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what van
trogdor - 28/1/08 at 12:33 PM

Hi all,

I have recently started working for my dad, he needed someone to help him run his business so i said i would help, i am starting to think it could be a long term thing, it is worth while trying to make something of it.

anyways back to the point, the car i am using for the driving is my daily runner, a 106 with four gears, not the best combination for long distance driving which i will have to do at some point, plus i will get taxed for using it as a business car which is not worth it.

Anyways what we are looking for is a suitable van, it needs to be cheap, something from the late 90's or earlier i would imagine, something that is reliable, and that won't be expensive to insure for a 22 year old who has had his lience for 3 months!

any suggestions would be helpful

many thanks

mookaloid - 28/1/08 at 12:37 PM

I would have thought it would depend mainly on what you need to carry....

trogdor - 28/1/08 at 12:39 PM

fair point, it will be tools and laboratory equipment, i would proablly get a car van, but maybe a small van would be cheaper?

mcerd1 - 28/1/08 at 01:00 PM

whats does cheap mean to you - £500 or £2000 ?

when you say a 'car van' would a fiesta van (the ones with the normal car size back) or similar be too small ?

quote:
Originally posted by trogdor
...the car i am using for the driving is my daily runner, a 106 with four gears, not the best combination for long distance driving

Snap

mines a 92' 954cc (1.0) 4 speed with a carb - it actually returns a good 50mpg if I take it easy on long trips (200+ miles @ ~60mph average) but I only get 35mpg or less on the short 5 mile trips I do every day
I recently found out that 4 speed 106's have the same ratio in 4th as 5th in the 5 speed ones - but the 1.1+ cars get higher ratios

trogdor - 28/1/08 at 01:20 PM

the budget would be £500 - £1000, a fiesta van would be ok but if its the same to buy and run a bigger van than we would go with one, astra van etc

my 106 is actually a 1.1 with SPI! couldn't believe that a car from 1994 could have four gears, can get 50mpg on mine if i take it easy i didn't know that 4th is the same ratio as 5th. that would be a bonus as i was planning on changing the gearbox to a 5 speed when the clutch needs sorting. if it is the same ratio there is no need to change, 4 speed is nice and simple!

[Edited on 28/1/08 by trogdor]

[Edited on 28/1/08 by trogdor]

mcerd1 - 28/1/08 at 05:47 PM

quote:
Originally posted by trogdor
couldn't believe that a car from 1994 could have four gears, can get 50mpg on mine if i take it easy i didn't know that 4th is the same ratio as 5th. that would be a bonus as i was planning on changing the gearbox to a 5 speed when the clutch needs sorting. if it is the same ratio there is no need to change, 4 speed is nice and simple!

Yeah, 5th gear was an option on base spec 1.0 and 1.1's up to the S2 in 96'

actually my prevoius car, a 1979 1.1 'L' Fiesta, has a sligtly higher spec than the 106 (apart from the radio)


Its certianly the case that the 1.0's got the same ratio's in 4 and 5 speed boxes most of the time - but you have to check really (give the last 8 digits of your vin to your dealer and they can tell you the ratio's you've got)

As I understand it there is only 1 set of 4 speed ratios, but a few different final drive ratios (4.28 for most 1.0's and 4.06 for 1.1's I think)
but the 5 speeds have a few more variations - depending on age, engine size and if its a 106, AX or Saxo.

If you want to up the ratio you could swap to a 5 speed from a bigger engined car - but you'd need to be careful about changes to things like driveshafts/ hubs etc

4 speed to 5 is supposed to be a strait swap - but driveshafts could be different (mine has 3 stud wheels and these are slightly different at the wheel end at least)


As you can probibly guess the problem is the made hundreds of slightly different versions

I've got a list of ratios I can send you if you like, but it only covers AX's and Saxo's

I found a 106 owners forum a couple of weeks ago: http://www.106owners.co.uk/forums/index.php

It was quite an easy job to swap the gearbox it doesn't weight much (well easy with a 4 post ramp, an engine beam and extra body to lift it anyway)

I actually swapped mine a week ago to another 4 speed with the same ratios, when I thought it was the problem

-Robert

[Edited on 28/1/08 by mcerd1]