Donar Vehicle

[ryan]

Hi Folks,

I've been looking for a donar vehicle to start my AK build and have found a Jag of the correct vintage for £ 500 (taxed and tested). Once I stripped it I will get:-

Front & rear axles
Diff
Gearbox
V5

I will also have the benefit of a couple of months on the road to test gearbox and diff beforehand.

Is it practical to believe I will save money this way rather than buying these items seperately from a Jag spares specialist ?


Thanks

Ryan

[Grease Monkey]

For £500 you're paying for a road going concern.

Most people would pay £150 for something that drives, but will never get an MOT. Sellers happy to get rid of it, you're happy you got a bargain.

£500 for something you're just going to break seems quite high.

[Dutch Paul]

Originally Posted by ryan

Hi Folks,

I've been looking for a donar vehicle to start my AK build and have found a Jag of the correct vintage for £ 500 (taxed and tested). Once I stripped it I will get:-

Front & rear axles
Diff
Gearbox
V5

I will also have the benefit of a couple of months on the road to test gearbox and diff beforehand.

Is it practical to believe I will save money this way rather than buying these items seperately from a Jag spares specialist ?


Thanks

Ryan

You will save money but if you add up the time it takes to refurbish everything then you will have worked for about 50p/hour :angry: :angry:
Be prepared to get your hands dirty and lose a little blood - it`s all part of the fun :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

[Dutch Paul]

Originally Posted by Grease Monkey

For £500 you're paying for a road going concern.

Most people would pay £150 for something that drives, but will never get an MOT. Sellers happy to get rid of it, you're happy you got a bargain.

£500 for something you're just going to break seems quite high.

If it has a manual gearbox (and is in good nick) and the diff is ok then IMHO 500 quid isn`t too steep. Tax and test saves paying someone to transport it for you too as you can drive it home(legally)

[ryan]

Has anybody gone down the route of just buying what you need from a breakers, if so what did it all cost and what did you do about obtaining a V5.

I've been quoted £ 500 for the V5 alone, that's why I thought it might be cheaper to buy a donar and strip it myself.

Thanks

Ryan

[Miket]

Ryan

For £500 you have the complete package and a V5, save you a lot of hassle trailing about looking for bits, but be prepared to spend another £1000 for bits to refurbish.

Might be worth trying Wards to see what they charge for complete refurbed units.

[ryan]

Hi Mike,

The price list I have from Wards quotes £1930 for recon front and rear axle including diff. But then I still have to get a V5 and a gearbox.

Any guesstimates on how much to recon the parts myself ?

Even if I go the Wards route, I imagine it would be on an exchange basis anyway so my donar parts will still be useful.

Ryan

[gareth08]

Ryan,
The current law (so I'm told by local breakers)on scrapping cars is that the breaker MUST fill out a form to say they have the car and it is to be broken up for spares or scrapped.
Whilst there are some who may still sell a V5 most reputable ones wont, so £500 for a Jag and V5 seems reasonable.You may be able to get one cheaper if you look around but I guess that depends on time.
One word of warning though is that the breakers round here WONT take a scrap car WITHOUT a V5 regardless of the reason so you could end up with a shell that you can't get rid of unless you cut it up.Might be worth checking out first.
Gareth

[ryan]

Hi Gareth,

Thanks for the tip, an old jag shell on the drive could cause me a few problems with her indoors.

What's the answer, what did/does everyone else do ?

I'd have thought that buying a donor and using/re-using the parts was the honourable thing to do and in keeping with the intention of the legislation covering such matters.

Ryan

[Miket]

Originally Posted by ryan

Any guesstimates on how much to recon the parts myself ?Ryan

Ryan as I said, it cost me near on £1000 for all the bits to refurb the axles and brakes, then a lot of time and trouble, mind you I replaced everything with new, even down to the nuts and bolts

Don't even bother trying to refurb your own brake calipers, it works out cheaper to by them exchange, as I found out later.