pointers for buying car

[Neil Purdie]

I have been looking at a 1985 1700 X-flow super sprint. It looks used but reasonable. Are there any horror areas which I should look at to avoid buying a lemon?

 

 

 

[ashaughnessy]

The engine, I would say. A crossflow this old might be quite tired. How many miles has it done? From what people on this site have said, they need rebuilding at anywhere between ten thousand and forty thousand miles. This depends mostly on the specification. Find out what's inside the engine (especially what kind of pistons it has). How heavily does it breathe (though even a new one will breathe a lot, so this might be difficult to judge).

 

Otherwise, it would just be the usual stuff. There's nothing in particular about a supersprint to look for other than the age of the engine. Do you know what the "usual stuff" to look for is?

 

Anthony

[Nick Woods]

I agree with all the above, plus I have a few of my own :-

 

Check the chassis for loose or flaking powdercoat. This is not a problem in itself providing the tubes themselves only have surface rust on them as you can use smooth or silky Hammerite to repaint it (not the hammered stuff though as it looks cack).

 

Bubbling bodywork indicates galvanitic corrosion (where steel & aluminium touch and corrode). This may be a problem if its got too bad but a lot of cars have the odd bubble or two. The worst this can mean is a reskin which is not cheap but it does leave you with a nice new body.

 

Also check all the bits that arent immediately obvious, eg footwells from inside and out, inside the boot area and underneath the back of the car.

 

If the chassis looks like its been repaired ask for details, if it was done by Arch Motors it will be as good as new and therefore not a problem.

 

Other than that they are pretty straightforward, you can see just about everything so checking all the standard stuff like electrics, tyres, brakes etc etc is just the same as any other car.

 

 

 

Nick

P8MRA - The greenid=green> one with redid=red> wings

[Neil Purdie]

Cheers for the speedy reply. The car has done 50k on the clock, but the engine is only about 15K. I think it is reliable as I saw it at Le Mans (from Scotland)you would have to be mad to try it in a car you had doubts with.

[Phil]

One thing never mentioned to me when searching for a car was the different sized cockpits, long and short and the type of seats fitted or the possibility of pedal adjustment, all relavent questions for the best possible driving enjoyment and the saving of a wasted long trip to view a car, I am six foot tall and broad built and my car was a long way away, reasonably comfortable drive but did not know the seat would go back another inch making for a much better drive, the car turned out to be a long cockpit and the pedals were fully forward, if they were back and a short cocokpit model I may have been put of the seven for life.

if you can ask before you go to view and make sure you drive it for a good half an hour.

 

GOOD LUCK.

 

 

[puremalt]

I recently bought a 1989 1700 X flow with 22000 on the clock. It had a rebuild at 19500 and it drives like a charm. Mind you the exhaust manifold fell off after 250 miles, so keep spanner checking them. The engines are as tough as boots and my only issue is a dodgy temperature sender. If you have kids, they'll love it. It may be worthwhile getting an owners handbook as the previous owner got a late Caterham issue.

Enjoy.

 

Dave Robertson

[puremalt]

I recently bought a 1989 1700 X flow with 22000 on the clock. It had a rebuild at 19500 and it drives like a charm. Mind you the exhaust manifold fell off after 250 miles, so keep spanner checking them. The engines are as tough as boots and my only issue is a dodgy temperature sender. If you have kids, they'll love it. It may be worthwhile getting an owners handbook as the previous owner got a late Caterham issue.

Enjoy.

 

Dave Robertson