Midas Cars Forum - www.midascarsforum.com

hi all

my brother has had a midas for a while now and ive just picked one up for myself.

one of the Richard Brabbins Midas' no less.

my majoy concern at the moment is parts, does anyone have a good source for interior trim, door rubbers etc?

Hi, welcome to the forum. Great to have a Brabbins Midas in our midst, quite a special beast. Alistair Courtney from Alternative Cars can supply parts etc., but many of us use small companies that can do custom carpeting etc. You just have to make templates from paper or cardboard and bring it to a specialist who can cut and pipe carpet. On the other hand many do it all ourselves.I bought an ancient sewing machine for just 30 euros that is strong enough for carpets and will (one day) have a go at the upholstry.
Door rubbers can be found on Ebay or also at specialized companies as Woolies etc. This has been discussed before quite a few times, so a search will reveal a number of threads. Maybe we need a centralized place on this forum where we can upload addresses of useful companies (also for engine overhaul etc.).
Special parts that may cause headaches are the door hinges (but can be refurbished), side and rear windows, lights and the rear subframe beam. The rest is basically Mini or easy to upgrade with other modern or standard parts.

Hi and welcome to the forum,
There is plenty of information and advise available as i have alredy found to my benefit and i am sure you will to

What is a Richard Brabbins Midas?

Geoff Butcher wrote:What is a Richard Brabbins Midas?

Glad I'm not the only one.....

I wrote about it in TGT58. Here is a reply from Richard:
qte
Hello Hans,
Sorry you did not receive my previous reply. I am having technical difficulty with
my dial-up facility. I talked with Alan Donawho yesterday about it. He says you are
the most keen supporter of the early Midas these days, and put out a magazine Golden
Touch. A fellow enthusiast. How nice!
I made the front mods myself. The shape is standard, but the joint is formed by jig
sawing a new separation line, inserting an aluminium sheet, laminating to both
sides, then joining the original bonnet to the original front apron. There is a new
cut below the bumper. The whole thing tilts forward on reversed parrallelogram
hinges from a Morris Marina, resting without the need for a prop. The weight and
strength are unaffected. The lower front is tied to the inner wings via metal box
section, and the hinges are mounted on these bracing pieces. It works well. I did it
many years ago. Nowadays I do more advanced moulding and have designed my own all
composite bodied GT car. No chassis, just aircraft composites, vacuum formed and
cured in my own oven.
Alan says there is a good forum for chats. I don't know how to connect or to use
this kind of thing. I am better as an engineer than as am internet user! Can you
suggest how I can connect, look, discuss? All tips gratefully received. I am going
over to TalkTalk broadband on 15th which I hope will make communication easier. If I
get a new email address I'l let you know. I hope I have answered you well. Do please
let me know. Many thanks for your interest.
Regards, Richard.
unqte

and sadly no longer with us.

Brabini GT by Brian Snelson, on Flickr

Brabini GT by Brian Snelson, on Flickr

The forum is certainly a great place to get information as you can see from all the above posts.

This whole story would make an excellent article for the club mag too.

Welcome aboard

Ahh, now all is clear. I remember the front end mods on the Bronze.