Forum Newbie - Q287GDH

[stevew]

Hi, after a number of year looking I've finally acquired a bright yellow Midas Gold Coupe - Q287GDH. Just won an ebay auction and will be picking the car up on Friday. The guy I've bought it from says it was 1st registered 1988, but has had it only the last 7 years, so if there are any previous owners on the forum I'm keen to know of any earlier history.

I've had a few kit cars over the years (a couple of Scamps and a Marlin roadster), but parenthood has been a bit more dominate in recent years so the Midas is a return to car interests for me. Whilst initially the intent is for fun transport for me, I have a desire to eventually hill climb & rally so I'm particular interested in anyone’s experience with car preparations & set-up for any of the motorsport disciplines with either the Bronze or Gold.

Many thanks,

Steve

[Hans Efde]

Hi Steve,
Welcome to the club. I think you got a bargain. You would be surprised to know what the insurance value is of the Gold coupe today in the Netherlands. Concerning motorsport a lot can be learned from the Metro racing series. Personally I got rid of the hydragas (although they can be set up for racing), installed good quality shock absorbers and installed Powerflex bushes. I have had some issues with these, which can be found on this forum.

[stevew]

Thanks for the welcome, and the pointer towards the Metro racing series - are there any specific sites or forums you'd recommend for information?

[Hans Efde]

Thanks for the welcome, and the pointer towards the Metro racing series - are there any specific sites or forums you'd recommend for information?

There is a special cup for these cars:
http://www.mgmetrocup.co.uk/index.html

There used to be some info about setting up the hydragas and once I was chasing a full adjustable front suspension but was unsuccesful in acquiring it.

[Stuart]

Hi Steve welcome to the forum. It looks like you got a decent car at a good price there.

Cars and car conversions did a few articles on Metro's and Avonbar, there's also a Hot car article on the Metropower forum here http://www.metropower.org.uk/forum/foru ... 30&posts=2

[stevew]

These websites are certainly wetting the appetite and got me scheming for next year - many thanks.

[limjamrace]

Hello Steve,

Kelvin has an urge to get interested in competing ,as do i when i have slogged thrugh my projects of a working nature..See my facebook page "Llewellyn Imp Motorsport"

My Midas is a Mk 1 so does not use hydrogas whatsit so i cannot comment on modifying that.

My feeling was to look on the Hillclimb & Sprint Association website to see what the regs are for "kit cars" before altering things..There may be a standard OE class!

[stevew]

Your projects look great - I had a lot of fun with Hillman Imps learning to drive and cutting me early car mechanic's teeth on them.
My Mk3 has had the hydrogas units replaced so has already had some modifications - need to look into it more.
After your post I've had a quick look at the Hillclim & Sprint Association site and have started going through the Motor Sport Association "Blue Book" with repect to the rules and regs and it looks very do-able; just am having dificulty in seeing which class the Midas fits into. Would it be worth setting up a "Motor Sport" area under "Midas Chat" or "Technical Forum"???

[manifold]

Sounds like a good idea to me

[kelvink]

Did somebody mention my name ?

There are indeed a few people who are interested in some more sporty fun with their Midas and it's something I've already mentioned to some of the committee. Yep I'm looking to do some stuff with my Midas and I think a section on the forum relating to any forms of motorsports with Midas is a good idea. Who knows, maybe we could get a 'Team Midas' together at some point?

I have to say I'm more into this as a bit of fun than aggressive competition, I enjoy driving fast and improving driving skills and cars, usually track day stuff and have had a bit of a laugh doing some slalom stuff before too.