This year I was finally able to get a mini after wanting to get one for ages. I did have to sell my other project to fund it though , but im sure my mini will fill the void
my full restored 2003 mx5, if anyone was interested.
Anyway moving onto the good stuff, here is my 1995 Sidewalk in charcoal grey.
it has 57K on the clock and I would say the condition is fair. Im hoping to get two summers out of it before I need to do restoration on it. It has the usual rust under the headlights and around the side indicators.
Both the doors have rust starting to show as well, the floors have been patched but the boot floor looks good, the sills will need work doing to them but again I want to try and get a couple of summers out of it before I hit it with the grinder and welder.
I havent really drove it much since I got it, but the 200+ mile trip home was fun, I was surprised at how it was able to handle itself on the motorway and keep up with traffic.
Next to my uncles bike.
There were a few things I needed to sort out, the radiator was leaking and the headlights were dull, the previous owner had headlights and a radiator that he never got round to fitting, so this weekend I tackled that. It took 20 litres of water to flush the system till clean water came out, at first it looked like mud. However when I looked into the cylinder head where the stat goes it still looked rusty so Im sure the coolant will go soon but im not really sure what else to do?
Headlights were a quick swap, took the old sealed units out and altered the wiring to suit the new lights and sidelights
Slight improvement there.
Next job was to tackle the engine bay, well actually I did this before I swapped the radiator over, it was disgusting, the PO said the rocker cover had been leaking that is why it was so dirty but when I looked into it the drivers side was worse than the passenger so I thought might be something else. After many hours and various cleaning products I managed to get some of the crud off the front of the engine, enough to find any persistent leaks.
It doesnt look much cleaner but its a start, I would love a pristine engine bay but I just wouldnt know where to begin with tidying components up, removing them etc.
With this been cleaner I did find a leak, the oil feed pipe is leaking, so Ive ordered a new one of those albeit a braided one. I have also had some issues with a rough idle, it seems to be rev hunting, I would guess it only moves around 300/400 rpm. I have checked air filter, plugs and gaps, dizzy cap but now Im stretching my abilities. What I did notice is there is some oil in the dizzy, can these be resealed or do I need a new one?
One of the wheel arches was cracked so I swapped them over with the standard black ones, I bought some from mini spares and my god they are such a bad fit! But they are one.
My plan is to try and keep the car standard, it hasnt really been messed with so far, got alloys on and thats about it. I do want to add a few things to it, uprated brakes, maybe S/S exhaust. I have learnt my lesson with modifications on cars as some can really ruin the car.
If you see me doing anything wrong please tell me as im very new to minis and I hope you like this one!!!!
Thanks
Ross
but yeah I would like to get to some of the shows eventually
