Post by coop on Jul 7, 2016 11:59:40 GMT
At the start of 2011 my father and I decided to do a banger-esque rally across Europe for charity. The particular criteria stipulated the car must have been bought for £250, or 20 years old or more. We initially looked into, and even viewed, an MG Midget. The less said about about that the better. Next choice was an MX5, and our budget, and the fact we loved them, meant looking for a MK1.
The car was clean, low-mileage, absolutely no rust.
Fast forward to September of 2011, and we set off. France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Luxembourg, Slovenia and the Czech Republic were taken in. No breakdowns, no-overheating, 4 laps of the 'Ring and what seemed like hundreds of passes were all done. The trip was bittersweet though, within the last two hours of the event, my old man rear-ended someone, certainly put a downer on things not least because it was my birthday. Ho-hum!
The idea was to sell the car once we returned. After a few weeks the car was still there. My old man used it whenever he could, but that wasn't often enough. I couldn't get insured on it for reasonable money until the following June, so we agreed if I obtained a decent enough quote when I was 21, I'd buy it off of him. June rolls around, <£500 quote given, card details mashed in. Now it was mine!
The zip on the rear window had gone, which was a shame as the hood itself wasn't in too bad a shape, but I ordered a new OE hood from Autolink, and that was fitted promptly. Not an awful lot happened for a bloody long time, I just kept on top of cleaning and general maintenance.
Another 2 years had passed since then, nothing but intensive cleaning and regular maintenance until February of last year.
I'd always liked the Daisy wheels, I think they're a lovely design, but mine were in a bad way being very discoloured. Yellowed centre caps and all.
My dream wheel is the RS Watanabe, but we all know how difficult they can be to come by. As far as other OE-looking wheels go, I'd always like Panasports. I had seen Mr NibNob had bought some, and without meaning to be a copy cat, I started looking.
Found these on Autolink, described as good condition. In my opinion they undersold them, they weren't perfect by all means, but they could have bigged them
up a tad more.
14x6 et36 Panasport Pro Rallye
I then bit the bullet and ordered something I had been wanting for a while but had always held out on. The week previously I had a nice photo job which allowed me to snap them up without thinking too much about it.
With no intention of fitting them myself, I got in touch with Nick @ Skuzzle Motorsport. He also recommended a place for alignment after he'd done the install. I set off for Southampton from Cambridge on February 19th. I arrived late due to parking in the M25 car park ( sorry Nick ) and then couldn't find where the units were (sorry Nick).
Nick had all of the new suspension in place in 42 minutes! I was amazed, Nick even more so. He then set the spring rates to 12 from soft at R, 15 from soft FR. The ride height was left as it was, ~310mm FR, 330mm R.
Nick recommended The Wheel Alignment Centre in Southampton. I made the 30 minute trip in the pissing rain, and was waved in straight away. I knew my alignment was bad before I had the suspension work carried out, but it was even more shocking once I saw the figures.
As you can imagine, it feels pretty damn good right now. The rattles have now gone from the suspension, and it rides so well over our canoe roads. The turn-in is fantastic. Thanks to Nick for the recommendation of his fast road set-up!
When I saw it in daylight the following day, I loved the way it sat. I didn't buy the suspension for aesthetic reasons, but it looking prettier is a bonus as far as I'm concerned.
So over the six weeks up to that point, the car had;
- service including oils and filters
- new front discs
- new rear discs
- new OSR caliper
- new wheels
- new tyres
- new suspension
- fast road alignment
Felt canoeing fantastic.
The car was clean, low-mileage, absolutely no rust.
Fast forward to September of 2011, and we set off. France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Luxembourg, Slovenia and the Czech Republic were taken in. No breakdowns, no-overheating, 4 laps of the 'Ring and what seemed like hundreds of passes were all done. The trip was bittersweet though, within the last two hours of the event, my old man rear-ended someone, certainly put a downer on things not least because it was my birthday. Ho-hum!
The idea was to sell the car once we returned. After a few weeks the car was still there. My old man used it whenever he could, but that wasn't often enough. I couldn't get insured on it for reasonable money until the following June, so we agreed if I obtained a decent enough quote when I was 21, I'd buy it off of him. June rolls around, <£500 quote given, card details mashed in. Now it was mine!
The zip on the rear window had gone, which was a shame as the hood itself wasn't in too bad a shape, but I ordered a new OE hood from Autolink, and that was fitted promptly. Not an awful lot happened for a bloody long time, I just kept on top of cleaning and general maintenance.
Another 2 years had passed since then, nothing but intensive cleaning and regular maintenance until February of last year.
I'd always liked the Daisy wheels, I think they're a lovely design, but mine were in a bad way being very discoloured. Yellowed centre caps and all.
My dream wheel is the RS Watanabe, but we all know how difficult they can be to come by. As far as other OE-looking wheels go, I'd always like Panasports. I had seen Mr NibNob had bought some, and without meaning to be a copy cat, I started looking.
Found these on Autolink, described as good condition. In my opinion they undersold them, they weren't perfect by all means, but they could have bigged them
up a tad more.
14x6 et36 Panasport Pro Rallye
I then bit the bullet and ordered something I had been wanting for a while but had always held out on. The week previously I had a nice photo job which allowed me to snap them up without thinking too much about it.
With no intention of fitting them myself, I got in touch with Nick @ Skuzzle Motorsport. He also recommended a place for alignment after he'd done the install. I set off for Southampton from Cambridge on February 19th. I arrived late due to parking in the M25 car park ( sorry Nick ) and then couldn't find where the units were (sorry Nick).
Nick had all of the new suspension in place in 42 minutes! I was amazed, Nick even more so. He then set the spring rates to 12 from soft at R, 15 from soft FR. The ride height was left as it was, ~310mm FR, 330mm R.
Nick recommended The Wheel Alignment Centre in Southampton. I made the 30 minute trip in the pissing rain, and was waved in straight away. I knew my alignment was bad before I had the suspension work carried out, but it was even more shocking once I saw the figures.
As you can imagine, it feels pretty damn good right now. The rattles have now gone from the suspension, and it rides so well over our canoe roads. The turn-in is fantastic. Thanks to Nick for the recommendation of his fast road set-up!
When I saw it in daylight the following day, I loved the way it sat. I didn't buy the suspension for aesthetic reasons, but it looking prettier is a bonus as far as I'm concerned.
So over the six weeks up to that point, the car had;
- service including oils and filters
- new front discs
- new rear discs
- new OSR caliper
- new wheels
- new tyres
- new suspension
- fast road alignment
Felt canoeing fantastic.
le sigh