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Hi Just joined today (need advice)

Postby skelts80 » Sat Jun 27, 2015 3:23 pm

I own a midas bronze mk3 which is in poor condition as its been left for years !
Is there anywhere I can find out information of list donor parts used for the build .
everything that's metal will need replacing plus the rubber seals and window gaskets.

I will post pictures of the progress
Cant wait to get her back on the road

I have a 1380 engine which is being rebuilt

I will be very grateful for any advise

Many thanks Shane
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Re: Hi Just joined today (need advice)

Postby Hans Efde » Sat Jun 27, 2015 3:27 pm

Hi Shane,
Welcome to the forum. There are a few extensive rebuilts being blogged on the forum, so that's a good start. For documentation visit the archive site: http://midas.orba-design.com/
You will find the Bronze build manual that has the parts list per section mentioned. For the drawings download the selfextracting Bronze drawing file. Lots of other Bronze info like copies of many magazine articles in the sub dir's. Good luck.
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Re: Hi Just joined today (need advice)

Postby kelvink » Sun Jun 28, 2015 9:53 am

I think a photo would help things as there wasn't a 'Bronze' Mk3

The Bronze was the MK2 which was Mini based. The Mk3 was Metro based and was labeled the Gold
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Re: Hi Just joined today (need advice)

Postby skelts80 » Sun Jun 28, 2015 5:22 pm

Hi thanks for reply , it's a mk2 sorry!
I was working on the car today and found the door hinges are rotten!
Any ideas on a replacement?
Is the windscreen used is a fiat 500 ?
Thanks for your help Shane
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Re: Hi Just joined today (need advice)

Postby Hans Efde » Mon Jun 29, 2015 6:51 am

You have to rebuild the hinges, there are a few examples on the forum. They are Midas items and no longer produced. Windscreen is fiat 126.
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Re: Hi Just joined today (need advice)

Postby streetsy » Mon Jun 29, 2015 7:21 am

Where abouts do you live? Alistair is holding an open day at his workshop in enstone on the 19th July, it would be a good time for you to get a look at some other Midas', meet other owners and ask any questions that crop up whilst you are working on your car. Richard
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Re: Hi Just joined today (need advice)

Postby ACourtney » Mon Jun 29, 2015 8:52 am

skelts80 wrote:Hi thanks for reply , it's a mk2 sorry!
I was working on the car today and found the door hinges are rotten!
Any ideas on a replacement?
Is the windscreen used is a fiat 500 ?
Thanks for your help Shane


Hi Shane,

Welcome to Midas ownership and welcome to the forum. I'm sure that you will find us a friendly and helpful bunch on here.
The hinges are unique to Midas, though loosely based on a Triumph design. There were two versions used:
The earlier type featured stubby pins top and bottom, which wear and also wear the hole. If you look at the top of the hinge and can see the stubby bit moving in the hole then it is the early type. These are not easily rebuilt, unless you have access to a good machine shop and are best replaced with new hinges.
The later type reversed the hinge action and featured a single pin running from end to end through the central section. This gives a much longer bearing area and can last much longer if kept greased, but unfortunately only around 10% of the cars I've seen have had the grease nipples fitted! If you look at the top of the hinge and see that the end of the pin is welded in place then it is the later type which can be rebuilt, but you are still going to need access to some tools. You can remove the old pin by grinding the welds off the ends. The chances are high that the hole through the central section (known as the knuckle) will be worn too. In fact it is more likely to be worn than the pin, since the pin was made of hardened steel. The knuckle can be reclaimed by fitting bushes into the hole, such as oilite bronze bushes which can be bought for a few pounds each - http://simplybearings.co.uk/shop/index. ... _4511_4770 . The pin is best replaced by a piece of silver steel rod as this is already hardened on the surface and easily welded at the ends. I've heard of Midas ownersreplacing the pins with stainless steel bolts, but they are likely to learn all about galling in both the engineering and literal sense if they don't keep the hinge well greased. Stainless steel is notorious for "picking up" the surface of any adjoining metal leading to wear or seizure - known as galling.

I can supply new hinges, but they are not cheap as they have to be made especially to the Midas design. I have a few in stock at the moment at £45.00 each, but when these have gone I will need to get a new batch made and I suspect the price will go up again.

The windscreen is Fiat 126 and new replacements can be found as there are still a lot of them about (especially in Poland), but don't expect your local windscreen fitter to be too helpful unless you are asking them to fit the screen. There is very little money to be made from supplying screens and nobody likes shipping them around as they are easy to damage. So when you track one down you need to be prepared to go and collect it, but perhaps not all the way to Poland! I have a some secondhand toughened screens that can be used as an emergency standby, but `I would recommend fitting a new laminated screen and making sure the edge of the screen is properly sealed before it is fitted.

As Streetsy mentioned, my open day is on the 19th July at my workshop at Enstone Airfield. That is fairly centrally located between Oxford and Banbury, just off the A44. More details are given in the MOC events and on the Owners Club website.

Regards,
Alistair
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Re: Hi Just joined today (need advice)

Postby skelts80 » Mon Jun 29, 2015 8:20 pm

Thanks Alistair,

Regarding the hinges , both sets of hinges on both doors are completely rotten and beyond repair!
Have you got hinges for both doors, so thats 4 in total?

I live in "Sunny Cornwall" not sure if i can make it to the open day, but will try and make it as it would be a big interest for me to come.

Thanks for your time in helping me

Shane
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Re: Hi Just joined today (need advice)

Postby skelts80 » Sun May 28, 2017 11:34 am

Hi alistiar,
Can you still get these hinges for me?
Sorry it's been awhile but a change in circumstance got in the way of the rebuild
I need a full set of hinges
Regards Shane
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Re: Hi Just joined today (need advice)

Postby Alan D. » Sun May 28, 2017 8:14 pm

Hi Shane,
Welcome to the forum. I have new heated front windscreens on order and they should be with me in the next few weeks.
Alan D.
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