Paul_Painter

Hello Chaps

Following on from the post about the Q Plate Cossie, I just wondered what everyones thoughts were on Cat C & D Motors?

I bought mine 2 years ago but it had been Cat C'd back in 2001, I bought it to strip and rebuild as the repair hadn't been done perfectly.
It had been hit at the front and scraped down the near side.
I took it to SC Gordons which were a Bentley authorised body shop, they repaired the panels as neccessary and repainted the whole car in its original mallard green.
At one point, my car was parked between the Sultan of Brunai's Ferrari and David Beckhams Black Bentley
Whilst they had the car, I stripped the engine, interior etc and then rebuilt it all.
I have a massive pile of receipts and 1 large one with Bentley headed paper!

Just wondered what people would think about the car?

Escort Cosworth Large Turbo Lux with Cloth Trim
Mallard Green
44k miles
Most of the service history
Pretty much all original except for Mongoose Exhaust, 500 cooler, Black silcone hoses, clear lights, birba gauges, delocked, Group N Head Gasket & Stage 1 Chip.
It has many many new parts including Original Wheels etc

PS, this is not a For Sale ad, and I have no interest in selling it after spending a lot of money and 2 years of my life rebuilding it

All comments gratefully received.

Cheers

Paul

M.A.D.RST

Fair play to you for buying a cat c and spending alot of money on it. It probably does look nice. Now the reason i sold my first escos was because it wasnt upto the condition that i really wanted and the mileage was to high, and i just wasnt happy with it (but thats another story)
But the thing is, and im not being rude to you, but i could never buy or own a cat c or d car. It has to be perfectly straight and honest, it would just bug me all the time
But then owning a mint example isnt a good idea as i never use it

Get some pics up

THE RADMAN

iTrader: (2)

have you any pics of the work needed? as its always best to have these to show to any potential buyer in the future as they can see exactly what has been done,as they say a pic speaks a thousand words

Paul_Painter

Hello Mate

For the exact same reasons as you I did not want a "concourse ornament" as you call it. I wanted to drive the car and enjoy it.
I also wanted to make some changes such as delock the car, if I had have bought a perfect one I would have just felt guilty everytime I did something to it or used it.

Here are some pics:

They day I bought the car and brought it home and washed it.

http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b7...ughtFront1.jpg

Stripping the car ready for the paint shop.

http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b7...ppingSide1.jpg

http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b7...ingInside2.jpg

At the paint shop.

http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b7...t=SCGSide1.jpg

http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b7...t=SCGrear1.jpg

I've got loads more images, but I need to add them to my photobucket.

Cheers

Paul

fish99

Mate if your happy that the work has been done to a high standard and the car is running true then I wouldnt let it bother you that its cat c or d. How many motors out there have been involved in accidents throughout their lives and end up bodged back together?

I just think at the end of the day its just metal and no matter what it can be repaired.. I mean just look at some of the restoration type jobs that people do on cars nowadays...they cut the car into little parts, and they put it all back together to such a high standard.

Think as mentioned above about keeping photos of the work is a good idea because you can show any potential buyer the pics and say this is the standard of repair.

Did you have any autolign inspection done on the car?

AJC

iTrader: (6)

car looks bob on

cozzfather

iTrader: (1)

my mate bought a year old impreza for 14.5 grand in the trade
he did not have it long when he spun it and went over a grass
verge and into some old dears garden demolishing her fence and
ripping off most of the suspension,the car was repaired by QBS
who are the repair arm of evans halshaw,it was not a nice repair
and tbh it looked like a cowboy outfit had repaired it.
that car should have been writen off as it cost loads more than what
it initialy was going to come to.
its value was such that the insures decided to repair but kept finding things bent.
some cat c's and d's and q plates are works of art the way they have
been repaired by a proper bodyshop,others including cars that are
hpi clear can be badly repaired,if you don't know
cars take someone who does and don't assume if its hpi clear
its straight,if your car is nice someone who reads about the way it
was done will not be put off.
18 ish years ago there was no such thing as a cat a,b,c,d etc
or a v car register,so how many old rs's are hiding history
loads i bet
i'm sure i saw a car like the one you have, on ebay a couple of years
ago

Paul_Painter

Hello chaps

Thanks for all your comments, I have kept all the receipts and hundreds of pictures.
I have no intention of selling it as i'm very happy with the car, but its just nice to know that if and when the time ever comes there will be some sensible people out there who would consider my car

As you've said, the category system is quite new so there must be literally hundreds of old RS's out there with a some what chequered past. The other thing to consider is the amount of people that heavily damage cars and repair them without the insurance company being involved, this will also not show on any records.

