Midas Mk3 Gold Coupe – K series

[mellors55]

Midas Mk3 Gold Coupe – K series
This is one of the few Mk3 coupes that have been converted to K series spec. This gives it the benefit of a 5 speed gearbox, OHC fuel injected engine (76bhp) in a reliable form. I regularly get 40 mpg in town but have obtained nearer 50 mpg on a long run.
The conversion was carried out in 2003 from a low mileage metro. Both front and rear subframes came from the same car but the suspension has been converted to adjustable coil overs both front and rear (no hydrolastic issues) Disc brakes are fitted at the front and rear (recent new discs at the front). I fitted 4 brand new Rover metro alloy wheels just after I bought the car in 2008 – the originals were starting to corrode.
The interior is tidy if a bit basic. The dashboard display /steering controls are from the same K series metro as the engine. The seats were replaced last year with ones from a MGF.
I have recently replaced the head gasket with a multi-layer metal item and the cam belt was replaced before I bought the car.
All tyres are either new or nearly new.
I fitted a new stainless steel exhaust system in 2010 – made up from 2 jetex stainless exhaust boxes and pipes.
This is a nice looking car that was re-sprayed just before I bought it in 2008.
I have used this as my daily transport until very recently.
Year - 1988
Mileage – 80100
Test expires - April 26th 2013
I will be advertising the car on Ebay with a reserve of £1850

Please contact John Mellors - tel. 01773874587 (Derbyshire) or email johnmellors55@googlemail.com
I can email more photos.

[DavidL]

Hi John,

Any technical details on how the conversion was done? As far as I'm aware, fitting a K series engine and retaining the original headlights is difficult (I actually thought it was impossible, but not in your case, obviously).

It's a conversion I am giving serious thought to, but I'd be doing it to my existing car, rather than buying one where it's already been done.

Did you keep the existing wheelbase?

[stan1396]

I may be better at answering this one as I built it! It is all logged on this site somewhere, but a quick update-it is built on a 1.4 single cam.No it will not fit-you have to cut the headlamp away on the drivers side for the cylinder head and a large part of the inner wing to get the sub frame to fit.I just bolted the rear sub frame mountings to the floor-straight fit-and then kept jacking the engine up to see where it was going to hit next,and then removed a bit more.The headlamps were replaced with VW POLO items and cut to fit the tunnels.I then made some new headlamp brows to fit and make it look a bit original.
I found that the performance was brilliant and very adequate in todays traffic.On a different note,Hans has mentioned a few times about a Toyota Yaris engine conversion.I can confirm they are getting cheap as a relative has just bought one which was dead for £100. He found all it required was an alternator and battery! That was for an x reg,45,000 mile example! Anybody up for the challenge?
Just a thought! Stan Armstrong.

[DavidL]

I hadn't even noticed that the headlamps were further forward! Anything special about Polo headlamps; are they particularly shallow?

I'm off to trawl through the site to try and find the original article...

[mellors55]

Looks like Stan has answered most of your questions - as far as the wheelbase is concerned - I don't know for sure but it does look a bit longer than the original Gold - the front wheels are slightly closer to the wheel arches at the front - but not enough to cause any trouble. They might always have been like that of course. It is certainly a change I would recommend - it goes well without being silly and expensive on fuel.

John

[mellors55]

The Headlight are very shallow but things are still tight on the drivers side. The new brows make it look very much like the original to the casual observer.

[Hans Efde]

An awesome job Stan did on this car. It solves most issues with the Gold coupe. Who needs a Cortez when you can have something like this. And no windscreen issues. If it breaks it won't be a total loss, just order a new one from Alan! 1850gbp seems a bargain to me.
Concerning the headlight there are many alternatives. Stan did a very good mod, but I know Ed still has Porsche 911 lights from a 993 he intends to fit on his second coupe (project car, so it will take a few years )

[Hans Efde]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... ink:top:en

[mellors55]

Thanks Hans
I could not have said it better myself

John

[b1zbaz]

Stan how much do you charge for the conversion