hi guys, im new on here, ive always been into my fords , i am hoping to get a cossie in the next few months maybe a year, was going to get one last year but found my partner was expecting our 3rd, so put it all on hold, but with baby now here few months of nagging and she might give me the all clear lol, just wondering which you would all recommend as a first step into cossie ownership 2wd or 4wd , whats the pros and cons of each , also what are they like to live with obviously wont be using it as a daily but when i do venture out i dont want to be broken down all the time. prob end up with around 5-6k to spend im not expecting a minter but as long as its straight with no crash damage i dont mind bit of restoration. cheers all, alyn.

 

anyone?

 

Hi.
For 5 to 6 k you'll get a good solid car that needs very little work done on it I reckon.
A 4x4 hs a sligtly stronger engine block. 4x4 200 block 2wd 205.
A rwd drive train is stonger that a 4x4 one as after 350bhp a 4x4 starts to worry a bit lol.
Rust is the usual thing to look out for around the sills and rear arches mainly.
As long as things are checked regularly and not modified by an idiot or using tacky mods they will be a good car to own.
What ever you do, dont rush into buying a cossie. Look at as many as you can. Theres me who bought the first one I saw lol

I'm sure others will point you out some other facts.

 

thanks for reply, think 350bhp will be more than enough for me lol , i am planning on looking for one as near to standard as i can get, because like you say the numptys out there that batter them, it seems that stage 1-2 seem common place now with very few completely standard from the ones ive seen for sale so far.

 

As said above really bud and seeing stage 1 or 2 if done properly can easily be used as a daily with no quarms (I know your not after a daly) and 2wd is the way to go really but it is all down to preference.

 

Get under any one you look at and check the rear inner sills and chassis legs around where the beam bolts to and springs mount, quite a few are starting to go around there nowadays. Rear arches too. I prefer 2wd, a good stage 3 will keep you entertained if you want to play in it.

 

Tbh I've owned/own both and I actually think the 4x4 is a better car to use on the road as it does actually handle well and stick to the road a lot better than the 2wd,but getting it sideways which the 2wd does very easily is super addictive!!!

As said above get one that's bodily in the most solid nick you can and I don't mean on the outside but more the underneath really,absolutely everywhere can rot on them as I found out on mine.

If the sellers genuine he'll have no objections to you taking it somewhere to get it up on a ramp for an mot,no matter how recent it may have had one.
This is no reflection on who mot'ed it for them but rather to see if it "just" got through a ticket or is in fact a nice clean one or even any welding done was done to a high standard and should be good for years to come.

I've just reshelled mine into a mint white shell as in the end mine was too far gone,needed inner and outer sills,strut top welding,had already done chassis legs,jacking points,various bits elsewhere so was unfortunately always honing to be a rotbox.

This new shell looks superclean and looks to have years of life left in it and I'm looking forward to getting it all up and running,the motor and everything else is in but as it stood so long there's a long list of parts to get it mint again.