Sierras...
 

My dream of starting kit car building seems to be moving in the right direction, although i'm now torn between scratch building a Haynes Roadster chassis (having pored over the book for some time) and what seems to me to practically be a pre-built Haynes chassis in kit form - i.e. GBS Zero or similar.

I'm keen on making it Sierra based, but it looks like they are getting rarer and rarer. Is it really that hard to find one nowadays?

I'm not fussy about 4 or 5 speed, but do want to go carbs rather than fuel injection -and already unleaded ready if possible. Will I really struggle to find one?

In reality, out of the whole Sierra, you want just the following pieces:

- Gearbox
- Rear subframe (diff (be sure to get the propshaft-to-diff bolts, too), driveshafts, rear hubs with brakes)
- Steering column with stalk switches
- Front hubs with brakes
- Master cylinder.

If you can find these, it's not worth getting the donor and having it sit on the drive while you take it apart.

Speaking of the engine, the Sierra carbed ones are really outdated, why not a pre-1995 Zetec on bike carbs and Megajolt?

Hmm... I was thinking I need 'one car' to get the engine, diff and gearbox to get an age related plate... Or have I got this wrong?

Also assumed all the wiring would need to come from the donor too..?

I want to avoid fuel injection to keep things simple wherever possible.

You could always go the MX5 route as I think these are easier to get now than sierra's?

The MX-5 route seem counter-intuitive to me - taking apart one sportscar to make another. Whereas butchering a rep-mobile/family car to turn it into a road legal go-kart seems somehow more noble!

It all depends on how u want to go really. My build is sierra based and I used the donor loom as well. I think there are still bargains to be had if you aren't in a hurry

BMW e30 is another option, there are a few that have built using this platform (or the E36 Compact as that is realy just a tarted E30.)

GKD do a kit ( although not at all haynes based ) to use the BMW and you have a vast engine option.


If you do go Sierra then you will have to hunt, EFI is not a major issue other than clearing the bonnet but that's true of the carbs anyway. unless you go side draught.

TT

Thats the trick, dont panic and by the time you need the running gear something will have turned up. The old sierra might not be that common but there are still thousands of them out there.

Bob

I haven't seen a Sierra in a scrapyard for quite a while and we are talking about a car which went out of production nearly 20 years ago. Don't forget that the Sierra has been a staple of the kit car industry for quite some time and is rather popular on the banger racing circuit. With this in mind you may struggle to find the ideal donor that isn't a million miles away from you. You will, however, be able to find the Sierra bits you need reasonably easily - just look on eBay or on here or LCB; although this would give you a Q plate and may well be more expensive than buying a donor car. If my heart was set on building a Sierra based Roadster, I would seriously consider going the piecemeal route.

Hmmm, a quick scan on ebay has turned up quite a few Sierras - albeit ones that'd entail a good drive to pick up. Roughly £500 as a ball park seems to be the going rate - and potentially driving a few hundred miles.

So it seems they are there - but at that sort of distance and price. Is that what puts people off Sierras? From what i've read I thought it'd be weeks before one even came up on ebay...