View Full Version : irish williams 2
im in northern ireland and im thinking about buying a williams 2from the south.what would i need to look out for? are they any differant not being a uk car?
In all the time I have spent in the South I have never seen a Williams, but if you can all the same rules would apply. Do your own mechanical checks as their NCT test can be bypassed in the same way as our MOT can.
If it was originally registered in the republic (non-import) then chances are it's a UK spec Williams which means it's exactly as in the UK. Does it have williams "2" sticker on the side and rear? Then for sure it was built for UK spec.
As far as I know no other country put the numbers beside the williams logo except the UK. That is about the only difference you will find between european models and UK models other than the steering wheel being on the left.
walters300
27-10-2010, 10:15
I could call over and have a look at it for you if you like as i am in cork, and i know exactly what to look for :wink:
do you know where it is walters300? it would be a great job if it was handy for you to check it out for me.
Dimma there are a number of williams around the country for sale..Is it private or trade and which county is it in? I'm in Dublin if that helps.
its trade and its in a place called tullamore.
yeah I saw it. its got the cork reg on it. looks like its been lowered at the rear. low enough cork reg number for the year so might actually be an original irish car rather than an import. not a bad price either if its been kept well. it's got its mot/nct also.
I'll go look at also if your coming this way from up north. my own needs a good run so could be some fun!
if its not to much hassle for you would you look at it for me? im 150 miles from it and i wouldnt want to go all that way and it not a good one.i was talking to the guy who owns it and he says its a real clean one.i have a car which he said he would take as a trade.
OK will do. Any excuse for a drive :D
If the rain holds off I will go see it tomorrow and revert back to you then.
See you later.
Fab.
that would be great but im just off the phone to him and i told him i would take it.but if you would look at it that would put my mind at rest.thanks.
Hi Dimma. Just got back from going to see that williams. It is as I said a non-imported (first registered in ireland) with the UK spec of a williams 2.
Can I just say and it applies to anyone looking at these cars..in my view..if your spending up to 2K you'e got nothing to loose. Worse case scenario is it doesn't run for some reason or its a car of 2 halves! But I reckon most of us can tell that by looking at them. And a stealers will pay up to £1500 for one of these anyway. So you can cut your loss very early on in the game!
If your looking at spending above £3K then it would probably be worth while getting a proper check done as this involves compression tests, stripping out certain areas of the interior to check for rust etc etc and so fourth.
As for this one Dimma what do you want to know..as in what is the most important factor for you when you go to pick up this car? I could give you a "snag list" of things I spotted and then again I could say just the couple of things I felt it has going for it.
It all comes down to what you want to do with it.
thanks for going to look at it for me.i would like your opinion on the overall condition of the car .its it a good clean car that is going well? as im tradeing a good clean classic car for to get it.i dont want to travel all the way to it and be dissapointed.
Is it a good clean car?
Good perhaps yes..
In no way is it clean though.
Let me put it to you this way. For the past 6 years Ive been going back and fourth from the UK,Isle of Man, and around Ireland buying cheap older cars that I always fancied when I was growing up in the 80's / 90's. Just stuff that caught my eye really when growing up...as a hobby.
The Williams be it from Ireland/England or where-ever is the worst car Ive ever seen for rust in my entire life! They talked about alfa romeo's and fiats in the 70's / 80's rusting? These are shocking also.
The interior's are cheap..the wheels are never right..always something to fix..etc. Were all MAD!
BUT and its a BIG BUT...it's not about the looks is it? Nope it's all about the driving and thats what matters when it comes to owning one of these cars.
These engines are bullet proof and this one sounded good. It was nicely lowered and looked ready for the track! Strut brace running across the engine bay and some fancy after-market air filter thingy.
It needs cleaning Dimma and if your handy with the spanners you'll save a packet.
Final words..just dont go there hoping to find that it has been given lots of love care and attention. It hasnt.
how much rust is on it? has it got many dents? what is the paint finish like on it.could you be frank and tell me the problems with the car.
So you want the good the bad and the ugly then?:lol:
Due to it raining heavily I did not have a chance to inspect it any further but this is what I caught on this visit.
The good.
It started first go.
There is a new battery in it and looks as if the aux belt and alternator have been done recently. (you would need to check timing belt history with yer man)
Engine/gearbox and clutch felt OK. Didnt hear any knocks etc and no blue smoke coming out from the exhaust. Rocker cover gasket appeared to be well sealed and not leaking.
Seats in good condition and dashboard also. Handbrake worked. Leccie windows worked. Central locking worked. Overall the bodywork didnt appear to have any major bangs/dents on it.
The bad.
It was pissing rain so was difficult to tell if the panels where different colours or that the arch's needed doing.
The bonnet on the near side just above the light has a big enough crease on it.
One of the mirrors off-side one me thinks was held on with gaffa tape.
I could only catch a glimse of the sub-frame from above (the car was too low to see underneath it :lol:) but it was heavily rusted.
The exhaust is blowing badly and it sounded from the cat area.
Again without whoring it down the road there may be other issues with brakes etc but I didnt go that far.
The ugly.
