'92 Clipper

I acquired this MK1 Clipper through my place of work. It was here for us to store while the owner went away for two months, and he also wanted it MOT'd while we had it.

We MOT'd it, it failed on several items, a long list of advisories, and the top hose blew while testing the emissions. It was pushed outside, and we didn't hear from the owner for another 9 months!

Fast forward those 9 months and I find the owner on Facebook, and after some negotiation on price, he agreed to sell it to me.

It had been sat outside, untouched. I whipped the cover off to find a very neglected car. The exterior was covered in moss, spider webs, and general c**p. The interior was covered in mould, spiders, bugs, mouse droppings, and smelt very bad!

I dragged it out of the yard and onto the wash bay to hit it with the pressure washer.

Cleaned off the bodywork, under the wheel arches, underneath the vehicle and under the bonnet. This was mainly to get rid of all the spiders and creepy crawlies!  I cleared the scuttle panel, and unblocked the drain holes.

Inside the boot I found a mouse hibernating between two sub boxes, the spare wheel was full of water, and every piece of trim was wet.

I gutted the majority of the interior; removed the seats, centre console, carpets, parcel shelf, boot trims, and seat belts.

The roof didn't work, so undone the bypass valve to manually open the roof and give it a good airing!

I had to pressure was the carpets. The colour of the water was horrid!

An old friend of mine owns his own detailing and valeting company, so had him come and spend 3 hours on the interior. (Which was still out of the car). He managed to get the headlining look a lot better, and removed all the mould from the seats and door panels.

I then stuck a spare battery on it, and raided my box of spares for a top hose. Got some water in it, and it fired up.

Pics are in a random order!

Looks like your on a real rescue mission there mate well done keep going you wont regret it .is it a 1.8 carb version. As mine is on a 1990 G plate..

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Some random pics showing the condition of the headlining and rear window frame.

The carpets where still damp in the pics, and found a set of coilovers fitted to the vehicle. I can only assume they are cheap ones.

The inner wheel arches look to be in good condition as well, with little rust visible. 

Deano777 said

Looks like your on a real rescue mission there mate well done keep going you wont regret it .is it a 1.8 carb version. As mine is on a 1990 G plate..

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Yeah 1.8 carb EX engine

Mine too mate 1.8 ex mine was a bit of a state but 12 months later it's getting there

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Rear window is a mess and headliner I’ll doubt will clean up.
It’s a big job to change headliner as it’s hood off, interliner and padding off too. They don’t stand up to much messing with before they fall apart.
It will be a nightmare trying to change the rear window frame in an already cut top.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Seats and headlining cleaned. Far from perfect, but so much better! Also removed the rear screen to clean up the frame.

Interior back in.

Rear silencer had corroded and the tailpipe was missing. Being on a tight budget, I went for 'cherry bomb' style silencer. Think it looks OK myself.

 Found some rust, can't find a proper pic of the spare wheel well after repair.

Time for the brakes; I removed, cleaned and painted the calipers and carriers. I used Hammerite smooth red, but really struggled applying the paint for some reason. Appears they've changed the mixture or just made it thinner since I last used Hammerite. Took a lot of coats, but they look OK from a distance. May do them again during the winter months. New discs and pads, cleaned up and repaired the rear drum brake adjusters, spray painted the drums, new hoses all round, and new brakes pipes all round. The close up of the caliper shows the not so great finish of the paint. From a distance it's OK for the time being. No pics of pipe and hoses, but they look like pipes and hoses 

I've done 90% of the wiring, pulled out two old looms - assuming from past alarm systems. Removed the bodge wiring for the horn and fixed that correctly.

Removed the wiper motor and blower motor assembly and un-seized and lubricated them.

Refitted the audio amplifier, but upgraded the wiring from 8awg to 4awg.

Had the roof cleaned - now waiting the the sealant to arrive. Don;t seem to have any better pics of that.

Removed and cleaned the carb - waiting to fit a new fuel pump though.

Cleaned and sprayed the rocker cover - wasn't going to do this until winter, but it was leaking very badly! Someone had attempted to use silicone sealant on it! A have a few little jobs to finish, and hopefully it'll be on the road this month.

A pics of how it sits currently.

I wouldn't worry about the calliper paint, they look fine and the only people who will look at them on the road are a VOSA inspector or someone you have run over! (And they won't care     )