It's new car, new thread time!
Not only was this weekend sunny, it was also new car weekend which is always good.
On Saturday afternoon my SD1 V8 was collected and paid for by the winning bidder from eBay. They were happy, I was happy. It was a good car, but a project that needed work/time/money spending on it (as they all do) but the big one was that it wasn't driveable so couldn't be enjoyed too.
My Mrs has a 998 Metro so I thought it would be a good idea to get something A-Series powered to have a laugh with, and as my first car was a mini it seemed perfect. After a while looking for cars (last week while the SD1 auction was still going) it became apparent that Mini's are worth a fair bit of money than they used to be. I'd hoped to buy the one on here but as is always the way it had sold by the time I got the cash together.
So, I had a budget of £4k to buy/collect/insure a car, and wanted the oldest running, usable (ish) mini that I could get that wasn't completely rusted to nothing.
Then I found this. Advertised on FB marketplace it had a 3 line description, bad photos, but looked alright and had some cool parts. So we went to see it on Saturday afternoon, barely 3 hours after the SD1 had gone. It wasn't the best start as it was pouring down with rain, it was in a dodgy part of Nottingham and the car refused to even turn over when we got there. Plus it was filthy. It did have nice 10" wheels and Falken tyres, Mk1 bonnet and front end, Mk1 rear lights and bootlid, and some cool suspension parts like Hi-Lo's, adjustable lower arms, heavy duty tie bars etc etc.
We managed to bump start it, agreed a price a fair bit less than my budget and set off to the nearest fuel station. After the tyres were pumped up, insurance sorted and the tank full we drove home with only a few small issues. Here it is -
These were taken the next morning after a thorough wash, and during a quick run out. Soo...the issues.
It's scruffy. The paint is satin almost (although it's a cool colour) and it has a fair few bubbles here and there. The interior is mostly covered in blue fur and looks horrific, massive bucket seats that don't adjust, a home made dash and centre console...it all needs sorting. Then we have the front subframe that needs all the mounting bushes replacing as they're not really doing much, and the shock absorbers that don't. When we've figured that out we'll get rid of the steering column that's been chopped in half for an attempted electric power steering conversion that wasn't finished, but a UJ was added so now there is way too much movement and free play.
Luckily the engine is spot on (aside from a flat spot due to a K&N but no needle change) so will just be serviced and given some slight upgrades, and the gearbox is sweet.
Brakes are drums all round, and will be changed for Cooper S discs very shortly.
There will be more I'm sure, and some exterior bits will be changed for my preference. I've probably made it sound quite bad, but it drives well enough, puts a smile on your face and most of the parts for it are cheap.
Should be fun...more soon!
Not only was this weekend sunny, it was also new car weekend which is always good.
On Saturday afternoon my SD1 V8 was collected and paid for by the winning bidder from eBay. They were happy, I was happy. It was a good car, but a project that needed work/time/money spending on it (as they all do) but the big one was that it wasn't driveable so couldn't be enjoyed too.
My Mrs has a 998 Metro so I thought it would be a good idea to get something A-Series powered to have a laugh with, and as my first car was a mini it seemed perfect. After a while looking for cars (last week while the SD1 auction was still going) it became apparent that Mini's are worth a fair bit of money than they used to be. I'd hoped to buy the one on here but as is always the way it had sold by the time I got the cash together.
So, I had a budget of £4k to buy/collect/insure a car, and wanted the oldest running, usable (ish) mini that I could get that wasn't completely rusted to nothing.
Then I found this. Advertised on FB marketplace it had a 3 line description, bad photos, but looked alright and had some cool parts. So we went to see it on Saturday afternoon, barely 3 hours after the SD1 had gone. It wasn't the best start as it was pouring down with rain, it was in a dodgy part of Nottingham and the car refused to even turn over when we got there. Plus it was filthy. It did have nice 10" wheels and Falken tyres, Mk1 bonnet and front end, Mk1 rear lights and bootlid, and some cool suspension parts like Hi-Lo's, adjustable lower arms, heavy duty tie bars etc etc.
We managed to bump start it, agreed a price a fair bit less than my budget and set off to the nearest fuel station. After the tyres were pumped up, insurance sorted and the tank full we drove home with only a few small issues. Here it is -
These were taken the next morning after a thorough wash, and during a quick run out. Soo...the issues.
It's scruffy. The paint is satin almost (although it's a cool colour) and it has a fair few bubbles here and there. The interior is mostly covered in blue fur and looks horrific, massive bucket seats that don't adjust, a home made dash and centre console...it all needs sorting. Then we have the front subframe that needs all the mounting bushes replacing as they're not really doing much, and the shock absorbers that don't. When we've figured that out we'll get rid of the steering column that's been chopped in half for an attempted electric power steering conversion that wasn't finished, but a UJ was added so now there is way too much movement and free play.
Luckily the engine is spot on (aside from a flat spot due to a K&N but no needle change) so will just be serviced and given some slight upgrades, and the gearbox is sweet.
Brakes are drums all round, and will be changed for Cooper S discs very shortly.
There will be more I'm sure, and some exterior bits will be changed for my preference. I've probably made it sound quite bad, but it drives well enough, puts a smile on your face and most of the parts for it are cheap.
Should be fun...more soon!
