Thinkin about taking the ute off the road to do some work... might be for a while... pick up a CA18DET next week, but theres still soo much stuff to do before I can chuck her in hahahaha...
Just after some ideas on what I should buy in the meantime to drive on a daily basis...
Was just lookin at Stagea's, 180sx, R33 GTSt...
Any other suggestions? fairly open minded, only criteria is that it cannot be a FORD hahaha
Cheers.

WRX....I used to bag them when I was younger coz they were everywhere but the wife and I picked up an MY02 on the cheap 4yrs back (it was that good a deal that I swallowed my pride). I will never turn back for a daily. Power is great, handling is great, we've put 70 000k on it since and have only needed to replace brake pads, servicing is cheap. Ready made for stuff like motorkhanas as well if you're into that.

Only neg is the fuel consumption, but that would be the same for any of the cars you've listed. A bloke who used to work for me got better mileage out of his 6L SS ute.

Subarus cheap til something goes wrong, they tend to get weepy head gaskets and don't skip servicing or timing belt replacemt.

I get a lancer or cheap pos

get another datto mate, i got the same car as my project car,mainly incase something stuffs up i got spares :P

What about a 120Y ?mines for sale ! would need ergo though as its currently on historic rego. nice and cheap to run!
I've just got to put the standard motor back in it first.

buy something real cheap coz chances are with a ca conversion your going to end up needing alot more money that first thought

I got a r32gtst for sale with a few mods 9500 in vic!

Look into something that you won't want to modify. All to easy to side track your current project. Also as said before, get something cheap so that it leaves you with a bigger budget for getting your ute done.

Also think about planning your build so that it is off the road for the least amount of time. Don't try and do everything in one hit as if the build drags out it is easy to lose momentum and then lose motivation. If I was to do my build over I would have installed all the mechinal gear (engine, gearbox, diff, fuel tank, etc) then had it mod plated and registered, undertaken a engine rebuild, then done the paint and panel. I would have driven it for a month or two between each stage to help keep the motivation up.

^^^^^ Very well said! It is super easy to lose motivation once the car is off the road for a long time. I totally agree, do the engine, brakes and performance upgrades first, get it driveable so you can re-inspire yourself, then get it pretty after that.
I've fallen into the trap of buying "just a daily" only for it to turn into the new focus of your attention!
In saying that, now I'm looking at an R33 GT-R. As if that's not going to steal time away from the Datto's.....

My r32 is modded and I still want to go back to dattos! :) my thing is setup very well and doesn't need much if anything done!
As for budget depends on what you have or want to spend!
I have 5 cars and a large family just do what u want