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It is possible to get a tidy car with overdrive for around a 1000 but you would have to be quite lucky...and its lilely to be a 1500.
Normally a good 1850 with o-d is worth 1500 quid. For that it should have a nice set of panels, no serious rot and a long MoT.
You can browse several other threads where the rot spots are discussed in detail, but you want to look at the front panel and wings above the headlights,
A post corners at the screen base but on the door side, cills obvioulsy, rear wheel arches, boot floor and chassis rails where the sub frame mounts, bulkhead to inner wing joints and front floor pans. You also want a dry set of carpets...screen seals are pretty leak prone and good quality screen seals are hard to come by.
Good luck with the search. there are still some good cars to be had out there...
Jonners
Thanks for the reply. A thousand is what I currently have saved, but I am willing to wait till my budget is bigger to get a better car. Mechanicals I can do, I know I can fix those sort of problems without going bankrupt. Body work issues are beyond my skill set, so I think it would be sensible to spend more to avoid those sort of issues.
At the moment there seems to be a lot of automatics for sale, but I would prefer a manual.
As for engine size, my dad owned cars in the 70's (a marina and a chevette) and said that the 1300 would be too underpowered. As for as I understand it, the 1500 is a less advanced engine than the 1850? Is there any real economy advantage from the smaller engine, or would it be better to look for one with the larger unit?