Oh dear Sir.
Did “S Mode + Hold” catch you by surprise?
WOW!
Nuff said
Barrie
Barrie,
That’s “The Money Shot” for me.
It’s not over…going in middle of July for a full on mopping & detailing.
Then, that’s it.
Until, being an old car…
Yours has even got those special headlight covers that sit flush with adjoining panels too! Bet they were expensive loving the chrome mirrors too!
Barrie
lol Left my stomach 5 yards behind the car! Really was a surprize just how quick she is mate!
I know you had a few ‘What am I doing?’ moments but it was all worthwhile. And this is pre-detailing?
We’ve all done the ‘well done Robin’ bit and the ‘you must be pleased’ but that shot just stopped me in my tracks. The whole package looks so right.
So who do we have to bribe, threaten or torture to ensure that it makes it onto next year’s OC calendar?
Thanks for allowing us to be with you on this journey and what a destination.
P.S. Anybody else feeling a tiny bit jealous.
How kind of you Roadie.
Certainly, prior to the refurbishment, I was resolved to either selling as a whole for spares/repairs or just scrapping and starting again with another Mk1.
That’s when the problems started. In Jan/Feb I must have seen around 4 or 5 whose adverts promised much, but for a variety of reasons, some blatant and some hidden ( I know where to look!) did not live up to the owners’ descriptions. One journey was a round trip of 250 miles just near Penrith. I was prepared to pay up to £4k or even 5k for the right stuff " 2 foot car" but time after time, viewed 20-foot cars…with issues both minor but numerous, or major. Clear accident damage, hacked interiors, bad paint on thick filler, or simply generally dodgy and not what I’d pay more than 2k for, or even put up with. Why bother adopting someone else’s mobile bin and start trying to put it right? Made no sense.
Of late, we see a growing cottage industry exists in rebuilding/reparing MK1s, so “something” is happening out there in peoples’ minds.
Recently, a barn-find barely used Mk1 was auctioned for just under 16K, and was spotted on Ebay being re-sold ( or attempted) at 20k. That’s madness.
That car would need a lot of money ( at least £1000.00 in my view recommissioning it.
The rapidly increasing issue with Mk1’s…being old cars, is finding one that has few owners, has not been abused ( like mine!) and is pretty much plug-n-play…for around mid Mk3 money. The ones you really want are not for sale or for pretty silly speculative money. Then there’s a middling section of decent runners for , in my opinion, still far too much money. Then there’s sheds that will empty your wallet and you’d still not be entirely satisfied…if you are someone like me. My issue was…I recall my car from 16 years back when it came out from the owner’s heated garage before it was pressed into daily service, got hammered around the UK, basically ran it into the ground, and then left it for 2 years to “Rust in Peace”
When we discovered the all important tub was in amazing overall solid condition, I decided it was best to work with a known base and try to get another 10 years “retirement” crusing out of it. The chassis is just bolt on-off stuff after all. Who knows how long it will last really? A few years, maybe ten, is all I want, then I’ll move it on.
At least I know what I have, where it’s been, and it tells no lies.
I’m only the third UK owner…probably out of 4. It came with full Japanses service history including the Sha-ken, original tool kit, original JDM handbook, and all the Chesire GP’s service records. It’s all there. Very rare. I know where it was in Japan thanks to a Japanese student…Sapporro on Hokkaido Island. So, it’s history is unusually far reaching & proven.
There are a lot of fettling/fiddly things to sort up. It’s got a new Prestige hood & frame to get fitted, and a host of minor " Sunday afternoon" messing around.
Oh…as an aside…since I’d not insured it for years…I’m back to no NCD status! I’ll be 76 by the time I’m on full NCD!
Oh, the cold bit of Japan. The part of Japan where they use road salt (or, they might even be using the gel the Americans use). It would have been a cheaper car at the USS auctions in Japan, because of the Sapparo Island linkage.
True. I was aware…but not of cheap auctions.
It was 100% solid when I bought it…if only it knew what lay ahead of it!
Never the less it managed to last around 19 + years here…a good bit longer than a too many Mk2s & of late 3’s… and now it’s all behind it.
Joining the time-lapse dots, my unproven theory is it’s most likely the Shaken results saw it off. And, I now know of late it was actually accident damaged on the passenger side at some point in Japan. I lived with a dent on the passenger door sill…until now. And, there was a light skim of plastic padding on the door.
Looking fabulous.
I need to raise my game on the s-ltd now!
Best tip for keeping your premiums down is to add an older, more experienced driver as a named driver… if you can find one.
As a fellow BRG (or should I say Neo Green for My Eunos) Mk 1 owner I may be a bit biased but have really enjoyed reading the thread and love the restoration and all the better that you know the car so intimately. Good for you for taking the trouble and thanks for sharing Your journey. Great to hear that you are already getting appreciation from onlookers. It makes me cherish mine even more.
Cheers
Matt
Thanks one and all.
The paint is not quite where it needs to be yet.
By their own admission, the workshop can mop to a degree, but they are not “Polished Bliss” level detailers.
It’s booked in mid July for a day & a half professional mop to try and lift it to the next level.
After that, hopefully it’ll just be two-bucket washing & an annual D.A. carnbuba.
Frankly, if the road is even damp or rain is possible, it’ll be staying in the lock up.
Just a weekend / dry dat “toy” now.
Every “auld yin” like it’s owner deserves a quiet retirement!
( Just in time for the Mx5/Roadsters’ historic 30 years anniversary though)
How time flies…scary.
Not great news really.
Autotrans leaking badly from a feed pipe on the pax side.
It’s got to the stage I’m filtering the drip-tray in fine mesh and re-filling!
It’s going in next week for a ramp session to a really good garage we have used for 20 years.
Top dog there reckons it’s just a banjo washer packing in. Seen it before, especially on Jag auto trannies.
Hope so…getting trannys worth fitting is nigh on impossible now.
Or, it’s an auto to manual jobby.
Don’t think so Barrie.
It’s a pipe that goes from the radiator ( which is a twin matrix) into the alloy casing lower down.
I’m sure it’s going to be Ok. These guys are hot…blsck magic time-served mechanics.
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