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yada yada.
Vent is ugly, but look past the image, look past the nasty bits, it can look like a sunny, but it's perm mechanical 4wd and awesome power to weight appeal to the hooligan in me.
So tell me what I'll pay, what breaks, what to look for and all that stuff.
Need a (fast) reliable car for work see.
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The lurker formerly known as Cappuccinocruiser.. or wedgedout..
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A bloke I work with sold his about a year ago. It was a left-hooker german spec car (badged as a Sunny). He got £3500 on ebay for it from a guy in Poland (!). He drove his extremely hard (6 min journey to work, 20mins for the turbo timer to cut engine!!), and the only problems he had were 5th gear synchro becomming detatched (freak accident, luckily he had the clutch in at the time) and a slight problem with the turbo giving him unlimited boost (not sure what caused that- turbos are an unknown area for me). In short, if it can stand up to 2yrs of the abuse he gave it, it must be tough!
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Last Edit: Nov 4, 2005 9:48:49 GMT by moggyman
1953 Minor (Long term project) PT Cruiser
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Isn't that the one where the intercooler doesn't work. It's v.v.big but gets sod all airflow and effectively has the efficiency of one 5 times smaller.
Or am I thinking of the wrong car...
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I think £3,500 is about right from what I have seen. I suppose the typical thing to watch for is abuse. People buy these cars for a reason and consequently they generally lead pretty hard lives. Blown turbos, blown head gaskets, strange noises from the transmission, signs of accident damage, these are the things that I would be looking out for. I have no personal experience with them but these are the areas that common sense would dictate that I watch out for. Probably best to look for one that hasn't been messed about with too much. A front mounted intercooler is a worthwhile addition though, from what I understand.
Very capable performance cars, but could you stand the looks !?!
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Gearboxes are the weak points, alright as standard but once you get up around 350hp they start to be a problem. Intercooler is easily solved Do what the works team did, and go for the rally slag look...... They used to run with a lamp pod fitted day and night ;D because it made a huge difference to airflow through the Intercooler ;D Very capable cars, easily tweaked, but most will have been thrashed. don't be tempted to go huge on the wheels, they handle best on 15 or 16" rims.... Plasticy interior, tacky body kit, heavy and its no Integrale but go well enough But for £3.5k Id have a 16v `Grale instead ;D ;D
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They are now changing hands for between £1500 to £2000 in a lot of cases (and they 'claim' they are in good condition ). Other point to check is a lot are 'iffy imports' (ex crasher in Japan!) and also remember you are buying a J car over 12 year old soooo.... ...check for rust/rot!
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I've seen an old biddy driving a mint black one round town of late. Turbo's probably never spooled up since new.... :-\
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MWF
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,945
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Crzy intercooler position absorbs heat at standstill.
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Nick
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,483
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rubbish 4wd torque split, unrewarding driving experience. and most of them have been chav-tuned to hell and back. ie...crank up the boost and hope the engine doesnt curse word itself.
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idea stolen from rattely eddie.
this weeks car count "5"
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What a waste Why do old gits buy rapid motors when they never drive above 20mph There used to be an old bint driving a Lotus Esprit Turbo locally. There was always a huge queue of cars/frustrated drivers behind it wanting to get past.
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Aaron
Part of things
Posts: 225
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From my experience (owned one for 8 years)
Standard clutch is only just up to standard power. Engine doesn't need to be removed to change clutch but lots of places do it anyway. Gearbox will break if abused, selector fork weak (mine's been okay). Intercooler not in best position as standard as noted above. Rust is likely around rear arches near rear bumper. Awkward to work on anything in engine bay, I changed my alternator and clutch master cylinder and both took hours.
If done right, around 1bar is okay on otherwise standard engine. I've been running mine at 1bar for six years and it has 150,000km on it now. Only the clutch, clutch master cylinder, alternator, starter and dampers have needed changed along with the normal consumable items.
Pretty quick car (my best 0-60 was 4.98s) and can handle well enough if suspension is upgraded, very nose heavy so tends to understeer.
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Last Edit: Nov 4, 2005 12:23:21 GMT by Aaron
1975 Toyota 1000 with 4A-GE (tweaked a bit)
1992 Nissan GTi-R (now sold after 17 years)
2001 Subaru Impreza WRX (remapped)
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Shortcut
Posted a lot
I won't be there when you cross the road, so always use the Green Cross Code.
