To break or to not?

[Jack1998]

Evening all,

Just after peoples input as I'm unsure what to do so I figure a problem shared is a problem halved.

Currently giving my black phase 1 a relatively comprehensive restoration, it's still in a barely rolling shell format and showing no signs of being done anytime soon due in part to having no enthusiasm to finish it myself and the new garage it's gone to being about as hopeless as the last.

I've toyed with selling it several times before, never gone through with it though as ive a massive soft spot for it! But ive really enjoyed building my camper van with my father recently and we have been doing fag packet maths on maybe doing another for profit in the near future, meaning the clio would need to go.

Now this leads me onto my predicament which is to break or to finish and sell complete. I don't have any experience breaking so don't know what a clio would net as a whole when fully gone and what sort of timescale it will take to get everything shifted. Most parts are new Renault items and all rare phase 1 parts are present and in very good order. Everything is already off the car and ready to be sold so it's the easier route in that regard.
However to complete the car it needs about another £1500 spending on it to buy the last few parts and then labour costs, plus at least a few months of time sunk into it to which point it will be a very nice example with no rot, a rebuilt engine and pretty much new everything. I've no idea what I could sell it at with phase 1 prices all over the show, ive seen a few of the rarer colours sell recently for around £6000 and aren't going to be as comprehensively restored as mine so I'm unsure.

Any input and help is appreciated.

Cheers,
Jack.

 

[Bluebeard]

Breaking it is a massive ball ache - not to mention very few people need parts for ph1’s now.

if you have somewhere to store it, just lock it away and go back to it once you’ve cleared your head.

i did the same thing - and locked mine away for about 9 years - and it was 100% worth it.

 

[Jack1998]

Cheers for the input mate

I don't necessarily have anywhere to store it, however the garage it is in is that slow to do it I've probably got free storage for the next 6 months at least....🙄

Everytime I come to sell I feel that in 5 years time I'm going to massively regret it when I look at phase 1 prices and they have gone the way of the Williams.

Mainly now want to sell to fund another camper, fag packet maths shows quite a healthy profit, I see why there are a lot of people doing them.

 

[Stefan.]

I'd keep it if you can, cool little car and as you say will look back on regret.

 

[Martin_172]

I think the problem is always going to be relying on someone else/garage. firstly because the cost of labour probably makes it uneconomical and secondly because, well finding someone reliable isn't always easy

Id say, as dan said get it into storage long term and attack it yourself, everything you could ever need will be on here as far as knowledge and guides go, and its rare you need much more than a halfords socket set.
OR
Sell it on as an unfinished project, as breaking it is a hassle unless your setup for doing them regularly.

 

[Jack1998]

I think the problem is always going to be relying on someone else/garage. firstly because the cost of labour probably makes it uneconomical and secondly because, well finding someone reliable isn't always easy

Id say, as dan said get it into storage long term and attack it yourself, everything you could ever need will be on here as far as knowledge and guides go, and its rare you need much more than a halfords socket set.
OR
Sell it on as an unfinished project, as breaking it is a hassle unless your setup for doing them regularly.

It certainly is! Luckily (or not) he is a friend of a friend so labour isn't horrendous but with that being said it also means I'm on the "maybe do it tomorrow" list of vehicles 🙄

There is a place local to me that rents 150sqft shipping containers on a secure yard for £150pcm which I think is quite reasonable.
Within the past few months I've actually switched career entirely and am now a trainee mechanic so I will pick up the skills down the road to do it in theory.

To be totally transparent, the poor car has been through a few different places with me with changing jobs and being promised help by various different people. In that time things have gotten out of order and over the course of year's now I've forgotten how and where things go, it's become a sort of 1000 piece jigsaw that's been chewed by the dog that I really can't be arsed to sit down and do. It's within my skill set to put it back together but because I like to do everything as perfect as I can the workload just becomes overwhelming and takes away all motivation. All I see now is about £10,000 sat in a million bits in a million boxes it's a bit bloody depressing.

