Hi, Newbie from Stoke-On-Trent

[metzymotive]

Hi im wayne from Stoke-On-trent, Won an 83 A reg Midas Bronze coupe on ebay last week as mentioned in the ebay listings section on here

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MINI-MIDAS-BRONZE_W0QQitemZ180335190571QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAutomobiles_UK?hash=item180335190571&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A7%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

pick it up tommorrow morning lets hope its better than it looks in the pictures Just Hpi'd it this morning and its down as "midas, registered 1983 A reg, 7 owners, no colour changes, not stolen, not scrapped and never been subject to an insurance total loss claim" which im pleased with


I was gonna look for another car and strip it down, a cheap Q plate wrote off Midas either bronze or gold would be perfect as long as doors etc are useable but i have been searching for last few days and cant even find a post with someone saying they have wrote theirs off so this is a slim chance but my main aim, but to be honest of top of my head it needs,

1) A pair of doors with windows (can get from a well known source as said above) only really need doors as can make windows out of perspex
2) A pair of rear quarter windows (can get from a well known source as said above) but i think im gonna make them out of Perspex
3) A bonnet which i can get one made from orignal mold for £180 but i think im gonna make one from scratch
4) A tailgate which from what i lead to believe is single construction of a piece of glass with lift ram attachments, again im thinking of making out of Perspex, this time industrial Polished stuff about 10mm thick for rigidity around the seals
5) A Windscreen which im led to believe from a well known source is a standard Fiat 126 item which im HOPING i can blag through my insurance glass cover which after checking has no restrictions?
6) A pair of bumpers which ill make either from scratch or using Mk2 golf GTi phase 1 donors
7) An interior of sort But i already have a full Audi TT interior sitting in my room which im thinking of fitting, that or another set of Cobras, dash is pretty much all there but looks god awful so think im gonna fit a Seicento dash
8) A carb which IF i keep the A series in there i can source a carb easy enough, i have a HIF38 sitting somewhere
9) An exhaust, i have three to choose from so will be a full stainless system either way..

Mot will be soted soon enough once i have it all together, ill drop it off with my mate for him to look over in his spare time (hes an mot tester) and when straight he can put it through

I own my own bodyshop so the sprayjob/bodywork really is least of my worries... i hope to spend roughly HALF what your thinking but it will be a spare time project so no complete strictness

Tell me if im missing ANYTHING obvious, im honest in saying 90% of you guys are more knowledgable about these than me so will notice things im missing in actual sense or what needs doing, I have a 78 Mini Clubman estate, A 96 Mini Equinox LE and an 87 Mini city 1.4 16v project so am used to the normal minis, mostly the rust

Got the manual the other night i THINK off here? had a quick look at the build drawings but havent had much time to look at the rest yet

The idea of making my own parts is for a number of reasons,

1) Perspex windows to make it lighter - its far from being my daily so the lighter overall the better
2) The cost, i will hopefully end up saving a bit of money (although not as much as many would think)
3) The main one, pretty much as you have said to end up with something a bit more individual

Had a few messages and emails now offering me parts, this is much appreciated so keep them coming and i appreciate any help and advice offered

wayne

[Stuart]

Hello and welcome Wayne

I hope all goes to plan for you tomorrow. I picked up a Midas mk2 shell last week, that wasn't rolling though so we had to do a bit of lifting, yours will be a lot easier with wheels on.

The doors and window frames are quite a complex bit of kit, for sure they could be simplified for a lightweight sprint car, it's surprising how thick and heavy they are. Mine has a bonnet but it's a bit of a mess, starting afresh with a new one will probably be easier than repairing all the gel-coat cracks. I wonder if you have done much work in GRP?

All the best
Stuart

[Hans Efde]

I thought Jon Evans had a crashed Midas for spares a while ago. But there are 2 Jon Evans around on this forum, so I don't know which one. But I think it's already gone, sold on Ebay for a few pounds or so.

[johnonthetyne]

hi wayne, for pics of the midas in wylam, NORTHUMBERLAND just go down to links then to yahoo midas site then photos and finally to "found this in wylam", not sure but you may have to register on ther.

[metzymotive]

Hello and welcome Wayne

I hope all goes to plan for you tomorrow. I picked up a Midas mk2 shell last week, that wasn't rolling though so we had to do a bit of lifting, yours will be a lot easier with wheels on.

The doors and window frames are quite a complex bit of kit, for sure they could be simplified for a lightweight sprint car, it's surprising how thick and heavy they are. Mine has a bonnet but it's a bit of a mess, starting afresh with a new one will probably be easier than repairing all the gel-coat cracks. I wonder if you have done much work in GRP?

All the best
Stuart

Hi Stuart and thanks for the welcome

Out of interest is the shell youve just collected the one i was after Geoff for?

The bloke has promised it will go on the trailer easily, I did have the idea of getting it running with carb etc and driving it on a low trailer so it could go on the back of my slammed scenic but the bloke seems doubtfull it will fire up straight away ( i started my cinq sporting after over two years on the first turn of the key with a jump pack on) so instead we have my mates Disco Tdi and the full on Landy comper trailer with winch so its going on either way

Got to be honest i have never even seen a Midas up close so neve had chance to look at the door frames or units, from pictures i have seen when searching they seem quite agricultural, the only problem i have with having plexi windows is i still need a window frame for the door seal to seal against so thats going to be the hardest part from what i can see, I have done a few pieces of GRP work but the only Heavy GRP work i have done is when i did a crash repair on a Vauxhall Corsa Sport fitted with a Combat Bodykit all round, the front bumper was smashed to smithereens and in 3 pieces, sombody bet me that it was unrepairable and needed replacing, needless to say i rebuilt it from scratch, as long as the base shape is still there you can sort pretty much anything, the biggest mistake people make is being too scared to go mad with a drill and grinder on all the cracks and holes

whereabouts are you based?

hi wayne, for pics of the midas in wylam, NORTHUMBERLAND just go down to links then to yahoo midas site then photos and finally to "found this in wylam", not sure but you may have to register on ther.

Gonna go have a look again now John

wayne