MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,964
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Mark's 1:43 (1:18 Aston)MiataMark
@garra
Club Retro Rides Member 29
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Sept 30, 2018 16:05:59 GMT
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When I saw this Greenlight model pop up as a special offer I had to buy it (£28) as a tribute to pistonpopper IMG_6435-1 by Mark Palmer, on Flickr IMG_6436-1 by Mark Palmer, on Flickr For the money not a bad model, although to be fair it's more a tribute to Burt Reynolds... IMG_6461-1 by Mark Palmer, on Flickr "...Even Burt Reynolds in that black trans-am..." from the lyrics of Cadillac Ranch by Bruce Springsteen. Which got me thinking of mini themes, what about the cars from that song; "...Eldorado fins, whitewalls and skirts Long and dark, shiny and black ..." Finding a model Cadillac Eldorado that isn't pink might be difficult, did find this one. "...James Dean in that Mercury '49..."
You can get a model of this but only from the US so not cheap. "...Junior Johnson runnin' thru the woods of Caroline..." There are some nice Junior Johnson models but mainly Daytona races (which isn't exactly the woods of Carolina) Would make a nice 4 car display though.
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Last Edit: Oct 1, 2018 6:36:15 GMT by MiataMark
1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,964
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Sept 30, 2018 15:30:49 GMT
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So yesterday, for the first time in a long time I did some work on the Mazda and spent most of the day. Job one, get it high in the air so I can crawl around under it, looks more precarious than it is there are axle stands under the frame rails. Working on a lift would be so much easier. First job was to remove the handbrake cables as the handbrake isn't working very well (at all) and the cables look pretty seized to me. I didn't take any photos but it entailed taking out the passenger seat. removing the handbrake mechanism, removing a heat shield (one broken stud) and much fiddling around. The ends of the cables are currently soaking in citric acid but I think I'll just buy new ones. Then it was on to surveying the rust, and removing all the inner arch liners etc. Drivers side rear sill, which I know is the worst, looks very innocent here but removing the liner and having a good scrape out results in this pile of rust and a big(ger) hole From another angle The other side isn't as bad but that doesn't mean it's good enough and the general state of the underside, not too bad. A good going over with a pressure washer and I decided to take the rear bumper off as well (1 more sheared nut) all looks fairly clean. All in all not a bad days work. I've been at the MX5OC National Rally today which was a bit disappointing but I did speak to Moss, MX5parts and the MX5restorer. I've ordered 2 new front wings and 2 outer sills from Moss. MX5restorer supposedly have inner sills for ordering over the phone and the inner arch filler so I'll order them as well. Then I'll take the sills to the local body shop and get them to fit it all, I'll do the front wings myself.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,964
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Sept 30, 2018 7:44:14 GMT
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Oof! Are you getting the Bodyshop to sort the rust? Yes time and skill constraints, I'll get a body-shop to do the rear of the sill(s) and see what else needs doing. I can't seem to find anybody selling replacement inner sills which would make the job easier. Will ask a few people at the MX5 rally today. Now I've got some budget I just want it back on the road. Always be care ful of what's hiding... from to
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,964
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Sept 29, 2018 21:32:58 GMT
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Quick update, this is what is left of my inner sill... and it looks like inner sills are no longer available.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,964
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Sept 29, 2018 6:33:56 GMT
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A quick fleet update with some MX5 news at the end... DiscoveryCurrently behaving itself, even gave it a wash and partial polish. Used a clay bar for the first time on the bonnet great result and some bumper gel on the trim looks quite smart now. Slightly spoiled by going off road a bit on holiday and splattering mud up the sides :-) (the yellow thing on the roof is a pneumatic mast for 'elevated' photography, 15m monopod)
jobs to do - clean it (again) - will probably need tyres soon (will go back to ATs) AlfaStill isn't right, runs OK but throws up the EML with EGR fault. Currently has the original cleaned EGR valve fitted after the Chinese replacement broke after a few weeks. Otherwise no issues. jobs to do - buy and fit a proper (expensive) EGR valve - give it a good clean - get it 4 wheel aligned - rear hatch struts MX5The rusty elephant on the drive... I haven't done anything with it for months as it has a big hole in the sill and no MOT.
