260 ownership on a tight budget?

[ksilver]

I guess the message is that they are not as expensive to run as one may think.

This is no doubt due to the help and support of this forum and the people on it

I would agree on that, the biggest problems I've come across are garages that look at the car and shrug their shoulders or try and do things the way they would have done on a 190 etc.

A quick search through here (or a question) usually produces a fairly straight forward fix.

[colintf]

we are lucky with the high level of support from Brian at Dreadnought, as well as having some other good people about like Nick at Austin Garages, and AE Wilcox etc etc.

I am very lucky to have AE Wilcox just up the road, and Nick is only a couple of hours up the road. Just wish Dreadnought was closer to Bristol. (Maybe I need to take a holiday to Scotland !!!!)

[2V8s]

i have 100k on mine, bought it with 85k on the clock.

I'd agree with the consensus - apart from the "biggie" of the clutch change, I cant see that higher mileage means more costs. It doesnt cost me much to run mine - especially since I pay 65p a litre for the fuel .

You never know - look through all the paper work and if you can find evidence of past clutch change then you're laughing. Otherwise bank on spending £1000-£1500 for this with other essential stuff it makes sense to do at the same time. Because clutch change is an engine out job and to be honest, my car has sadly never been the same since

[Max260]

Yup, I'll second that appart from the niggley bits like fuel filter cap, handbrake etc the only really big expense is the clutch change.

In my case the clutch started slipping due to oil seepage from the gear box due to the plastic bush wearing out. However, I drove around with the slippage for 6 months quite happily (just not very good at pulling hard in 4th and 5th). So dont worry when it starts.

It is a major job though and when it comes and it will come to all of us eventlually, change the whole clutch assy (use LUK replacement kits from the USA theyre good and a good price). Allow 4 weeks for delivery. Replace the Slave Cylinder, refurbish the master cylinder (Austins will do this) or replace and replace the pipe from the master cylinder.

When the gear box is off. get a partial strip and rebuild done to check it out. it is worth it as it makes a big difference to the gear changes and smooth running of the car.

All my clunking has gone away after everything was put back, gear changes are much smoother and the clutch pedal is much lighter.

Whole lot will set you back at least £1200. But you should get plenty of warning and will have time to save up.

Mine is now on 87K and climbing rapidly. As the whole front of the car has been basically reassembled it feels like a new car and still does after a couple of months driving.

[ColinE]

Good post Max - for reference what's your annual mileage?

[Max260]

Good post Max - for reference what's your annual mileage?

I reckon I must do around 25K a year now. Not too long long before I reach the 100K mark. Car is really going so well. Now I've said that, somethings bound to happen. Think my next major buy will be the rear discs. But theyre still ok at the moment and a skim will come first before a buy. Otherwise I will be getting a new paint job either later this year on early next as I have so many stone chips now.

[colintf]

thats quite a mileage in one of our cars Max!