i have the opportunity to possibly buy a sierra xr4x4i rs, from 1988 supposedly only57k heated front and rear screen
alloy wheels and alloy spare orignal tool kit 4 new tyres! kent cams new clutch! electric windows central locking elctrics mirrors
for £400
is it worht buying this can i get most if not all i need for a locost build from this car? does the car sound underpriced, as if there is something terribly wrong with it? hope you guys can help
alan

are you able to look & drive it?

(not on ebay is it?)

about the only bits you will use are the rear drive train and may be the stearing coloum.

way to much £ for a donor imho

Sounds about right although you'd need to swap the front hubs and calipers for 2wd ones. For that sort of money though you could probably get everything you need from Sierra shack (NTDWM) or similar and save yourself the hassle of stripping and disposing of the rest.

Might need to check the steering column aswell not sure if some were adjustable. Oh and the master cylinder might not be right but not sure about that.

as said before the master cylinder is no good as mine was electrically pressureised system (if it has ABS), the steering column was ok to use, gearbox can easily beconverted to 2 wheel drive. ps my donor was a 2.8 xr4x4 with MFI
and i paid 400 quid about 2 years ago

cheers colin

Wasa's spot on in my opinion, all you'll use is the diff, rear driveshafts brakes and hubs.
If they're worth £400 to you them go for it, don't forget you may be charged to dispose of the donor or the possibility of selling on some parts.

FWIW I paid £100 for an XR4X4 2.8

Mick

why will i not use the engine or any of the other components? im probably looking at building chassis from scratch so fitting in wouldnt be a prob? i figured as much about the front stubs etc, im probably looking to use the brakes (apart from the abs system, the engine, diff, driveshafts, rear suspension maybe, steering column and as much else as i can. would i be better off trying to find a 2l pinto? i just rather like the sound of a v6! and other stuff that is on the sierra itself that i thought could be alvaged! tell me if none of it can be used!
al

I still have the V6 removed from my donor, gearboxes and a whole host of other stuff stored under the build table but as I progress through the build I have seen how unsuitable / challenging using these would be.
I know what you are thinking, (I thought the same once), and anything within reason can be acheived, however if your aim is 200+ BHP/Tonne there are easier ways of getting there.
The choice is yours.

Enjoy

Mick

fair enough cant deny the advice of a seasoned one! what exactly is the problem with the engine and gearbox etc? also could they be sold on if later i discovered first hand the difficulty? any ideas of places to look for more suitable donors? i like the idea of independant rear suspension hence the interest in xr4X4

There aren't any specific problems with it that would be hard to resolve - it's just a very heavy way of getting 150 bhp, basically. It's the sort of package to use if you're on a tight budget and really want to get the most out of a single donor. Probably the cheapest way to get something a little different from the standard 4-pots. Been used in a few cars on here that I know of and nothing wrong with the idea at all really, so if that's what you want to do good luck. 24V cosworth a possible future upgrade path.

Looking at it from another point of view, though, if you're starting with a clean slate and the world's your oyster so to speak, there just aren't many compelling reasons for choosing that particular engine. Heavy, ancient design with low power for the capacity, etc etc. In fact i doubt anyone would use it if it didn't come along with a donor car.

Also 400 is high for an XR4x4 - sounds like this might be a bit tidy which is keeping the price up. Most can pick up a 4x4 for 1-200 quid making it worthwile even if you do ditch the engine. Find a 2 litre XR4x4 and you can sell the gearbox on with added cossie tax.

Liam

thanks for that i may buy a similar one that is rather less tidy as i would like to get most of my bits from one source, however is there an engine you would recommend getting? im looking for power really, lightwieght would be good, and sounding good would also be nice! this is going to mainly be a track car so yeh... also is there a cheap way of doing a bike engine in it? i like the idea of a sequential shift... thanks for the help so far guys
al
EDIT is there any sites that specifically sell donor cars or advertise, good places to look? what was sierra shack..?

[Edited on 3/5/08 by hellbent345]