Donor car?

Last edited by MuddyFairy on Fri Jan 30, 2009 5:28 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Right I have sort of promised someone that I am buying their fronty for a ridiculously good price. It's a 2.2 1998 S reg LWB. I originally just wanted it as a donor car for my car but it is far too nice to do that with. Thing is it has a broken engine, the old 2.2 head gasket problem, the lady is giving me a new head gasket but has had advice to replace the engine as the pistons are badly scored.
What engine can I easily put in? Would it have to be another 2.2? If so which one is best? Do I even have a choice? Am I mad? Hmmm I am reserving judgement for the moment. SO If I do get this car and put a new engine in it my other car would then be purely a toy! I really want to go greenlaning and offroading and it would make sense to use the 1994 2.4 for that as the paintwork is already old and rusty whereas the newer S reg is mint.
HELP!!!!

you could always give you 2.4 to me i would look after it :wink:

ahem...cough...splutter....GIVE my car to you??? lol....no chance spent over £800 on it already since I have had it....lol :butt:

I cant sell it the FOG boys have worked soooo hard on it....I want to go greenlaning in it and hopefully get through corwen carwash...I am looking forward to it. If I needed it to stay all clean as a family car it would never go offroad...I think it is only fair to go at least once be rude not too after all the hard work from you guys! :dance:

oh well it was just a thought, :roll:

as for advice on the 2,2 errrrrrrrrrrr i dunno it does sound like a bargain though,as for laning and off roading,trusty rusty is our family car and if i aint laning ime shopping or towing my caravan or taking the dogs out etc i can say your gonna love laning and you aint lived till its your turn to go over the corwen,thinking about it the only thing that would put me off about the 2.2 is there quite complicated with there sensors and stuff :roll:

Look what Ive found

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VAUXHALL-FRONTERA ... 18Q2el1247

Thats a very good price

And just for Dave :wink:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vauxhall-Frontera ... 18Q2el1247

cheers drifter,but i want mine to crack the 200,000 before i start worrying about changing it only 3,000 to go :dance:

Always good to have a spare, I wanna see yours crack 250

lets hope so mate,i got an idea its the highest on the forum unless somebody can prove me wrong

I gotta check which engine is in the fronty, think it is more likely to be the ecotech its a 98 2.2
car has done very high mileage so having second thoughts, wonder what the clutch and gearboxes are like? hmm could be setting myself up for another fall. I dont have the best luck with cars. Got a great garage to do the work though and they go laning....mentioned some of you guys. Land Ranger Services Shrewsbury.

hey ho could always use the 98 to refurb the 94 and then break the rest of it...I am sure there will be some offers on here for parts.

Right have decided to just use this car as a donor car as it has done over 152,000 miles and already I would have to replace the engine. With those miles probably the clutch, gearbox too.
So it wouldn't be such a bargain anymore. So I will buy it use the bits I want and offer anything else up to you guys so keep this post marked.... cheers.

Bear in mind that an awful lot of bits off the later car wont fit your 94'. Different brakes, front and rear suspension is different, dashboard wont fit, axles are different, engines are completely different and parts are not interchangeable at all. Same goes for exhausts etc.

Would make more sense to get the headgasket done and get the head skimmed and the cylinders rebored with new piston rings.

As a general rule clutches and gearboxes are good strong units being of isuzu origin. A fella local to me has a trooper (same gearbox) diesel with over 300,000 miles on it.

Its probably had at least two clutches in its life time so no big deal there

2nd hand engine on ebay for 350. If calling breakers or searching ebay then a 2.2 omega or sintra engine is exactly the same as are other 2.2 fronteras.

Fitting could be as little as 200 or as much as 1000 depending on garage so best to ring around and get quotes. Not a difficult job as the engine more or less lifts straight out once everything has been unbolted.

The door cards and seats will fit yours, but being practical about it not much else will. If you can find an engine at the right price and get it fitted at the right price then it could be a cheap car.

Again though if its just a head gasket and rings then that isnt all that expensive to put right either. As I said, head skim and rebore is cheap enough and rings can be sourced for not much money.

Urr yeah... What he said. Silly me. Still tho, its only a few bolts and a gasket.

152000 isnt a lot for one of these vehicles with regards to bodywork and general mechanical wear and tear and as its a later model you get somewhat better build quality.

most of us are over 100,000 on the clock self included.

So the doors and interior will fit then apart from the dashboard?
If i break it there will be lots of bits on here for you lot, I only need doors, interior, wheels, spare wheel cover so all mechanical parts will be offered up to FOG.....come to think of it we should all get together and do a parts exchange lol.....
I still think £300 is cheap even just for the leather and alloys!