 

[gez 172]

I have to be honest - If you can’t build the car yourself, I’d get rid.

It’s irrelevant talking about Williams prices etc as thats not guaranteed for the 1*2 - highly likely, but not certain. If your paying someone to do the work, chances are it’ll owe you Williams money anyway.

 

[Darren S]

Ignore the money side of it and whether or not it will make you £££££ in the future. That's something you have zero control over.

You said yourself that you have a massive soft spot for it - that in itself makes retaining it worthwhile. You're qualifying as a mechanic - so what appears a little daunting now could well end up being a Saturday morning job for yourself, once you have the skills and equipment to hand.

Basically, storage issues aside, don't be too hasty. Think of what the car means to you and whether you would be happy to let it go right now - simply because it's a bit of an unfinished annoyance.

 

[Krarl]

Yeah no point in breaking it. Too many messers about these days and people are always willing to spend money on a PH1

 

[Big Toe]

Think carefully about campers too. Try not to put too much money into them if you’re doing it long-term. Prices and demand have increased with the lack of foreign holidays but once that ends there’ll be far less demand.

 

[R3k1355]

Breaking a car rarely solves the main problem (it being there)

You shift the stuff people mostly look for quickly, but then are left with a mountain of shite thats rarely needed and can take ages to go.
Then there's the bodyshell, which takes up the most space but is worth little weighed in.

 

[Bankrupt_drunk]

As above, when breaking cars the bits everyone needs/wants go quickly then you're left with a pile of bits to store. If you sell wheels/suspension/subrame then it gets hard to move around, sell glass and seals then you need to keep it all dry.
Plus selling and shipping things to the public is often a hassle.
I'd see if you can find someone with a dry barn and see if you can park it there until you've got time to sort it out.

 

[dann2707]

What bits are required to get it going? What sort of price are you thinking? Pm me with some info please

Dont put it in a container BTW, they cause horrendous rust issues.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Agree with all of the above. If you're sentimental over it, find some storage, leave it and come back when you can dedicate the time to it.

If not, put a price on it - without the sentiment - that you know it'll sell at and just get rid.

I have 3 Clio Sports now and never bought one of them thinking about their future value. When i'm done with them, and if there's still a market for them, i'll dictate who gets them, not the other way around. Either that or i'll launch them off Saltburn cliffs Top Gear Style 😂

 

[Darren S]

Think carefully about campers too. Try not to put too much money into them if you’re doing it long-term. Prices and demand have increased with the lack of foreign holidays but once that ends there’ll be far less demand.

Good point. On top of that, campers are getting (or will definitely soon) hit by the clean air charges in a number of major cities.

These charges are going to be a significant deterrent to people wanting a camper for occasional use.

 

[Darren S]

As an example of CAZ - I may need to pay £10 per day just to nip down and see my parents from June next year.

Officially, it's saying I don't, but that might change?!

 

[Jack1998]

Thank you for the responses from everyone, it's much appreciated!

I'm glad I put it out there now as it's made my decision far more informed whatever it ends up being.
I had a suspicion that I would end up with items that wouldn't shift quickly which isn't particularly the aim. I'm going to have a good think about it this week and decide what to do once and for all with it. The actual workload to complete isn't massive but because I want everything perfect/restored/new it amplifies the workload by 10. I can't seem to just simply bolt something back on, it must first be sandblasted, then painted or powder coated and have brand new hardware. All of a sudden a week has passed and I've put a single brake pipe on....

In regards to campers, I hadn't thought about low emission charges, mainly as I had built mine to go trotting around places rural and far off so I won't be going anywhere near these low emission areas in theory. But I did drive my caddy back through London when I purchased it and I'm pretty sure it cost about £30 which I thought was ridiculous. Just enjoyed the time with my father more than anything so if we can make some money it's always a bonus.

 

[Darren S]

There's a lot to be said about enjoying time with your dad. My dad was a mechanic by trade and I would have loved to have spent time tinkering with a car build at some point.

Some things are worth far more than financial cost or gain at times.