However significant budget should become available soon and management (SWMBO) approval has been granted to get it sorted out. My wife quite liked using it to drive to work so is being supportive. So plans are to concentrate on getting the basic structure sorted (sills, front wings) and then do a few performance orientated jobs... Today's plan is to investigate the rear sill rust more thoroughly, remove wheel arch liner, rear bumper etc ready to send to a body-shop. Also need to remove the handbrake cables for MOT as well. jobs to do - handbrake - rear drivers sill repairs (body-shop) - front wings (drivers at least needs replacing) - fit 1.8 front brakes (got all the parts) - fit chassis braces - fit ICE (nothing special)
- ME221 ECU from Skuzzle... - refurb and fit the Enkie 14" wheels
Off to the MX5 national rally tomorrow for inspiration, and the Castle Combe Autumn Classic next week (weather permitting).
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,964
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Sept 28, 2018 20:10:37 GMT
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I tended to get the 3 amigos more when it was damp, the local Land Rover specialist did the earthing mod that is detailed on various LR forums. If you get the chassis welded check behind the air-bags, when I changed an air-bag recently mine is starting to go there as well. Just looked at Dynachip, £225 very tempting.
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Last Edit: Sept 29, 2018 6:35:51 GMT by MiataMark: added image
1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,964
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Sept 28, 2018 13:05:21 GMT
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Good eye. It's the first of the face life shape. 52 plate but registered Jan 2003. I've not needed low ratio yet, not even during the snow we had earlier this year. Dynachip came round and plugged in their laptop and uploaded 40 more horses! She's a rocket ship now. He did discover engine oil in the engine ECU plug so I need to replace the injector harness. Ours is an end of the line one (54 reg), HD roof bars, diff-lock. Had a pre-facelift and an earlier facelift ('03), the facelift models are much better. Umm must look up Dynachip although at 133Kmmiles probably best left alone. Used diff-lock a few times and low range was useful when maneuvering horse trailers and uprooting the remains of a tree :-) I've had all the common D2 issues, ECU wiring, 3 amigos (earthing mod for ABS unit), rear chassis rust, FPR leaking, rear brake pipes. Plus a couple of not so common ones, window regulators, lower ball joints and replaced the rear airbags twice now as well. Still love it though and would only replace it with a L322 Range Rover.
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Last Edit: Sept 28, 2018 13:07:18 GMT by MiataMark
1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,964
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Sept 28, 2018 6:24:21 GMT
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Early Discovery 2 (no diff-lock on low ratio gear lever)? I've got a late D2 with diff lock. On holiday last week drove across some wet grass, slip sliding around spinning wheels etc. Engage diff-lock and low range and reverse out in a straight line.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,964
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Sept 26, 2018 21:32:08 GMT
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My point is though that Deox cleans things back to the point of shiny sparkling steel, better than electrolysis. What surface does the citrix acid leave? Back to clean metal, if I remember correctly.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,964
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Sept 25, 2018 20:14:04 GMT
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Yep, well pleased with it. I always thought it 'ought' to do that sort of figure with a light foot, but hoping and the reality are not always the same. I did gear it carefully to balance the torque in the correct place for gears which gives good acelleration as well as cruising. I expect booting it around will half that figure if it makes you all feel better though Last time I filled up the Goddess with petrol it was £163.00, that left me with PTFD (Post Traumatic Fuelling Disorder) I miss the days of a company car that averaged 28mpg and a fuel card, filling up at motorway services because it was convenient and brimming it without bothering to watch the pump read out. Last week on the M5 diesel was £1.52/litre I did have an Audi S4 that commuting in was averaging around 20mpg, that had to go.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,964
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Sept 25, 2018 19:16:09 GMT
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also for smaller items electrolysis. Interesting, I tend to use electrolysis for larger items, rather than smaller ones - ones where I am too tight to buy enough acid to soak them, usually. I used citric acid for some discs and electrolysis for others, calipers were put in citric, I think I used electrolysis on the calipers. Have a picture of a vented disc in citric acid...
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,964
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Sept 25, 2018 17:19:48 GMT
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Given how close I am to Castle Combe I really should go to this one year, if only for the TR7 V8. Shame about lack of Group B cars, Race Retro is good for seeing them.
Weather permitting* I will be going to the Autumn Classic on the 6th (October).
*I say this as having been before when it was cold and wet it takes all the fun out of it.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,964
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Sept 25, 2018 9:33:27 GMT
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plus 1 for citric acid I was amazed at how well it worked on some brake caliper carriers, also for smaller items electrolysis.
