Getting started

[manyhandedman]

Hi to all. As they say on the radio - long time listener, first time caller. I registered with the Moke Forum (as well as every other moke related site I could find) to see what I could learn and how to get started on my own Moke project - and reading other members builds only stoked the fire so to speak. I grew up in Darwin ('74 onwards) and have always like the Moke mainly cause it was just cool and back then in Darwin it seemed there were plenty of them. And so now I'm looking to get started on a project - cant keep saying "one day" forever - those days are running out! I'm pretty handy and am confident I can handle everything involved in a project build - managing the time aspect is probably my biggest challenge - have a holiday shack in Venus Bay (South Gippsland, Victoria) and want to be able to cruise around in summer (not this summer, and realistically probably not the next) before the oil runs out.

Anyway, enough of the intro and to the point. What are peoples thoughts on the best way to get started - a complete vehicle in poor condition, or say a rolling chassis in good condition(bare shell on wheels - I have my eye on one) that can built upon over time?. Is it realistic to build a Moke one part at a time?

I know the sum of the parts is more than a complete vehicle - but decent reasonably priced starting points are few and far between. What is the second hand market like for parts - I read 1275 engines are rare (and perhaps for good reason), but what about the standard parts that go into completing a Moke from scratch. As always money is a critical aspect - and getting started without losing sleep is a key factor.

Any input appreciated. Ken

[Newie]

Welcome to the Forum Ken, or at least the more public "actually posting" side of it 

Your question is more complicated than it seems... It's very much different strokes for different folks 

To relate my own personal journey, I started off with a couple of restorer's dreams (complete but full resto jobs) and played around with them for a couple of years before realising that it was going to take way too much time and self discipline to get even one of them on the road.

With funds being low, I then  bought the cheapest registered Moke I could find (about $5K) and have spent the intervening years gradually fixing it up and improving it with a mixture of essential repairs and long dreamed of improvements. This is NOT the easy way to do it, and probably not the best way, but the definite advantage is that despite a low budget, I have had a usable, registered Moke for (most of) the past 7 years while I'm doing it up. In my particular case, the alternative probably would have been either a half restored Moke still in the shed, or a couple of thousand in a Moke account in the bank for the Moke I'll get "one day" 

So that's worked for me, but an easier way if funds allow, would be to buy a better Moke for at least $10K that's likely to be quite serviceable and hopefully allow you to focus more on improvements that you want to do, rather than those that you have to do to keep it roadworthy.

The easiest way of all of course, is to spend $15 - $20 and just get a good restored Moke that you can simply drive and enjoy  . If you go down this route though (or any of the others for that matter), try to find someone who can advise you and make sure you get what you are paying for. You're in Melbourne, so maybe a good idea to join the MOA and draw on the wealth of knowledge there.

The other end of the scale of course is to buy a fixer upper, strip it back and start from scratch. The advantage here is that you can build it your way and you get the satisfaction of doing it yourself. The disadvantage is the huge amount of time and money involved in getting there, and keeping the enthusiasm up while you get there.

Unless you're a really experienced car restorer, you will probably find that it ends up costing way more and taking way longer than you anticipate  . For those dedicated few who can do it though, it can be very rewarding. I would say though that if it's your first Moke, you would be far better off buying a complete vehicle rather than a body with boxes of parts included. For a start, they will tell you it's all there, but it's probably not... Also, it's much easier to put something together that you pulled apart yourself.

Which ever path you choose, keep posting your progress on here. It's a two way street - we'd love to hear from you and you will be sure to get some useful feedback.

Newie

[jimwat]

Hi Ken, Welcome to the Forum.

Your question is far and wide and I am sure you will get many responses of differing views on how to get started. For what its worth, I would prefer a running Moke in any condition to enable a mix of enjoyment running around in it while building it into a "project" to be proud of and maybe show off. Took me about 3 years from buying to driving around which means I missed out on a lot of the fun of driving it for too long. Each to their own I suspect and of course the finances available will determine which comes first, the drivable version or the project.

Hope you go the way that suits you and enjoy driving, building and then driving and engagement on the Forum in either choice.


Cheers Jim

[moemoke]

Welcome manyhandedman, some good advice from the others so to continue,

Have a budget in mind (and a bit for extra).
What skills do you have to do a resto. welding, painting, mechanical etc
Do you have friends or family to help with the skills that you may lack.
Do you have time, location & the patience to take on a resto.

Join the MOA and get along to their service days and any of their outings so you can gather info for your project.

Buying a rough but rego'd moke can be a good way to go, you get to use it this summer and then work
out what it needs then rebuild it next winter.

Keep your eye out around Inverloch as there are a few down that way.

[manyhandedman]

Thanks for the welcome. Appreciate your responses. I agree that being able to get hold of a currently rego'd Moke for a bargain basement price (not sure such a thing exists) would be ideal - I remember my first car as a 17 year old, mk1 escort, and how exciting it was just to drive it - anywhere. I think having a Moke I could drive straight away would be pretty cool - though I reckon even if it didnt drive, I'd still be sitting in it grinning

On the skills front, I have been mucking around with cars on and off since being a teenager - rebuilt the escort motor, rebuilt datsun 1600, datsun 200B with toyota pistons, ported head and twin SU's, and more recently transplanted alloytec v6 into VZ commodore which also included all the computer gear, ecu etc. In fact its the hands on side of things I'm looking forward to - hence the 'project' approach. Am a handyman now after spending 20 years in IT, and will have a go at anything.

I looked into joining MOA, but their website implied ownership of a Moke was a prerequisite. Anyway I'm keeping a look out for any unloved bargains, and with some luck I'll be posting photos and bugging people with questions.

Thanks again for the welcome and taking the time to share your thoughts. Ken