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buying advice again ?


wrightster

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Just seen an ad on autotrader

WESTFIELD 1800 Roadster  98 Q, 1.8 Zetec, Black/yellow nose & cycle wings, 4 point willans, VDO instruments, adjustable seats, hood, side screens, new tonneau,Twin 45's, K&N filters chrome exhaust, 5x five spoke alloys. 5800 . . . .  (private) 7250.00
this may also intrest Jon who is looking for a car around this price, apart from the obvious ie location, pictures what questions should i ask when emailing the owner ?

TIA  :D

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Factory built? or did he/she build it?

How long owned?

Reason for sale?

when can you have it?

and it's only 92 miles from Preston so not 'that' far from you

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Certainly sounds good and at a good price.

All Si's questions plus "any history"?

What type of seats...?

Can't think of much else at the mo'.

Get down/up there and have a look!!

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SEiW or SEW would seem to be an important consideration..........

What size wheels and tyres?

Nothing else springs to mind at the moment.........

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SEiW or SEW would seem to be an important consideration..........

What size wheels and tyres?

Nothing else springs to mind at the moment.........

#### good point Blatters, and in fact, we don't even know if its a Widebody or standard, do we????

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98 Q, 1.8 Zetec,

Suggests it might possibly be a pre-SVA wide body. If you ask the factory if a Zetec will fit in a narrow body, they say no (or at least, that's what they have told me, and quite a few others), so there are only a very few narrow bodied Zetec cars around............

Was it SVA'd? What year is the engine? A post 1995 engine means it'll neeed a CAT at MOT time, and it'll have to pass emissions tests every time it's presented..........

If it's pre-SVA, and/or pre 1995 engine, it saves much potential aggro at MOT time.

If it was my money, I'd be only be looking at cars that pre-date the SVA, or have a pre 1995 engine.......

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Blatman, i take it that the emission test is a pain then ? , is this the same regardless of carbs or injection (throttle bodies) ? Cheers

can you just clarify if its pre sva it doesnt need an emission test regardless of engine age ? sorry i am a bit lost here ..

:durr:

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NO.......

If a kit car has an engine that was manufactured after August 1995, then it must have a CAT, and pass the same emissions tests as all modern CAT equipped cars.

A car that has a pre 1995 engine has to pass a much less strict emissions test. This means that it can run carbs (A CAT equipped car MUST have fuel injection to stand any chance of passing), and future upgrades are easier, in so far as you don't have to worry too much about damaging a CAT with a rich running, fire breathing engine............

Emmissions tests aren't a pain until you fail them. Why reduce the "margin for error" when you don't have to...........

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98 Q, 1.8 Zetec,

Suggests it might possibly be a pre-SVA wide body. If you ask the factory if a Zetec will fit in a narrow body, they say no (or at least, that's what they have told me, and quite a few others), so there are only a very few narrow bodied Zetec cars around............

Was it SVA'd? What year is the engine? A post 1995 engine means it'll neeed a CAT at MOT time, and it'll have to pass emissions tests every time it's presented..........

If it's pre-SVA, and/or pre 1995 engine, it saves much potential aggro at MOT time.

If it was my money, I'd be only be looking at cars that pre-date the SVA, or have a pre 1995 engine.......

This is what I've heard too.

So mine must be worth quite a bit due to its rarity value.....??

(Narrow body, 2.0 Zetec!;)

I was told that they reckoned, when they built it, that it was one of, if not the first.

But back to the point, you are probably right(again!;) that its safe to assume its wide body.

Q plate means no emmissions test at MOT time when ever it was built doesn't it......????

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Q plate means no emmissions test at MOT time when ever it was built doesn't it......????

That's the conclusion I thought we came to before also - visible smoke test only. Otherwise the existing owner of the car being advertised would have had to fit CATs by now. Unlikely seeing as it still has twin 45s.

Where's our resident MOT tester when you need him?

Mike

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Er....

I've posted this before so apologies for repeating myself

My 1700 XFlow (well its mine till Friday....sob) at its last MOT (no Cat and running LEADED 4star BTW) recorded HC emissions <500ppm and has previously recorded as low as 230ppm - I understand that this means it passes the spec for Cat equipped vehicles.  So is the emmissions a hassle? Not in my experience, but different engines....means.... I Dunno really.  :sheep:

Maybe its' down to maintenance, quality of engine build/rebuild the right tuning and the right oil choice?

TA

Warren

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Yeah, I was getting carried away. Q plate means visible smoke test only. What a dumb :arse::0

X-Flow engine at 500ppm HC would pass, but I'll bet it'd fail on the CO2 emmissions......... :p

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Does a 'visible smoke test' mean you can still see the car when you floor it in the MOT station?

If so i 'think' i'll be OK

and the tell tale black mark on the trailer helps me find the right spot every time  :durr:

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any 'amateur built car' regardless of registration date regardless of engine year is only subjected to visual smoke test at mot. My 02 plated car had to have cat and emissions test for sva, but after that it's visible smoke tests only. I have had this confirmed by various sources...

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