Cheers

Paul

S1rst

I personally wouldnt buy a car on the register for anything over a couple of grand. As you say im sure they'll be some people out there that wont be bothered by it as long as its reflected in the price. Yours does look nice though, but unfortunatly its never going to be worth as much as a clear car in the same condition in my opinion. As im sure your aware, just the fact that a car is on the register can knock several thousands of pounds off the value, and often upto around half less in some cases when compared to clear cars of similar condition.

Personally id have gone for a clear car in fair condition for say Ł10k, if i planned on doing a complete resto. That way it would always be worth close to top money after throwing pots of money at it.

Still, if you got the car for much less than Ł10k ish to start with then id say fair play as it sounds like a top jobs been done.

cozzfather

iTrader: (1)

out of interest paul, does the logbook v5 show it as being a cat c
until a few years ago people just hoped nobody hpi'd the car
and never found out the car had been wrote off.
cat c's are supposed to show on the v5 now,but until it all changed
it was a guessing game,cat d's dont show on the log book and don't
need a vic check

Paul_Painter

Hello Chap

There is nothing shown on the log book, it only shows when you phone the HPI company.

In some ways you are right, I should have bought an unregistered one, but when I saw it, it was exactly what I wanted - Mallard Green - Large Turbo - Cloth Trim.
And I always see these things as challenges, i'd be very bored by now if I just rolled a concourse motor out of the garage every week to polish it

When I finally think its 'perfect' i'll probably sell it and buy something else! I keep looking at Anglias! and Mk4 Escort 3Dr Estates!

I think it will be a way off yet as there is still lots I want to do and I doubt the girlfriend will be too happy when she starts to find oily bits in the dish washer and bath again

Cheers

Paul

auralisRS

Mine is a Cat D, perfect car, payed a little less for it....but hey as someone said earlier....its a pile of metal. What a piece of paper says about it is not important to me. I enjoy my car and gets a lot of admiring attention.

Ok, if I sell it and someone is put off by this, thats their problem....lets face it most Cosworths have a history...most have had break in attempts, been nicked or something, thats why we pay through the nose for insurance on them. Anyone who thinks otherwise is living in cloud cookoo land.

cozzfather

iTrader: (1)

right this is the thing with the internet.
people get to know you and the car,if you sold it without telling
them it had been cat c you would get earache and moaned at
if they found out.
if you bougt that car and smoked around in it after repairing it
properly,and had piccasso paint it,then sold it on autotrader WITH OUT
telling anyone,i promise someone eventually would buy it without checking
the cars history especially if its got some show ie bills recipts.
some people are too bleeding tight to spend a few quid checking the
car.
you don't need to say a car has been a insurance writeoff
however i think its gonna change soon in the autotrader,all cars will
soon be getting hpi'd as part of advertising,according to my mate
who has a garage

S1rst

Thats a good idea if they end up doing that. Id NEVER buy an expensive car without doing a full hpi check. Imagine if you bought a Ł15k escos and found out it was a write off at a later date.

Thats gets to me aswell, when people think its ok to sell a car thats still on finance. Ive Hpi'd a few cars only to find out theres still outstanding finance.

Arnie

I've never had to finance a car, so this may sound dumb, but won't the finance company keep the V5 document? Since the car is paid for by them, in theory they own it until you pay up.

cozzfather

iTrader: (1)

i have never had car finance too Arnie,but iirc you keep all documents
and stuff but miss 2 payments and its repo time.
i'm sure there are not many escort cosworths on finance these days
more like bank loans which is differant.
like i say with a older escort cosworth,i'm sure if its nice someone
would not check with hpi which is a finance check aswell as recorded as
a insurance write off,number plate change, colour change, imported
and a few other things when they but it

oh and i have not forgoten about those pics arnie

S1rst

I cant see anyone not doing a full hpi check on an escos surely. Or any car of some value for that matter.

cozzfather

iTrader: (1)

wanna bet

Arnie

Cheers mate! But I've approached the company with a pic of the wolf dials, and they said they are not able to make them to that standard since they use different materials, it'll look more like the Birba set. I'll also need to order 50 sets inorder to get the price down to 50 pounds, otherwise it's 100quid a set

cozzfather

iTrader: (1)

why not get a set of biba dials and place a sticker with wolf on
then get them copied
would probably infringe loads of copyright laws but its a way
of doing it,iirc the biba ones don't go up to 300kmh though