The engine bay is filthy.
The coolant bottle is as we can expect is that rusty/orange never been flushed properly look off it. No cappucino though :wink:
The spark plug cover is missing.
All the bolts running along the slam panel and headlights are rusted(this is quite common)
The boot door is rusted along where the lock is. The parcel shelf was touching the boot floor, hence to be thrown out. What ever was in the boot is not a carpet but more like it was used for I dont know what.
The seat rails are rusted. The door cards are sagging (but not too bad).
Thats about all I can remember..ah yes of course the willy wheels!! how could I forget :lol:
They had been refurbed and had no lip/edge done on them.
All the best,
Fab.
ah I should of said also Dimma the chassis legs appeared intact and straight but again I would need a good hour in good weather to inspect it further.
I would really like to say to you buy it but it's your decision and you should really decide first what you want to do with it.
Hurts my heart to see a willy in distress!
jus wanna wrap this one up.
Looking back on my own experience with buying a williams some 5 years ago, I ask myself would I do anything different today? Yep for sure I would look at the cars for sale section and buy one from the lads here. You know that mostly they have been well looked after and if you have any trouble with the car you have access to a wealth of knowledge and they know how to find parts at the right price. You cannot put a price tag on that.
i have a xr4i sierra that the guy said he would take as a trade.i will post up some pics of it later today to see what you's think.
walters300
29-10-2010, 17:55
:? sounds a bit expensive if its the one for 2500, if you go on shipley.com you can get a car transported over from the uk for about £300, i have seen some real bad ones down here in cork, I have been to see a few and while the rust is low as they dont salt the roads, maintenance is very bad, and the roads here are not the best, there is a williams 2 in the dublin area with very low miles and mint, was forsale about 2 years ago, i would source one in the uk and get one of the guys to go and have a look at it and the use shipley, plenty of very good cars come up in the uk for that money. dont buy a bad one as you will spend a fortune, better paying top dollar for a good clean example with known history and service schedules. unless you can get renault discount and your handy with the spanners, sell your xr4i for cash and advertise it on the rs website stating the shipley option, :wink:
:? sounds a bit expensive if its the one for 2500, if you go on shipley.com you can get a car transported over from the uk for about £300, i have seen some real bad ones down here in cork, I have been to see a few and while the rust is low as they dont salt the roads, maintenance is very bad, and the roads here are not the best, there is a williams 2 in the dublin area with very low miles and mint, was forsale about 2 years ago, i would source one in the uk and get one of the guys to go and have a look at it and the use shipley, plenty of very good cars come up in the uk for that money. dont buy a bad one as you will spend a fortune, better paying top dollar for a good clean example with known history and service schedules. unless you can get renault discount and your handy with the spanners, sell your xr4i for cash and advertise it on the rs website stating the shipley option, :wink: do you know the car? its near tullamore offally.
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj39/dimmaclio/newpics454.jpg http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj39/dimmaclio/newpics452.jpg http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj39/dimmaclio/newpics458.jpg http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj39/dimmaclio/100_0096.jpg http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj39/dimmaclio/1941_1.jpg
^^^Ha I love that, old school!!
walters300
29-10-2010, 19:53
8) a mate of mine has a mental low milage rs500, dont give that away mate, plenty of williams clio's about and i would hold out for for a good price on that as it looks mint, find the right person and you will get a nice williams for that rather than trade it with a backstreet garage who will make a buck on you, no panick either if you have wheels so advertise it on piston heads and see where it goes, not many of those xr4s about and i remember them being a bit of a waw! Car when i was a nipper, rome wasnt built it a day and dont rush into anything, :wink:
stevie_b
29-10-2010, 20:28
I agree. I'm no Ford fan but that looks like a mint example and they have a big following so I would think you could get good money for that if you can break the chain for getting a Williams at the same time.
can i throw my classic ford into the mix on this??? lol :wink:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y108/fatboy78/25042010214.jpg
i have a soft spot for old fords too..Fatboy your such a playboy!!love it!
dimma you'd be nuts to trade that cossie in for that williams 2 in longford. as the lads said plenty of pre-loved willies around. just be patient and the right one will come along.
although ive just had a bit of a brain wave..rare in my head these days :lol:
whats up with your valver? why dont we go 50/50 on that williams. you can have the engine/widetrack even the shell if you want. there are only a couple of things i would use from it. pm to discuss if you wanna.
looks mint the 4i mate. not many about now either as has already been said. it should fetch a pretty penny to the ford boys.
btw fab.did you get my pms regarding the wheels?
the clios sold now anyway.suppose ive enough clios with having a williams 2 and 3 and 2 dimmas.the xr4i is really clean but it does have the odd mark here and there.i know it would be hard to find a williams as good as my 4i and if i did it would be a higher price than the 4i.
very tidy looking escort fatboy. 8)
walters300
30-10-2010, 14:49
:P mullet hair style and a duran duran cassete cruising down the beach front in that fat boy :lol: nice car and the escorts were rot boxes so a real good classic there
^ yes was thinking St Tropez, blonde in the passenger seat..dream come true :lol:
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