,

Stroller.

Q Plate
 

Further to comments from other people, if you can avoid a Q it will probabaly help your resale values, and and has already been said. Even if you have to go to an auction, and buy a Rover now matter how bad, and scrao it, you will have the log book ect.

For matter of interst, the 1600 is no slouch, good fun, and various companies like, QED motor sport will sell you some good stuff to improve your 1600.

Happy searching.