I've always used kurust for treating parts before painting.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,964
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Sept 25, 2018 9:02:26 GMT
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I've been on holiday and just caught up (from about page 100). Oh you poor sod. The curse word we wrote. All that time lost. =) I did skim read most of it :-) not that interested in the 'ins and outs' of ford gearboxes, hence missing the reference to the Fuji camera. What about a bridge camera? Although I'm always amazed at the quality I get from an iPhone.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,964
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Sept 25, 2018 6:53:35 GMT
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I've been on holiday and just caught up (from about page 100).
Great pictures from Santa Pod but I don't understand the issues you have with uploading. Just drag and drop the files into the post and 'host' them on RR. Or get a flickr account (free) and include the BBCODE. Having said that the screenshots do give the images a nice retro feel.
WRT photography, I'm a keen amateur (I could even claim semi-pro for a few images over the years but that was horses so doesn't count). I get what you say about lots of people taking the same shots and with lots of kit (all the gear no idea?) or phones. Sometimes I find if I've got a camera I focus too much on that and not enough on the event itself so don't bother, other times I'm there with 2 bodies and a variety of lens.
As for equipment I've always used Canon, film and digital. I would thoroughly recommend a 5D, I'm lucky enough to have a 5D MkIII with some Canon L lenses and it's amazing. Yes it's got lots of options, including video, but mine is just set to aperture priority and centre point focusing to keep it simple. A secondhand MkI or MKII with the Canon nifty 50 lens (50mm, F1.8) would be a great combination. As for phone photography I was placed and won a couple of competitions at a camera club with phone images. Remember a good camera won't make you a good photographer and the best camera is the one you have on you.
For rangefinder type cameras have a look at Fujifilm cameras they get very good write-ups.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,964
Club RR Member Number: 29
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1/43 scale anyone?MiataMark
@garra
Club Retro Rides Member 29
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Sept 22, 2018 15:00:57 GMT
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This was my Dad's second Maxi, he drove to Finland via Sweden and the Arctic circle in it.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,964
Club RR Member Number: 29
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1/43 scale anyone?MiataMark
@garra
Club Retro Rides Member 29
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Sept 22, 2018 8:17:12 GMT
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The dark brown one was probably russet brown, and probably a maxi 2 with big black bumpers. Did someone mention russet brown Maxi? Here's mine and it's the earlier one with chrome bumpers! That's what my dad had, must try and see if he has any photos. Before he had his first Maxi he had a Triumph 1300TC, I tried very hard to persuade him to buy a Dolomite Sprint but have to admit the Maxi was much more practical.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,964
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Sept 17, 2018 14:51:01 GMT
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If you're ever at SantaPod and you get the opportunity to stand this close to a Dutch car called SuzieQ when the driver loads up some high revs.... don't. If I've selected the right picture here the bloke crouching behind it is my mate John. I was about 15ft further away. When she fired that thing up it was like being ear-raped by a mechanical demon. I was holding my phone and the sound triggered my instinct for survival. I threw the phone and dived behind a Vauxhall Astra in the feed lane. My mate here was rendered paralysed in fear and just crouched there getting his head crushed in a sonic vice. Funny afterwards, but terrifying at the time. Many years ago (early '80s) I went to the drag racing held at Blackbushe and with a mate managed to blag 'press' passes so spent to day on the start line taking photographs (film in those days), my ears were ringing for days! Highlight was the Panic funny car.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,964
Club RR Member Number: 29
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1/43 scale anyone?MiataMark
@garra
Club Retro Rides Member 29
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Sept 13, 2018 19:28:23 GMT
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The silas maxi isnt available as a kit as far as I'm aware, it is however, available in Harvest gold Did you buy from British Heritage Models? £69.99 each and Harvest Gold not in stock (not that I can justify £70 at the moment). Looks a nice model though, must check with my dad if his was a 1500 in 1750, he had a later one as well in Dark Brown. I've also found a resin kit for a Citroen BX 16v Mk1 (a car I had and very difficult to fond as a model) £45 for a kit.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,964
Club RR Member Number: 29
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1/43 scale anyone?MiataMark
@garra
Club Retro Rides Member 29
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Sept 13, 2018 11:24:57 GMT
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Silas Resin Austin Maxi. Probably the most I'm ever likley to spend on a model car, but I did. Oh I wish I hadn't seen this :-) I have many fond memories of my Dad's Harvest Gold Autsin* Maxi, can you get the model as a kit? * not a typo it had the tailgate replaced and the garage put the letters back on wrong.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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