XWC 296 S - Midas Bronze

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XWC 296 S - Midas Bronze

Postby mfdriver » Tue Oct 07, 2014 9:34 pm

2014-09-24 12.18.14.jpg
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Well - this was advertised on the forum a couple of weeks ago and after a straightforward negotiation it was delivered to me in Salisbury from Nottingham on the 24th September. The registration document shows it as being registered April 1978, but of course it was actually bought in 1986 and finished in 1988. There is a note in the paperwork about police inspection in early 1988 to confirm no stolen parts. So I am lucky to have a plate related to the donor car and not the built car.
I understand the car was built by Engineering Students at Sheffield Hallam university, the Head of Engineering paying for everything in return for keeping the car when finished, and the University agreeing to allow the students to build the car as a project. My one criticism would be the over-use of pop rivets where self tapping screws should be used. Makes life difficult for simple jobs!
The last MOT was in 1990 and it had not been on the road since then, so the whole purchase was a bit of a gamble. It had however been kept in a warm dry garage. The White fibreglass body is definitely scruffy, and the front and rear bumpers show signs of solid object contact and star crazing.
SOOO! As it was able to move about under its own steam I decided to bite the bullet and have it MOT'd in order to get a list of things that needed doing to pass an MOT. The local garage came to collect it (with much amusement) and I sat like the expectant father in the waiting room whilst they put it through the rigours of a modern MOT.
WELL! It passed. How jammy was that? The car now features on their front page for their Facebook thingymajig.
I have not put it on the road yet as delay with DVLA trying to get it registered in my name (only 2 weeks in to 4 week period of grace) so I shall tax it from 1st November.
Jobs done so far are new rear window gas struts, new rear SPAX shock absorbers and coil over springs, second hand SPAX front adjustable shock absorbers and Hi-Los, and K&N cone filter. And two new rear tyres to match two new front ones fitted before sale.
I have ordered a MIDAS spec. manifold and exhaust system from Maniflow (yes, they have bespoke Midas system on their books) and will fit this before November.
It currently has a 998 A+ engine, but it came with a 1275 Gold Seal brand new engine, which over the winter I will find a gearbox for, and strip the engine down and rebuild it for my own edification.
The car is currently an unattractive white and we have plans to alter this very rapidly, funds permitting. Has anyone tried having theirs wrapped yet :roll:
I also have a 1971 MkIII Cooper S, which I use at speed events, and I am hoping to upgrade the Midas to take over from the "S", which is worth rather a lot of money if I stuff it
And a 1989 Racing Green with 1275 engine which is being upgraded by Slark Race Engineering (who also did the S engine - 1330 with 91.5 bhp at flywheel and loads of torqu)
And a 2012 BMW MINI Clubman to carry my golf clubs and old chaps electric trolley.
The days are just Packed
Look forward to meeting you all
Malcolm
PS Sorry - didn't realise picture would be full size!!!!!
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Re: XWC 296 S - Midas Bronze

Postby tog0035 » Wed Oct 08, 2014 12:23 am

best of luck with your project .looks pretty good. Where did you sourse the gas hatch struts. How hard are the back shocks and springs. Regards TOG
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Re: XWC 296 S - Midas Bronze

Postby kelvink » Wed Oct 08, 2014 9:35 am

Good to hear it's going to get used again, will have to meet up shortly now you've got the car, especially as it's got an MOT now too. I was gob smacked at how easy it was to get one sorted on my Gold Coupe. Plastic cars are brilliant. I'm somewhat surprised at how the finish of the gel coat can be tatty if it's been garaged all this time.

SheffieldPoly.jpg
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As it's been raining so much lately it was quite easy to shrink the photo for you ;)
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Re: XWC 296 S - Midas Bronze

Postby mfdriver » Wed Oct 08, 2014 6:50 pm

tog0035 wrote:best of luck with your project .looks pretty good. Where did you sourse the gas hatch struts. How hard are the back shocks and springs. Regards TOG


The gas struts come from Gas Strut Eng. Ltd, 3 Shuttleworth Road, Elm Farm Industrial estate, Bedford, MK41 0EP tel 01234 221430.
They are Faulkners springs and I have gone for 2.25" 110lb 10.5" long springs which drop the rear ride height by 2" (not as shown in photo!).
The shocks are adjustable so you can have them as hard or soft as you wish - I cannot find optimum setting until I get it on the road, which hopefully will be end of next week. Spax are making up a new set for me to original G999 spec.
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Re: XWC 296 S - Midas Bronze

Postby mfdriver » Wed Oct 08, 2014 6:54 pm

kelvink wrote:Good to hear it's going to get used again, will have to meet up shortly now you've got the car, especially as it's got an MOT now too. I was gob smacked at how easy it was to get one sorted on my Gold Coupe. Plastic cars are brilliant. I'm somewhat surprised at how the finish of the gel coat can be tatty if it's been garaged all this time.

SheffieldPoly.jpg


As it's been raining so much lately it was quite easy to shrink the photo for you ;)


I set about the bodywork yesterday with McGuires fibreglass restorer and was amazed at how the colour came back - even though only doing polishing by hand. Conclusion is that my phraseology was wrong as it appears to be heavily engrained with 23 years worth of dirt. Have now borrowed an electric buffing gadget and hope to make rapid progress
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Re: XWC 296 S - Midas Bronze

Postby Geoff Butcher » Wed Oct 08, 2014 8:13 pm

mfdriver wrote: Spax are making up a new set for me to original G999 spec.

That's interesting. They told me a few weeks ago that the G999s were not available :x
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Re: XWC 296 S - Midas Bronze

Postby mfdriver » Wed Oct 08, 2014 10:47 pm

Did you speak to Natasha ;)
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Re: XWC 296 S - Midas Bronze

Postby kelvink » Thu Oct 09, 2014 8:28 am

I set about the bodywork yesterday with McGuires fibreglass restorer and was amazed at how the colour came back - even though only doing polishing by hand. Conclusion is that my phraseology was wrong as it appears to be heavily engrained with 23 years worth of dirt. Have now borrowed an electric buffing gadget and hope to make rapid progress


I thought it would polish up nicely, so long as the gel coat isn't actually cracked up like mine is then yes a good work out with some polishing/buffing compound should work wonders and bring it back to new. Alistair did do a demonstration at the Open Day a couple of years ago and several people have since made some significant improvements to their aged cars by polishing them up "Streetsy" here has a Gold Cabriolet that is quite amazing now particularly if you see what it was like before he started on the car. Just a word of advice though when the car has been buffed up you will then need to apply a good quality wax liberally to the finished car to give it UV protection again. Do this and there's no reason why it shouldn't look shiny for many years to come. It's a crying shame seeing cars like mine which could have been saved if only they had had a coat of wax applied regularly.

If you want to pop over some time I've got a buffing machine for paint and gel coat which makes the job so much easier and quicker. Sadly it won't work miracles so my Gold Coupe is ear marked for a paint job as the gel coat was too far neglected without wax.
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Re: XWC 296 S - Midas Bronze

Postby mfdriver » Thu Oct 09, 2014 1:57 pm

Update on SPAX shocks

These arrived today and look spanking. Ref G999 002.
Hope this helps anyone who thought they weren't still around.
Invoice even refers to Midas Coupe (R FIX SS)
They weren't cheap!
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Re: XWC 296 S - Midas Bronze

Postby Geoff Butcher » Thu Oct 09, 2014 8:25 pm

Too late now! :roll:
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