Posts: 3,037
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i only remember a quote from Car magazine when testing one
"left the line with a squwalk like some kind of demented battle parrot"
that line has always stayed with me! It's weirdly true!!
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This space available to rent. Reach literally dozens of people. Cheap rates!
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Hirst
Posted a lot
This avatar is inaccurate, I've never shaved that closely
Posts: 3,930
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You'd probably be best off getting your own shipped from Japan with only mild modifications I'd say. The Sunny costs quite a bit more than a Pulsar if I recall. Is the way you tell the difference that the Sunnys have grey plastic mirrors, and the Pulsars have colourcoded ones? That sticks in my head for some reason. Something about window tints too.....
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Aaron
Part of things
Posts: 225
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there were only 70 officially imported Sunnys. There was a lighter weight version, without electric windows, different seat trim I think, and possibly different wheels. I think that Pulsars only come with tinted rear windows because the original Japanese owners all seem to fit them regardless of what car it is. The UK cars have a blue tint to all windows, whereas the import's are brown, or vice-versa - it's dark outside and I can't tell. The import version has colour coded mirrors, don't know about UK ones. Import had a rear number plate surround to suit a square plate compared to UK rectangular ones. There were two slightly different interior trims on imports, dependant on age. A Sunny will probably cost more than a Pulsar in similar condition, but some insurance companies will charge you an extra 25% for an import even though they are all but identical. If you can find one that doesn't, I'd go with what Hirst said - it's what I did and never regretted it. It's not a cheap car to run, a clutch cost me £250 to buy with £550 labour change at Nissan, and lasted under a year on standard boost, Nismo one cost £550 to buy but has lasted 6years at 1bar. Fuel consumption is 25mpg at best, and insurance is group 19 and cost more than my group 20 Porsche. As an aside, the brakes aren't up to much, it weighs almost the same as the Porsche did, is faster but has something like 258mm front discs and smaller rears - Porsche had massive vented discs and 4-pots front and rear. Scared myself silly a couple of times when I first got the GTi-R. Sorry if some of my details are vague, my memory isn't the best.
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1975 Toyota 1000 with 4A-GE (tweaked a bit)
1992 Nissan GTi-R (now sold after 17 years)
2001 Subaru Impreza WRX (remapped)
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Aaron
Part of things
Posts: 225
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Here's a few pics of mine - Engine bay showing DIY front mount intercooler pipework Front/side view Rear view
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1975 Toyota 1000 with 4A-GE (tweaked a bit)
1992 Nissan GTi-R (now sold after 17 years)
2001 Subaru Impreza WRX (remapped)
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Just been to have a look at one, dash was a mess, bits of loom everywhere, and a noisy top end.
I've left it there, don't worry.
Prob get one once I've got the MKI golf sorted and got the van running just so. Gonna see how this job pans out and take a look at what is out there in a month or two.
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The lurker formerly known as Cappuccinocruiser.. or wedgedout..
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Aaron
Part of things
Posts: 225
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Top end can be noisy, they have solid lifters, not hydraulic and to shim them is a long process. From what I remember, you have to warm the engine, take cam covers off, measure clearances, fit shims (only come in certain thicknesses and are not that readily available apparantly), build it back up, warm it and recheck, repeat until satisfied. Nissan say it's not worth it unless really bad.
I would definitely hold off for one that's not been played about with much as you have a better idea where you're starting from.
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1975 Toyota 1000 with 4A-GE (tweaked a bit)
1992 Nissan GTi-R (now sold after 17 years)
2001 Subaru Impreza WRX (remapped)
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Is it actually the gear boxes that are a weakpoint or is it the centre diff. I know a couple of people who have had them and they seem like decent cars for the money, bit cheaper than a cosworth but again I would prefer an integrale.
On a similar thread does anyone know anything about celica GT4`s as they are selling for peanuts at the minute. I have seen three for sale in the last 2 month for less than a grand.
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Aaron
Part of things
Posts: 225
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The gearboxes do break if abused, not sure exactly what all is susceptible as mine has been okay other than the clutch. Apparently the selector fork can break, but an aftermarket uprated one is available through the owner's club. There are a few members who've gone through a number of 'boxes but I think their cars are for drag/sprint racing rather than road use and have 350 or more bhp.
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1975 Toyota 1000 with 4A-GE (tweaked a bit)
1992 Nissan GTi-R (now sold after 17 years)
2001 Subaru Impreza WRX (remapped)
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