Which car is best to learn on?

[lutonblue]

Looking for some advice.

Looking for a cheap small car on which to relearn my basic mechanic skills and at the same time teach my son.

I want something really basic so I can start with things like basic servicing, brake pads etc, moving on to more advanced stuff like cambelts and cam shafts, gearboxes, clutches and finally on to complete engine swaps for the same / bigger engine and everything in between with a little bit of bodywork thrown in for good measure.

I'd thought orignally about the Corsa cos they are available, cheap and have plenty of performance versions available to make thing interesting later on.

Then I though of the Clio and Fiesta.

Any good suggestion or advice on which car would be best and why

Thanks

Lutonblue

 

[gendox]

rover 200 100 400 punto old 1.9 desil clio if u wanna teach about the thick stuff i say the rovers because the engine bays are massive well on the 400 they are.

 

[lutonblue]

Must admit I didn't want to do a diesel. I hadn't thought of the small Rovers but would really want a car with a carb so I don't have issues with injection and ecu's to start with.

 

[gendox]

hairy muff, but they are nice and big to work on plus they brake down haha

 

[herb]

i would suggest a vauxall nova 1.3 sr very basic car with alot of potential

it just depends whether you want to teach your son welding aswell
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[Prince]

How about an old Civic? Or a CRX? Then you could learn about tuning it a bit more as well.

 

[HDi fun]

Impreza WRX

 

[slacky]

might sound stupid but a 1.6 focus is what i learnt in! parts pick up cheap as chips, make sure its an 02 plate and you can pick some up for a steal!

i have done some work on them and it wasn't to hard!

it will also give your son a chance to see how he can adapt to petrol driving rather than deisel because i gaurantee he will be driving a petrol after he passed his test, you want a 1.6 so he knows what the power is like in a larger car so he will be able to pick it up easier say in a 1.2 corsa!

 

[azzy]

the best car i say is a clio mk1 which was my 1st car to start on i dont no nothing abt car engine. am doing a engine swap which has a evo 4 engine in it. running abt 360 bhp yes its a lot. and lots of hard work to be made.

 

[obi_waynne]

I think the Carb is definately a move in the wrong direction as are the old points based ignition systems.

A modern car will self adjust to compensate for many different mods altering its fuelling so you will actually find it easy to play around with a modern car. So rather than make it harder it actually becomes easier.

The Rovers with the 1.8VVC and 1.6 (Honda) are nice solid engines to work on. A Nova SR as has been mentioned is also good and the close ratio box makes it feel even quicker.

The Mark 1 Escort is a dream to work on and a good project would be putting a 2.0 sierra engine in one. RWD fun all of the way.