Restoration in Europe

[Lusitano]

Good morning, mates!

As you may know, I will be returning to the mother land in a few months (before the summer for sure).
I am really into older cars (pre-early 1990's) and I would like to know the different resources for car restoration in Europe such as specialized shops, junkyards, etc...

Here, I started to restore a 1982 Rabbit Caddy Diesel, but unfortunately I am going to have to let that go. I have been doing most of the work with a couple of mates. I go to local New Jersey and Pennsylvania junkyards and pull out the parts myself (you can save tons of money by doing so).

I do not think that we have such places as "you-pull-it" junkyards in Portugal (where I will be). Is that true, Bihus? How about in other countries?

I know that you can find a jewel or two buried in some hay and dust if you look hard, but that is usually the easy part. Getting parts is another story.

Cars I am interested in are the Rabbit, Audi 50, Minis, Citroens (DS ) and that sort of lot.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!
Cheers!

 

[bahnstormer]

get an audi urQuattro or w/e their hatch back was
that is a hot hot car

 

[Lusitano]

A Quattro would be quite nice indeed! Along with the E30 M3 and the Delta Integrale, it is one of the best cars out there, even now! To me, anyways. I was kind of disppointed when Fifth Gear tested them recently. Beaten by a Colt! :shock:

 

[bahnstormer]

well with a few mods they'd be all set

and who knows what condition the tires were on those cars

 

[bone]

good luck finding a junkjard in europe!

regulations are so tough they all dissapear. they can't for instance let a car stand on grass, caus oil and rust would be able to drain into the ground. they all have to be on concrete.

so many regulations that all junkjards stop, and everything gets shipped to africa or just pressed into a cube

and looking for an E30 M3? there was one on ebay recently, "only" 24 000?

 

[Jay]

Wow, we really got it lucky here in the States; such silly laws for salvage yards in Europe!

 

[Lusitano]

Wow, we really got it lucky here in the States; such silly laws for salvage yards in Europe!

To prevent people from *&#$%@ our world is not so silly, I think.

Everytime I go back there, I rarely see a car with the smallest amount of rust, whereas in the states I normally see a couple of dozen of them a day driving around in the Garden State (New Jersey). It can not get more ironic than that! :lol:

 

[Z102]

There are a couple of junkyards here in Valencia, and I suppose there must be quite a lot all over the rest of Spain. In fact, it's still a common practice, when you need some hard to find part, or when you don't want to spend a lot of money fixing your 8-year-old banger, to go to one and get the part there. There was an old red Escort parked in my street for a long time with a black left door :lol:. It's true you don't see that many junkyards nowadays, though. All this tree-hugging is slowly killing them off. A necessary evil, I guess, but makes restoring and preserving old cars even more difficult.

 

[Lusitano]

All this tree-hugging is slowly killing them off. A necessary evil, I guess, but makes restoring and preserving old cars even more difficult.

Indeed!

 

[p0w3r]

A Quattro would be quite nice indeed! Along with the E30 M3 and the Delta Integrale, it is one of the best cars out there, even now! To me, anyways. I was kind of disppointed when Fifth Gear tested them recently. Beaten by a Colt! :shock:

well it might be faster, but it wont be as fun to drive. Just think about it, whats the point of having a car thats extremely fast anyways? Unless you really want to race it all the time. If its a car that you drive everyday, might aswell find a fun-to-drive car rather then a fast one.

 

[AutoMX]

junkyard may be disappearing, and considering what i see here, it's not hard to see why, but auto dismantler will not disappear. what does this mean? it means the parts wont disappear by any means, just that there will be less to a degree and that they will be slightly more to much more expensive to get due to having to deal with a middleman.

at leas the upside to being in southern california is that rust is relatively non-existant. it also rains a couple times a year so oil and other nasty things like brake fluids and antifreeze wont steadily leak into the water table, like i'm sure they do in the UK. so yea it depends on the location.

also the areas where the junkyards are here cant get much dirtier, the ones i go to are next to chemical plants, a coal powerplant, an airport, and worst of all, a McDonalds :shock:

 

[bihus]

You can still find some junkyards, but you have to really look for them. I have been calling some to find an A/C compressor for my mum's Civic. I guess you just have to be lucky.
And for Minis and stuff like that you might wanna join the portuguese clubs.

