X's Restoration: Update 16th July!

I'm 16, and I've bought a 1983 1.3 Mars Red Driver  :mrgreen:

BUT it's not perfect, I'll get some images over the weekend, but just to fill you in, it's got about 3 different shades of red on it *uses T-Cut and Meguiars' Paint Cleaner* and it's missing a waistline strip on the drivers side door (if anyone's got one (it's the thick/wide one) I'll buy it  ) Oh yeah, it's also got huge rust patches on the front and back of all the wheel arches   

That's my project to complete before I learn to drive (I turn 17 next July, so I've got some time)

All comments welcome
X

Hi x and welcome!

Look forward to seeing the pics. Talk to 'crazyquiff' about the side stripe, sure he'll have one :wink:

Andy

Cheers Andy, will do

X

oooooom I like the username X. very mysterious….  8O  :twisted:

Get some pics up mate. Sounds like a good project :y:

Lol yeah tis good, all of the other good letters like M and Q were taken though   but yeah, ill get some pics up…

 You might recognise the car if youve been hanging around the for sale forums for about 3 or 4 months, thts where i got it from

is it Bish's old car?
all the best mate, any clues on your actual name?

welcome X,

i got my one when I was 16 (now 18) they're great cars, make sure you look after it!

wow ant, you're only 1 now? another 16 years til you can drive your mk1

John, It is Bish's old car how did you know lol here's a couple of pics of the engine bay



That's the main part of the engine, if you can find me a dirtier messier engine I'd like to see it  :mrgreen:

Because my dad's car is in the shop, he's using my golf for work 8O so i can only do work at the weekends   but ive made a start on the bonnet:


This was done using white spirit and a towel 8)

All comments welcome (after a new scuttle panel cover also  :wink: )

And for all of you who want to know my name, I'll think about it

X

just took a guess with you saying it has been in the for sale section for months
where are you from mate?
the bonnet looks amazing underneath now, might have to give mine a go

not too bad under there! just clean up the paintwork like you have done to the bonnet, and maybe powder coat the rusty parts; rocker cover, radiator cowling etc and it should look nice, maybe wrap the wiring with something?

my 1.3 bay




looks quite messy in that pic, it's not, honest

ps, i'm not too sure if i'd want to use white spirit on my paint, maybe some engine de greaser?

of course  :roll:  lol but yeah, ive just bought a new rocker cover of fleabay, and i might wire brush the cowling, then hammerite it up

White spirit is fine apparantly, it hasnt done anything besides make me dizzy :roll: lol.

and for the reference, im in the west midlands, hence the 4 hour trip each way to get to norfolk

more pics over the weekend

X

dub76 used t-cut and white spirit once on a mars red mk2 and it came up mint  

X said

 it hasnt done anything besides make me dizzy :roll: lol.

You're not meant to drink it, jeez. :roll:

ohhh… thats why, i wondered why it wasn't making my engine any cleaner, although the more i drank, the less i cared

X

hell man dont use t-cut, the better stuff is poorboys, they have a swirl remover polish in 3 strengths..they are more paint freindly. depends on the pasint but I used the ss3 followed by the ss1 then waked with nattys wax and the damn wing looked sweet...............check out www.polishedbliss.com in the polish section................I used the german applicator pad.....................but the guys who run the site know there stuff

 ive just bought a new rocker cover of fleabay

that's funny - so have I  :roll:

Good to see a nice welcome for a young newbie - I'm 'X's dad, so I'm the one putting 80 miles a day on his pride and joy, getting it all filthy after he spent ages polishing it up - sorry, I'll help you clean it this weekend!

Whole new ball game driving a 60bhp car - lots of forward planning needed (more used to just over 400    ) Great fun though and the way it turns heads is astonishing.

There are a couple of questions I'd like to ask while I have the attention of some knowledgeable people and so that Ma…. er 'X' can see the responses

The revs drop almost to stalling point when coming to a standstill, especially if its been running at fairly high revs previously - a TINY bit of choke is sufficient to sort it (ie not even enough to light the dash light) - is it just a mixture setting? (already fitted new airfilter, plugs, dizzy and rotor arm)

Secondly, is 30mpg REALLY right for a 1.3? I can get that much out of my 2-litre five pot turbo running eight times the power. Its still on the Solex (happy to shell out for a Weber, but only for a straight bolt-on - don't want to be fussing with setting up). I expected nearer 40mpg, which is what I used to get when I borrowed 'X's older brother's Clio 1.2 when my own beastie was on one of its too-frequent visit to the workshop.

Thanks in advance

the bloomin thing changes an eight to the sunglasses pic for some unknown reason!

anyways, that engine bay has come up really nice so far.

Can the rocker cover be hammerited, because i would have thought you needed a heat resistant paint :dontknow:

if not ill do mine

btw it dont know about the first question

but it should be doing more than 30mpg because mine is a 1.5 and im getting upwards of 35.

Is the air/fuel mixture and timing right?