First car to wrench on

Forget the e30 because they’re overpriced right now but otherwise he’s right bmw inline 6 cars are awesome. Unkillable and easy to work on.

Classic Minis are easy to restore and tune. They make pathetic power from stock but they're lightweight and have good suspension so they feel like go-karts in comparison to modern econoboxes. They can usually be found for less than £2.5k for a decent example.

Chevy Silverado.

They come straight from the factory with problems

I've considered an E36 or E46 because they're dirt cheap in the UK right now. Only problem is insurance is deathly expensive for me because I'm under 25.

I avoid MX-5s and Minis because I don't think I'd fit in them. Keep in mind I'm 6'6"

E102 Toyota Corolla
>cheap as dirt
>reliable as fuck
>multiple engine swap choices

Try looking for a Twingo then. Altough i dont know it they exist in RHD.

Theres also the toyota Starlet / nissan Micra and the Suzuki swift. Really solid cars, easy to work on and parts are dirt cheap (especially for the Twingo)

>I avoid MX-5s and Minis because I don't think I'd fit in them. Keep in mind I'm 6'6".

With adjustable seats you'll fit in there no problem. Headroom is usually good for 6'5" people without the seats reclining. Plus this was from a time before the push for greater crash survivability so visibility is great due to the low doors and large greenhouse

Question is - how easily available are they in the UK? Ideally I need something that's widely available in terms of the car itself and the parts for it.

See above reply. How widely available are they in the UK for RHD?

How much do I have to mod to fit comfortably? I've heard of people removing the foam from the seat, or removing the seat rails and welding the car straight to the floor.

Shit, you should have mentioned you were in the UK now, shouldn't you've?
Get a Civic

An old bike, they're dirt cheap, parts are dirt cheap, and they're pretty easy to work on.

>How much do I have to mod to fit comfortably? I've heard of people removing the foam from the seat, or removing the seat rails and welding the car straight to the floor.

The foam adds around 2-3 inches of height so you could go for some GRP bucket seats or something like in the Roadkill projects if comfort isn't a huge issue. Proportionally how much of your height is legs and how much is upper body?

Like an EP-3? I've thought about it. Civics have a really bad rap though. Screwing around with VTEC would be fun.

What I'd really like to do is to build the ultimate sleeper.

You're probably going to have this suggestion, but a MX-5, NB if you can afford it

>Bad rep
For what? They're stupid reliable and are fun to toss around and won't break the bank on gas or maintenance

>What I'd really like to do is to build the ultimate sleeper.
>never has worked on a car.

lol idiot.

just buy a civic. do regular maintenance on it till you can afford something nicer/sportier than build on that.

Why the NB over the NA? Not OP but I'm interested in getting one.

I think it's about even, but it's mostly my legs that are really long. My legs are 37" inseam lmao. I'd say comfort isn't important, but in reality that all goes out the window when you sit in your car for an hour and your ass hurts because there's no cushioning at all.

So far I'm thinking either Mk2 MX-5 or a Civic.

Over here, they're the go-to car for ricers, stancefags, fuckboys etc. and they're considered really douchey cars. It's the UK equivalent of a yuro 5 series diesel BMW. Also because of this, insurance for them is outrageously expensive.

Any particular Civic? Or literally just any one that I can get my hands on?

No popups breaking, interior is more generous, newer, looks better (subjective)

this. shit's legos

sucks for you, i just bought a decent e30 325i wagon for 1 grand.
old bmw’s are fun and easy to work on, plenty of space in the engine bay and straight six is always a mechanics delight

How much is the insurance on an EP3? Ours get the same rep here, but when done right are appreciated

Aren't the popups like 90% of the charm of the MX5s? That being said I do have turbonostalgia for the NB from NFSU2.

Hard to say - depends on factors like age, years of no claims discount, driving experience. Seeing as I'm under 25, I'm going to get jewed on any car that's sporty or powerful; unless it's a

^This or an older F150. The Ford is so easy to work on and parts are dirt cheap, plus at the end of the day you have a utility vehicle. FYI I have a C5 as a track car and a 98 F150 as a beater truck.

90% charm of the NA, otherwise it's a midgets car
Did Britain get the Integra? Maybe a MR2 with the 3SGE would be good as well

I think we did, but they're pretty rare so they're not cheap enough to buy for babby's first wrench car.

At the moment I'm thinking of an E34 - it's old (so it's dirt cheap) and a lot of the car is pure mechanical, parts are widely available, lot of potential for power, RWD and i6.

Is a VW Beetle a good first car to wrench on or no? I have one that I don't drive although it runs perfectly, simply because I find it gay. It has a 2.0

eg hatcg

My Bronco 2(Basically a v6, 4wd Ranger) is fucking easy as shit to work on compared to my Accord, I've never felt so confident replacing parts and doing modifications. But it only cost me $750 to buy, and it's not my daily or even a weekend car, so I have no worries about it sitting for weeks on end while I source parts or procrastinate doing any work.

Trucks with no A/C and little to no accessories and electrical bullshit are very nice and roomy under the hood, and with big tires or a lift you can do most repairs without a jacking it up.

Any car at pick your parts

In Sweden babbys first wrenching project is almost always a 2/7/9 series Volvo. Shit is easy af to work on

to build the ultimate sleeper you need to mechanically be an expert and put in a thousand or more hours. it'd be easier to just pay someone to do it for you. to answer your op question, buy literally anything and start with basic shit like routine maintenance and work your way up onto harder tasks like a tensioner pulley or a water pump.

Well, I say ultimate sleeper when really it's "build the fastest and HP-filled car that I can on a budget while learning a thing or two about car maintenance"

You'll get hammered on an ep3 especially for the type r mate, you'll have to pay well over £1.5k for a full comp. Better off finding something easy to work on that's a bit older and not as sporty. Mk.2 MX5 is probably a good shout.

The old one is yes. Can remove almost everything with one size of wrench and is relatively simple from what I hear. Has an enormous following in the UK, so parts aren't an issue whatsoever. The main issue is, however, money. As a lot of the beetle fans hoard the parts and try to sell them at extortionate rates. Not to say you can't get them from other places. But to restore one without the paint would still be kind of pricey.

I agree, the NB is probably the best for what OP wants, in fact I found this when I was looking up RX-8 swaps last night, apparently the driver's talking about making a kit for production, don't know if it happened considering the video is a few years old
youtu.be/WODwAmwL1tU

OP here. I'm thinking of an E34 so far. Given what I'm after, the NB MX-5 is a great idea but the only thing that's preventing me from getting one is I'm a tallfag (6'6") so they're not practical without modding the seats which then makes it really uncomfortable, especially over long periods of time.

Yeah, old customer of mine who had an NB gave another customer, who was about your height, and it looked a tad ridiculous, I would go with the E34 as well, make sure it's manual, and save up for a 1/2JZ-GTE for a future swap for even more fun, they make the conversion kits so the Toyota engines will work with the ZF gear boxes

A 1992 chevy truck is the easiest car ever built to wrench on