Donor Car Information Required

[Guest gtmdriver]

Hi,

 

My name is John Dickens and I'm the Technical Editor of Complete Kitcar Magazine.

 

Along with Ian Stent the editor I am putting together a book to replace the older Monty Watkins 'How To Build A Kitcar' edition.

 

As part of the rewrite there will be a section on the more modern donor cars in use currently so I am looking for information and advice from actual builders.

 

The donors I am particularly interested in are the

 

Mazda MX5;

 

BMW 3 Series;

 

Ford Sierra.

 

I would appreciate any advice on choosing a particular model, engine spec, braking system or whatever and also any points to check before purchase, known faults or weak areas.

 

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

 

John Dickens

[richyb66]

 

... a section on the more modern donor cars in use

 

... Ford Sierra.

 

 

 

Wow, thought I'd woken up in 1991 - maybe it's time to move on from Sierras as decent ones are getting a bit thin on the ground now and tend to be overpriced.

 

How about Nissan 200SX

[Guest gtmdriver]

That seems to be the feeling on other forums too but quite a few kits still use them as donors.

[richyb66]

Agreed, maybe the kit manufacturers need to be a bit more forward thinking, once the donors get difficult to obtain then they'll struggle to sell kits.

 

The trouble is, if you're looking for a single vehicle donor and want rear wheel drive, the options quickly become limited.

[Knock-on]

Getting hold of a decent diff and gearbox is becomming a chore.

 

MX5's and Beemers both have strong numbers but SX etc are a little light on the ground.