free kit car

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Fri 3 Jan 2003 20:31
free kit car - steve'o'
Hi All, I have been offered a Dutton Phaeton kit car for free if I can arrange it's pick up. Is it worth the hassle?
The car is an unfinished project with many good parts, but the owner has been forced to part with it.
I have not built a kit car before but I am confident with a spanner and scared of a little hard work, but not sure if it is worth the effort.
Has anyone had experience of such a thing?

Are many hours required to build one (I would guess 300).

What obstcales will I face?

Cheers
Steve'o'


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Fri 3 Jan 2003 21:43
free kit car - Tom Shaw
No experience of such a project myself, but if it's free what have you got to lose? I would think that such kits are designed for those with reasonable mechanical competance rather than expert engineers, so it is a matter of your own enthusiasm for the task and the willingness to put in the hours involved in completing it.

Be warned, however, things like that tend to dominate your free time so the support of SWMBO is essential to avoid costly divorce proceedings.
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Fri 3 Jan 2003 22:08
free kit car - Hugo {P}
Dutton always supply these kits with a very comprehensive manual, which you should use in conjunction with the relevant Haynes Manual for the Donor car, Probably a Mk1 or 2 Escort. I know because I looked into buying one several years ago.

If the kit has neither of these, you should be able to buy a copy of the manual from Dutton for a few quid. This was refundable if you then bought the kit from them. I believe I may have a copy of the Mk1 or 2 Escort Haynes manual if you need it.

If you're serious about this I would definitely go for it and buy the chap a bottle of whiskey as a thank you. It's very useful to keep him on your side in case you ever need to contact him again for any reason whatsoever.

Good luck!

Hugo

PS if you don't want it - let me know!
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Fri 3 Jan 2003 22:22
free kit car - Micky
Duttons are ........ interesting.

www.duttonownersclub.co.uk/

SVA might cause some problems
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Sat 4 Jan 2003 00:54
free kit car - RichL
Mate of mine had a Dutton Phaeton once, which he shoehorned a 3.5 Rover V8 into.
He reckoned it would 0-120 in 11 seconds if he could stop the wheels spinning.
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Sat 4 Jan 2003 19:50
free kit car - Big John
Beware, if it not built and registered an old kit is very hard to get through the SVA test upon completion.
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Sat 4 Jan 2003 23:15
free kit car - Hugo {P}
Beware, if it not built and registered an old kit is
very hard to get through the SVA test upon completion.


If you keep the same registration as the doner car and simply change the V5 details to suit, do you need the SVA as well as the MOT?

Hugo
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Sun 5 Jan 2003 20:06
free kit car - steve'o'
Thanks for your help, after speaking further with the guy who is giving me the car - it transpires it was running but then he laid it up for ten years in his garage. So it may not need major work, just a good service, lube, clean-up and safety checks of course.

Hugo, please email me on 3am@totalise.co.uk I would like to arrange buying a Mk2 escort manual from you.

Cheers all
Ste
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Mon 6 Jan 2003 14:33
free kit car - Big John
If it has a different chassis number then you would need the SVA test.
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Tue 25 Feb 2003 17:20
free kit car - adam
Hello, I have just bought a Dutton Phaeton 3.5, in need of full restoration and have no mannuals or information, any help on how to aquire build information would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

Adam

my email address is
durdur4@hotmail.com
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Tue 25 Feb 2003 18:19
free kit car - steve'o'
Hi Adam, most of my knowledge has been accquired from the www.duttonownersclub.co.uk websit. They have a forum which I found very useful - they really know their stuff!
My car is now almost complete, I am looking to swap it for a Go Kart (mad I know).

Enjoy!

Stephen
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