I did the same thing with my £2k S2 purchase. I knew it would have a lot more wrong with it than the advert and phonecall said, but despite some initial concerns, it's turned out ok. I've got a decent car with a few niggly problems still, but I've only spent about £350 on it so far. Like Paul said, at that price, the car is probably worth more in spares anyway, so I don't think it's that much of a gamble. I definitely haven't regretted my little gamble anyway.
So the rust and the engine are the bits that jump out there. The first things I did on my engine were cylinder compression tests and coolant hydrocarbon test. Both proved to be ok (compression wasn't perfectly consistent, but still good for a car of that age). If your are ok too, then you could have a sound engine. The rust is the worry for me, but if you can tackle it yourself, then you should be ok too. I don't have the tools or the knowledge for it myself, so just pleased to have a friend who does!
To be honest, until you have made a good assessment of the body and engine, I wouldn't bother on the cosmetic stuff.[/quote]
Excellent advice in my opinion. I have only concentrated on getting mine running smooth, and now tackling the bodywork. I still have a full respray lined up, but that (along with the wheel refurb) are last on my list. Once the engine and body are ok, I'll start to fix the little bits that seem to annoy my mrs, such as the non-working passenger lock and wayward heating!
It might look like a mountain of jobs, but once you have the engine and bodywork done, you'll soon whittle down the rest.
]