 

[Lusitano]

You can still find some junkyards, but you have to really look for them. I have been calling some to find an A/C compressor for my mum's Civic. I guess you just have to be lucky.
And for Minis and stuff like that you might wanna join the portuguese clubs.

During the times I go to Portugal, I have encountered very few of them.


I am listing some photos of the older cars that I would like to restore

The Citroen DS, in sedan or break form (for its technological innovations)

The Audi 50 (just for coolness)

The VW Bus ( take my mates and girlies to the beach)

The Audi 60 (to go to "black-tie" events)

The Mini (for going into the city)

The Renault 4 (for urban assault missions)

The VW Rabbit GTi and Pick-up (for honda hunting season)

 

[Paddy]

VW Polo G40 or a MKI Ford Escort - Easy to get parts for and always look sweeeet 8)

 

[Lusitano]

VW Polo G40 or a MKI Ford Escort - Easy to get parts for and always look sweeeet 8)

Yes, I love that G40! A guy in my town back home had a red one. Very nice.

MKI Escorts are very popular in Portugal, along with the Capri.

From the newer old cars I like these:

BMW M3

Ford Escort Cosworth

Lancia Delta Integrale

I want to have an idea of how difficult/costly the restoration can be on these cars, so I do not pick something that is nearly impossible to finish.

Edit:
Here are photos of the models mentioned by Cosworth

VW Polo G40

Ford Escort MKI

 

[bone]

one of my friends has a half rusted away MKI escort, a project we might take up as well some time (if all the other problems with cars/quads/bikes have been solved )

that VW caddy (pick-up thingy), did that actually come out with GTI engine? all the ones i've come across were engine swaps.

and i would never restore a DS. great icon, but that early electronics must be a bitch to work on, and they're still stupid electronics. they don't give you a good feeling if they work, only make you pissed if they don't

 

[Lusitano]

that VW caddy (pick-up thingy), did that actually come out with GTI engine? all the ones i've come across were engine swaps.

and i would never restore a DS. great icon, but that early electronics must be a bitch to work on, and they're still stupid electronics. they don't give you a good feeling if they work, only make you pissed if they don't

The caddy never came out with a gti engine, I believe. Still it is fun to drive even with a 1.6L Diesel engine with those massive 58 bhp! :lol: (It is what I drive now).

Thanks for the advice on the DS. But are you referring to the early DS or the later ones?

 

[bone]

refering to DS in general. they're known for the electronic achievement in those days (50s), with pneumatic suspension. won't be easy to find matching parts, and imho, the part that will take the most time of all, is the most boring

but if you see yourself go ahead with it, don't let me freigten you by no means

 

[BlaRo]

All very nice choices you've got there.

But how about getting one of these?

BMW 635CSi or M635CSi (hell, any E24 6-series)

They're relatively fast, stunningly good-looking, and will serve well for those black-tie events you fancy. Plus, they're relatively cheap, too, for about 1-2 grand (Euros) for a well-beat up one. Parts come from BMW Mobile Tradition and a few aftermarket sources, so they're not hard to find.

Either way, you can't lose. Good luck!

 

[Lusitano]

All very nice choices you've got there.

But how about getting one of these?

BMW 635CSi or M635CSi (hell, any E24 6-series)

They're relatively fast, stunningly good-looking, and will serve well for those black-tie events you fancy. Plus, they're relatively cheap, too, for about 1-2 grand (Euros) for a well-beat up one. Parts come from BMW Mobile Tradition and a few aftermarket sources, so they're not hard to find.

Either way, you can't lose. Good luck!

I really like this one also. I like those forward lines! I do not really like the bumper because of its scale/size, but that is just an american version, I am guessing. VWs sold in the usa were also equipped with monstrous bumpers.

I just remembered. Across the street from me, back home in Portugal, there is this old lady who owned a grocery store. Her transportation looked like this:

Pretty cool, no? I am not sure if she sold it yet. If not, I will take it!