Donor - Then What

[Guest Brummie]

Hi Folks

 

I am new here, seems like a great forum and just what I need right now!

 

As you may spot over the coming months - I am a bit of a novice (albeit an old-git novice) and I only hope my questions arent too dumb!

 

Right - Here's where I am at now....

Just starting to get tools!

Chosen a 2b as the car I want to build

Havent ordered it yet

Dont have a donor yet

Was thinking about the 1.8CVH Engine - thanks to your posts I have changed my mind - a simple 1.6 will do for starters!

 

Two questions ....

 

1. Where do most of you get your donors from ? Anyone use auctions ? Any tales to tell or tips on what to watch out for ?

 

2. I am planning to order my kit WHEN I have almost completely stripped everything I need from the donor. So I wont have the build instructions and therefore a clear idea on what bits I need until I get my kit - SOOOOOO

Which bits do I strip from the Donor apart from - Engine, Box, Prop, Diff, Rear axle ?

 

 

 

BE GENTLE WITH ME - I admitted to being a novice!

[Guest TerryBarry]

Hi,

Here is a list of what you do / don't need

 

Stripping your Donor Sierra

 

Section A

You don’t need the following:-

Body shell, glass, doors, bonnet, tailgate, (keep the gas struts).

Rear seats, bumpers, front & rear lights (keep all the bulbs and the number plate lights)

Radiator, exhaust system (keep the manifold), prop shaft (keep the bolts), rear flexible differential mounting (keep the two bolts securing it to the diff)

Washer reservoir (it’s much too big)

Front cross member

If building a 2B Plus you don’t need the steering rack*, lower section of the steering column, anti roll bar*, lower control arms* (keep the large washers).

If building a 2B/4 you will need the items marked *

 

Section B

You will need:

Engine complete with all ancillaries and mountings.

Gearbox with it’s mounting

Complete rear sub-frame with differential, trailing arms, hubs, drive shafts and rear brake assemblies, also rear springs and shock absorbers.

Hand brake assembly

Front McPherson struts, front hubs, and disc brakes

Servo & brake master cylinder, deceleration valve, pedal box and accelerator pedal.

Clutch, throttle and speedometer cables

Steering column (upper section) complete with steering wheel and column switches including steering lock.

Instrument cluster and dashboard switches.

Complete heater unit and front windscreen wiper mechanism.

Complete wiring loom (leave door & tailgate wiring in place)

Fuel Tank (If you’re not using the original Sierra one (it’s huge) you will still need the sender unit and possibly some of the filler neck assembly

 

Notes

If it’s not included in A or B KEEP IT

Keep all the door, boot and bonnet rubber seals

Keep all latches except the door ones

Label the wiring loom as you disconnect it (make sure the labels are well attached and permanently marked).

Keep every nut, bolt, washer, clip and fastener – you never know what you will find a use for.

Remember to declare SORN on the donor, once you finished driving around in it.

Keep the V5 – don’t declare it scrapped (you might also want to keep the VIN Plate)

At this stage ensure the engine number ties up with the V5.

If you've ordered the front wishbone version and/or the coil-over rear suspension you will not need a few of the above items but you'll not save a lot of space.

 

HTH

Terry

[Guest bloke]

keep as much as youve got space for and theyll still be a bit you needed but didnt

 

space soon increases when the back axle and sub frame are on and engine in

 

good luck and keep postin - youll be answerin posts sooner that you think

[Guest Brummie]

Thanks guys - especially Terry!

 

Your help is SUPERB!

 

I will keep the list straight away!

 

How did you get rid of your left over shell and bits by the way ?

 

I can feel a shedload of other questions rearing up in my head here, but I will park them for today and try to be a bit orderly about how I ask them!

 

Thanks again - stunning blokes!

[Guest TerryBarry]

I ended up paying someone about £20 to take the shell away.

Some other smaller bits went straight to the tip.

Still got the head & tail lights - but can't seem to move them.

Here's a pic' of it going on it's way.

[Guest bloke]

around our way theyll take them for free, search the local rags

 

just sold the last few bits i dont want on ebay - more bits for the car paid for!!!

 

wasnt there a write up on 'build tipz' (main site) about the donor parts needed????

[Guest Battery Bill]

Brummie

We cut our shell up with and angle grinder and took it to the scrap dealers and got £5 ish for it not bad for a mornings work.

Try putting a wanted ad in your local supermarkets, thats how we did it and got plenty of offers.

Terry

Did that answer all just flow out or have you got it written down ready for such an occasion

Very good too:D

[Guest TerryBarry]

Bill,

As they say "It's one I did earlier" - about 18 months ago if the file date is to be believed.

It was on the old RHOCaR site as a "Build Tip" at one point.

 

I think the price of scrap has gone up again round here (Surrey) - so I might have got something for the shell - IF I'd hung on to it for a year

 

Terry

[Guest ian luxford]

Terry

why do you keep the door seals?

[Guest Battery Bill]

Ian

We have kept ours

Not found a use for them yet but at least we have kept them

[Guest TerryBarry]

A good question - on reflection I don't think you will need all of them

I'm not sure how much will end up on the finished vehicle, I thought that the RH demo 2B had it around the back edge of the bonnet - I won't be doing that.

However I did have various short lengths as temporary fitments along the top of the firewall panels - this IMHO prevented many minor lacerations of my wrists and forearms.

I also cut off the spongy bit and used that to form seals on other jobs

 

Terry

[Les Welsher]

I used one around the edge of the bonnet as per video, still haven't changed it yet.

Used another one, minus the 'O' seal to trim around the edge of the boot cover.

 

 

Les

[Guest daveg]

Brummie

 

You should order the kit soon, you may have to wait 6 months for a pick-up date like I did...

 

and I only hope my questions arent too dumb!

just don't ask where to put the battery

 

Dave

[enforcer]

Definately get your donor first - preferably at least 6 months prior to collecting your kit.

 

Do it the other way round and you'll have to put up with the frustration of cleaning/painting/renovating while your pile of new kit bits just sit there. The other main reason to do it this way is that it is amazing how much crap gets thrown around the garage while you are merrily taking off years of rust and grime with a wire brush in an angle grinder.

 

Get the timing right and you'll end up with a pristine set of parts all ready to put together when you pick your kit up.

 

And don't forget the SORN. Having registered my Sierra in my name I decided to wait a few weeks for the excise licence renewal form to come through and declare SORN. (Fool). twenty five quid fine later (or else we'll take you to court)...... :gdit:

[Guest Bob's Babe]

Tim got he donor for his new kit and stripped it in two weekends. He had John Stewart to help, this guy is great in the garage apparantly...even though they are using the garden to build it in. The shell was taken by a local scrappie, we didn't get anything for it, but he came the day Tim rang him. Tim has kept as much as he thinks he might need, plus the bonnet, doors, boot lid...all propped up in the shed with the kids stuff We now have to drive to N.Yorks at the weekend to fetch the engine (in brotherinlaws garage) as the lack of it is holding up the build.

I would suggest speaking to RHSC and asking how long the waitng list is, Tim thought it would be 3 months and had to wait 3 weeks. Good luck, and get some of these guys to come round and help you strip bits, they do a bit for a beer or a coffee

SUE