Hi
A quick introduction
I am TheLaughingCow (my friends call me martyn)
Im in Essex, ive been into the classic mini scene my whole life.
A regular poster on online mini forums and my daily drive is a 1978 mini clubman saloon.
For years ive been trying to find a mint reasonably priced Triumph GT6,
(not everyones cup of tea i know!)
i must be a sucker for poorly built british rustboxes
then i stumbled across the MX250 kit..... WOW imediately i knew i have to make one of these. I've had two mx5s eunos imports before and i love the way they handle (almost as good as a mini!) the last 2 months relentless rain has caused an abundance of viable donor cars, so what better time!!
This week i took the plunge and ordered the Mx250 kit.
I have already sourced the donor car, a Manual eunos v spec with LSD, aircon power steering, tan leathers. came with plenty of sellable extras, a new tan roof fitted(with heated glass screen) 2 sets of original mazda wheels, tan torneau, a full car cover
even had full tank of petrol, MOT and 8 months Tax
all for £600
only needs some minor sill repairs, (my job for next week)
my build notes are as follows
* Im not building a ferrari replica, just a classic looking fastback coupe
* want it ready for spring 2014
* as many mod-cons as possible
* once assembled and prepped, vehicle will be vinyl wrapped
as a demonstrator for [url]www.essexvehiclewraps.com[/url] (colour undecided)
* Must be FAST
* Must be LOUD
i will add some donor car pics
Main advantages of vinyl over paint.
you can have a perfect finish in gloss /matt , chrome, textured, candy colours, pearlescents, irridecents and sparkle
which otherwise would take a lifetime of spraying and weeks of coats of paint to achieve in just 2 days
it protects the paintwork underneath,
doesn't get stone chips,
but most of all i can change the colour of my car every year
main disadvantages are:
limited life (normally 5-7 years)
lots of cowboys out there not prepping vehicles properly or not sealing edges resulting in poor life of the vinyl!
if i paid £2K for a wrap i would be back as soon as vinyl started peeling and be getting all affected panels rewrapped for free!
I guess like with anything, practice, experience and the right tools for the job, will determine the outcome.
I know how much a quality paint job will cost, that is the no 1 reason why I'm wrapping it.(free)££££
The mx250 will be quite difficult to wrap mainly because of the curves, and the lack of panel edges.I guess the proof is in the pudding,
The vinyl available now is so much more advanced than what we used 5 years ago, especially the adhesive. I guess we will find out in 5 years time whether it lives up to its word!
Until then I should probably get on with stripping the donor,
My sill repair panel has arrived from flea bay, looking at everyone else's builds I believe all of my welding will be under the kit, still will try to get it as tidy as possible.
The donor car seems in pretty good shape mechanically, one lady owner since import
The paint is really poor, covered in tree sap but who cares, the engine is sweet, nice to drive a rwd car without traction control,
Viatron, hit the nail on the head there!
I'd be ashamed if I'd wrapped that!
Don't forget that's a walking advertisement for whoever wrapped it!
I have ordered the hard top version
which is a shame as the donor cars roof is in great shape,
unless someone is building a soft top version and wants a great tan hood? with frame and torneau cover ready to bolt on???
OK, time for an update,
Been cutting up the sills, i had to remove a load of previous repairs and patches. Im far from a world class welder but since the kit will be hiding much of my "handywork" i figured in was a no brainer for keeping the cost down! ive had plenty of practice on mini sills in a lot worse condition!
Since im going to be putting the best part of £2K of fibreglass on the MX5 to save a few quid i fabricated my own replacement panels for the inner sill and inner arch repairs, i fitted a replacement outer sil from ebay (door back) on the N/S, as this was shot
N/S outer sill removed ( not for the faint hearted)
floor / inner sill repair in place
other side, not as bad more rot further up the wing than the n/s
[IMG]<a href="http://s779.photobucket.com/user/Martyn_Neil_Jacobs/media/DSC_0224_zps602570c9.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/yy78/Martyn_Neil_Jacobs/DSC_0224_zps602570c9.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo DSC_0224_zps602570c9.jpg"/></a>[/IMG]
so.... off for MOT in the morning, thought i'd get a fresh test done before i strip the donor just in case it expires before i finish the build, will make test driving a lot more legit!
I have a buyer for the roof, i also won a auction for some 16" alloys that i'm pretty sure will fit and look spot on.
will report back later with MOT status and some wheel pics
Collected my wheels today
Car failed MOT on corrosion near the front subframe/ chassis rail, I'll be cutting it out / welding it up this morning then back to mr MOT for a retest.
happy days
